Buy anything cool lately?

@leapinlarry posted:

Nice Larry.

Now to finish it off , a few Woodstock styled figures would be great.

@Randy Harrison  Randy thanks for the reply, I thought it was pretty clear. I would love to have several GG1s, but realistically unless I wanted shelf queens, one will be enough. The Pennsylvania Road is a tough one for me not to have at least a couple of pieces. My biggest challenge is not being able to see these in person. Anytime I buy something its a roll of the dice as to whether it is something which will meet my expectations. At least I know now to stay away from anything not scale proportions - personal preference - semi-scale and post war - just does not float my boat.  At the same time I can really enjoy those kind of layouts posted on the forum.  Nice that we can pursue the things we like but still enjoy the alternatives.

I'll have to consider what you said about the exterior detailing - not really a lot there considering how the metal is bent. The thing that gets me on the Weavers is the catenary - the pans look out of place. Could say that about a lot of electrics.  Thanks ... Jeff

@WesternPacific2217 posted:

Jay, probably PhotoShop, Canon Photo Printer, Canon Photo paper. I'm playing with it now. Chrome is hard to match and print, but I'm getting close. I may just put the photo paper right over the existing sign plate rather than replace it.

Is the nameplate embossed?  If not, the letters on LIONEL nameplates are easily removed with ISO alcohol or acetone.  Perhaps the same with K-Line.

If the nameplate is not embossed, a simple decal with script would work well.

Also, you can buy the CZ font here.

Just came back home from a community garage sale with this homemade live steam train for the price of a lottery scratch off. Now I'm awaiting for the delivery man with my MTH final run Big Boy in the next couple days.

Thank you Scott, it will be interesting to see how it turns out. It is something that I want to do to a few of mine.

Today is my lucky day on eBay.  Trainz offered these damaged UP aluminum cars and the saved search function offered by eBay caused the listing to pop up on my email earlier today because of the 6-19121 offset vista dome car. They're perfect donor cars for my GN Empire Builder project -- cheap price with irrelevant paint damage and cheap, replaceable plastic parts readily available.

The gem of the pair is the offset vista dome.  Undamaged, it's a minimum $100+ car with tax and shipping added.  So, paying just under $100 for the pair shipped is a deal considering they'll be repainted; a replacement dome that Christine Braden painted is at hand; and, the other plastic parts are readily available, cheap.  I'd been hunting for this vista dome car for almost a year, but only nice ones, with nice prices, were listed.

This vista dome will join two others, both with paint damage, purchased on eBay.  The three will make a prototypically accurate set of three small dome cars for the GN EB.

Anyone see the complete K-Line Santa Fe Black Bonnet Midnight Chief set being offered on a favorite auction site.  Way more pieces than I expected.  Asking is $10,000 plus $350 shipping.  Since I recently saw just a BBMC passenger diesel set priced around $5,000 this might not be a bad asking price?

I can't wrap my head around plunking down a wad of cash for this, Of course when spending $2000 +/- for a new steamer - in comparison humm. No I am not going to buy this.

Wondering your opinions on something like this.

@Pingman posted:

Today is my lucky day on eBay.  Trainz offered these damaged UP aluminum cars and the saved search function offered by eBay caused the listing to pop up on my email earlier today because of the 6-19121 offset vista dome car. They're perfect donor cars for my GN Empire Builder project -- cheap price with irrelevant paint damage and cheap, replaceable plastic parts readily available.

The gem of the pair is the offset vista dome.  Undamaged, it's a minimum $100+ car with tax and shipping added.  So, paying just under $100 for the pair shipped is a deal considering they'll be repainted; a replacement dome that Christine Braden painted is at hand; and, the other plastic parts are readily available, cheap.  I'd been hunting for this vista dome car for almost a year, but only nice ones, with nice prices, were listed.

This vista dome will join two others, both with paint damage, purchased on eBay.  The three will make a prototypically accurate set of three small dome cars for the GN EB.

Isn't the internet a wonderful thing sometimes. Great score Carl.

Bob

@RSJB18 posted:

Isn't the internet a wonderful thing sometimes. Great score Carl.

Bob

Bob, nice ones list at $85 used to $179 new and everything in between.

And they are nothing special with silhouette window strips and a common extrusion.

I was desperate two weeks ago and offered $65 plus actual shipping.

Patience can be an asset.

@Pingman posted:

Today is my lucky day on eBay.  Trainz offered these damaged UP aluminum cars and the saved search function offered by eBay caused the listing to pop up on my email earlier today because of the 6-19121 offset vista dome car. They're perfect donor cars for my GN Empire Builder project -- cheap price with irrelevant paint damage and cheap, replaceable plastic parts readily available.

The gem of the pair is the offset vista dome.  Undamaged, it's a minimum $100+ car with tax and shipping added.  So, paying just under $100 for the pair shipped is a deal considering they'll be repainted; a replacement dome that Christine Braden painted is at hand; and, the other plastic parts are readily available, cheap.  I'd been hunting for this vista dome car for almost a year, but only nice ones, with nice prices, were listed.

This vista dome will join two others, both with paint damage, purchased on eBay.  The three will make a prototypically accurate set of three small dome cars for the GN EB.

Carl, very nice acquisition! Even with the repairs needed, still an awesome price for both, and great addition to your set. What the heck happened to the dome? That's the weirdest fracture I think I've seen! Good thing you have a replacement sourced already.

Other than that they both look pretty good overall and since you'll be repainting them, paint damage is no big deal. Can't wait to see the finished product.

@WesternPacific2217 posted:

Carl, very nice acquisition! Even with the repairs needed, still an awesome price for both, and great addition to your set. What the heck happened to the dome? That's the weirdest fracture I think I've seen! Good thing you have a replacement sourced already.

Other than that they both look pretty good overall and since you'll be repainting them, paint damage is no big deal. Can't wait to see the finished product.

I'll post a photo when they arrive and report if they are what I hope they are, especially the dome car.

I prefer to use the TCA smooth-sided cars as donors, but there is no offset dome unfortunately in that series -- only a centered dome and full length dome (which is in the GN EB consist.)

Can't imagine how the dome was broken -- they're pretty sturdy, Scott

BTW, TRAINZ is selling repro domes, p/n 2532-16, so that's a welcome option.

Well, l had gotten something neat, but now l can't get parts.

Two more Atlas 50' Gunderson High Cubes arrived this week - AOK and NKCR.

Just got this last week. Legacy SD 45.

Some very nice things are shown in the above posts.

I don't often contribute to this thread because I'm happy with the trains I already have and do my best to refrain from buying any more of them.. However, my resolve not to buy occasionally weakens.

That's what happened yesterday when I visited 1 of the 2 LHSs  in my area. I found this MTH PS3 Philadelphia Bethlehem and New England diesel switcher irresistible:

Its 2 motors and heft make it a fine puller for its size.

So last Saturday I posted a video of the TMCC Northern Pacific ABA I purchased from the Estate of our train club's long-time treasurer.

This week I purchased from the Estate's 1,500 piece collection this MPC era Milwaukee Road F-3 that he'd upgraded to TMCC.

The plan for this unit is to swap out everything except the frame and motor trucks and mount them under the NP A shell I'm currently painting The other A and B shells I'm painting will go on frames already  purchased and painted.  The B unit will have twin motors.

Good times.

Finally broke away from work & got over to Caboose Stop Hobbies in Cedar Falls, IA.   Picked up 5 new cars:  4 are Atlas & the 1 (Illinois Terminal) is an MTH product.   Wasn't planning on buying 5 cars but I just thought they were stunning & the JCL baggage car rounds out my JCL passenger set nicely !    Rich in SD

@trestleking posted:

Finally broke away from work & got over to Caboose Stop Hobbies in Cedar Falls, IA.   Picked up 5 new cars:  4 are Atlas & the 1 (Illinois Terminal) is an MTH product.   Wasn't planning on buying 5 cars but I just thought they were stunning & the JCL baggage car rounds out my JCL passenger set nicely !    Rich in SD

Nice selection Rich. Great store and great people. A bit of a drive but worth it.

@RSJB18 posted:

Picked up a pair of K-line LIRR streamline coaches from a forum member.  I have the Greenport Scoot set with coaches 2842, and 2843. These will be a nice addition.

Out of the boxes and on the rails. Nice 5-car consist now.

Bought and received another K-Line 15" aluminum car to add to my California Zephyr consist, this one is a diner. It took awhile to find this diner, and as you can see in the photo it does not have CZ name on it, but rather Empire State Express! So, like the other non domed coach I bought the other day, I'll have to change the nameplates to CZ and rename the coach. I found the CZ font online, I should receive it soon. That will be the last thing I do, after I change to LED lighting, paint the interior, install paneling, and carpet.

This coach is used, but the body is in great shape and it has all it's interior parts. But it show's some miles!! The roller pickups were toast, broken springs on both. Good thing I only paid $50.00 for the coach. Fortunately I had some Lionel pickup roller assemblies in my toolbox!

Front roller pickup I already removed it. It has a broken spring:

Rear roller pickup, defective spring also. Wheels are looking a little used too!

New Lionel roller pickup front:

New Lionel roller rear:

As you can see in the first photo, the lights are working and they work perfectly while the train is in operation! Yay. time to take it all apart and begin on the interior.

Picked up some Legacy Alaska SD70Macs from Nicholas Smith. They were an exclusive to them. This is the superbass unit, powered is numbered 4001. These will look great with the Lionel Denali Star 21" passenger cars!

A JEP 0 gauge set was delivered today. Pictured here with the clockwork I got a few weeks ago. The gazebo came in yesterday. It’s in its place but will be illuminated and peopled shortly. The Rough RR train was brought back from Disney by my daughter. I’m thinking it fits in as a park ride. That needs some passengers.

Lionel 27101 Morton Salt covered hopper from the 2004 Volume 2 catalog.  I purchased this from another forum member.

Neal Jeter

@WesternPacific2217 posted:

Bought and received another K-Line 15" aluminum car to add to my California Zephyr consist, this one is a diner. It took awhile to find this diner, and as you can see in the photo it does not have CZ name on it, but rather Empire State Express! So, like the other non domed coach I bought the other day, I'll have to change the nameplates to CZ and rename the coach. I found the CZ font online, I should receive it soon. That will be the last thing I do, after I change to LED lighting, paint the interior, install paneling, and carpet.

This coach is used, but the body is in great shape and it has all it's interior parts. But it show's some miles!! The roller pickups were toast, broken springs on both. Good thing I only paid $50.00 for the coach. Fortunately I had some Lionel pickup roller assemblies in my toolbox!

Front roller pickup I already removed it. It has a broken spring:

Rear roller pickup, defective spring also. Wheels are looking a little used too!

New Lionel roller pickup front:

New Lionel roller rear:

As you can see in the first photo, the lights are working and they work perfectly while the train is in operation! Yay. time to take it all apart and begin on the interior.

I believe what you’re showing is/was an ongoing problem with K-Line roller pickups, insofar as the springs were not insulated, and the track current passed through the spring(s), fatiguing them prematurely.

One of my Father’s Day gifts.

I got this Weaver Delaware & Hudson Sharknose A-B set. I had previously purchased an MTH D&H passenger set and was pulling that with a D&H RS-3 as a placeholder until I could get something like this. This sharknose is beautiful but was very start-and-stop until I ran it around a lot and also cleaned the wheels. Now it runs smoothly except that it slows or stalls over my Fastrack manual switches when going slow. I've seen that before but maybe not this bad. I turned off the direction lockout switch so at least it doesn't go into neutral-reverse. I tested all the wheels and both rollers by putting leads on them one by one and all the wheels on both trucks turn. The pickup rollers seem to be sprung well so I assume they're making contact. I tested my 3 Fastrack switches and found they all have large gaps where there's no power on the rails.  I did a little soldering on the bottom of one switch as a test to get power to the rails at the V past the frog where the tracks diverge. There was no shorting when the train passes and now it moves past that switch a little better. I still don't know why this engine has trouble with the switches because I would think with two pickup rollers and the two wheels on each truck that don't have traction tires making good contact with the rails it would be able to bridge any powerless gap, but it doesn't always. Still like it and the price was good. Will just run it a little faster past switches for now.

@John's Trains  you might want to check the roller pickups to make sure both are pushing power to the motors. My 3RD Rail M10000 was stalling through switches if it was going slow enough. Found out there was a broken feed wire which is an easy fix. Be careful on putting track power to switches where it was not originally. The short is more likely to happen when in the turnout position. Guess how I know

Well for Father's day my Trainz order arrived earlier than expected. Now the family is off the hook for gifts. Two cars have original boxes and two have none. I try not to buy cars without boxes but the price was right. Three are K-Line the other is a Lionel.  Thought I would try the panorama feature on my camera. Rock Island, Union Pacific, Grand Trunk (Lionel) & Western and Milwaukee Road. This is the view our my back deck. Wondering again why I want to move???  Of yes bigger train room! And Grandkids.

Had visitors about 6 am this morning. A successful hatch and a mess of goose goo left as a thank you. My dog loves to eat the stuff so we try to pick it up fast.

The two "damaged" UP passenger cars purchased on eBay from TRAINZ  arrived today and needed only 5 minutes with a screwdriver to adjust their frames and car ends to "repair" what looked like serous damage,

They were probably dropped: landed on their couplers which caused the frames to shift; and, move the plastic car ends.

Feeling very fortunate to pickup the offset dome car and the coach for <$100 delivered. The dome car will be a perfect donor as the third short dome in my EMPIRE BUILDER trainset.

@ScoutingDad posted:

@John's Trains  you might want to check the roller pickups to make sure both are pushing power to the motors. My 3RD Rail M10000 was stalling through switches if it was going slow enough. Found out there was a broken feed wire which is an easy fix. Be careful on putting track power to switches where it was not originally. The short is more likely to happen when in the turnout position. Guess how I know

Thank you for the suggestion. I think you're right about the pickup roller. I had the engine upside down yesterday and tested power to all wheels and rollers and the wheels spun, but intermittently sometimes it wouldn't run. Today after handling the engine I put it back on the track and suddenly it ran slow and perfect through the switches with not a shudder. I picked it up, turned it over, put it back on the track and the problem was back. So I observed up close and slow what happened at both mainline switches. It always stops exactly where the rear pickup roller first hits the dead spot in the middle of the switch. I then observed where the front pickup roller was where the train stopped. I tested it and the track where the front roller was had power from the center rail to the outside rail. So I think that front roller must have a on-and-off feed wire. Will have to take the thing apart. First time for everything.

Made an eSnipe bid a few days ago and forgot about the item believing someone would outbid me.  Instead, I bought it this evening:

It will go well with the Thomas Lion Chief engine recently purchased to make our club's permanent and travelling layouts more kid friendly.

@John's Trains posted:

Thank you for the suggestion. I think you're right about the pickup roller. I had the engine upside down yesterday and tested power to all wheels and rollers and the wheels spun, but intermittently sometimes it wouldn't run. Today after handling the engine I put it back on the track and suddenly it ran slow and perfect through the switches with not a shudder. I picked it up, turned it over, put it back on the track and the problem was back. So I observed up close and slow what happened at both mainline switches. It always stops exactly where the rear pickup roller first hits the dead spot in the middle of the switch. I then observed where the front pickup roller was where the train stopped. I tested it and the track where the front roller was had power from the center rail to the outside rail. So I think that front roller must have a on-and-off feed wire. Will have to take the thing apart. First time for everything.

You might want to see if you can run a jumper between the two pickups as an added bit of insurance. I used to run AMT/Auburn/KMT/Kusan F units with their matching passenger cars - between the less-than-ideal contact the F units' pickups made with the third rail and flickering passenger car lights (AMT/Auburn/KMT/Kusan Achilles heel seems to be their pick-up designs). I eventually added jumpers between both the F unit pick-ups and the passenger car pick-ups and that helped the engines run through turnouts without tripping the reverse unit (no replacement drums or contacts for those are available, so they need to be treated carefully - a constant current supply made life easier on them), and the passenger car lights operated flicker free.

Just picked up this Atlas O Premier BNSF Buffer Car airslide hopper. Atlas is doing a heck of a job with the MTH tooling. This car has a great weight to it and the paint is outstanding. This will look great with my Lionel 30k tank cars. Trainworld still has a few in stock!

@biscuitag97 Got mine yesterday and love it! I really like how they added that paint at the top which I assume is to represent the material that provides extra traction for better footing. Nice picture and great car! Almost wish I had bought 2!

Depending on your definition of "Cool"!

@Big Jim :  I vote for as broad a defn of "What's Cool" as possible.  I think Snoopy and surf board is cool, will make a great ornamental for your desk or table and is likely great fun.  Will be neat if you ever have any youngsters visit your layout, I bet they will like it too!

Best Wishes

Don

OK so Big Jim has Snoopy , pennsyfan has a Disney train from his daughter, and Pingman has Sir Topham Hatt the Gateman.  So in keeping with this trend, on a very hot (have to stay inside) Friday afternoon, I give you:

Mickey Mouse and the Abominable Snow Man sharing a locomotive, a gift from Disney World...from my Grandkids!  Note it is a STEAM locomotive with a vertical boiler (shades of the "Tom Thumb")...so it is officially trains...yes?

Best wishes and hope you had a laugh or two on this one...strictly for fun!!

Don

@Don McErlean posted:

OK so Big Jim has Snoopy , pennsyfan has a Disney train from his daughter, and Pingman has Sir Topham Hatt the Gateman.  So in keeping with this trend, on a very hot (have to stay inside) Friday afternoon, I give you:

Mickey Mouse and the Abominable Snow Man sharing a locomotive, a gift from Disney World...from my Grandkids!  Note it is a STEAM locomotive with a vertical boiler (shades of the "Tom Thumb")...so it is officially trains...yes?

Best wishes and hope you had a laugh or two on this one...strictly for fun!!

Don

LoL - Don, I like it! Reminds me of taking my son on the Expedition Everest ride in Disney World Animal Kingdom Park! ;-) Probably where your Grand kid's got your gift. Treasure it.

Thanks Scott - I believe you are right, it was the Expedition Everest Ride- they did tell me but I couldn't remember as I typed the post. Thanks for your comment.

Best wishes

Don

I dunno, looks like Yeti size bottle of rum to me! 😉

Awesome buys as usual everyone! For some reason this thread seems to help with justifying my continuous purchases hahaha.

I posted last week saying I was going to calm down on the train purchase’s. Well a flea market and another trip to Grzyboski’s sure didn’t help with that.

First up are the couple of items I grabbed at Grzyboski’s. Here is a reefer car I felt I needed to add to my collection. It’s another Hamm’s Beer car. This was my late brother’s beer of choice so I now have the 2 of 3 cars that I’m aware of.

Here’s the other few items I picked up at the train shop. One is a plasticville house under construction and the other is a Lionel lumber shed. Picked up the remainder of short tubular track sections they had too.

Up next are my two flea market finds. Three packs of Life Like trees I picked up along with a Hershey Tractor Trailer to add to the large assortment of Hershey items I’ve been gathering. It’s not to scale which works with my layout since I use matchbox vehicles due to the limited space.

Until next time, Happy Railroading everyone!

Great finds Rich. Are you in the Hershey area?

@Tranquil Hollow RR posted:

Great finds Rich. Are you in the Hershey area?

Thanks Jay! The Wilkes Barre area but I’ve been to Hershey Park several times and I buy a bag of their miniature chocolate’s nearly every week so it seemed fitting to grab the Hershey related items.

@Richizzle07  Oh the Hamms brings back memories of a simpler time, and now the jingle is rolling around in my head  - I think it ended Hamms mmmmm.  Back then the drinking age was 16 in the Northwoods of Wisconsin. If it wasn't -- nobody cared. 

1950s Hamms Commercial

@ScoutingDad thank you for sharing that! I’ve never heard/seen that before. Gotta love those age requirements in the woods! Hahaha

Picked up the 11705 Chessie Unit Train today, the dual-pullmor SD40 is a nice runner and the Centerflow hoppers look great.  I have a bad feeling this isn’t the last of these SD40 sets for me, I’ve liked the BN Limited since I was a kid and I’m a Conrail fan so the Conrail Limited will be on the list too.

Yes, I’m a floor runner for now.  Gotta fix that soon.

I remember The Land of Sky Blue Waters part.

That SD40 sure was smooth as it passed in review.

Here's a custom NASA searchlight car I scored of eBay.  The LED lighting runs of a battery underneath with a push button switch.

And one of the K-Line Operation Iraqi Freedom cars to add to my USAF train that's a tribute to my daughter's service in the USAF.

@Coach Joe, now that’s a cool searchlight car, very nicely done. Also the Iraqi Freedom rocket car is neat to, good buys. I ordered a couple of B&O Heavyweight cars from a fellow on the forum, I’ll show pictures when they arrive. Happy Railroading Everyone

Realized that my NP North Coast Limited train lacked a plain old coach, so this one will do as a donor:

Also, my train club buddy, Murf, has gone on a NP NCL kick of his own and added this scarce LIONEL large door baggage car to his growing fleet which now numbers 12 aluminum 15" cars.  (I served as his purchasing agent.)

@coach joe posted:

I remember The Land of Sky Blue Waters part.

That SD40 sure was smooth as it passed in review.

It’s surprisingly smooth! I’ve never had one of these SD40’s before so I wasn’t sure how it would run.  I would imagine it’s a stump puller too, with Magnetraction and dual motors.

At my 3rd visit in 3 weeks to Caboose Stop Hobbies, I found this brass WM RS3.  It just "had" to come home with me.  I don't even run 2-rail but I have an affection for Alco's.  I put some pics of Caboose Stop Hobbies on my "Eastern Iowa LHS recommendations" post ,  truly a dangerous place for your train budget !   Rich in SD

Nice buys everyone! I’m adding to this thread again! Twice on the same page so I’m clearly not calming the purchase’s down. 😂

I’ve been wanting this item for my farm scene for awhile now so I went down to a LHS today and picked up the Woodland Scenics Old Weathered Barn. Great details!

Happy Railroading Everyone!

Bought this Brass Weaver Pennsylvania GG1 from a sponsor TRAINZ. Here is a short video of it running at the back of my layout. Not too bad a puller considering there are no traction tires present. I'll have to figure out what size it needs. I did not realize how few of these were made. #167 of 243 made.

Thanks to @gunrunnerjohn @MELGAR and @GG1 4877 for their help and assistance on answering my questions regarding these engines. These guys are what makes this forum so much fun to be a part of. Thanks again guys. 

@ScoutingDad posted:

Bought this Brass Weaver Pennsylvania GG1 from a sponsor TRAINZ. Here is a short video of it running at the back of my layout. Not too bad a puller considering there are no traction tires present. I'll have to figure out what size it needs. I did not realize how few of these were made. #167 of 243 made.

Thanks to @gunrunnerjohn @MELGAR and @GG1 4877 for their help and assistance on answering my questions regarding these engines. These guys are what makes this forum so much fun to be a part of. Thanks again guys.

ALWAYS glad to provide a little help whenever I can.  That looks great running on your layout!  I'm a bit jealous as I don't have a layout to run mine on these days. 

The traction tires from MTH and Williams will fit on the Weaver GG1 as they use the same tooling.

@ScoutingDad posted:

Bought this Brass Weaver Pennsylvania GG1 from a sponsor TRAINZ. Here is a short video of it running at the back of my layout. Not too bad a puller considering there are no traction tires present. I'll have to figure out what size it needs. I did not realize how few of these were made. #167 of 243 made.

Looks great Jeff.

I guess overhead cants will need to be included in your next layout. 😂😂

Bob - you are killing me with the prospect of more work.  I have been accumulating HO scale overhead catenary pieces to try a live overhead.  (yeah no one will notice except me.)  I am going to need a lot more.  Probably will use scalerail's methods for the Milwaukee Road - old post and OGR article.  I've almost lost count - but I have this GG, the early P5a version, 2 box cabs Milwaukee Road and Great Northern, 1 Milwaukee Road bi-polar, 1 trolley and 1 interurban. Hard to believe I had none of this 3 years ago.

Scored a couple Legacy KCS ES44's

These cars are replacements for my original MTH Conrail Work Train RTR Set, 30-4019-1, from 1998. Originally offered with RK Conrail Dash 8, I replaced it with the Conrail RK SW1500 PS2, which introduced me to the pain of owning PS2 5v engines. The cars included with the set were the gondola, work caboose, engineering car, and crane tender. The crane car and bunk car were the only add ons for this set, AFAIK. I haven’t found a tool or kitchen car offered by MTH. My original set went swimming with Sandy. I got this for a very good price off wEpay. I now pull it with the PS3 RK Conrail RS3.

Mark - great recovery set, best of luck with it. Really looks sharp.

Best Wishes

Don

Picked this up yesterday. The light doesn’t work but maybe I can get it fixed.

@Don McErlean posted:

Mark - great recovery set, best of luck with it. Really looks sharp.

Best Wishes

Don

Thank You, Don.

Just bought a cool water pressure washer from a big box store.

@ScoutingDad posted:

Bob - you are killing me with the prospect of more work.  I have been accumulating HO scale overhead catenary pieces to try a live overhead.  (yeah no one will notice except me.)  I am going to need a lot more.  Probably will use scalerail's methods for the Milwaukee Road - old post and OGR article.  I've almost lost count - but I have this GG, the early P5a version, 2 box cabs Milwaukee Road and Great Northern, 1 Milwaukee Road bi-polar, 1 trolley and 1 interurban. Hard to believe I had none of this 3 years ago.

I know how that is Jeff. I went from 0 to around 30 locos in about 2 years......

Bob

A recent eBay purchase that will become a day coach on the NP NCL.

These TCA aluminum cars make excellent donors; if only they'd made an offset dome.

These three guys showed up today from Charles Ro - all good and really nice 👍🏼

Got some great stuff at a train show, and in The mail via the auction site and some forum sponsors!

Starting off with the most recent, in the mail today from Nicholas Smith:

My first powered Atlas loco- Atlas Trainman Union Pacific Dash 8-40CW. With  TMCC, RS and ERR.

also my first loco with ERR’s 3rd rail- which was half the reason I bought it. Looks great

Two Atlas Trainman 50’ boxcars: Railbox with “Small Logo”(aka modern) was looking for one of those FOREVER!! so happy to finally have one! Also, a nice KCS boxcar from Caboosestophobbies!This arrived this morning- Non-powered Amtrak GP38 in Phase V by Williams from Trainz. At $60 not too bad! And it is o scale

couldn’t believe it when I saw it listed because Amtrak’s GP38s are all rebuilt, work the yards and occasionally help on passenger trains. here’s how it looks with a phase IV dash 8. not the most detailed, but it’s fine with me since besides a custom job I’ll never see an Amtrak GP38 in OGot this preorder from Henning’s last week! PB&NE Legacy sw1200.  Conrail Hopper is new, too, from Trainz!

Continuing from my last post and all of my “still need to show York Stuff posts”...

but 1st, an eBay seller made me a great offer for something I was seking- this sweet Atlas Tman Terminal Railway Alabama State Docks  Boxcar

love adding one or two shortline rolling stock to a consist. Hints at location, destination, type of freight, etc...

Now two trains from York: A Lionel Dummy Conrail U30C and my absolute favorite purchase at York- Lionel Legacy Conrail SD40 #6308

don’t usually talk about prices, but I feel I got a great deal on the sd40. Seller mentioned 3 issues: partially detached break line on one truck, rear couplers didn’t fire, and rear sand hatch(?) was missing. Got it for $280 and Easily fixed the former two when I got home.

Now- Some preorders and new releases I added over the last 2 weeks:

Really love these 40’ Airslides. Since my picking up the prototypical CSX version at York, I’ve added a few more.

ThaT said, the newer Conrail(ex-PC) Are my favorite. Preordered from Public Delivery Track, thanks @Beth Marshall-The Public Delivery Track !!

Continuing my PC binge: Another first one I’ve owned- Penn Central PS-2 3 bay covhopper.  while I dont care much for the 33k gallon tankers,  made an exception for this stellar PC “rail whale”
My final “newly released” acquisition- Atlas Trainman 20” Penn Central Pullman Bradley. I wish I had more in this livery!

Moving off the internet. A few weeks ago went to a show in Hamburg, PA. among the things I picked up...

New Haven Pullman Bradley by Weaver. Thinking of creating an Amtrak “rainbow era” consist- even though Amtrak apparently didn’t pick up any Pullman Bradleys

From the same show. Paid  $5 for my 2nd Weaver Conrail Brown/yellow door boxcar- the one on the right. I like that they’re not totally the same, most recent one has lighter shade, text is thinner, and doors are different(early v late Weaver doors?)

Finally, was very surprised to find this Weaver St. Mary’s RR boxcar

Besides Atlas making a St. Mary’s boxcar, I didn’t think anyone else made anything related to that RR. Just a neat piece

After 3 attempts at de-uploading from my phone- finally...

HOPE EVERYONE IS HAVING A HAPPY 4th OF JULY WEEKEND!

Steve

I remember taking the train from Providence to NYC during the mid-1970’s.  True, Amtrak never owned any of the older Pullman Bradleys, but Amtrak was able to play mix and match not only using their own equipment, but also Penn Central rolling stock. Many of those were ribbed-side ex NYC sleepers converted to coaches.

that ended when the Heritage equipment was sidelined and replaced by Amfleet cars.

Just got this in the mail today, printed in the UK, about the most common army export locomotive in WW2.

Can't wait to start reading it.

I got a bunch of stuff at a recent Stout auction. Along with the 41 switcher I talked about on this weeks switcher Saturday thread, I got these 3 cars. I also got a 68 executive inspection car, but it’s in a state of disassembly right now.

Three times I’m posting on the same page of this thread! 😂

After seeing a photo of the Woodland Scenics US Post Office with the American Flag on the Fourth of July thread yesterday, I just had to have it so I went to the LHS yet again this week 😂.

Happy Railroading and Happy Fourth of July Weekend Everyone!

Started in O about a year ago.  Been Looking for a Weaver T1.  Found it here on the Forum 2 weeks ago.  Shipped from Texas to NY.  Took pictures today.  I am one happy camper.   Funny thing is it looks black in person, but it the photos it looks dark green like it should.  My eyes ain't what they use to be!  LOL

Finally fixed my above post! Sorry for the wait- 2 mishaps in re-uploading. Here are some other new trains

LEFT: Atlas Conrail ACF 3 bay cylindrical hopper(CR class H44) from CSTOp hobbies

RIGHT: Lionel Penn Central PS-5  Gondola with drop ends and removable load. From eBay

From Hamburg show in post above-new Lionel Standard O FGE(PC reporting mark) 40’ RBL. on the edge of the era I model(as is the boxcar next to it)

Lionscale pink Klemme CO OP is joined by a Weaver Albert City Elevators I got about 2 weeks ago.

Last but certainly not least- got my 3rd K-line Amtrak Superliner 2 in Phase IV paint. This “snack coach”(per K-line) joins a Sleeper and a “Coach”- the later of which it looks exactly the same as

@MainLine Steam posted:

Started in O about a year ago.  Been Looking for a Weaver T1.  Found it here on the Forum 2 weeks ago.  Shipped from Texas to NY.  Took pictures today.  I am one happy camper.   Funny thing is it looks black in person, but it the photos it looks dark green like it should.  My eyes ain't what they use to be!  LOL

@MainLine Steam

The PRR T-1 is my favorite Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) streamlined steam locomotive. Also, I love the Weaver brass models! I have several Weaver PRR steam locomotives. Below are two views of my PRR 4-6-0. I also have a PRR 2-8-0. The detailing on these models is superb!

The Pennsylvania Railroad painted all of their passenger locomotives in Brunswick Green or as the PRR called it, dark green locomotive enamel or, "DGLE". Referencing an article from a past journal of the Pennsylvania Railroad Technical and Historical Society (PRRT&HS) "The Keystone", it was reported that some old PRR maintenance and paint shop workers said the formula for mixing DGLE was dropping a small splash of green into a bucket of black paint. So, PRR Brunswick green does look to be black at first glance but, when clean and seen in good sunlight, the green tint is visible.

@MainLine Steam posted:

Started in O about a year ago.  Been Looking for a Weaver T1.  Found it here on the Forum 2 weeks ago.  Shipped from Texas to NY.  Took pictures today.  I am one happy camper.   Funny thing is it looks black in person, but it the photos it looks dark green like it should.  My eyes ain't what they use to be!  LOL

That is something really cool - Thanks for the post!!! Jim

Yesterday my 8 year old son and I ventured out to our LHS.  They were celebrating their 16th anniversary and had a great sale (16% off new items, 32% off used items). My son picked up a Marx tunnel for his part of our layout along with a Lionel Monopoly car.  I picked up several switches and pieces of track to finish a new section of the layout.  

Great post on the Hamms beer car, Being an east coast boy, I had never heard of Hamms. It turned out it was mostly what we drank in Korea where I was serving with the 334 TFS in Kwang Ju South Korea in 1968 during the Pueblo Incident. It brought back a few memories. Thanks for the post.

Thanks guys for the likes and support for my newly acquired T1.

Thanks Randy for the explanation of why the Green is sooooooo Dark.  Your PRR 4-6-0 is Beautiful.  I am very pleased with the quality of Weaver.  Yes, new 3rd Rail/Sunsets are at a higher level, but I have always been a "Value" Shopper.  You know Champaign taste Beer budget or more in my case Wine budget.  The details that are included in these Weaver Brass Locos is phenomenal.  The more I look at them the more I see.  Adding this view, although well hidden the perforations in the recessed front panel are still there.  Would have been easy to cheat on this.  Don't have a die cast version to compare to, but if this was part of the casting guessing they are dimples instead.  If someone has one to compare I would be interested to see.

BTW after posting this, started another thread by putting my Weaver ESE next to this and taking a few photos. I Called it Classic Competition.  Thanks again to everyone.                                                     

Bill Park - Thanks for serving, happy fourth!

Reference Hamm's Beer.  Back in 68 I was just a kid in Wisconsin, but saw these ads constantly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o83xxWCel8g

A cute cartoon mascot selling Beer, of course Fred Flintstone smoked Winston's.  Times have changed.  LOL

Tumbleweed, that’s a wonderful picture. Your son will remember that day his entire life.

Fellows, great buys, it’s always fun to see children in the hobby, that’s where many of us got our starts, dad and son, grandpa and grandson, it’s a clean fun hobby and seeing children smile at our train meets is simply Eye Candy. Great pictures everyone. I recently opened my new VL MKT Cattle Car set, coupled to my MKT Bunk car set, the sounds are great. Happy Railroading Everyone

We love seeing your 8 year old son step up into the hobby!  Keep the spirit alive.  Handsome rascal isn't he!

Awesome buys as usual everyone! I’m back with more new purchases this week! 😂

I ordered 5 more Woodland Scenics buildings from the website Hobbyspeed.com last week and they came safely packaged.

The first two buildings are the Grillin’ & Chillin’ trailer along with the Sunny Days Trailer. I absolutely love the little details on these two pieces! Growing up, I had a summer/weekend trailer at a year round campsite on a farm so I’m going to incorporate these into something similar with my farm scene on the second level.

The next two buildings will also go alongside the farm scene. One being the Old Homestead and the other being the Country Store Expansion. Even more amazing details with these two buildings!

The fifth and final building I purchased wasn’t even on my list. I believe there was an error with the online price listed, so I added it to the cart and went to checkout. I don’t normally mention the prices of something I obtained, but getting the Records and Recruiting building for $52.84 is worth the brag in my opinion! That’s the N scale price for this item! It’s correctly listed now, which I noticed they fixed within minutes of my order being shipped.

Here’s a photo of them all together.

This leaves just one more Woodland Scenics building on my list and then there’s three smaller Menards buildings I’ve been eyeing up.

Until next time, Thanks for sharing everyone! Happy Railroading!

Gorgi 1/43 telephone trucks.  

Great buys fellows and ladies, today my items arrived from a forum member, packed well. Lionel B&O heavyweight 18 inch passenger cars, and a cool covered hopper. Happy Railroading Everyone

A couple of weeks ago I was in San Antonio and found a Hobby store that is 3rd (I think, maybe 2nd) generation, been in the same location forever. An interesting place, some O but mainly HO and N and lots of models. But in talking with him and sharing pics of my layout, I mentioned I was looking for miners, he said 5-6 years ago you could get them, but nothing being made. He did have some miniature dwarfs. They have crossbows but I think I can bash them into picks. While I was looking at those, he disappeared into the back and came back out with this gravel tower. I didn't have the heart to ask how long he had had it. But he told me all the parts were there except for a metal pin, and offered it up really cheap.

I haven't played with it, but it uses no power or batteries. You take off the roof and fill it full of gravel, pull the level and the cart fills up and dumps its load in your car and then goes up to refill and repeat. It says it will do that until you push the lever off or the tower runs out. Not exactly what I was looking for in a coal tower, but just way to cool to pass up! The Cole's semi I found at a souvenir store on the River Walk, close to O Scale (maybe) but it has my last name. It was the last Cole on the rack, so it came home with me!

This Loco I got at my local train store. It has sounds and blue tooth and was priced right. I found a thread about the Loco #99 that was about Lionel making these in the 90's as a no-name line. They were to be sold as premiums to corporations for rewards, give aways, etc. Apparently, they flopped. But it is a nice running loco. I can easily name it ... I see a fantasy railroad in my future layout and Utopia!

Also, it is my first "new" train purchase! I think someone once said revery train empire starts with one Locomotive and Tender!

Just won this off eBay, from an Army Plymouth DDT switcher:

I finally found a Rock Island caboose at a resonable price. It's a Lionel and I purchased it from a OGR member thanks Don and OGR for the use of Wanted To Buy.

This green 9122 just showed up this morning.  The trailers have the green sleeves just like the gray trailers on the brown 9122.

I read that there is a brown 9120.  The hunt continues.

Harold

Found this beautiful Weaver 50' Saskatchewan grain hopper at an antique store on I-94 in Fergus Falls, MN  (spoiler alert - the Falls no longer exist - ****ed up over 100 yrs ago)   Anyway I asked the shop owner if he had any train stuff and he showed me a shelf or two of model trains in the back room, MTH, Lionel & KLine, mostly NIB.  He had just brought some in to try out in the store & then he mentions that he has a "semi-trailer" full of trains that he'd like to sell !!  It wasn't on the premises, but I told him it's a great time to sell trains...

The rest of the story, when I opened up the Weaver box at home, there is the original sales receipt from 1993 !   I masked off the buyer's name but does anyone else remember Anthony Dudynski Supply ?

Rich in SD   

A few weeks ago I picked up a 1946 set with a 1666 and 4 cars.  I finished cleaning it up today and gave it a few laps.  It was run hard but in decent shape, just real dirty.   The highlight of the set is the nicest all-metal Postwar caboose I’ve ever seen.

Trestleking writes:

The rest of the story, when I opened up the Weaver box at home, there is the original sales receipt from 1993 !   I masked off the buyer's name but does anyone else remember Anthony Dudynski Supply ?

I remember the name but not specifics. I remember buying several items from him, and from Genco Trains. Genco was also located in NYC area.

Trestleking - “ I masked off the buyer's name but does anyone else remember Anthony Dudynski Supply ?”

Rich, yes I remember Anthony Dudynski. He was a valued vendor at METCA shows in Broad Channel and Howard Beach, Queens NY. He was always a gentleman. A vivid memory of the one show we had in Broad Channel. I got there early to set things up; but Anthony was already there, standing outside his van seemingly staring into space. I walked over to him said good morning and asked if was ok. He replied did you ever see such a beautiful sunrise? I turned around to see the sun coming up across the bay with the silhouette of the subway trestle. Sometime after that he stopped coming to shows and couldn’t be contacted. I never knew what happened to him. Thanks for the memories.

I was going to custom build a standing shelving unit for the train room near the layout. But after checking out the increased prices at Home Depot for finished boards and even basic pine boards, I opted for a screw-together shelving unit from Wayfair. It was easy to assemble and does the job, for less than half of what it would have cost me to build one from scratch. Oops. Looks like I need to move that illuminating "Rosie's Diner" picture off to the right a little bit.

@pennsyfan posted:

Trestleking - “ I masked off the buyer's name but does anyone else remember Anthony Dudynski Supply ?”

Rich, yes I remember Anthony Dudynski. He was a valued vendor at METCA shows in Broad Channel and Howard Beach, Queens NY. He was always a gentleman. A vivid memory of the one show we had in Broad Channel. I got there early to set things up; but Anthony was already there, standing outside his van seemingly staring into space. I walked over to him said good morning and asked if was ok. He replied did you ever see such a beautiful sunrise? I turned around to see the sun coming up across the bay with the silhouette of the subway trestle. Sometime after that he stopped coming to shows and couldn’t be contacted. I never knew what happened to him. Thanks for the memories.

I never got to meet him but I do remember buying some of his Weaver custom-runs.  So much of "model trains" is the good people we get to meet or interact with. Thks.

Rich in SD

These arrived today:

If any of you remember my post about "Joe Cool" back on page 281, here is the result of that build. Contrary to what the box top says, some painting IS required (I did more painting than required) and I had to come up with a fix in order to get the thing to run correctly, but, I won't go into that here. If anyone is in need of the fix, drop me a line and I will be glad to share.

Way Cool! (Pun intened) ;p)

Lionel 17157 Wonder Bread ACF 3 bay hopper.  I believe Lionel released this in 2010. 

Neal Jeter

@Big Jim posted:

If any of you remember my post about "Joe Cool" back on page 281, here is the result of that build. Contrary to what the box top says, some painting IS required (I did more painting than required) and I had to come up with a fix in order to get the thing to run correctly, but, I won't go into that here. If anyone is in need of the fix, drop me a line and I will be glad to share.

You have to mount that in a gondola full of "water" and pull it behind an aquarium car.

Hi Lionlman,  I believe Wonder Bread was made in Buffalo NY . Are there any references to Buffalo on the side plate?

Attached is a photo of the abandoned Wonder Bread bakery located in Buffalo NY.  I believe there was a segment about Wonder Bread on the History Channel.

Wonder Bread had a hugh bakery in Queens NY. It originated in Indianapolis, Indiana

https://en.m.wikipedia.org › wiki

If I'm buying bread in the grocery store, it's always Wonder Bread.  My wife was shopping one time and picked up a loaf for me (she only wants brownish bread that tastes like sawdust).  A young guy was stacking the shelves next to her and said "That's the best bread.".

Didn't early TV spots for them feature "The Wonderbread Express"? I seem to remember a Lionel train running around while the announcer pushed the bread to us kids.

Couldn't find that commercial on UTube but did come across an HO set decorated as a Wonderbread Express Mehano HO Wonderbread Express

Amtrack5899:

There is no reference to Buffalo on the car.

Neal Jeter

Hey, it's not even winter and I got a new set of jumper cables!

They replaced my old defibrillator, two leads to the heart, with a new pacer/defibrillator with three leads to the heart.

Got to laugh to maintain some sense of normalcy, beats the **** out of letting it depress you. Besides, if you can't laugh at yourself what can you laugh at?

Have a great day and play safe.

Today a friend came over to my home and gave me 2 signs, I love the older Lionel and American Flyer memorabilia, I purchased 1,  the one with 6 Lionel engines under the bridge with Lionel above I bought for $5 at the last train meet. I think the one I bought was similar to the front cover of the 1952 Lionel catalog. Either way, one man’s junk so to speak is another man’s treasure. He goes to Sunday school with us and knew I loved toy trains. Happy Railroading Everyone

I just went through the $70 off offer email  from Mr Muffins Trains.
I took advantage of the offer but in doing so thought about a long standing thorn in my side.  Nothing to do with Mr Muffin!

Why do all the manufacturers focus on army equipment? Hello! There are 5 other services!

I have the Lionel subs and propeller car; as well as boxcars produced by TCA and METCA. Thanks Stu. That pales in comparison to all the army equipment out there.

I did find a surprise in Mr Muffins offer. A flag boxcar with a Navy Anchor.

USNR ADR2 Aircrew

@pennsyfan posted:

I just went through the $70 off offer email  from Mr Muffins Trains.
I took advantage of the offer but in doing so thought about a long standing thorn in my side.  Nothing to do with Mr Muffin!

Why do all the manufacturers focus on army equipment? Hello! There are 5 other services!

I have the Lionel subs and propeller car; as well as boxcars produced by TCA and METCA. Thanks Stu. That pales in comparison to all the army equipment out there.

I did find a surprise in Mr Muffins offer. A flag boxcar with a Navy Anchor.

USNR ADR2 Aircrew

I agree. As a 24 year veteran of the US Air Force, why is it almost always Army, Army, Army?

Over the years there have been other services rolling stock, but it's really far and few in between.

If my inventory database is correct, I have 16 US Air Force items, one US Army, and seven Department of Defense items.

Guys...the answer to your question on "Why Army" may lie in the prototype world.  The Air Force (I am a 38 year veteran) does not move much equipment by rail.  We always either flew the equipment (and the airplanes) to the new base and then moved it by truck.  The Navy, similarly, does not move by rail, its equipment (ships, subs, etc) despite Lionel's fantasy with a "submarine car",  is too big to move by rail unless its components to the ship yard (like the ships propeller).  The Army however including both soldiers and most of its equipment moves by rail.  The other big rail user for military purposes, is the Merchant Marine.  My son, a Merchant seaman during the Gulf war, described how they used to pull trains of loaded equipment right up to ship side at Terminal Island, Fla and then load the ships...his ship got an award for carrying the largest number of helicopters in one load at that time.

@leapinlarry :  Those are really cool signs.  You are correct that Lionel sign is the cover of the 1952 catalog.  The American Flyer signs are two different eras.  The first is pre war 1920's and shows the # 4687 locomotive and President's special set.  Some, not all of these sets were chrome plated .  The second, I believe, is a post war S gauge set.

Well best wishes to All

Don

Don, nice explanation. Makes all the sense in the world.

@Doug W. posted:

Hey, it's not even winter and I got a new set of jumper cables!

They replaced my old defibrillator, two leads to the heart, with a new pacer/defibrillator with three leads to the heart.

Got to laugh to maintain some sense of normalcy, beats the **** out of letting it depress you. Besides, if you can't laugh at yourself what can you laugh at?

Have a great day and play safe.

You're still here to tell us about it.

That's a win in my book. Wishing you a speedy recovery Doug.

Bob

“The Navy, similarly, does not move by rail,”
Don, perhaps you should look up Naval Weapons Stations and see how they transport the weapons from the interior to off shore loading.

Train related - Are there soldering gun collectors out there ??? - what is a mint / still sealed 😳 Weller 8200 kit going for ??? - it’s never been opened - crazy

I’ve got another 8200 I’ve using forever - not sure what to do with this one

Thanks

Joe S

@dorfj2 posted:

Train related - Are there soldering gun collectors out there ??? - what is a mint / still sealed 😳 Weller 8200 kit going for ??? - it’s never been opened - crazy

I’ve got another 8200 I’ve using forever - not sure what to do with this one

Thanks

Joe S

You've got two hands, don't you??????

Great find. Put it on the shelf, one day you may need it.

It’s fun having stuff like that. Just hold on to it.

I recently bought from Golden Gate Depot the 3L Virginian 130 ton battleship gondola with coal load

I picked up this 52 footer made by Pecos River from Forum sponcor Trainz. It's a Kansas City Southern double door Auto boxcar  Since my era is 1970 and the built date was 1941, I removed the Automobile and weathered it to look older.

Picked this up this week:

Although it's rated at only 2 amps, it'll run any Flyer or Standard Gauge engines I've tried so far.

Mark in Oregon

EDIT: Since this got 6 "likes" (way more than I would have thought), I should probably mention how good this also works with actual DC-powered stuff; that "load compensator" switch is pretty handy. 😁

I picked up some postal vehicles that I'm really excited about. The Dodge Rams were always easy to come by but the only step vans out there were the hard-to-find K-Line models. The K-Line models are often on eBay for $100 now (they were initially $10).  Greenlight finally makes a step van for all your "last mile" deliveries.

I picked up this pile of cr$& from a resident in my community.
The Evans loader, helium car, target launcher, caboose, and gang car are excellent with a few  problems. Need a target, men on gang car. The plow has broken window struts and a loose plow. The 736 is locked up  it’s not out of Qtr, so I’ll be taking that apart. The rocket launcher has broken railings and the launch mechanism appears to have a problem. May be heading for the junk pile in the back. The cherry picker is missing the end. The F3 is real mess, don’t know if the shell will clean up enough to be repainted. It would be a shame since it’s got the screens. Good news is no battery damage. It will be my first endeavor with horizontal driveshafts. There’s a box of parts envelopes and buttons.

Bob sent you an email. Please read before tossing anything

George

George,

Got it, I’ll let you know.

@pennsyfan posted:

I picked up this pile of cr$& from a resident in my community.
The Evans loader, helium car, target launcher, caboose, and gang car are excellent with a few  problems. Need a target, men on gang car. The plow has broken window struts and a loose plow. The 736 is locked up  it’s not out of Qtr, so I’ll be taking that apart. The rocket launcher has broken railings and the launch mechanism appears to have a problem. May be heading for the junk pile in the back. The cherry picker is missing the end. The F3 is real mess, don’t know if the shell will clean up enough to be repainted. It would be a shame since it’s got the screens. Good news is no battery damage. It will be my first endeavor with horizontal driveshafts. There’s a box of parts envelopes and buttons.

WOW! That is rough......

As Bob mentioned that F3 is rough. However, it could be incorporated into an engine repair facility scene. It wouldn’t need to be weathered.

Jay

Picked these up at CVS for $7 each.  They are labeled 1/48 scale which seems correct.  They also ad a red one. Front and rear doors open, sliders do not.  There is a small stack of boxes in the rear.

This is a fun thread.  I found this yesterday morning on Facebook marketplace in my city. A full set of 1957 Lady Lionel girls train. Unfortunately the loco was spray painted mostly black but the rest of the set is original. We have two little girls so they are very happy about the pink train. I posted in another thread about getting the black paint off/ potentially repainting but thought I’d share this find here. It’s particularly a rare find as I’m located in Canada in an area with very limited O gauge so I wish I knew more about the history. Anyways, here it is!

Before thinking about trying to remove the paint you should try to find out if what you have is a dealer repaint. According to the Greenberg guide to Lionel Trains 1945-1969 pp. 60 "Lionel marketing efforts suffered a slight setback in 1957 when the pastel Girl's Set was rejected by both girls and boys. In fact, many engines ended up being repainted black by dealers so they could be sold."

  The problem is - I have no idea how you would go about determining if what you have is a dealer repaint.

Hmm, interesting point Robert.  Maybe I'll see if what info I can find online.

https://ogrforum.com/...5#162898447532646975

Great find! Good for you!

https://ogrforum.com/...2#162757710024095142
That’s a good buy; but too new for me. Although I used a similar one to show my Wife’s cousin’s business.

I got the Lionel 68 Executive Inspection Car on Stout Auctions.  I've been cleaning it up, inside and out.  I replaced the 50s era pin bulbs with warm white and red LEDs, and reduced the light leakage.  I had to replace the windows since they were scratched and the reversing knob on top since the silver was worn off.  Luckily the car body and bumpers were in really good shape.  It was a true 'growler', but a little bit of grease and oil the right places made it hum.  I imagine it's no louder than the DeSoto it was modeled after.

This was a difficult piece to work on, so I'm hoping I don't have to crack it open for awhile.