Guys the NASA cars are really neat.  I worked for NASA just before retiring but all I have so far is the white tank car.  I can see I am way behind!   Today, I have some new die cast autos that I encountered in my favorite supply places...Walgreens Drug Store and this time Ace Hardware.  They fit my era, late 50's and early 60's so I had to purchase them.

A 1957 Corvette with the (optional at that time) removable hard top - basic cars were all roadsters.  Walgreens @ $5.99

A 1957 Chevy Bel-Arie 2 door hard top  Wargreens @ $5.99

A VW multi window bus from Ace Hardware 1/40 scale at $9.99

The Chevy's didn't have a scale on the car but by comparison I would estimate about 1/43 or so.  Yes I Know, the Vette and Chevy are the same color...they didn't have any other colors so that was it.  So It was a great day at the auto supplier.

Best Wishes

Don

Don,

Great cars.  If the Bel Air is a Kinsmart, the one I got at MY favorite auto dealer (CVS) has a paper sticker that says 1:34-40. So even the mfgr couldn’t make up their mind 🙂.  Good call on that one with your 1:40.

TRRR

@TomlinsonRunRR-hey thanks for your comment on the scale. I didn’t think it was too far off but it’s good to confirm.

Best wishes

Don

I recently stumbled across this Lionel No. 18753 North Pole Express RS-3, and received it a couple days ago. Paid more than I would have liked (how often does that happen?!), but these are extremely hard to find. To me, at least, these engines are the most attractively decorated holiday diesel engines that have been made to date by any manufacturer. Equipped with dual vertical can motors, like the LionChief Plus engines.

@Don McErlean posted:

Today, I have some new die cast autos that I encountered in my favorite supply places...Walgreens Drug Store and this time Ace Hardware.

A VW multi window bus from Ace Hardware 1/40 scale at $9.99

Don

Don, I don't see that VW bus listed anywhere at the Ace Hardware site. Where did you find it?

I picked mine up and it's fantastic. Great colors, see through roof walk just amazing detail. This is as nice as the Atlas O or Lionels newer 50 footers of which I have several but much cheaper. They still have some left 2 road #s.

@breezinup. The cars were just in a floor rack to the side of the main aisle Maybe that offering was just unique to my local store?  

Don

Despite what some may have said my will power has been strong. I stuck to my all mightily list!  

2 B&O ore cars

3 b&o fish belly hoppers

1 WM fish belly hopper

1 Santa Fe post war refer repo

3 4.5 fastrack

going to get the bickles pup trailer tomorrow and on the hunt for a non bay window b&o caboose… and and b&o t1 (vandy tender only as that’s what is on the list!)  

@Don McErlean posted:

@breezinup. The cars were just in a floor rack to the side of the main aisle Maybe that offering was just unique to my local store?  

Don

Thanks, Don. I'll check it out. If my Ace doesn't have it, I see they're available from other vendors, too.

@breezinup posted:

Glad you found the engine. Those GP7s are pretty cool though, with their dual headlight clusters (one cluster with two headlights and the other cluster with a MARS light and a red emergency flashing light) and yellow roof strobe. It's a real light show. If a light board goes out, though, show's over; they've been unavailable for quite a while now, as you say. Not to mention the old Legacy boards now being gone.

Thanks breez. The early Legacy GP7 is still going strong for now. I got the later Legacy (2012) GP9 as a back-up, in case the 7 peters out and becomes a shelf queen. 😉

@Dave Ripp. posted:

I picked mine up and it's fantastic. Great colors, see through roof walk just amazing detail. This is as nice as the Atlas O or Lionels newer 50 footers of which I have several but much cheaper. They still have some left 2 road #s.

Dave,

Who manufactured this car? Thanks in advance.

Mike

@Yellowstone Special posted:

Thanks breez. The early Legacy GP7 is still going strong for now. I got the later Legacy (2012) GP9 as a back-up, in case the 7 peters out and becomes a shelf queen. 😉

That's a good idea. I liked that GP7 enough that I picked up a second one when I came across it a number of years ago, also as a backup. (I heard years ago, in a conversation with Mike Reagan, no less, about the light boards no longer being available.) If one of the 7s goes out, I may turn it into a dummy unit, depending on what goes wrong.

got the Lionel Set #2123060 Hallow's Eve Express LionChief set in the other day - she's spooktacular! :-)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...el=EdwardBettinaBerg

I did okay at York over the last two days. Picked up a ps 2.0 railing mikado and a couple of diecast chessie ore cars, all at decent prices. In a more boring note picked up a couple of BCRs from the nice folks who own it.

Of course there were the ones I had to let go,an old time MTH New York Central 4-4-0; and a Blue Comet set that really caught my eye. ( Maybe next time).

Williams 44 Tonner ATSF purchased from forum - love this little engine!

Horn is great and diesel sounds are good, canʻt figure out the bell yet - rings randomly.

I just bought a book on cabooses, a recent "Trains"/ Kalmbach book ,Carl Byron with Don Heimberger that, "Guide to North America Cabooses", unlike  some that just have a few recent caboose photos in color, has many period photos of a great variety, including many of the oddballs.  Text has many explanations, and anecdotes.  And told me that cabooses were used extensively later than l thought, and a few still are.  Definitely adds to my knowledge of cabooses of many roads., and this is not my first caboose book! Also means l should have hunted cabooses to photo back when l hunted stations.

@Kelunaboy posted:

Williams 44 Tonner ATSF purchased from forum - love this little engine!

Horn is great and diesel sounds are good, canʻt figure out the bell yet - rings randomly.

Nice zebra stripe paint job. These William's locos are very nice.

@Ulus Ekerman posted:

Nice, very nice.  Where did you find the custom loads?  Did you paint them or were they already painted in Army green?

I bought all the different diecast vehicles online and loaded them on MTH flat cars Nothing was painted on the last video I uploaded

I bought these passenger cars last month, thought i would share the video.

Bought the yard light at York and picked up the gantry crane from Trainz at York which I pre-purchased and they brought with them.

@Ulus Ekerman posted:

I bought these passenger cars last month, thought i would share the video.

Love this Milwaukee Road passenger setup. Thank you for posting this video.  I have both engines except I run them with Lionel's 18" aluminum cars.  After watching your video, I'm now encouraged to get my setup running at the club. 

I run them at my local club too, nice to hear you will too👍

I had a great York,

Here is part of my haul:

American Flyer #22093 350 Watt "pancake" transformer, totally refurbished. It is the only one I saw in 2 days of bandit meets and 2 days at the Fairgrounds:

3 Post War 2400 series green/grey passenger cars. SOMEONE TOLD ME THAT A 4th ADD ON CAR WAS MADE AT THAT TIME - IS THIS TRUE? I Still have to clean these guys up but they are perfect.

I thought I had all of the Lionel Giraffe cars (both Post War and modern era) but I didn't have this "hard to find" green #3376. The blue is common. Anyone else have one? Just curious.

I bought these three because they were so nice that I thought they'd be upgrades for the ones I already had. Still need to be cleaned up a bit. Turns out that they are in the same condition as the ones I had. Oh Well, I'll keep the boxes and list these here for sale in the next couple of days:

While at the York TCA meet this past Thursday and Friday I picked up the MTH Railking Long Island Railroad 4 bay cylindrical hopper car from Just Trains.Other than that,I did not pick up much else but still had a good time.

Bought all new 031 profile Menards track. The 2 outers are 054 and third one in is 031 curve. The inner is 027 I already had. First impressions are good on this track. It's nice and holds together well. Magnatraction engines hold well too. It's nice to have brand new track.

@Donnie Kennedy posted:

Bought all new 031 profile Menards track. The 2 outers are 054 and third one in is 031 curve. The inner is 027 I already had. First impressions are good on this track. It's nice and holds together well. Magnatraction engines hold well too. It's nice to have brand new track.

Looks great Donnie - Fun stuff

Lately, well TH/FR/SA...

Yes, I got my Blue Comet. I didn't find the Lionel Legacy one but this one made me happy. I had fun. I only got through 2 buildings. The Rio Grande was an impulse, I saw it, someone else was looking, and I pulled the trigger. I had to keep telling myself to stop looking at engines.

Bought all of this stuff at the York meet. Had to fix one or two small broken or loose parts but that's not a big deal.

@TimMacPA posted:

Lately, well TH/FR/SA...

I had to keep telling myself to stop looking at engines.

Tim;

Yeah… from personal experience, good luck with that

That’s quite the haul!!!

P.S. your Rio Grand set looks fantastic. I recently picked up a similar (very heavy) Union Pacific set.

@WildTrainLines posted:

Bought all of this stuff at the York meet. Had to fix one or two small broken or loose parts but that's not a big deal.

Nice find on that Lionel no. 14540 Rio Grande sounds F3 B unit. Not that many of them around, and most always on the pricey side.

At York last week I bought a really nice 140 banjo signal boxed with instructions for only 20.00 dollars !

and also two New York Central locomotives one is a Lionel and the other is MTH from two different eras.

Guys you really hauled it in at York.  Wish I could have been there but its over 1000 miles away so that means airplanes, hotel rooms and rental cars which does not leave much money for trains !    @Lionelski - I checked my reference material and it does not seem that any 4th car was made in the green/yellow scheme, at least not by the original Lionel folks in 1948-49.  I suppose there could be a reproduction or a re-issue by one of the later Lionel licensee's but I am not aware of it. OBTW you and @WildTrainLines_ - have "record" hauls based on publication in the forum.  Beautiful trains all, best of luck with them.

@Donnie Kennedy - I also used Menards tubular track on my whole layout.  It was that or using old stuff or Lionel fastrack and I agree I found it a great product.  I only have 0-31 and 0-27 but its held up well over the 2 years since I installed it.

Good luck with your new trains everyone

Don

@WildTrainLines posted:

Bought all of this stuff at the York meet. Had to fix one or two small broken or loose parts but that's not a big deal.

WOW.........,.Ill have to get a rich uncle somewhere.

Nice haul.

OK ... I cannot even come close to some of the new purchases that some of you have made at York.  So how about a little purchase I just made, because I thought it was "cool" even though it only cost $23 plus S&H.  This is a Schilling plastic train, offered in the toy train market in 1948 and at least till 1949 (I have advertisements from '48 & '49).  Its interesting and it stems from an era in which parents, esp Mom's, did not take all that comfortably with a toy that PLUGGED IN THE WALL!!  So Schilling offered this neat little 0 gauge train, which used 3 rail track with center line pick up just like your Lionel.  However it got its power from a power supply that consisted of 4 "D" batteries connected to the track with a connector and the voltage varied with a handle to control speed and like most HO equipment polarity determined direction.  I don't think many different trains were ever made, the advertisements I have all picture the same train.  Red locomotive, Blue tender, and Yellow passenger cars.  The train can "couple" automatically but you have to use the lever's in the roof to uncouple.  The loco can move forward or reverse.  The loco is about 5 1/2 " long and the tender and passenger cars about 5".

IAW the advertisements I have from the Midwest Toy Mart, 549 Lake St , Chicago Ill in 1948 th is train including 8 curved, 4 straight tracks, and the "remote control" for speed and direction sold for $12.95 (Not so cheap, inflated to 2022 it comes to $151.64).  From the same store, in 1949 it cost 5 cents more at $13.00.  The track looks just like Lionel 3 rail track and the gauge of that track fits perfectly.

Well that's my "York" like buy this week.  Best Wishes

Don

I managed to squeeze in 2 hours at York on Thursday on our way to a weekend wedding in NJ and picked up an Atlas Montana Rail Link extended vision caboose. It was fun to find something of interest that I don't see for sale very often.  I don't think there is a lot of Montana Rail Link scale rolling stock around, but with the caboose and a covered hopper on pre-order I'm up to 5 items to pull behind a MTH Premier GP9. Just enough to remind us of our many trips to Montana.

(10/26 Note: some of the pics are acting up and refusing to display. I'll be re-inserting them tonight)

(10:27 Note: Re-uploaded/inserted the troublesome pics)

Weelll...

Thursday morning, and the "First Rule of York" was in full effect. Stopping over at Uncle Jack's Trains, I spotted these MTH Santa Fe coaches and made my first purchase:

All three are production samples, as shown by the underside photos below. Sleeper and diner "Blue Heron" are from the 20-66087 add-on set catalogued in 2006 V1. The "Colorado River" observation is from the 20-65079 smooth-side set catalogued in 2005 V2. Somehow I didn't notice till resizing the original 5300-pixel (Galaxy Note 4) photos that the observation was smooth-sided

Above: production sample markings.

Below: a pair of Menards tankers. These UTLX modern cars sold out before I could place my "bunch of stuff" order on Menards' site, but a regular dealer who carries lots of their product had some left that I promised to buy the following morning as I spotted them as the halls were closing Thursday. "Dealer packs" don't come with the cardboard boxes, just the clamshell packaging in the shipping carton, but said dealer had extras stacked on the side and was able to provide a couple in order to keep the clamshells from getting mangled on the trip home.

Above: Also a Kusan "Kusan Railroad" boxcar. I have the yellow one, and spotted this red version in Blue Hall later that day. The seller said he had just put that one out in a tray with 3 other Kusan cars, which I might've bought had I been sure I didn't have them already. Funny thing is, the yellow one I own I had noticed (and passed over) in a tray at Neely's display in Purple Hall for several Yorks before I knew enough about Kusan to pick it up (following my acquisition of some K-series boxcars in an estate sale)

Below: Same day, same tour of Blue Hall...One can never have enough sinister-looking black tank cars. This one's car number being "6666" was icing on the cake. The seller had a good chuckle when I pointed this out to him --he had never noticed it It's the 20-96717 from 2015 V2.

Below: Saturday early afternoon and the dealers in Orange Hall are starting to pack up. I visited JustTrains's booth for a good look-around, and I spot another chrome tanker I didn't know about. Of course it came home with me, the 30-73544 Chateau Martin from 2019 V1.

With the two chrome boxcars this takes my "Chrome Train" to 39 cars. I'll quit at 40 (promise!). I know about the Coors Light and Harley Davidson ones, but am considering Lionel's Shell chrome tanker from 2001. I saw one in White hall, but the chrome had what looked like water spots all over it, and it didn't appear to have a box (though I hadn't asked). The three examples I saw on Ebay have either scratched chrome, a mangled box, and a poor photo of the car bagged-in-box that doesn't show the condition of the body.

(Edit 11/4/22): I now have the Shell car, in perfect condition thanks to a fellow Forumite

One item I probably should have picked up was a Lionel "K-Lionel" boxcar I saw in Orange hall during the end-of-Saturday tour. It would have made a nice transition piece in my "O-Gauge industry" photo freight.

_{(Nav links redacted...Forum rule disallows crosslinking one's posts within a thread)}

---PCJ

@taycotrains

Nice looking Engines Bob! As common as they are finding the banjo in that complete condition and price is definitely a score.

@taycotrains posted:

also two New York Central locomotives one is a Lionel and the other is MTH from two different eras.

Nice looking engine purchases Bob.

The F unit green NYC is different from what I am used to seeing but it sure makes a really handsome looking locomotive.

@taycotrains posted:

two New York Central locomotives one is a Lionel and the other is MTH from two different eras.

Good looking engines Bob.

That GREEN NYC  F  unit is different than what I am used to seeing but it certainly is a really handsome looking locomotive.

@pennsyfan posted:

@taycotrains

Nice looking Engines Bob! As common as they are finding the banjo in that complete condition and price is definitely a score.

Thanks Bob ! Sometimes it’s the little things that make it all worthwhile !

@Dallas Joseph posted:

Good looking engines Bob.

That GREEN NYC  F  unit is different than what I am used to seeing but it certainly is a really handsome looking locomotive.

Thanks Joseph…when I saw it I had to have it ! I was broke on Saturday but my good freind lent me the money.

Wow, there were some great buys at York, probably many more than we will ever hear about, but here in the OGR Forum, a member had a good offering of Atlas O billboard reefers and other really nice freight cars, at a “buy now” price. I picked out 9 cars and they are nice, fun to run cars. Thank you Bruce…. Happy Railroading Everyone

@taycotrains posted:

At York last week I bought a really nice 140 banjo signal boxed with instructions for only 20.00 dollars !

and also two New York Central locomotives one is a Lionel and the other is MTH from two different eras.

In the past, I always stayed away from the NYC green E-8 until I saw your purchase.  The engine looks great.  Now I'm sorry I pasted it up.  Thanks for posting..

@FrankRazz posted:

In the past, I always stayed away from the NYC green E-8 until I saw your purchase.  The engine looks great.  Now I'm sorry I pasted it up.  Thanks for posting..

Frank when those came out we had two kids in college so they were out of the question…I’m glad I got another chance at them !

Bought two more of the ubiquitous LIONEL TCA aluminum passenger cars on eBay:  the RPO car (which I believe is unique to this set) and an extra full length dome bringing the total to 8, including the six acquired at York.

I bought a collection of stuff. Shell gas station with moving car from Railking, Esso station from Lionelville,non active station, UP burro train and cars, k line dairyman’s league building and car, Lionel lighted yard tower, MTH water tower, and union city bank. New old stock except dairy league building. ALL boxed included. Found it semi local as I drove a couple of hours in traffic through LA. Saved shipping but paid for my gas and driving time. Fun and an adventure.

me

I bought a K-Line WM Chessie caboose and an MTH RS-11 at York. My first new train purchases in about 2 years.

@vash44 posted:

Started to unbox some Atlas containers. Ordered benchwork and am ready to start putting together my intermodal yard.

WHOA!! Are those all shipping containers in the blue boxes? I can’t wait to see that yard when it’s done.

I just received my custom-run 2-8-0 from MrMuffin's/Harry Heike earlier today - an N&W 2-8-0 class W2. I posted about it here, and I'll insert one of the photos.

I also picked up a supposedly-new 3rd Rail PRR 2-10-0 with the coast-to-coast tender. Everyone is probably quite familiar with the model, however this one is special to me because it is my very first Pennsy engine. No pictures right now as it is still in its box, maybe I'll dig it out later.

@Pingman posted:

Bought two more of the ubiquitous LIONEL TCA aluminum passenger cars on eBay:  the RPO car (which I believe is unique to this set) and an extra full length dome bringing the total to 8, including the six acquired at York.

Nice Carl

I like these cars and they are so inexpensive. I've been thinking of buying them, removing the TCA lettering, and replacing it with "The Milwaukee Road".

The car colors are right

@leapinlarry posted:

Wow, there were some great buys at York, probably many more than we will ever hear about, but here in the OGR Forum, a member had a good offering of Atlas O billboard reefers and other really nice freight cars, at a “buy now” price. I picked out 9 cars and they are nice, fun to run cars. Thank you Bruce…. Happy Railroading Everyone

Nice haul leapinlarry. I bought a similar amount of rolling stock from Bruce in September - mix of scale MTH, Atlas, K-Line - all in great condition. Best purchase of the year.

I picked up an MPC Era JLC engine along with the matching display case for $80. My first engine with working SOS sounds, I kind of like it the analog sounds. I'm using the display case for my grandfather's 226e that I've inherited.

@SusieQ posted:

Dave,

Who manufactured this car? Thanks in advance.

Mike

Sorry for the delayed answer, it's made by MTH Trains.

Put this in your search bar.

**ARRIVED** Custom Run Premier 50' PS-1 Boxcars - Elgin Joliet & Eastern "EJ&E" from Berwyn's Toys and Trains!

Barn find and road trip to pick up and bring home an American Flyer  1953 factory dealer display layout #150

The weak point in my inventory has been freight cars.  Over the past year, forumites have been offering some nice, full O-scale cars at good prices.  While nothing I''ve acquired has been "exceptional", I'm quite pleased with the inventory acquired to date.

@Lionelski posted:

Nice Carl

I like these cars and they are so inexpensive. I've been thinking of buying them, removing the TCA lettering, and replacing it with "The Milwaukee Road".

The car colors are right

An added plus, the TCA observation car is similar to the MR's Skytop observation cars.

Thought these mid 90's NYC passenger cars go well with the 785

I saw this MTH Railking M60 Patton tank on flatcar at York on a layout in the Purple Hall, had to have it, I couldn’t find one in the halls, so I got home and found one on Ebay. It makes a nice addition to my military train.

Here is a Patton tank on the grounds of the Armed Forces Retirement Home in DC, the Trackers do a show there each Spring.

@Dennis Holler posted:

Barn find and road trip to pick up and bring home an American Flyer  1953 factory dealer display layout #150

Dennis,

  This reminds me of the All Aboard pre-fab American Flyer layout that snapped together, that of all people (surprisingly to me still!) that my mom had...

http://americanflyerexpress.co...og-X165-12-Pages.pdf

Hope you are well!

Tom

Hi Craig, I like your M60 on the flat. This is the type of tank that I used when I was in the Army. Suggestion is when a tank is on a flat cat the turret is turned around with the main gun facing backwards in a thing called a travel lock. This way when the tank is on the flat car the main gun does not get jarred around. Anyway it looks real good. The second photo with the camouflage reminds me of my tank in the service as we were doing camouflage test 1973. Brought back a lot of memories

@RonH posted:

Hi Craig, I like your M60 on the flat. This is the type of tank that I used when I was in the Army..... The second photo with the camouflage reminds me of my tank in the service as we were doing camouflage test 1973. Brought back a lot of memories

Thanks for your service, Ron. It's great to hear your first hand point of reference and insight as to how the tanks were transported.

@RonH posted:

Hi Craig, I like your M60 on the flat. This is the type of tank that I used when I was in the Army. Suggestion is when a tank is on a flat cat the turret is turned around with the main gun facing backwards in a thing called a travel lock. This way when the tank is on the flat car the main gun does not get jarred around. Anyway it looks real good. The second photo with the camouflage reminds me of my tank in the service as we were doing camouflage test 1973. Brought back a lot of memories

Ron,

Glad you like the tank. Thanks for the first hand tips. And thanks for your service.

I was running this train at the AFRH and noticed a veteran staring at the Sherman tank for twenty minutes or so, I went over to him and said “you really like that tank”. He opened up and told how he lied about his age, joined the Army underage at 15, and spent WW2 in a Sherman tank, stayed in after the war was over, he served in Korea, and Vietnam. He is now in his 90’s and looked like early 70’s. Remarkable.

I bought the two cars NIB from the Bay for a very reasonable price.  The Pennsy is a 6-17406 (made in the USA!), and the Borden is quite old.  It looks to actually be a Fundimension product.

On a somewhat related vein, in November Borden starts selling their egg nog.  Apparently the formulation for the Houston area is a bit different than the rest of the country, probably due to the local dairy that initially produced it and was bought by Borden.  It is the only brand of egg nog I buy.  In 2019 (I think) they modified the formulation to be the same as the rest of the country.  There was a significant outcry.  They changed the formula back before production ceased, and labeled the new containers as being 'original' or something.  Since then, the local plants have stuck with the original.  Frankly, egg nog is the last thing I should buy, but I buy a lot.  Oh well, it's only for a couple of months.

My York purchase finally arrived and I didn't even have to go to York this Fall.  One of the dealers posted, on FB, pictures of the engines he had on his table.  While going over the pictures, I spotted an MTH engine I've been looking for, an RK Imperial GS4 with Christmas lights.  A few messages between me and the seller and the engine was mine.  Now I can add this engine to my Christmas train that I run at the TMB open house. The Christmas train is the first train on the attached YouTube link.  The video was taken by one of the club members

https://youtu.be/IW_r4X-MdtQ

@texgeekboy posted:

I bought the two cars NIB from the Bay for a very reasonable price.  The Pennsy is a 6-17406 (made in the USA!), and the Borden is quite old.  It looks to actually be a Fundimension product.

On a somewhat related vein, in November Borden starts selling their egg nog.  Apparently the formulation for the Houston area is a bit different than the rest of the country, probably due to the local dairy that initially produced it and was bought by Borden.  It is the only brand of egg nog I buy.  In 2019 (I think) they modified the formulation to be the same as the rest of the country.  There was a significant outcry.  They changed the formula back before production ceased, and labeled the new containers as being 'original' or something.  Since then, the local plants have stuck with the original.  Frankly, egg nog is the last thing I should buy, but I buy a lot.  Oh well, it's only for a couple of months.

I bought the Bordan one new in the mid 70s. Nice car!

@Dave Ripp.,

I'm guessing the guy that sold it got it from an estate sale or store closing for next to nothing.  I got it for $23, and it was new.  The cellophane window on the box wasn't sealed well so over the years it had some dust accumulation, which I carefully removed.  I like it better than I thought I would.

Got this LTI mohawk on the Bay for a great price! Rebuilt the burnt out smoke unit. The LEDs were doa in the loco, so I just switched them over to regular bulbs for headlight and firebox. Gave her some tlc! Really enjoying scale sized LTI locos.

Today's show finds. On my second loop of the tables, I spied the 2343's, non powered is very clean, powered needs cleaned and polished, I think it will be nearly as nice as the non powered unit. Price tag said $50 for the pair. I couldnt find my wallet fast enough. The coaches I got toward the end of the show, super clean postwar 2500 series, $100 for all 3 cars. Very happy, seen lots of great deals on pre/post and modern era Lionel today.

@artfull dodger posted:

Today's show finds. On my second loop of the tables, I spied the 2343's, non powered is very clean, powered needs cleaned and polished, I think it will be nearly as nice as the non powered unit. Price tag said $50 for the pair. I couldnt find my wallet fast enough. The coaches I got toward the end of the show, super clean postwar 2500 series, $100 for all 3 cars. Very happy, seen lots of great deals on pre/post and modern era Lionel today.

Wow. That's a killer price for those postwar beauties. Have fun with them!

Thanks Donnie, I plan to, should look great pulling the coaches once I give them a trip thru the shops to clean and service the old girls.    AD

I finally opened up my Lionel Amtrak Heritage set...

Notice the domes are different on the new Phase III set from the old phase I set

Here is how they cleaned up, opened both up, tons of white mold on the inside and it looked like nobody had opened these up, if since new as there were no screw driver marks on any screws.  Both motors look new, little to no brush "dust" on the frames from running and brushes look new.  Even the motor slots were clean.  Powered up perfect with only occasionaly not going in reverse when I sequenced the E unit, but got better once a few cycles were done.  I try not to mess with E units if I dont have to.  A warm water bath and polish with genuine Pledge made the shells shiny again, if a bit faded on the black letters.  Still cannot believe they were so cheap.    AD

@artfull dodger posted:

Today's show finds. On my second loop of the tables, I spied the 2343's, non powered is very clean, powered needs cleaned and polished, I think it will be nearly as nice as the non powered unit. Price tag said $50 for the pair. I couldnt find my wallet fast enough. The coaches I got toward the end of the show, super clean postwar 2500 series, $100 for all 3 cars. Very happy, seen lots of great deals on pre/post and modern era Lionel today.

Where was the show? I'm West of you, West Lafayette.

Dennis, it was at the Miami Co fairgrounds in Peru Indiana.  They have 2 shows there now each year, fall and spring, usually just before or just after the York dates it seems.  Two buildings full of trains, sometimes even in the parking lot at the spring show.   AD

Got a few things within the past few days. Yard lights and rail yard master from Model Tech Studios. A 2 set locomotive work platform kit and mechanic figures.
Gene

well, I ordered this car from the TCA in 7/21 and the mailman surprised me with it yesterday. Cool great job Lionel & Tca !!

I missed out on ordering the quickcrete hopper. I thought I could pick one up at the tca museum area last week at york. All I seen was S gauge. Like Lou says keep searchin

Got the three USPS animated mail cars! And - all three have the mail bag; none missing.

9-9229:

6-9301:

6-26766:

Got 2 more Budweiser cars with the famous horses on them:

2228040:

2228050:

Now have a total of 10 cars (many have the horses on them).

Wonder if there's a Budweiser loco and caboose? Hmmmmmmmmm

I already posted this NIB Pennsy 6-17406.  I got some USS steel rolls to put inside to complete the look.

@paulp575 posted:

Wonder if there's a Budweiser loco and caboose? Hmmmmmmmmm

I believe lionel, mth, and kline have all done at least one.

As far as Budweiser engines and caboose like PRRick said many of the major players have done steam and diesel, modern and wooden cabooses.  Hit the Bay and search for Budweiser and Anheuser Busch.

Keeping in mind those it might offend, I scratched out a key element of this for the photo of a reproduction German WW2 railway belt buckle I just got:

Many of you know I do WW2 living history events wearing WW2 uniforms in displays with my collection and my 1944 Jeep. I had a German belt that I'd sometimes wear as GIs would sometimes wear them for extra space to hang gear and to look generally like a hardened soldier. It had a Luftwaffe buckle, and not long ago I realized there are some replica ones for the German railroad people. I ordered this from a vendor in Poland, for very little, paid no postage and got the thing in less than 10 days! Next time I wear my GI stuff, this is going on as well!

Nice find Lee! Also nice of you to think of those who might be offended! It's a new world but we also have to remember the past!

Good week for CN Heritage units

I bought this light up PRR sign at a train shop we were visiting.

Well crap. You have to write before loading a picture! Just got a 3D printer and a add on laser ingraver discounted with bundle. And two reels of plastic filament. Looks like a lot of parts to put together. Think I need fortification for this project.

@mike g. posted:

Nice find Lee! Also nice of you to think of those who might be offended! It's a new world but we also have to remember the past!

" those who don't remember the past are condemmed to repeat it "  ........... I remember seeing this on a large sign coming into town .     Seems like some haven't  seen it written anywhere Mike .

Got the new Lionel State of Maine New Haven Products boxcar, made a quick to share:

https://youtu.be/wcae4oMMbsY

@Dallas Joseph posted:

" those who don't remember the past are condemmed to repeat it "  ........... I remember seeing this on a large sign coming into town .     Seems like some haven't  seen it written anywhere Mike .

Guys, you are NOT going to find someone on this forum with a greater appreciation of American military history, especially for the 1940s, than myself.

But it's a matter of context. It would be wrong of me to post a photo of a swastika on a model train forum unannounced. Considering the age of a lot of people in the hobby, it could suddenly find itself in front of eyes that saw these symbols firsthand and witnessed those horrors in person, or saw/heard what it did to family members.

I love this forum and the magazine and the VERY LAST thing I want is someone faced with something like that, which they wouldn't have gone into the forum had they known might be there.

Great finds everyone! Looks like some had a great time down York. I haven’t posted my cool buys lately or York haul so here comes a few posts.

FALL YORK 2022 PURCHASES!

This was my second York I attended and I once again had a blast! My mom also once again tagged along for our traincation bonding so it’s now becoming a pleasant routine thing. She’s learning a bunch about trains and is actually pointing stuff out that I’m missing while in “my zone” walking the isles LoL. The staff at the registration desk were once again wonderful and we are both new TCA members. The halls seemed much more packed with buyers compared to the Spring. Especially on Friday, the parking lot seemed a lot more packed and stayed pretty full throughout the day. I once again only went Thursday and Friday due to running out of money. One of these Yorks I’ll make it to Saturday!  LoL!

Day one (Thursday) started with me waking up to find out I won on an eBay auction in which I was bidding on an item I’ve only come across once before. EBay doesn’t sleep during York week! LoL! (More details on that item once it arrives.) Then a two hour drive down to York after I emptied out the ATM. Once we got there, I began with meeting up with two fellow OGR members that I made purchases off of. Thanks again Nathan and Jim! Then as I mentioned above, we went and joined the TCA and purchased our tickets. I was able to navigate all the halls except half of the orange hall on day one. My purchases consisted of 13 Menards rolling stock, 1 Lionel boxcar, 6 Menards Dodge Power Wagons, 3 Lionelville Main Street buildings, and a refurbished ZW transformer with 2 year warranty along with a refurbished KW transformer with 2 year warranty. We also had lunch at the food cart by the white/red halls. Here’s photos of my Day one purchases.

Here’s all of day one!

Day two (Friday) started with us finishing out the rest of the orange hall. After that, I met with another OGR member that I was getting 3 FREE big boxes of empty Lionel and Menards boxes including a few empty Menards clamshells (plastic cartons). We also had a few rolling stock to exchange and he gave me a FREE hopper cover too. Thanks again John! Following that, we went back through all the halls and started negotiating on a few items I liked. I picked up the third and final Lionel reefer for the Hamm’s collection in memory of my late brother. I also grabbed 3 more Menards rolling stock, the MTH Old Line Flag Co. building, 3 MTH political rolling stock (one being my first purple box), and 4 boxcars from the Spirit of ‘76 collection. (If you can’t see the train car, then the box is empty. I also blocked out the political cars so let’s please leave it at that.) Here’s photos of my Day 2 purchase’s.
Here’s all of day 2!

And here’s my entire Fall York Haul!

I had an amazing second York experience! Everyone was friendly again and very helpful. I’m already starting to see familiar faces. My list had items crossed off but items also were added for future hunts. LoL. Another note was how magnificent the layouts were! There were more on display than in the Spring which was great! I’m hoping they continue to expand! I already could hardly wait until the spring meet next year!

Thank you to everyone in the EDTCA, volunteers, vendors, sellers, members, etc. that made all of this possible once again!!

Well I gave myself one day off from buying the Saturday after York but back at it again that Sunday! I met up with the gentleman (and his wife) that I’ve been purchasing all the Menards from. Really wonderful people! We met at the Tamaqua Train Station for brunch and to exchange these buildings in person so shipping didn’t bankrupt me. LoL! He also included 2 piggly wiggly pickup trucks and a military flat with Leopard tank. Thanks again Dean!

Now you’re probably wondering where these buildings are going to fit?! Well there’s another addition in the works! It’s only being planned out for now but once I start this expansion area, I’ll have photos with more updates.

The item I won while sleeping and resting up for the first day of York had arrived last week. It’s the MTH Pennsylvania Ticket Office. I’ve only come across this building one other time and missed out on it then. I’m really excited I got this crossed off my list.

My next new purchase was from the Trains,Die Cast Toys, & Railroad Memorabilia Show at the Taylor Fire Department in Taylor, PA. This was my second time attending this show and I really enjoy it. There’s seems to be always great deals at this show and people are very negotiable. It’s right up the road from me too so that’s a major bonus. I came across this Lionel Dale Earnhardt Sr. Boxcar and I knew I needed it despite never even knowing about it. The Intimidator was my family’s favorite driver back in the day. I honestly believe NASCAR hasn’t been the same ever since. RIP #3

That’s all for now. More packages from the Menards estate will start back up in a few weeks.

@p51 posted:

Guys, you are NOT going to find someone on this forum with a greater appreciation of American military history, especially for the 1940s, than myself.

But it's a matter of context. It would be wrong of me to post a photo of a swastika on a model train forum unannounced. Considering the age of a lot of people in the hobby, it could suddenly find itself in front of eyes that saw these symbols firsthand and witnessed those horrors in person, or saw/heard what it did to family members.

I love this forum and the magazine and the VERY LAST thing I want is someone faced with something like that, which they wouldn't have gone into the forum had they known might be there.

Being a student of history, I immediately knew what you blocked and I applaud your decision to do so. To this day, it is used as a symbol of hate which causes pain to many people, and, unfortunately encourages others - blocking it, if anything, shows a very deep understanding it’s history.

Yes, I purchased an older Lionel Legacy Classic diesel from a forum member, it came in packed well, runs well, looks great. I’ve tried to use the OGR Forum For Sale division  as my secondary market, it’s proven to work out just fine. Thank you Ted W. Happy Railroading Everyone

@PRRick posted:

I believe lionel, mth, and kline have all done at least one.

Is this the one that gores with this set: https://www.lionel.com/product...ief-et44-set-2023030 ?

I did a search of Lionel's website using the word "Budweiser" and that's the only loco I saw.

I also did a search for "Anheuser Busch" and came up with only 2 locos - both were parts of a set. Don't need any more rolling stock. Just looking for a loco and caboose.

I think they were all parts of sets. Your best bet would be ebay. I just looked (searched budweiser then filtered by category "model trains" then by gauge. There are several styles and choices for both units. I'd post links for you, but it's not permitted.

@p51 posted:

Guys, you are NOT going to find someone on this forum with a greater appreciation of American military history, especially for the 1940s, than myself.

But it's a matter of context. It would be wrong of me to post a photo of a swastika on a model train forum unannounced. Considering the age of a lot of people in the hobby, it could suddenly find itself in front of eyes that saw these symbols firsthand and witnessed those horrors in person, or saw/heard what it did to family members.

I love this forum and the magazine and the VERY LAST thing I want is someone faced with something like that, which they wouldn't have gone into the forum had they known might be there.

Lee, I appreciate you and all that you bring to this forum. Being a student of history(because of my 8th grade teacher), I enjoy anything that has come before me and is teachable as all things are. One thing I had found out about my mother's Uncle Ray which made me respect him even more was that he was a pilot, which I knew, but that he taught women how to fly the new airplanes being produced so that they in turn could fly them wherever they were needed across the country. He also met Albert Einstein when he was a young boy bagging groceries. There's a whole other list of things, but I don't even know them all.

Great picture of you BTW. I showed my coworkers and was explaining some of the most recent things you have posted here.

@PRRick posted:

I think they were all parts of sets. Your best bet would be ebay. I just looked (searched budweiser then filtered by category "model trains" then by gauge. There are several styles and choices for both units. I'd post links for you, but it's not permitted.

That's what I normally do - after narrowing it down to a couple choices - create saved searches on eBay.

When one comes up, I'll do a Google search to see if anyone else is offering it. I don't always pick the least expensive seller unless they are - to me - well known.

Got another “holy grail” checked off the list…

3rd Rail brass B&O I-5D

Something to go with my Fantasy ATSF SD70ACe. Now I have to get rid of one my my TTX units.

The new Lionel es44ac Legacy CN Veteran Unit #3015.

Sorry this is late, but here's my items that I picked up at York

I picked up this model labeled Martinsburg Coal Mine. It has been in storage under my layout for sometime. After hearing about Stu Gralnik and reviewing some of the models he built, I elected to send the mine to him for assembly. I thought it might be a bit over my head to assemble it and get it right. Attached are the finished pictures. I am very pleased with the construction and will be implementing it in in my coal mine area near Scranton, Pa section of the layout. It will undergo some heavy weathering to resemble an old coal mine still working.   Bill

Happy Friday to all!

I just received a shipment from The Western Depot in Northern California. I live in Silicon Valley just a 3 hour drive from Western Depot, so I received these USPS in 2 days. Nice!

I'm building a Southern Pacific freight consist and purchased these K-Line items. I must say, I miss K-Line! They made some great O scale and semi scale stuff, and these two items are an example.

Western Depot has plenty of these SP exclusive cabooses in 3 different road numbers, 1650, 1670, and 1690. These are also nicely detailed including underside storage boxes, metal chassis, metal sprung trucks, working smoke unit, two sitting figures, and lighted.

Flip side.

The hopper is diecast with a real coal load, like the box says. This car is hefty and nicely detailed, including opening dump doors and metal sprung trucks.

I picked these up today at the METCA / NYSME show  in East Rutherford NJ.
A fund raising boxcar by the NJ Railroad Police.
boxcar.

These two METCA exclusives. An Animal Crackers boxcar and a Rosie the Riveter boxcar.

Found this at a small train show in Highland Hts. OH yesterday, it is just like new in the box made by Winross. Also purchased a NYC flat car with trailer made by Lionel.

@p51 posted:

Guys, you are NOT going to find someone on this forum with a greater appreciation of American military history, especially for the 1940s, than myself.

       Lee , while this forum isn't a general topic site, it is very interesting to see the variety of people around the world who love this amazing hobby. 

Right on!!  BZ. Dallas

VR

Don

@pennsyfan posted:

I picked these up today at the METCA / NYSME show  in East Rutherford NJ.
A fund raising boxcar by the NJ Railroad Police.
boxcar.

Bob, Nice find. i had not seen this before.

Tom

Recently purchased a MTH reefer and with a provided idea and inspired by Whistler's (Mother) "Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1" painting, I came up with this.

Cancer Man's cigarette is a high light.

I didn't make it to York this year but I was able to take advantage of free shipping at Trainz.com to pick up some stuff.  I made a quick video of the stuff I picked

Some new rolling stock. Mth Premier Susie-Q, MS& L Norther Pacific Wood Chip Hopper, CB&Q Hopper, Santa Fe Hopper, Lionel DT&I, Atlas Trainman Penn Central. These were purchased over the last month. As always, a thanks to Berwyn's Trains who always has something I want.

I had preordered one of the MTH Norfolk & Western GP35s. I have always liked the look of this engine, but wanted one in NS livery and could never track one down. When the engine finally arrived I handed it off to a good friend and fellow club member, Jim Dorsett, to make the conversion. Now, the modifications done may not be completely prototypical, but Jim transformed this engine into an almost identical version of the one I was photographed in a couple years ago. To say I was blown away when I got my engine back is a complete understatement! He even painted a little conductor figure to look like me!

How the engine looked before

…AND AFTER!!

@ArtsModelTrains posted:

I didn't make it to York this year but I was able to take advantage of free shipping at Trainz.com to pick up some stuff.  I made a quick video of the stuff I picked

Sixteen minutes is quick?  Clearly, I don't understand the world of YT channels and generating clicks.

I bought yet another Atlas Trainman 60' coach off E-Bay the other week (Yes, I'm fond of them). This one was letttered CRRNJ,  I bought it because I distinctly remember one of the Santa Fe Southern's (ex ATSF Santa Fe-Lamy branch) coaches being lettered CRRNJ and remaining that way for several years. So despite the fact that my thoughts about this car have very little to do with New Jersey, this car makes me think about New Mexico.

The Fall beat goes on as both Lionel and MTH  pick up their delivery schedule to get in as much as possible before the end of their fiscal year. Good for their bottom line, terrible for the collector..

Here are the latest two engines I picked up this past weekend.  One is a Lionchief B&O Pacific.  Not too excited about the color blue shade.  IMO, the blue should be a few shades darker. At least this engine's colors aren't as bad as Lionel's Pacific Southern color green.

The second engine is an MTH  4-6-2 Southern Cresent.  The engine looks great right out of the box;

@p51 posted:

Guys, you are NOT going to find someone on this forum with a greater appreciation of American military history, especially for the 1940s, than myself.

But it's a matter of context. It would be wrong of me to post a photo of a swastika on a model train forum unannounced. Considering the age of a lot of people in the hobby, it could suddenly find itself in front of eyes that saw these symbols firsthand and witnessed those horrors in person, or saw/heard what it did to family members.

I love this forum and the magazine and the VERY LAST thing I want is someone faced with something like that, which they wouldn't have gone into the forum had they known might be there.

Geez P51! Speaking as a former adjunct history prof., just how old ARE you, anyway? 🤔

@Yellowstone Special posted:

Geez P51! Speaking as a former adjunct history prof., just how old ARE you, anyway? 🤔

I'm 53. I've just been collecting and doing living history since I was a kid, do I really know how to get shots that look like this...

Lee: It looks like a photo right out of the 1940s. Nice work. 👍

@p51, Lee, your just a bit older than me. That photo almost looks like it was at the Reading Air Show, or something like that. I used to work with a guy that would go there with his wife and do the Fox Trot as well as other dances around that time. He was an artist as well and could draw some really realistic combat scenes of the day.

Another engine added to the BNSF fleet.