Early MTH

It’s my first “modern era” locomotive I bought, from the late Ed Mahoney of 3rd St. Depot.  Still runs great- never any issues.  One of my favorites!! JohnA

Nice locomotive Arnold.  Here is my early rail king Hudson, sans sound, with Lionel cars of similar vintage.

John

Arnold, I bought new back in the early days, basic rail-king Hudson and rail-king Berkshire locos. They sounded like Singer sewing machines! Lol. Not necessarily a bad thing,  they were the best running steamers for the money at that time. I do miss them, but I can run them at my friends house who acquired all my 3 rail in 2005! Of note, the Berkshire tender had a unique throaty deep whistle sound unlike any postwar Lionel. Smoke units were really amazing!  IMO, as Great early MTH engines were, but certainly did Not have the charm of the postwar Lionel originals.

Leroof...I had one of those Berks as well.  I moved it at a train show 2 years ago and have since acquired PW 2035, 2046 and 675 at bargain prices.  Bingo on the charm.  I just can't part with the RK Hudson though.

@Fendermain posted:

Nice locomotive Arnold.  Here is my early rail king Hudson, sans sound, with Lionel cars of similar vintage.

John

John, gorgeous trains and layout. Yours looks to me like a classic postwar accessory-laden layout, like mine in some respects and different from mine in other respects.

If my recollection is accurate, your benchwork is also gorgeous: white or off-white in color and looks as nice as fine kitchen cabinetry.

Arnold

Leroof and John,

You both should take the advice my mother gave me 60 years ago: Don't ever sell or trade any of your trains!

If you followed her advice, you would both still have all of the wonderful early MTH locomotives you had in the past. LOL, Arnold

Arnold,

Thank you for the compliments.  Your mother gave you sound advice and you were wise to have followed it.

My mother gave me the same advice and I was unwise.

"Difficult to see. Always in motion is the future."  

John`

Very nice stuff. I will miss MTH. I didn't own much they made but it was of good quality what I have had.

Another great topic Arnold. I always look forward to seeing a post from you!

Fendermain, I replaced my MTH Berk with  PW 736, then 2055, 2020...the list goes on, all charmingly low priced!

Btw, and you might agree,  if I had listened to the philosophies of Arnold’s mom, I would have a vintage electric guitar collection!
it is remarkable that Arnold’s collection of trains is historically intact! I know of no one that can make this claim! It’s just awesome.

Arnold, My mother never gave me that advice.
we lived in a tiny NYC apartment that had little to no storage.

one day I went looking for them and they were gone. Three PW sets, super O tracks and switches, some accessories, a ZW, and plasticville.
She said I wasn’t playing with them so she transitioned them to other families.

I may have had a better chance of keeping them if I had a layout and some storage capabilities then.

Leroof,

Hmmmm...somehow I knew vintage axes would enter into the discussion.  

Part of my train problem was a lack of shelf space.  Something had to go to make room for new acquisitions.

Just yesterday I made some shelf space for 10 engines.  726 (1946), PW GG1, 6250 etc.  

Arnold,

You are an inspiration to us all!  You have a great layout.

John

I have an early MTH SD-45 diesel painted for Seaboard System. It runs very well and has never given one minutes problem.

Arnold there you go again starting one of those thought  provoking threads. I unpacked my MTH J from 1996 and my Hudson from the same era. Both run great and kind of nice running the J with no sound. The Hudson has PS1. First time in 20 years either have run. Not. MTH. but now I want to clean lube and run all my Post War motive power and rolling stock.

Maybe I'm a bit nostalgic about early MTH, knowing that MTH will only be with us a short while longer.

My early MTH still looks and runs great for 25 plus years. Mine were mostly Railking and affordable.

Here are a few of them:

Another photo of the Railking NY Central Mohawk L3 (Pre-Protosounds):

Railking Conrail Diesel (Pre-Protosounds) that came with a set including several freight cars and a caboose:

Railking Union Pacific diesel (Proto 1):

My 1st, the NY Central Mohawk, stopped running (don't know why) last year, was serviced by one of our Forum train doctors for a modest fee, and now runs smooth as silk once again. The diesels have been totally trouble free.

What a great deal they have been.

I will post photos of a few more of my early MTH in the next day or two. Arnold

This Railking New York Central 0-8-0 steam engine with PS1 is one of my first MTH engines and runs frequently and reliably after more than 20 years. It has sounds but no speed control and runs best at high speeds. Almost like a postwar engine. I put it on the layout today and admired its solid construction and heft. I plan to run it tomorrow.

MELGAR