Niche Collecting

@GG1 4877 posted:

As many know one of my niches is electric locomotives.  Last count I'm at 17 O scale GG1s, 4 E33s, 2 P5as, 1 DD1, and 1 BB1, 3 AEM7s, a ALP44, a few non-scale Metroliner sets, 5 non-scale E60s, and an HHP8.

No EP5???

Mark....I was originally into the Swiss 3rail O gauge Buco model trains, and have all of the different loco's, freight cars, and passenger cars they made, up until 1958, when they went into receivership.

I even have most of the "new generation" Buco products that have been produced from around 2000 onward, when the original Buco stamps and presses, and unfinished pieces were purchased by a small dedicated bunch of Swiss guys, and went into manufacturing on a small scale once again.

Hence my "handle" Buco Australia

Peter.

@GG1 4877 posted:

How many niches are we allowed to have? 

Let’s see……………..as many as the wife allows……lmao

@yankspride4 posted:

No EP5???

Yes, a K-Line converted to two-rail:

And an Atlas AEM-7 MARC:

It was bought with the idea of re-powering my HHP-8:

But I doubt that will happen anytime soon.

I guess my "niche" is my side interest in vintage HO, the old Lindberg Line in particular.

This is because my first "serious" train set was a Lindberg Line set I received for Christmas in 1962: A "Deluxe" B&O set with an EMD switch engine and several cars painted like real cars. (i.e. Flat railroad colored paints and lettered for real railroads in realistic schemes. That is, no bright "circus" colors with fictional railroads thereon.)

My Lindberg Line train set set the hook in me for model railroading, and I've been a model railroader ever since.

Only one car from my original set has survived. Up until a few years ago I had three, but I can not for the life of me find the other two, nor can I fathom what may have happened to them. Anyway, here's my surviving Lindberg Line car that has served duty on every HO layout I've ever built:

So, over the past decade plus, I've put together a modest collection of Lindberg Line items.

Lindberg Line train products existed from the early 1960s into the later 1960s, and though their stuff was top of the line (for the time), they didn't survive the dog-eat-dog world of HO products.

Here's some of my Lindberg Line engines:

A replica set like my original Lindberg Line set of Christmas '62. First the box art on the cover:

And the set itself:

It was quite a thrill to unwrap that set on Christmas Even night in '62 and see that dramatic cover art, then vibrant and new!

Several years ago I also stumbled across a quite rare set that Lindberg put together for some type of promotion. It's an Illinois Central set. This set showed up on the Bay and I snagged it for a pittance:

SO... I guess I do have a niche collection!

Andre

@laming- Hey mate!  Great post  I had heard of "Lindberg" before but connected (as I recall) with plastic models esp of aircraft but I never knew they ventured into HO trains.  By '62 I was graduating HS and on my way to engineering school so my HO trains had been packed up and put away (yes still have them but their Tyco).  Interesting review and adds to the store of knowledge on this great hobby.

Regards,

Don

I think my main "niche" in model train collecting is finding other ways to include my other collections/hobbies in model trains. So far I've gotten half of them, that being Legos and Transformers action figures. How I'm going to add guns and video games is at least in the drawing board phase (If I can find a way to get a Palmetto State Armory, Zastava, and/or Remington boxcar customized I will 100% do it), and for Video games, Megablox/Megaconstructs makes Call of Duty, Halo, and Destiny themed sets, which might come in handy for that last bit.

Every time I've brought out the Lego Liner and/or loaded some Transformers figures on a flatcar at a train show it's been a big hit with the public. They likely know Legos and Transformers better than they know trains, so it's something else they can recognize and enjoy.