Opening the new trains

that's a very cool smell.

I also like the smell of the old

postwar trains and the smoke

that goes with it.

I get 4 smokers going at once

in the train room and fill the place.

my wife cant stand it, she wont come

out when Im "smoking"!!!

run em fast and furious

Funny how smells remind us of things....

J&J crossing in Turtle Creek Pa. was a small train shop that has a good selection of O gauge. I bought several locomotives and pieces of rolling stock there.

The owner was a chain smoker and the smell of stale smoke permiated everything in the store. " including the train boxes and foam inserts.

To this day I could tell you what trains I bought there with my eyes closed just by smelling the box.  I have even placed the boxes and inserts outside for a week to air out with no results.

Some eBay items come smelling of tobacco smoke. The worst ones also seem to have an additional odor of cheap perfume. It's a bad combination, and I have to leave them in the garage for a few weeks before bringing them into the house.

Love the smell of new trains and hate it when purchases come reeking of smoke.

--Greg

On an unrelated forum my signature line is...SMELL THE PLASTIC

Most of my sense of smell seems to have disappeared, probably because of one of the assorted tropical diseases I contracted during my years in Third World garden spots. I can no longer smell the plastic, the ozone from the tinplate motors, the stale tobacco smoke, the cheap perfume, or even the onions and chilis in the Indian food I cook. I stopped using coal-scented smoke fluid at the museum because members of the public kept coming up to me and telling me that my engine was on fire. (That coal scent is apparently pretty powerful - I can smell it a little, but many people seem to find it overpowering.) I suppose I could find a second career in skunk research, or maybe as a durian taster, but I'd rather play with trains. 

When ever a new box car arrives I open the door on the car an stick my nose inside just to smell the newnest of it.

for prewar trains that "new" smell is usually old newspaper.

an extra treat if a crossword arrives untouched!

I love the smell of the old boxes and trains. Nothing compares to it for triggering a memory unless it's a box of Life Like lychen which is a major memory trigger for me, reminds me of Christmas as a kid. The new boxes and trains just don't have that smell and the smell they do have remind me of the reams of flyers and countertop fold out displays we have stored at work that we send out to our customers, smells like a printing shop to me.

Jerry

If you have a cooler or something else that your box will fit into and close up, try COFFEE GROUNDS. II had a travel trailer and a brand new  upright freezer in the shop at my old house, and the power accidently got turned off, both freezers had Beef, Chicken and FISH in them. About 2-3 weeks later when I relized what had happened, the smell was overpowering. I wont describe the torture of emptying and cleaning those freezers. I scrubbed them till my hands were numb (unfortunately my NOSE never did go numb) all the scrubbing, Baking Soda and newspapers did very little, I had read that coffee will work for removing odors, nothing to lose. I had some of those filter packs from the hotels I stay at, tossed them in and turned on the freezers, I don't recall how long it took, but where all else had FAILED, SUCCESS. They did smell of coffee for awhile, but eventually even that went away. Just like ServPro, it was "Like it never Even Happened". If you have a stubborn odor, it is worth a try.

Doug

I like it.  As my trains currently spend most of their time in their boxes, there is still a little of that smell in some of the boxes, namely the starter set box.

New or gently used brass instrument cases also have a distinct smell that produces a similar effect.  Nothing recalls the good old days of high school band more clearly .

Aaron

Almost as good as that "new car smell."  Always loved that.