I need some advise please. A friend dug out of his attic his fathers prewar trains. They seem to be from 1926 and appear to be in poor to awful shape. (rust, missing parts, motor on the power unit seems frozen) To those of you who have restored these is this worth the effort?
Item is a NYC unit with the number 254 on the side. He has 3 passenger cars and 2 additional freight cars that were probably additions to the set. Sorry no pics, he took them home.
Any info would be appreciated
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Since you know nothing about this set or restoring, AVOID THEM!!! Never buy anything you do not have full knowledge of. This is not a rare train...it is in poor shape...point him to the junk yard.
BLASPHEMY RON! Every toy train is repairable, it all depends on how much you want to spend
. Seriously, I hate to think even a rusty hulk should be thrown away. If you are not interested, point your friend to the buy-sell forum and see what happens.
Never throw away a toy train. Someone can always at least use parts from it, if not restore it.
If he gives them to you take them...
Not knowing what your talents or likes are. It's hard to say.
Do you know anyone who might paint them for you ?
Even if you just paint them it might make a nice display in
your room... A conversation piece anyway.
OR... post them here on the forum and just charge shipping.
there are a lot of people who would just enjoy restoring them....
It would be a shame to just throw them out....
my 2 cents....
BLASPHEMY RON! Every toy train is repairable, it all depends on how much you want to spend . Seriously, I hate to think even a rusty hulk should be thrown away. If you are not interested, point your friend to the buy-sell forum and see what happens.
TRUE DAT!!! I should lose my train card for that one...BLASPHEMY INDEED!!!
What looks horrible to someone interested in todays scale trains might look like a treasure to a collector, especially one that is just starting out.
Here is an example:
The original poster mentioned that the motor is frozen. I have serviced prewar frozen motors where the problem was caused by swelling wheels. The wheels looked OK to the causual observer, but upon closer checking, they were swollen juse enough to jamb against the axle bearing thus preventing the wheels from turning.
As far as restoration goes: I am a member of that vanishing breed that prefers unrestored originals over restoration. Although I do like to put all my trains in running condition.
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