Restoration vs repair

I would need some more information about the engine number and the numbers on the passenger cars. The Greenberg's guide I have lists a 254 & a 254E engine but in different years. Also the passenger cars are listed twice for each number, the year produced being the difference, while the older passneger cars are listed at a lower value then the newer passenger cars.

I would re-wire or repair the insides of the engine and passenger cars but not touch the paint job unless it is in a very rusty condition. Original paint will bring more resale value.

Also replacement parts need to be original and not a current reproduction as collectors know how to spot a re-production part almost right away.

Lee Fritz

Lee,

You hit the nail right on the head. The hardest habit to break is the one where all you go to shows for is looking for parts donors.

I don't think there are many prewar collectors left.  I couldn't get any interest in a prewar 392e set some months ago.  It was a good candidate for restoration.

.....

Dennis

I did a little more research and it looks like it is a 28 vintage as the 30 had solid wheels and it is not the "E" version. As far as the passenger cars they are as described and seem to be the more common variety as they are the lowest cost variant. I did about 2 weeks searching for period replacement wheels and found some solid ones that had minimal swelling (ie; they could be used in a pinch) but mine were spoke. I could not find good vintage spoke wheels. That old pot metal was full of impurity's and 85 years latter it shows via the swelling. Heck , I've got 50 year old Bowsers in HO that were just as bad as far as the body went, used them for parts. If anyone out there has a good vintage set of spoke wheels for the 254 I'd be interest in them, not that hard to replace. I even went and found single strand wire as it had originally to replace the brittle insulated wire it had that was single strand in the 254, all but the lead from the pickup as it was cloth covered and is in very good to excellent condition.

Prewar locomotives were once "a dime a dozen," too.

One trick I use in refreshing an old prewar engine with the solid wire covered white rubber or black rubber insulation, which is invariably dried and cracked is ti remove it and use black or white shrink tubing (1/8"). This way I preserve the original wiring as well as look, hard to tell it has been done.

I restore as a last resort as I enjoy the thought of a train being played with over the years and the wear is a big part of patina. I do restore quite a bit though, everything from small O gauge up to 400E's, etc.

silver and yellow/brown 752 sets restored

I do what I can.....and this isn't all of my modest collection

I do prewar and post war, but pre is my primary area of collection. I also like service/repair stuff-have the prewar test sets (5A and 5B) and the coupler height board as well. Also reproduce pre and post war dealer displays

Yeah, but I buy the post war ones as $20-$40 basket cases. I can repair some busted pot metal on the locomotive, cast replacement parts for tenders as long as I have a duplicate and pretty much fix the engine as long as it wasn't stored under water. I've even recreated a heat stamping on a 681 Turbine but that took a couple of trial and error test shots before I got it right. I prefer to do the ones that had the ink stamps if possible. When they're that cheap I can even custom paint them and add aftermarket sound boards. My kids like them that way and the grandkids are all infatuated with trains now because of it. Yup, got a whole new generation involved with O and O-27 without the big $ of the modern stuff.