lionel lines

Running Lionel trains in Europe

2012-01-08T21:55:00.000+01:00

Taking a Lionel train set back home to Europe from a holiday in North America is a nice idea, but getting it running requires a local power solution. All Lionel train sets have a 110 Volt AC, 60 Hz transformer, like the CW80. Nice but fairly useless in Europe, since we have 230 Volt AC, 50 Hz.

The most simple solution is buying a second-hand Märklin transformer, which are abundant on the mainland of Europe. For less than 10 Euro, you will be able to buy a cheap 10 VA transformer and for a bit more a 32 VA transformer. Just connect the red wire to the center rail and the brown wire to the outer rail and you are ready. This will allow you to run Lionel trains in Europe in a simple manner, without horns and bells and other control options. If you are handy, you can solder your own horn and bell control units, or you can find those control units on the American second hand market. In the picture below, the WA 251 horn button of Mountain Automation is shown as example of such a horn button that you can find on the market. In case your Lionel train is equipped with Trainsound, the sound might be garbled and you might want to switch it off. The Trainsound system does not operate correctly with the 50 Hz power we have in Europe.

Another solution is buying a so-called step-down transformer, which converts 230 VAC, 50 Hz in 110 VAC, 50 Hz. This will allow you to use the American transformers and control units, but since you do not have 60 Hz power the Trainsound engines will sound distorted.

The most radical solution is to generate 110 VAC, 60 Hz power at home yourself with a generator. This can be done, but is either noisy and expensive or relatively complicated. Some members of the LCCUK have become experts in generating their own 110 VAC, 60 Hz power.
With this power you use the Lionel transformers than with all their control options. Since about the turn of the century American toy trains have increasing numbers of play options; sounds, bells, horns, operating couplers, pantographs, etc. These options are best controlled with a digital command center. If you want to run and control your trains digitally, than generating your own 110 VAC 60 Hz is the best option, since you will have power with the right frequency.

I have chosen for another solution; the MTH Z750 transformer with a self-built 230 VAC to 20 VAC pre-transformer. The MTH Protosound system copes rather well with the 50 Hz we have in Europe, unlike the Lionel Trainsound system, which can not be controlled with 50 Hz power. With this power solution, I can operate MTH and Lionel trains. MTH protosound 1 and 2 trains run fine with it and the sound is also great. Lionel trains that are equipped with Trainsound can run too, but do not sound right, due to the frequency issue.

Starting with the traction freight engine

2011-11-22T00:05:00.001+01:00

Last year, I obtained a beheaded MTH PCC streetcar. It was complete, with only one detail missing; the plastic hood. Since, the C&LE box trailer needs a matching box motor and the gentleman of the Seashore Trolley museum was so friendly to send me the technical drawings of the 648 C&LE freight engine, I decided to try and convert the MTH PCC streetcar into this freight engine. One of the clear differences between the two is the larger truck to truck distance in the latter, so I had make a new under-plate to build the engine on. I decided to work with 1 mm (1/25th inch) Aluminium sheet. With the help of a precision saw and a drill I took the first step in making this box motor. In order to make the under-plate a bit more rigid, I will attach some brass L-profiles to the sides. This will help with fixing the new hood to this underplate and make it more sturdy. Well, there is still quiet a lot to do, but the first step is taken. Yesterday, I checked the electrical functions of the engine and fortunately they are all still working correctly.

TCA MG Club cars 2011

2011-11-13T20:58:00.001+01:00

Last week the TCA MG club cars arrived from Weaver. This year I bought the three-pack because it were Reading cars; 2-bay composite hoppers. Some hand-crafted coal-loads were made by Don and he sure did a great job. They do look awesome.
I hooked the cars up to the SW-1500 switcher and drove them around with some other Weaver cars I had accumulated over the years. The night express run slowly over the attic floor.

Historic train film

2011-11-06T22:18:00.001+01:00

A really special historic train movie has been placed on-line.

This movie was specially made in 1939 to celibrate 100 years of railways in the Netherlands. It is in Dutch and shows many steam engines, early electrical passenger trains, bridges and buildings, of which some are no longer present. Although most of the visitors to this blogsite will not understand the spoken and written language in this film, the pictures are universally understood by train enthusiasts all over the world. The total length is almost half an hour and hence this film can best be watched with a drink close at hand.
The films starts with a re-enactment of the first train ride in the Netherlands between Amsterdam and Haarlem in 1839. For this purpose, they specially rebuild the first steam engine that ever run (slowly) in the Netherlands. It is named "De Arend" (the eagle) and is now part of the collection of the Dutch railway museum.Then the film speeds to 1939 and shows what was regarded as modern trains back then.
For those of you, who would like to see something special, go fetch a drink and click on the link. Once on the local history site, click on the video on the top left hand corner and enjoy.
I specially like the idea that many of the pre-war toy trains that I cherish, run and restore are even older than than this film.

Lionel 289E running on the attic

2011-10-31T22:28:00.001+01:00

This weekend I decided to make a small oval on the attic floor and run some trains. The Lionel 289E engine still did not run smoothly on the 027 track curves and hence I decided to change the anti-slip tyres and I must say that it still slips a bit, but is running much better.

Zutphen 15 & 16 Oct. scale zero meeting

2011-10-18T23:14:00.000+02:00

Last weekend, the Dutch scale zero enthusiasts had their annual meeting in Zutphen. A real surprise for me was to see a large purple MTH box and the 5 CIWL passenger cars. They run on the large oval behind a classic Dutch steamer of the 3700 Class. MTH seems to have convinced the fine scaling zero-2-rail community with it price and quality.

It was a peaceful meeting of model train enthusiasts and various modellers showed their projects. Another large surprise was the "Free to take" (Gratis mee te nemen) text in front an expensive beautiful Dutch steamer, must either be a joke or a mistake.

And there was a three-railers corner. A friendly sales representative of Merkur, ETS and Lehnhardt taught me a bit about those Czech model trains. The large red passenger car for instance is sturdy, but still only 40 Euro, which compares pleasantly with other tin-plate brands.

All in all it was a very pleasant meeting and I am looking forward to the next one.

Final run

2011-10-16T22:47:00.000+02:00

The old folding table layout was disassembled today. But before that actually happened the Lionel 289E engine and a small string of passenger cars 607, 603 and 604 made a tribute run over the small layout. Now what is left are photo's, screws, wires and tracks...

The new layout will have a wider radius outer circle, will be really level this time, larger and permanent.

Lionel 607 finished as 603

2011-10-10T23:50:00.001+02:00

Today the light bulb wire was connected to the third rail contact and the light lit. The reassembly went really smooth. The decals on the red passenger car body "The Lionel Lines" were water transfers from Papa Les Trains. I did not have any "Pullman" or "603" decals left, so I made my own with "Avery Glas-Dekofolie", which is a locally available brand for making glass window decals on a sticky transparent plastic sheet basis.
The couplers are new and they were necessary, because the rusty 607 wreck came without any.
The highly glossy black roof paint allows me to see all the small dents that I missed when I was filling and sanding the big dents. Well, it ain't 100% smooth, but at least it is much better than how it was.Although some Lionel collectors might argue that I should have used 607 decals and should have used burgundy red inside of bright red, I like it better this way. First of all, it is much better of than how it was and I sure hope to see it running with the 604 and 607 I have already restored and ready.

Lionel 607 painted

2011-09-18T22:00:00.001+02:00

This weekend, I finished painting the Lionel 607 passenger car. I choose a middle red colour and not the more typical burgundy red colour. So, this passenger car will look more like the MTH remake than the original, but I just like this colour more. Last week, I already painted everything, but there was this one hair of half an inch that had landed on the wet black glossy paint of the roof.
Therefore, I had to redo the whole roof, but now I shines without this one curly hair.

I decided to assemble the window-pane in the car body and to put the roof on, just to see how the final result will look. There is still a couple of things to do. The axles still have some rust and need to be treated again. The wheels need to be polished better, to get rid off the last bits of black sooth.
Additionally, the lamp holder is severely rusted and it will be difficult to get it in a better state, because of all the grooves. Perhaps I will replace it with a new part. Well the couplers were also gone, so it will get some new shining couplers as well. The brass tank lids have some rust grooves and although it is polished and it shines, these grooves remain visible. A testomony of age, I would reacon.

Some blokes asked for it, so here is an additional picture of the All Nation Line C&LE box trailer kit in finished condition, well all but the couplers.

Lionel 607

2011-09-04T22:35:00.004+02:00

It is more than two and a half years ago, since I choose to test my new sand blaster on a old rusty Lionel 607 passenger car, which was scooped up from Ebay some 3 years ago. Since then I derusted, sanded and disassembled the passenger car slowly, working occasionally on it. But now that I got my new work shed sorted, it was the first project to finish, from the long list of restorations that still wait for my attention.
After all the paint was removed from the body, it became apparent that this passenger car must have been composed from two non identical halves. One tin-plate side panel with rivets and one smooth. Also at the corners of the car, smoothened solder residues were visible. So, this is a car with some history that already received a major renovation in the past and is now up for its second rejuvenation. On the head ends of the car the guiding rails for the couplers were broken off. So, I fixed this with 1 mm brass wire and some very thin brass plate cuttings. I soldered the lot in position, sanded it and used some solder and plaster to smoothen the edges and sanded the lot again.
The roof had 3 dents, which were crudely filled with solder and then smoothened with filler, sanded, smoothened with filler and sanded again.
Today was a hot day and I could spray paint primer paint on it. And I must say that I am quiet happy with the result; a smooth roof and nice car body.
Working with this passenger car, you start to wonder what this car must have experienced since the twenties of the last century. Nevertheless, its future looks bright again; it will return in toy train service soon.

Old steamer passing by

2011-08-29T22:37:00.004+02:00

This weekend we had a superb view on a steam engine running through the back yard. The whistle blew near all cross-overs and announced its arrival. Then it passed and left a cloud of coal-scented smoke in the back garden.
This smooth steamer is the jewel of the VSM; the German 23076 steamer.

Applying decals

2011-06-21T23:13:00.005+02:00

The paint work in the trailer kit did have some flaws, so I decided to sand them off and spray paint again. The paint job turned out much better. Now, I am busy applying the 0 scale CL&E freight trailer decals, I obtained from Shoreline decals. They work easy and look good. Just need to figure out where to place them all, with the help of some old pictures of the original and the drawings from the Traction handbook. And then the last steps will come: a dull coat to blend the decals in and the scratch building of some couplers.

Painting the All nation line traction trailer

2011-04-20T20:09:00.003+02:00

The weather is excellent for some spray painting in the garden. First the box trailer was primed with a neutral grey paint. Then the roof was spray coated with dull black and the body of the trailer was painted "Maroon". This is a typical American colour which you will not find easily in Europe, but fortunately there is the Japanese brand Tamiya that globalises paint colours and brings American colours to Europe. Well, I am reasonably happy with the result. Just need to dust the car next time I make a picture, because there is too much tree pollen in the air right now.

Lazy sunday afternoon

2011-03-27T22:33:00.004+02:00

Spring has finally arrived. This is great news, so I can finally let my steamers smoke with the window open. We played a bit with the trains, recharged the MTH engine batteries by giving some AC current while standing idle. So, we could listen to the various announcements coming from the SW1500 Switcher: "check for foamers on the up yard". Strange language, must be American.
The body work for the All Nation line box trailer is almost finished, just add some more steps and a brake wheel and we can start plastering, sanding and painting. I will need a new brake wheel. I tried to solder a little brass rod to the wheel and I noticed that the wheel was made from cast tin and it melted away faster than I could remove my soldering gun. Pretty daft. Time for a drink!
I am planning to use the decapped MTH PCC streetcar as basis for scratch building a #648 C&LE freight engine. The librian of the trolley museum in Maine was so kind to supply me with the technical drawings, so here comes another project. I am planning to work with tin plate and wood to make the body. Most importantly, I will have to start by making a new, larger base plate, for this engine will be longer than the PCC streetcar. Plenty of things to do, I would think.

The box trailer starts to get shape

2011-03-07T21:59:00.005+01:00

After a few more evenings the All Nation Line kit of the box trailer car is starting to get shape. The facia boards were glued on and the door posts were glued in.

This box trailer will get operating doors and hence I fiddled to get two brass U-profiles glued in the right position to make the doors slide. Some wood had to be removed in order to lower the U-profiles in position.

Finally, the roof was shaped and it got a more rounded of appearance with the help of a file, a bit of sanding paper and some persistence.

Progress on the box trailer car

2011-02-27T21:14:00.005+01:00

These rainy evenings are good for building the All Nation Line kit of the box trailer car. I read the instructions and the hints of other wooden kit builders on the web and decided to build the undercarriage first. So I started with cutting the wood of the undercarriage and glue the bolsters in place. Then I formed the end filler blocks and glued them on. Then the queen posts and brake cilinder were glued on with epoxy glue. I followed Dan's advise and did not use the brass wire for the truss rods but used Nylon 0,5 mm wire instead, which I glued to the backside with epoxy. Then the turnbuckles were glued on the centre of the wires.
Then it was time to turn the car around and assemble the top parts. Since the undercarriage width was about 3 mm short of what the drawings indicated that it should be and also compared to the size of the other parts, I decided to glue 1.5 mm wooden spacers between the undercarriage and the scribed wooden side panels. The same was done with the blocks on the front and back side of the car. Well, I am happy that it starts to look like a train car now.
The level of the brake rigging and the door handles is not very high and I thinking about fiddling around with some paper and wood to scratch build that a bit better. Then the question is, how did the brake system of such a interurban freight car look like?

MTH in a Dutch model train shop

2011-02-22T22:32:00.005+01:00

The European model trains that MTH has announced in scale zero have been noticed in mainland Europe. The French golden arrow Chapelon engine was considered a great success by many, with perhaps a few issues, such as the tender-to-engine distance, but nevertheless a beauty. Now MTH claims to also produce a Bavarian steamer, a Swiss crocodile and a Traxx rectifier engine. The latter will be relative affordable in comparison to what the zero fine scalers are used to pay for their engines at Fulgurex, Lenz, Lemaco, Philotrain, etc. Also a matching gondola and tank car have been announced and the lot made a few heads turn. So, I was not too surprised when the news came out that a local hobby shop named Modeltreinexpress in Vlaardingen has announced to start dealing in MTH trains. Obviously, the far majority that is being announced are the European 2-rail models, but still it is a step in the good direction in my humble opinion. Let's hope that the supply delays will be dealt with and that these models will start to arrive in this shop. Although it is unlikely that this 3 railer will ever buy a 2 rail engine, I still like the fact that MTH is now being sold in a regular model train shop in the Netherlands.
The list of Dutch shops that have announced to start selling MTH in scale zero has grown; also Wentink hobby in Arnhem has placed MTH on their list. I understood that the first MTH Traxx engines in scale zero have arrived in the Netherlands. Good news, I would reacon.

Starting of with the All Nation line box trailer kit

2011-02-03T20:43:00.006+01:00

About one and a half years ago, I purchased an All Nation Line kit #A-110 for a C&LE box trailer. Initially the kit appeared complete, but a closer inspection learned that one of the four scribed wood side panels lacked. The lines of the scribed wood are very fine and roughly only 2 millimeters apart. The side panels are 3 millimeter thick and since this is a standard size in balsa wood, I used a piece of 3 mm balsa wood and tried to engrave fine lines in the balsa with a sharp hobby knive. I could not reach the detail level required; the lines were not straight and 2 mm apart was difficult with 1 mm incisions. So, I left that idea and started with fine paper strips glued with wood glue on a 3 mm balsa panel. Well, that did work. I got a good replicate of a scribed wood panel. After painting the lot with tuscan brown the differences between the original and the self-made panel will be hard to spot. Some photo's show the progress with the task of glueing the fine paper stripes.

Now I can finally start building the kit. Because of the beautiful original American toy-train-lingo, I copied the text of the original instructions underneath.

Instructions for C&LE Box trailer
Kit # A-110
1. Glue filler blocks at end of floor.
2. Shape roof and floor ends as shown, nail and glue end blocks to same.
3. Cut out door openings in scribed sides and glue to car body.
4. Glue scribed wood to end of car.
5. Glue facia boards at eaves to car as shown.
6. Form tinplate and drill holes for nut and washer castings. Pin to car and attach nut and washer castings as shown.
7. Drill 3/16" brass I beam so that it can be pinned to car. Solder Queen posts to beam and attach to car. Add .032 wire for truss rods and solder turnbuckle in place. Glue wood bolsters in place at this time.
8. Make doors from 1/16" scribed wood. Glue doors in place or if you wish, you can make an operating door. Glue 1/8" quarter round to sides as shown in drawing. Threshold is made from 5/32" strip wood.
9. Attach all hardware, such as handgrabs, steps, brake wheel and etc. as shown.
10. Paint car and attach Arch Bar Trucks.

Fortunately for me, there are two helpful internet sites with hints and tips on how to build wooden train car kits. Dan clearly advises to start with the underfloor details: the bolsters, brake rig and queen posts and to use Nylon wire in stead of Brass wire for the truss rods. And George Riley of the Railroad model craftsman also advises to start with the undercarriage and seal the wooden parts.

Lionel 289E running

2010-12-05T22:13:00.006+01:00

Although it was already late and the light conditions poor, I did try to make a small video to show the Lionel 289E engine running. One of the last issues I faced with this engine were the smooth and slippery drive wheels. On many 027 curves and slopes the wheels just spun hopelessly. Some friends advised me to roughen the wheels. I tried by scratching the wheels, but still they spun on the track. Then I applied a 3 mm wide strip of duck tape on both the rear drive wheels and that seems to do the job.

The new TCA-MG beer reefer

2010-11-28T13:46:00.007+01:00

This week a beautiful beer reefer club car arrived, designed by the TCA member group and produced by Weaver model trains from Northhumberland PA. The beer brand is probably historic "Century beer made by the Schneider brewing company from Trinidad Colorado". The name of the brewing company suggests a traditional beer that is brewed according to the Reinheitsgebot and therefore is likely to be healthy.
Personally I like the pea-green colour, which is a truely old colour for an old reefer. The Weaver Alco FA-2 took it for a ride.

Lumber car

2010-10-19T23:54:00.004+02:00

Autumn is well suited for trimming the trees and bushes in the garden. In my garden that yields substantial amounts of leaves and branches. Especially the oak, apricot and ahorn tree render nice straight side branches. I used some of them to fill the 50ft Weaver bulk head flat car. The bark was removed to speed the drying process up and reduce the chance of infestation. I will probably stain them a bit when they are fully dry.

Lionel 289E ready to shine

2010-10-14T22:16:00.006+02:00

After three coats of Tamiya TS38 gun metal the Lionel 289E engine shell was ready and beautiful. The two side number plates were too rusted to mount back on, so I used replacements from George Tebolt. The front L-symbol was kept original and also the the driving rods were polished and kept original. They are a slightly corroded, but then this lady is from 1937. The two red classification lights also came from George Tebolt. It is the first time in seventy years that this grey lady wears her classification lights again and they do look good.
Now it is time to sit back and enjoy the grey grace and let her run. Welcome back!

Lionel 289E finally clean

2010-09-19T23:38:00.005+02:00

The Lionel 289E is a heirloom item and so I waited a few years more than normal to remove the paint and get it repainted. The various paint layers where more difficult to remove than I previously had experienced. The top-layer was a hand-brushed thick layer of alkyd paint and underneath was the original gun-metal coating. I started with the conventional cooking pot method with old-fashioned near boiling soap-water. That removed most, but not all. Especially from the inside of the engine shell, hardly any paint was lost. People on internet-fora advised me not to sand-blast the item because of the fragile nature of die cast iron. So, I continued with carpet-glue-remover. This produced a thick gray gel of swollen paint that could be scraped off. Then I used the dremel and a brash brush attachment the remove the last paint residues. The cast iron shines and turns a bit dull in a few hours time. It behaves so different than tin-plate. Here is small picture of the shell ready for primer.

Veteranbanen

2010-09-01T22:09:00.007+02:00

In the Eastern part of mainland Denmark runs an old steamer on old tracks. It is called veteranbanen (the veteran railroad) and runs between the villages of Bryrup and Vrads. The tracks run through a nice part of Denmark: lakes, hills and forest. On several days during the year a small steamer pulls the three wooden passenger-cars of an old motorised unit named Triangel back and forth between the two villages. The steamer runs very smooth and it is really a pleasure to make the trip.

S.T.A.R.

2010-07-28T23:04:00.006+02:00

In the north of the Netherlands lies the longest stretch of rail that is being served by a museum railroad named S.T.A.R. short for Stadskanaal rail. One of the steam engines that runs most regularly is a Russified German steamer, the TE-5933. Built in 1943 in Germany and "left behind in Russia" and for some strange twist in history now in the north of the Netherlands. It is lovely restored and well running steamer and it was a joy to see it running.

It is a bit bizarre to see such a 'Russian' steamer in this part of the Netherlands with a long rooted communistic tradition. The red star kind of blend in nicely with the scenery. Fortunately that is all for the show now. This steam engine must have witnessed some of the blacker chapters of European recent history and that makes it even more bizarre to see it running by so smoothly.

Kusan gondola kit

2010-06-17T00:07:00.015+02:00

Yesterday, a KMT (Kris Model Trains) electric train kit for a Reading gondola arrived. Although clearly branded as KMT, the producing company is still listed as Kusan-Auburn in Nashville (TN). It was KMT # 0305:1.69. Although the kit is not dated, I think it should be from the early sixties of last century. A special advertisement was added for an "Atomic Train", which dates it before the seventies and makes it completely non-European.
The artwork of the box and of the instruction sheet is nice to see and hence I have added them. A memory of an old toy train brand and the cold war time gone by, when "atomic" was considered positive.
The gondola itself is fairly dirty and will need a wash. Especially the plastic wheels have picked up a thick layer of black stuff that will need to be removed. The scale of the gondola car is also surprising: it is larger than the underscaled 027 gondola's of Lionel, but also smaller than the zero scale gondola's of Lionel. Also interesting is the fact that the kit box is too small to accommodate the assembled gondola. So, that makes me double lucky to have find a complete gondola car with the original box and paperware.

Lionel 259T finished

2010-04-16T22:37:00.006+02:00

Well it took me 2 slow years, but I got it done. The Lionel 259T tender is finished and it is time for a test ride with the 259E engine. The tender was purchased in October 2007 and when it arrived the corroded nature was obvious. Additionally, the handrails and two journal boxes missed. I completed the disassembly, rust removal and painting process already a year ago, but I struggled with the handrails. I wanted a freestyle restoration project with some self made handrails. Initially I choose brass 2-3 mm diameter brass pipes to solder these into the handrails. But they turned out to be too sturdy and nearly impossible to assemble correctly through both holes. I understood late that some flexibility would yield a better solution. It took a while before I saw the linchpins lying about at home and I got the idea. I drilled 1 mm holes through the linchpins head and stuck 1 mm pre-bended brass wire through it, soldered it and polished it. Well I am happy to have finished a pre-war car again. There are still too many neglected toy train cars waiting for some attention and care and I not sure yet which one will be next.

Decapped MTH PCC Streetcar

2010-03-21T22:16:00.004+01:00

A decapped MTH PCC streetcar was available locally for a sweet price. Since, this is unusual for MTH engines in Europe, I could not resist. The former owner wanted the cap only, to make his own Dutch 2-rail PCC streetcar. I tested the beheaded streetcar and all functions performed as they should do (bing bing and a lot of street car drivers small talk). Perhaps the battery is a bit low, so I will replace it with a freshly charged 9V Nimh. What to do with it? Hmmm. I still have the All Nation trailer box car kit, so it could be an idea to make an interurban traction engine out of it. A C&LE Red devil would be nice, with the only mishap that it did not pull trailers. Well, I will spend some time on finding an nice looking interurban engine that is suited.

A few weeks ago a nice looking Weaver NYRX reefer arrived here. Unfortunately the 702 coupler was broken. The reefer could move freely in the Weaver box and probably during rough handling it smashed into the sides and broke its coupler. The seller said that it sends me a replacement coupler, well probably by boat mail, so I glued the coupler for the time being.

Additionally, I finished painting my first railroad house. At first it was intended as a cover for some electrics, I think it worked out great. And it is good to have something finished again.

TCA MG Club car 2009 and a roof finished

2010-01-10T13:01:00.007+01:00

The TCA-MG club car was late in 2009. But it did arrive in the holiday season and here is it. It is a brown cattle car with nice detail. The doors can not be opened. But then again who wants steers running loose on the layout. The high resolution print details are remarkable and in general more then I can observe myself with my glasses.
During the last months I spend most of my time glueing slates on the roof of the house that I am scratch building. It was a tedious and rewarding process. In the summer we bought a binder with plastic clamp rings. Basically, you put a whole bunch of papers in, it perforates the papers and presses a plastic clamp through. Since, you do not have to feed the perforator with a clamp and it yields more then 20 pieces of paper of roughly 2 x 7 mm (about 1 x 3 milli-inch) it is an easy way of getting lots of roof slates in one stroke. I used fairly thick brown cardboard to get more 3D-structure in the roof and personally, I like the result. The house is one step further to completion. Now, I still have to get drainage pipes, a veranda roof and start painting. Yes, the roof will need a slate grey colour as well, but that is for later concern. Several visitors told me that they liked the result, but that I should better focus on other restoring the many railroad cars that are still waiting. Well, honestly, I liked this monk work. Not so much that I will ever turn into a rivet counter, but it yields a positive feeling reward. What else do we want in this "crisus".

Hoppers

2009-11-27T23:20:00.008+01:00

This week a really nice "Golden loaf" flour hopper arrived. So, it is time for a test ride and a line up with all the other hoppers. This PS-2 Weaver hopper was available local and for some reason most European zero-scale modellers still do not appreciate the quality of Weaver cars, so I got it for a bargain. And because hoppers seldomly ride single, it is nice to have it here.
On the web, there is even a photo of the original hopper and although the original was shaped a bit differently, I do not mind Weaver to have improved the overall appearrance. Furthermore, this hopper was the Weaver club car of 2008. So without being an official member, the hopper is here to stay.

MTH Camelback running

2009-09-29T19:43:00.004+02:00

This weekend I succeeded in making some good shots from the new MTH Camelback. Moreover, I also managed to blow the whistle button this time. In order to prevent the fire alarm from kicking in, the total time smoking was kept minimal, nevertheless it did smoke!

MTH Camelback

2009-09-22T22:02:00.006+02:00

Today, a beautiful present arrived: a MTH Camelback engine with Protosound 1, #30-1142-1 from Reading railroad. Just look at it. Soon you will be able to hear its puffing and chuffing as well. The battery was a bit low, so the engine is now powered in neutral to charge itself and meanwhile it blows off steam. The green classification lights are lit as well.
Camelbacks are truely American hazardous steam engines, a unique design in many ways.
I choose this engine, since it very close to scale, has the protosound options that also function with European (230 V, 50 Hz) current, is a Reading engine and negociates the curves of 027 layout without issues.
The engine was purchased at Grzyboski trains. Just want to thank them for their service, charging realistic shipping costs and friendly assistance.

new additions

2009-08-02T00:04:00.003+02:00

A few days ago some new Weaver Union Pacific cars joined my little layout. A crisp lettered boxcar with "bolster snubber springs" and a 40 foot tank car. The box car runs good on the 027 curves, the tank car required two spacer rings to elevate it a few millimeters and get it correctly through the 027 curves.

Weaver alco on 027 tracks

2009-06-03T23:14:00.007+02:00

One of the last issues with the Weaver Alco engine running on 027 tracks was that it derailed the first car it pulls in a curve. To resolve this, I had to make a more flexible connection between the engine and the first car. As you can see, it works fine and the UP Alco has commenced its duties.

Lionel 1677

2009-05-14T22:53:00.004+02:00

Today, a beautiful pre-war gondola arrived. It is the green Lionel 1677 that was produced from 1933-1935. A long lithographed car that was part of entry level start sets of that time. Some other cars of the same serie, like the 1679 Baby ruth box cars, the 1680 Sunoco and Shell tank cars and 1682 Caboose were much more common. The only exception is the truely rare 1678 Stock car of the same serie. Personally this green gondola is a outstanding beauty.

Alco running

2009-03-01T21:36:00.002+01:00

Although the new FA-2 diesel engine doesnot have QSI, Protosound, Trainsound or whatever fancy hightech sound system, it does have an unique motor sound. Probably caused by the chain drive. Listen to the video and perhaps watch as well.

Weaver UP Alco #6540

2009-03-01T13:25:00.011+01:00

About a month ago, I received a beautiful Weaver FA-2 Alco diesel engine in Union Pacific livery from Northern Saskatchewan. Although produced in 1990, the windows and horns were still not glued on yet. After it stood on the tracks and received some AC-current the lights lit up and the motor made a snorring sound, but the engine did not move.
After dissembling the hood, a missing gear wheel was directly appearent. After inspecting the box a small fragment of a plastic gear wheel was found.
Based on this fragment a new 8-teeth gear wheel from brass was made by drilling a center 4 mm hole. Then a circle was drawn on 3 mm distance of the hole with a ring and with high-school triangle 4 lines through the center and 45 degrees apart where drawn. On the eight positions where the circle crossed the line small 1.5 mm holes were drilled and afterwards the rough gear wheel was cut out of the brass plate. After sanding and soldering and sanding, the new gear wheel was mounted on the main drive rod, but unfortunately the motor did not run good. The chain tension was too high and consequently the torsion was too high.
In order to reduce the chain tension 1 mm was sanded from the plastic positioning plate for both main drive rods. The mounting holes for this plate were enlarged and after re-assembly the chain could move much more easily. The a special spacer was made from a K&S brass pipe of 4 mm internal diameter and 3 mm width. This helped to position the upper gear wheel precisly over the bottom gear wheel.
Now it finely runs! I must acknowledge my local Lionel train friend for giving me the repair suggestions that proved to be the right ones. The engine runs on my 027 layout, but does not like the Lionel 027 switches, because it touches the switch-house with the lower middle hood when it runs over the curved track of the switch. Furthermore, the couplers can not remain centered on 027 track, meaning that they will derail the first car connected in a 027 curve. This can be circumvented with a elastic rubber band over the open couplers, but it is not nice. What is nice of this engine is complete skirt: and not two single parts where the light shine through.

P&LE Boxcar

2009-02-09T21:39:00.003+01:00

A beautiful Weaver PS-1 boxcar has joined us. It is a jade green NYC system Pittsburgh and Lake Erie boxcar made in a special run for P&D hobby. The doors can slide open, but sufficient force needs to applied to get them moving. A well-detailled little treasure train car that emerged locally. What a small fortune indeed. This boxcar was already suited for 3-rail operation and hence does not need to be converted to the right amount of rails.

Planting trees

2009-02-02T22:58:00.004+01:00

One of the key difficulties of a layout on a folding table is how to deal with adding scenery, especially houses, mountains and trees. Today some detachable trees were planted on the layout, which can be easily unrooted and replanted when necessary. Small threads will keep the trees connected to their trunks while the table is in a upright folded position.

Long trains run by

2009-01-26T22:22:00.003+01:00

This weekend we played with the trains and made some large consists and saw how the MTH switcher pulled it easily.
The house / crossing bell cover is progressing slowly as well, made some windows and doors. At last I got a new toy to play with: a sandblaster. So, I had to try it on an old pre-war passenger car. The first blast was not bad. Only thing left to do is to clean the garden, because everwhere lies fine white sand... Next time better and perhaps also smarter.

Reynolds Railroad Products

2009-01-18T20:24:00.006+01:00

This weekend I found two old US 0 scale cars of a brand that is unknown to me "Reynolds railroad products - Athearn 0 scale kits" at a local second-hand trainshop named Wentink Occasions. One is a #0105 40' Refrigerator car of the Pacific Fruit Express and Union Pacific- South Pacific railroads. This reefer probably originates from 1946, because it states blt. 9-46 on the side. This car is full metal on the outside. The interior of the car is from wood and the exterior is metal plate. The tin plate strips start to rust a bit but the large metal plates shine like mirrors. It is a true beauty!
The other is #0302 40' UP box car. This box car has a plastic side panel, metal roof and front and back end. This box car probably was made in 1956, since it blt 3-56 is marked on the side of the car.
These cars are really nice. Obviously they are intended for 2-rail, but that is easily fixed with some Weaver replacement trucks and couplers. Another issue is that are from the wrong Western railroads, but I can not be to picky on what I find locally. They are rather heavy and the shiny metal really gives the cars a nice appearance. Some of the tin-plate strips are starting to rust, but that can be considered as natural weathering.

Modelspoorbeurs Houten

2008-12-13T21:21:00.004+01:00

Today, was a large toy train convention in Houten. About 90% of the toy trains offered were in half zero and N, but a few nice O scale toy trains were spotted. Most of the toy trains in zero were Märklin, Horby and JEP, but also Lionel was present. The small wagons of 0 scale models were really well done. The trouble is they do not really fit with American toy trains with cow catchers and claw couplers.

Anything in scale zero is getting an extra zero in the price at such a convention, so it is nice to look around. I would recommend Ebay for those interested in buying and not being ripped off. For example, a simple 657 caboose is price tagged at 40 Euro (about 50 USD), well you buy about ten of those for this price in the US. It was nice to see Lionel being displayed as exotic, though. One of the highlights was a small wind-up Hafner engine, with a battery lid front light and a bell underneath. With a red boiler front and a red tender.

Well, it was cold day, so well-suited for a toy train fair. I took some pictures of offerings in scale zero I spotted.

Lionel versus MTH

2008-11-16T22:06:00.006+01:00

Today was a fine day to run trains and to compare my MTH SW 1500 switcher with my Lionel SD 28 diesel engine. First of all, some pulling tests. The MTH won with pulling heavy loads by far, the SD 28 just spun its wheels when the consist became long and heavy.
Then I placed both on a separate circle with some nice cars and fed with exact the same amount of electricity. The SD-28 starts running a very low voltage, when the SW 1500 is still full idle and when the SW 1500 finally gets the hang of it, the SD 28 almost derails because of speeding. Clearly very different engines with very different voltage-speed responses.

By the way, if you look carefully you will see the new TCA-MG 40' flat cars riding by. Especially these need some extra force to pull them through bends. The switcher has no problem what so ever with them, the SD 28 almost stops on them.

Well it is clear the MTH switcher won.

Hopper time

2008-11-13T23:51:00.004+01:00

A colourful PS-2 Hopper joined us and it came in beautiful old cardboard box. It is just nice to enjoy this 'out-dated' design. I am not sure but it looks seventish to me.

TCA-MG Club car #2

2008-11-07T22:38:00.004+01:00

This week the 2008 TCA-MG club cars arrived and they are handsome indeed. The designers chose for the new 40' flat cars of Weaver with wooden crates on top. The details of the wooden crates, the dull grey colour of the weathered planks and the details on the flat itself (stake holders, steps, texts) are well done. The crates apparently contain Electrical components from the Electrical Generator Company in Windfall WV. According to the text they are heavy and should not be lifted with hooks. Surprising content.

The flats run smoothly on straight rails but were obviously not designed for my 027 curves. The wheels do then touch the central beam under the flat and this results in friction. The flats do not derail as my 50' flat does in 027 curves, but they are merely slowed down.

Progress on the layout

2008-10-09T22:33:00.009+02:00

The MTH Z controller is in. It requires an input current of 20 Volt AC, 100 Watt with a maximum current of 6 Ampère. So, first I tried using a conventional Märklin transformer as power source, but it only generates 18 Volt AC, 32 Watt and in consequence my engine only drove very slowly.

So, I started looking for 20 Volt pre-transformer and I soon noticed that 18 V and 24 V are standards, but 20V ain't. But fortunately, Thanks to Techno Center Schmitt in Lünen (D), I have found myself a nice second-hand transformer that is fit for the job. It convert regular European 230 VAC into 20.7 Volt AC, 130 Watt and my MTH engine runs again fast at the end of the throttle.

Here is a small video to show how smooth the SW1500 switcher runs with the new power source. As can be seen, a house is under construction. This house is intended as crossing bell cover. The bell is not fully optimised, yet, but you can here it ring when the train crosses. I used a second-hand CKD 24 VAC disco-ball electromotor from Hobbieplaza which rotates with 30 rpm a mill with bolts to touch an old bike-bell found along the road. For C2C junks: "A road-side litter thingie upcycled to a trashure toy".

Changing trucks

2008-09-30T23:55:00.005+02:00

A few months ago I was lucky to purchase some Weaver cars here in Europe. However, they we fitted with 2 rail trucks and Kadee couplers. Well nice cars but of little use on the tubular Hi-rail layout. First, I inquired directly at Weaver to get some replacement trucks and couplers, but the shipping cost exceeded the object costs. Then it took me some time to find a fine Train shop in Minot ND with just the couplers and trucks I needed and willing to serve me with real shipping costs. The items arrived here in no time and I had quiet some fun removing those Scale trucks and couplers. It is clear that my renovated 3-rail version cars stand higher on their wheels. Time to let them run.

Protosound 2

2008-08-17T21:24:00.007+02:00

And there was sound.

A strong nearly deafening diesel roar can now be heared from the attic.

The first MTH engine has made a strong and impressive appearance here on the layout. It is a SW 1500 Reading switcher, # 30-2189-1 from 2000 with protosound 2. And it is really heavy!

If you want to add sound to your 0-layout here in Europe you can follow two routes: make a small factory to generate your own 110 Volt, 60 Hz current and run Lionel train sound engines, or take a simple and abundant Märklin transformer and run a MTH engine with Protosound. Now, I still need a Z-750 or Z-1000 controller in-line with the Märklin transformer to get all the sound options and remote couplers operating, but I am working on that. For some unclear reasons I can not convince Ebay sellers sofar to sell only the controller and not the power unit, but one day I will be lucky.

The driving characteristics of the MTH engine are quiet different from the Lionel engines I have run so far. The MTH switcher only starts to run near the end of the throttle (at full electrical power) and runs slowly and steady over the tracks. It will be a good switcher, because it behaves very good on the switches, so I am pleased with it.

For those of you who like to hear the squeeky brakes, diesel sound, crew talk and horn: here is a video to listen to.

Historail

2008-08-07T23:20:00.007+02:00

In the middle of France, in a small town named St. Leonard de Noblat is a small railway museum: Historail. The entrance is a bit authentic peculiar and they have several train layouts operating in half-zero, zero and G. Furthermore, they show how French trains are operated and you can try in their cockpit.

There are plenty of train related objects and it is fun to walk through it all.

Personally I like the basement room best: it has a large scale zero layout with mostly hand-made trains, carriages, buildings, etc. Really nicely done. For instance the silver sleeping wagon is hand made from balsa wood. This gets most clear when you see the hand written texts. Most of the trains are ment for 2 rail operation, but nails in tracks ensure that also 3-rail operation is possible with large sliders under the engine as third rail current pick-ups.

Another special layout worth mentioning is a G scale wooden tram made by hand. A true smooth runner and really beautifully made!

Your host will be a look-a-like of Jack Black, but than a timid, kind slow French speaking version. Do not be scared you will not be interrogated on obscure French side lines and engines. In stead you will get a warm explanation of how to run French trains, both the electrical ones and the diesel-electrics. For train enthusiasts a must to stop by and have look when they pass by.

Train signal works

2008-06-24T21:44:00.004+02:00

After the painting and the wiring has been done, I can finally say that the train signal works. What a few Lemax crossing lights, a 3 Euro relay, two lights, wires, a bit of brass and paint can do.

Now all that still needs to be done is add a bell and cover the electrics with a small shed or house.

Train signal and new cars

2008-06-08T23:10:00.004+02:00

Two new cars have joined us. Two 2-rail Weaver cars to be more precise. A B&O #302522 50' bulkhead flat car from 1996 and a Reading #U3806 3-bay offset coal car from 1998.

So, these will have to be converted to 3-rail first, since these small flanges wheels do not track on hi-rails. This is than an excellent moment to make it diecast sprung trucks. Simultaneously, I practised my soldering skills a bit and made a train signal. Kind of fantasy signal, since only two lights is not very common, but I suits the needs of the layout and to make a signal in front of the crossing.

All-Nation Line #A-110

2008-05-17T20:40:00.008+02:00

Last week a post war freight car kit in scale 0 arrived here and I am very pleased with it. The brand is "All-Nation Line" which was unknown to me, but several friends on the TCAMG forum explained me that it was a hobby shop in Chicago owned by Bob Colson that produced wooden-metal kits from the 40's up to the 70's of the last century. This kit has the first address (La Salle street) printed on the instructions and hence must originate from before 1961. Here in Europe such a kit is truely rare and it pleases me to share it with a wider audience.

The box itself is thick high quality folding carton with a dark-red top-paper of 7.5 x 7.5 x 31 cm size. The kit is mostly composed of wooden parts, of which one triplex wooden side panel is missing, but that can easily be remade (9.2 x 4.5 x 0.3 cm). The metal trucks have functional springs and several other details are also made from metal (feels like a tin alloy): brake wheel, brake cilinder, door handles, nut and washer casting, turnbuckle, steps...

The instructions are concise and contain some pretty American English train-words (eaves, facia boards, Queen pests, turnbuckle, etc.) ensuring that it will be an instructive kit for me.

The model is a 36' box trailer of the C&LE traction. Or in more plain English it is freight car of the interurban electrical tramway company named Cincinnaty and Lake Erie. This was a pretty amazing transport company that run high speed streetcars through most of Ohio and Indiana in the years of the great depression. The website of the Indiana Histori cal Society has an essay devoted to this company and it is a pleasure to read it. When passenger traffic declined they started to run also freight streetcars and this model is a freight car that would be pulled by an electrical engine or streetcar. Two old pictures from internet are included that show how the interurban freight car should look like when finished. More pictures can be found at for instance the Trolleystop and Don Ross website.

The crossing

2008-04-14T20:56:00.005+02:00

I finally got the crossing working and to prove it, here is a video. The bell still needs to be added (so I added a fake train bell for the video) and a small house needs to be build to cover all the electrics and the wires. But is works. When a train approaches the spring under the rails is compressed and a contact is made triggering the Lemax crossing lights (#34954) to function. After the train passed the spring pushes the rails back up again.
This set-up is clearly not finished yet, but I am happy that it works.
By the way, these Lemax crossing lights (that are easily available in Europe during the X-mas season) are the same as those once sold under the K-line brand. Probably they originate from the same Chinese factory.
The reason why the lights are still not fixed on the ground plate is that my layout is a folding table and I need to unplug them before I fold the layout table back against the wall. I connected them with a simple hole-pin system, but I need to fill the holes a bit more to get a tighter fit.

Weaver hoppers

2008-04-09T23:41:00.004+02:00

A beautiful Weaver hopper car has joined the layout. It was available locally and that seldomly happens, making this a unique opportunity. Weaver is still relatively unknown in Europe as compared to Lionel and therefore there was hardly any competition.

It is a #71353 Great Northern PS-2 Hopper and it gladly combines with the #80003 AC-2 Hopper. The new one is clearly older. It is still has plastic trucks without springs and there are less rivets to count on the body. The light blue GN paint job is a rather simple two-tone as compared to the orange-black-white decoration on the DTI hopper. Nevertheless it is a great hopper that runs smoothly on my 027 layout. If anybody knows when the GN PS-2 hopper was produced I would be grateful for letting me know.

NW-2 Switcher

2008-03-17T23:43:00.004+01:00

Last week a beautiful Lionel 17605 Reading caboose (built 1989) joined my toy train layout. In order to celibrate this event all near scale cars gathered to make an special tour on the layout. Watch and enjoy. For those of you interested in detail, my favourite reefer (old Dutch cleanser) is standing in the background.

Lionel 1689T tender

2008-02-19T23:31:00.004+01:00

Many Lionel streamlined pre-war steamers came with a 1689T tender. They are abundant and can be scooped up on Ebay for about 10 USD or less. Although simple and abundant, the design is beautiful due to simplicity: a simple interaction between straight lines and curves.

This particular tender is a heirloom item. I received it in poor overpainted condition, complete with light grey paints blobs. It was really nice to repaint it gun-metal and to clean the journals, drawbar, coupler and shields. Simple pleasure. This just proves again that toy trains is not about money but about appreciation and enjoyment.

259E running

2008-02-12T21:00:00.001+01:00

The Lionel 259E engine now dislikes another 027 switch. For some reason it slows down on one particular switch, while other engines run without any issues over it. Nevertheless it runs good (besides on that one switch) and it is nice to show it. So here it comes. It just shows that a dusty and rusty toy train that did not move any more can be revitalised to a truely well running toy with character and that feels good.

Busy repair yard

2008-01-21T23:14:00.000+01:00

It is getting a bit over-crowded with pre-war Lionel cars that are patiently waiting restoration. Amongst the latest refugees is a 814 boxcar in very poor brown overpainted condition. It used to be bright yellow-brown in better days. The 814's came out in three rather similar bland colour schemes: yellow-brown, cream-maroon and cream-orange. Perhaps it is better to try a really nice colour like burgundy red / black. That would combine great with the copper details. Well, this needs some consideration. Furthermore, another 812 gondola joined us. This was clearly tortured: a front siding is missing and a very strange plastic hook coupler is bluntly glued on. And two tank cars joined: a 654 with missing rails and a 904.

It is getting time for some restoration activity. As can be seen on the photo's the metal of a 1689 Tender is in pink Hammerite primer, waiting for better weather to get a nice Gun-metal top-coat with Tamiya spray paint TS 38 (this is the only gun metal paint easily available in Europe). This tender was already primed with a more simple primer, but that one was found to be incompatible with Tamiya spray paint (nice textures formed, GRRR). So indeed, a lot of work for nothing. The other bare metal parts are of a 259 Tender of which the metal is heavily pitted and grooved by rust. I already removed the rust with a brass brush wheel, but the metal will need to protected, plastered, polished and smoothened thoroughly. So at least some progress is made.

Winter station

2008-01-14T21:44:00.000+01:00

This winter holiday season the Dutch railway museum organised a winter station. They created a skating oval in the central building, musicians, story tellers, a traditional merry go round and special children activities.

The special exhibition was devoted to 120 years of Fleischmann and showed tin model ships, scale zero trains, more modern toy trains in h0 and n scales and also several Magic train layouts. These magic trains are in scale 0e (narrow gauge in zero), have added play options for children (parts of the train wagons can be disassembled and assembled easily) and look quiet sturdy. Many children were playing happily with the special play layout. These Magic trains appeared new to me, but apparently they have been on the market from 1992 on. I think scale zero is a good choice for children hands and 0e makes it easy to get cheap h0 rails and to run them here in Europe. The trains themselves puzzle me a bit, as if they are simultaneously meant for children (added play functions) and middle aged train-operating men (quiet well detailled). In case Fleischmann is serious about getting more children interested, they could get some inspiration from Lionel with their Thomas the tank engines, Polar express and Potter's Hogwarth express. Furthermore, they could add some whistles, train sounds, etc. to add play value.

One of the positive surprises of the winter station was that they had fired up "De Arend". This was the first train engine ever to run on Dutch soil, between Amsterdam and Haarlem in 1839. Obviously, it was British made and what a smoke comes out of this steamer! The driver must have felt like a smoked herring after a day's work. Great that they had it smoking for us. Pity that they so limited wide gauge tracks so that it can not really run anywhere. By the way, this engine is a replicate that was built in 1939 for its anniversary.

Stream lined express

2008-01-06T21:02:00.000+01:00

Here is a video showing a beautiful streamlined steamer with three passenger cars running around my layout. The engine is a 1668E and a smooth runner. It was made from 1937 to 1941 (so about 70 years old) and still running perfectly. The passenger cars are numbered 1630, 1630 and 1631 and were produced from 1938 to 1942

Parade of pre-war Lionel toy trains

2007-12-30T00:33:00.000+01:00

Francesco, you asked for it and now you are going to get it. Here is my attempt to make a video of the pre-war Lionel toy trains running around on the little layout. Let's hope you will like it.

I bought railway crossing lights of Lemax at Lemaxworld for the pleasant price of 3.50 Euro / pair and placed one on the layout. Well it still has to be connected properly, but that can be sorted out later. Then I placed the pre-war trains in a queue and let them run by. In order of appearance: 289E, 1688E, 1664E, 259E and 1668E.

Much of the Lemax houses are too fantastic for me. They still would blend in nicely with a Lionel Polar express or Halloween set, but they are too Dickens-like for my taste. Some items, such as railway crossing signs, benches, lanterns, telephone booths can, however, mix in nicely and since these items are available cheaply in Europe, they are welcome on my layout.

Progress on the Lionel 259E engine

2007-12-09T23:20:00.000+01:00

The pilot wheel of the Lionel 259E engine kept derailing on the 027 switches that were directly after a curve. I could not find the reason quickly, but after some time I noticed that the pilot wheel was stuck in the turned position as if it wanted to continue the previous curve. The reason for that was that the switch pushes the pilot wheel upwards and since it is still in curve position it can press one side up, whereas the other side is still locked behind the guiding metal sheet (yellow object in drawing), tilting the pilot wheel and starting the derailment. After I finally realised how the pilot wheel derailed, I came up with a simple solution. I soldered a piece of brass sheet (blue object in drawing) in between the two notches on the pilot wheel bracket and now it runs continuous over all my layout without derailing! This piece of brass is just visible on the photo.

The engine finally also has a matching tender (259T). It is in poor condition, with quiet some rust, no handrails, circular L sign and drawbar. The drawbar was made easily from a piece of brass sheet of 2 inches length and 3/4 inch width. The corners were smoothened with a dremel grinder and two holes were drilled in: one for the engine pin and one to screw onto the tender. They have made their first joint trip on the layout already. This is the start of a new restoration project.

Train trucks

2007-12-09T22:49:00.000+01:00

The Williams stock car made me curious to compare the detail level in the train trucks a bit better between four brands of 0 scale 3 rail toy train producers. I was quiet surprised to see the difference between the four brands: Lionel, Weaver, Williams and K-line / Husky. Perhaps, this comparison is a bit outdated, since Williams has been purchased by Bachman and K-line by Lionel and also not complete, since I currently do not have MTH or Atlas cars. But the comparison shows how much difference in toy train truck quality one can get. Three brands have springs in the trucks, but only the springs in Weaver and Lionel cars are functional. This obviously does not mean that I have converted myself into the tradition of rivet counting, just an impression.

Williams stock car

2007-12-06T23:17:00.000+01:00

St. Nicolas has been good to me on 5 december. He gave me a yellow Reading stock car #FC04 from Williams Electric trains. The cattle car is relatively heavy compared to similar cars from Lionel and Weaver, since the floor plate is a thicker variety of sheet metal. It has a highly detailed body in 1:48 scale. The trucks are a bit simple of pressed metal and that is a pity because that really makes it a toy train in stead of scale model car. It runs perfect on my 027 layout, I just had to put some insulating sticky tape on the metal un-coupling discs, because they created short-circuits with my Lionel 027 switches. Below the car, near the middle is a gas cilinder like structure. This is perhaps the brake system. Any way, a very nice car and more than welcome on my layout. THANK YOU St. Nicolas!

Layout maintenance

2007-11-19T21:43:00.000+01:00

Saturday we visited the 'modelspoorbeurs' in Arnhem. A toy train heaven for h0 and N scale enthusiasts. One stand had quiet a few Athearn American trains in h0. For 0 scalers there were two stands interesting selling pre-war Märklin and JEP for enormous prices: one passenger car from Märklin for 220 Euro or a lantern for 70 Euro. This is quiet in contrast to the low prices for conventional h0 wagons of 5-10 Euro per car. It has been suggested before and it is probably true, due to the global Ebay trade common toy train cars are becoming cheaper and less common cars are becoming extremely expensive. We enjoyed the three layouts on the side. The real steam powered engines in scale G (LGB) were running and those are the most impressive to watch and smell.

Sunday was a good day for redoing a part of the layout. Because the new engine house requires a track distance (center rail to center rail) of 13 cm (5 1/5 inch) instead of the common 16 cm (6 1/4 inch) on Lionel 027 layouts, a special Z-bend had to be made. I took two half curves in 027 topped them off at 10 cm curve length and soldered them back together with brass pins. This brings both tracks just the 1 inch and a bit more to each other and indeed the engine house is now ready for use. While being busy soldering I decided to connect one switch more and to make a circular power line for accesories. I only managed to connect two red bumper lights, but this simplifies the connection of other fun things in the coming months. For instance, the rotary beacon that still does not turn.

B and O Lionel freight express

2007-11-11T14:28:00.000+01:00

This rainy weekend was very suitable for playing with Lionel toy trains. With the help of a tripod and a little natural sun light I was finally able to produce a reasonable video.

On the photo and for those with sharp eyes also on the video is the new orange AC-2 covered hopper from DT&I. It arrived this week. This club car from the TCA-MG forum is for blended sand only and was specially produced by Weaver models. It is amazingly detailed and has die-cast trucks and springs. It is still a light weight car. It states that is for 031 curves, but it runs perfectly on my 027 layout as well. The hopper is precisely 1:48 scale, so up to now I have only run it with the few 0 scale cars that I have. But the mismatch with Lionel cars that are a fraction smaller is only minimal, so I think it will run with some more trains soon.

Building a big 2 stall engine house

2007-11-04T22:37:00.000+01:00

This weekend, I used almost all evening hours to construct the BIG 2 stall engine house that I purchased a few weeks ago. This nice model structure was made by IHC and although clearly intended for the American toy train market, it mentions "made in Denmark", well that is a surprise. The building instruction is one piece of paper with one drawing and that is a bit short, but the construction is straight forward. One aspect is not completely clear. There are two rectangular holes where we could fit two different ventilation blinds in, I just chose one. The construction time is about 6 hours and the resulting building is enormous: 27 1/2 inch long (70 cm), 10 1/2 inch (26 cm) tall and 12 inch (30 cm) wide. Four engines easily fit inside. It is a model-MEGA-structure or a train cathedral. I didnot bother about the BIG when buying it, but buyers beware, this thing is HUGE. My layout is full now. But it sure looks good.
One aspect is a bit daft though. The center-to-center rail distance for the two tracks is 5 inch, whereas for Lionel 027 6 1/4 is conventional. Well, this means I have to cut and solder a special rail to get it fitting. But for the rest it is a great structure.
Unfortunately, IHC do no longer offer 0 scale structures, in month time they vanished from the IHC website. Fortunately, Atlas 0 has included this engine house in their catalog, so most likely they have purchased the moulds. But this Atlas structure is with 2 chimneys, whereas the IHC has four!

Running pre-war trains

2007-10-28T17:17:00.000+01:00

This weekend was great for playing with the pre-war Lionel trains and running them on the layout. I like the sound of the wheels on the tubular tracks and the sweet smell of ozone.

Anyway, it was also the first round for the restored 259E. The pilot wheel does not negotiate all switches good, when a switch is directly after a curve the pilot wheel still point inside the curve and derails on the switch. Hmmm, lets try to readjust the spring and lubricate the suspension point a bit better.

Furthermore, the E-unit buzzes enormously and when it is switched off, the engine runs much better. Perhaps, I need to change there also something.
For the rest it run smoothly.

A few pictures were made to show the fun.

Lionel 259E restored and ready to run

2007-10-22T23:03:00.000+02:00

The Lionel 259E steam engine is ready! The final chapter of the restoration process involved the complete rewiring of the engine, since the old cotton covered wires crumbled to dust when touched. The brushes were short and had a scratched surface and were replaced. At first the armature did not turn any more: the new brushes were so long that they pressed the armature gear firmly to the gear plate. So, I added two spacer rings to the brush plate screws and everything turned smoothly again. After a full lubrication the engine was a real smooth runner. The three copper armature plates are a bit damaged due to scratches, probably due to friction with the old brushes. The armature plate was thoroughly cleaned and lightly smoothened with a brass brush on a Dremel tool.
After that the wheels were removed with a wheel puller tool and they were cleaned in white spirit, brushed, polished, cleaned and the interior was painted red. The copper domes, smokestack and handrails were cleaned and polished. Then the whole lot was reassembled. Most difficult was getting the thick nickel side wires in. The black paint was scratched while doing so and I had to repaint the damage again. The new rear truck wheels and axles of George Tebolt fitted in nicely and the new circular L signs on both sides of the cab really finished it off. The main driving rods have a little corrosion damage, because the nickel luster does not return completely after polishing, but they are the originals and they still look good. Lets not forget that this engine was build and sold in 1933 and 1934 and so it is allowed to have a few age marks. It is impressive to see it smoothly drive by. What an elegance and what a large light beam ( I placed a blueish - white LED lamp inside and that really gives a beautiful strong light beam).
Now the hunt is on for a matching tender: 259T or 262T, preferably in poor condition so I can restore this as well.

Scale Zero weekend in Zutphen

2007-10-14T23:26:00.000+02:00

This weekend the Dutch Scale Zero foundation had its annual gathering in Zutphen. A few small layouts with nice scenery, a long central loop with many trains and almost all 2-rail zero trains.
Fortunately, in a corner there was toy train enthusiast who collected 3 rail zero: Märklin, Buco, Elletren and Lionel.
Surprisingly many really made their own trains, from brass and tin or from plastic, wood and even from cardboard. Honestly, I was a bit surprised to hear that the beautiful 1200 locomotive was cardboard based, but from the outside one can not see it. Here are a few pictures to catch the spirit.
And on top of all, I found an Scale 0 building kit from IHC, # 300-100, Big 2 Stall engine house. That will make my layout look better. I wonder when this kit was made. According to the manufacturer it is no longer available. Anyway, it is complete and has never been assembled yet. So, about time to do so.

Lionel in Europe

2007-10-06T22:34:00.000+02:00

Several hunderds of European toy train enthusiasts prefer North-American toy trains over European ones for a manifold of reasons, to name a few:

Scale. Most (recent) European toy trains are in scale H0, N, Z or G. A large fraction of the American toy trains are in 0. Zero (1:43.5) is a much nicer scale to hold in your hand and play with. It is just the right size for a toy for humans. Europeans that admire scale 0 can either collect expensive old or modern European toy trains in 0 or join with the Americans: much cheaper and much more choice.
Design. Streamlined steam engines and classical diesel engines like the F3 belong to most nice looking trains this planet has withnessed. Since many American toy trains are also the best looking engine models they have created, it is pleasure for the eye. Obviously, there are many exceptions to this opinion and we have occasionally also observed some nice looking engines here in Europe, still the golden age of good looking trains was the 30's - 60's in North America. On top of that, in those days there were many competing railroad companies and they painted their engines in bright colours (well not all, but many in comparison to Europe, where competition between railroad companies was not an issue). The Santa Fe Warbonnet paint scheme on an F3 is one of the most attractive ones and that is probably the reason why so many of these engines were in starter sets.
Great options. Many modern American toy-trains are dressed up with horns, whistles, crew talk, realistic train sounds, etc. It is very impressive to hear and see such a realistic toy train run through your house.
High quality. Many early American toy trains are highly detailed. They simply look so much better than their European produced counter toy trains. Furthermore, it is easy to see that several classical Lionel trains are very well produced, resulting in very robust, stable products that show little wear. Also the old pre-war and postwar electromotors are easy to maintain and keep on running. Similar quality from European producers is simply much more expensive.

Globalisation speeded it up. Nowadays, it is getting much easier to import your own trains than a decade ago. Paypal, Ebay, Internet and many on-line dealers in combination with the low USD/EUR exchange rate make them much easier attainable. Paypal is important as Americans work with strange things like cheques and money orders and Europeans remit money directly with IBAN and Paypal made intercontinental money transfers between individuals much and much easier. Obviously the mailman and sometimes also the customer officer need to get paid, but still the total price remains small in comparison to European scale 0 trains.
The power issue (100V / 60 Vz versus 230V / 50 Hz) slowed it down. Because, importing these toy trains is one thing but getting them to work with all the modern electronical gadgets is another. If you want to have a full train show at home, you will need to generate 110 V / 60 Hz in your own home. There are few AC current converters on the market that do a decent job, but depending on the power required it remains a few hunderd Euro's extra. A German shop sell a converter with enough power for one train, but if you need more, you will need a bit more stout equipment. Several European Lionel train enthusiasts have developed their own solutions to deal with this.

Sneak preview of the 259E

2007-09-16T22:59:00.000+02:00

I just finished with spray painting the Lionel 259E locomotive black glossy paint and it really shines and reflects. Great. The pink undercoat of Hamerite was much less attractive, but now it starts to look beautifull again. I could not resist to put on some shiny brass bits and to make a few pictures. The brass bits are not ready yet, they do not have the full luster yet, so I will polish them some more. Also the driving rods are too dull at the moment, but the brass brush and the polishing disc will do their work eventually.

Ebay was down

2007-09-01T11:41:00.000+02:00

Lionel collectors like to use Ebay. Unfortunately, Ebay is down since friday morning 31 august CET. Also other American sites are apparently affected: Yahoo groups, Hotmail. Here we can still get to the welcome window, but can not pass the sign-in window. Smaller sites are still operational. This situation bears resemblance to hacker attacks of two weeks ago. Lets hope these guys find another hobby soon; for instance toy trains!
Sorry, Hackers. This was a Dutch disease. The largest Dutch internet providers (KPN related: Hetnet, Planet, etc.) have send updates to routers of their users and this caused the trouble. Sure, they deny, but when the preferred DNS number in the TCP/IP protocol is changed, suddenly it all works again. I hope that Ebay reps. will have a word with KPN about this.

corrosion on tin-plate

2007-08-29T22:32:00.000+02:00

After dissembling the 259E engine completely, I stripped the paint by immersing the parts in boiling soap water for 30 minutes. The black paint just fell off by stirring the hot liquid along the items. Although there was little corrosion visible from the train in the original state, it is very obvious after stripping. Here on the photo you see the roof part of the cab and many fine brown lines are visible. These crooked rust lines that start at defects in the tin plating and form pin-hole defects. The ironoxide (rust) formed under the tin coating pushes the coating upwards, forms more defects and the rusting starts to walk over the surface forming webs of crooked lines. Much like moles digging tunnels just beneath the surface of a meadow. Nice to see and beautiful for metal-chemists, but a danger for my toy train. So, I will bring out the brass brush and sanding paper to get rid off these corrosion lines and then prime the lot with corrosion retarding paint.

Lionel 259E

2007-08-18T23:31:00.000+02:00

A few months ago, I found a Lionel 259E engine in relative poor condition on Ebay. Precisely good for Lionel's junkyard. When it arrived two things were crystal clear: 1 much work would be necessary to get this engine running again and 2 what a beautiful detail this engine has. Basically the engine block and the drivers were covered with rust, dust and hardened grease. The boiler front was bent and the rear truck was missing. When placed on tracks it didn't move an milliinch and only made some rumbles and noices.

Yesterday, I disassembled the engine and cleaned the engine. First, with a cloth and toluene / white spirits to remove the black tacky hardened grease and then with a brass brush to remove the residue. Oh boy, my hands were black! The brushes are relatively thick and have a scratched surface. I sanded them gently and placed them back for the moment. Eventually they need to be replaced. The armature was cleaned and then everything was lubed again. I placed a LED light bulb in the socket and that lighthed directly, but the engine did not do a thing. The wires are in poor condition. They are old cotton covered and this crumbles when you touch them. For the moment I protected a few open spots with insulation tape, but it is clear that I need to get the soldering gun ready for rewiring. Then I focussed on the E-unit. I unscrewed it and dust fell out. After light shaking two small corroded copper rings fell out. The drum had been fully disintegrated! No wonder that the engine did not move. I cleaned the E-unit out and found that the plunger was stuck. After more cleaning and lubing it started to move again. Next, I placed a new drum in the E-unit and worked a little more on getting the plunger falling freely down again and yes the engine runs again!

It is a relief and a feeling of satisfaction in one. The engine has made many loops already on my layout and the E-unit is still not 100% OK ( a few times forward motion is passed), but it runs and runs good. Surprisingly, relatively high voltages are needed to get her moving, but then she runs smoothly. This high initial electric potential could be related to the poor brushes. Next the rewiring needs to be done and after that the engine need a rear truck and a good derusting treatment. Priming and repainting will be necessary and since many of the brass pieces lost their luster, these need to be polished or replaced as well. Papa-Les-Trains placed some really nice photo's of a restored 259E on the web and I do not think I will get it so far, but I will try to bring her close. It just will take a few months.

Decal trouble

2007-08-13T22:47:00.000+02:00

Progress on the Lionel 1722 caboose is much slower than hoped for. First there was trouble getting the yellow paint decently on the red body and now it proves difficult to get the decal on without wrinkels, bubbles and nasty reflections on side view. I used Clear Trimfilm 02-0 of Microscale Industries Inc. Hitherto that always worked nice, but these were relatively smaller surfaces (square quarter of an inch etc.). This is the first time that I really wanted to cover the complete side of a car (about 10 x 2.5 inch) and then it really gets difficult to cover the full surface without: wrinkels, gas bubbles, water pockets. The transfer of these water slide decals was improved slightly by adding dish washing liquid to the water, but not enough, still nasty reflections are visible in side view, probably caused by an insufficient contact between the paint and the decal, which cause thin bubbles to form.
Well, I do not like it and and will probably start all over with an another decal material. I do not know which one yet, but I am going to look for it. There must be something out there that works better than this. Any tips are appreciated.

A new house on the layout

2007-07-07T23:49:00.000+02:00

Sometimes you are lucky and today I had a good day. I received a beautiful tin building with a nice lithograph for free from a person who cleaning his house and gave it away. So, the best thing to do, is to put along side the tracks and run some trains. The house is made by Bing and has a diamond sign with GBN (Gebrüders Bing Nürnberg) in the middle, which means that it is German from before 1923. Although the house has many scratches - a proof of much former joy- it will be easily restored with some paint if I really feel like it. But, currently I am hesistant to put a brush on it and reacon I will leave if as it is, well for the time being. The house has two floors, one door, seven windows and a chimney. Perhaps it was meant to be signal house along the tracks of a toy train. Well it has found a suitable place on my layout.

Lionel 604 observation

2007-05-29T23:50:00.000+02:00

The 604 observation was waiting to get cleaned and restored for quiet some time. It was dirty and rusty. Initially I made a mistake by not priming this car. The black paint came off in a month due to some electrochemical reaction and I could redo the whole car again. Nevertheless, it is finished now and looks great. The brass fence was very dirty and was cleaned with special Brass polish and polished for several evenings. But it shines again!

The nickel air tank covers were corroded and not easily mended. I could not find new air tank covers at part suppliers and hence I started sanding them. After sanding the rust reappeared in a few days at the cracks in the nickel coating, so I decided to sand, polish, clean and varnish the covers. And up till now that seems to work quiet good. It is time to run a passenger train now!

The last find

2007-04-15T22:01:00.000+02:00

The Lionel 653 pre-war hopper is in my opinion one of the nicer cars of the 650 serie. The hopper hatch below the car can be opened and closed with a brass wheel and that raises the play value. Therefore, it is more sought after and less easy to obtain one for a reasonable price. Nevertheless, I managed to find one in France a few weeks ago and this dusty and rusty beauty has finally arrived. Besides two missing journals it is complete. Well there are a few shining new journals waiting for this car, but it better be cleaned, stripped and repainted before those are put on.
Furthermore, the bottom hatch is always open because the brass crank rod can rotate freely, so we have to create some friction somewhere to be able to keep it closed as well.

Easter trains

2007-04-08T23:27:00.000+02:00

The Easter holiday is very suited for playing with trains. It is still too cold to stay out all day and too warm to do nothing. Anyway, pleasant for running some trains. It was time to play with the 289E engine, 3 812 gondolas and the 817 caboose. I gathered three 812 gondolas and the caboose over the last years and it was about time to line them up and to run them over the tracks. The 810-serie of freight cars is one size larger than the 650-serie and they fit much better with the 289E than with the smaller 1664, 1668 and 1666. These are better off with 650 serie cars.

Furthermore, the new cleaned Reading boxcar also had to be lined up with the other Reading cars. That looked great. It is so amazing how smooth both engines run. That is the joy of railroading in a nutshell, or in egg-shell for these days.

Zinc pest or plain corrosion?

2007-03-27T22:25:00.000+02:00

Recently, I acquired a Lionel 9440 boxcar from 1981. I had been looking for this boxcar for a few years, but I couldn't get a hold on one for a reasonable price. Since, Greenberg estimates its value in between 45-60 US$ in good - excellent condition it is no wonder.

Anyway, I finally got lucky a few weeks ago. The trucks were, however, not black but more off-white. Initially, I was afraid to have purchased a boxcar with trucks that are falling apart due to zinc pest. Fortunately, I mild brush with the dremel brass brush quickly removes the white dusty coating and leaves a beautiful black truck. So, it is just a matter of cleaning time and I will have a nice Reading boxcar, ready to run with my steamer.
So, I reacon that is some kind of corrosion. Additionally the axles have a light rust orange color, which make the corrosion a bit more likely.

Lionel 812 finished

2007-02-25T22:54:00.000+01:00

On Friday the new parts that I needed to finish the 812 gondola arrived: new couplers, a brass brakewheel and new horseshoe clips to mount the trucks. This evening I finished the gondola. Really a beauty again and so different than the rusted wreck I bought on Ebay. It was a little bit more work than planned, due to the rusted base plate that was so badly affected that the holes could not be filled easily and a new brass plate was used. A good example of transforming trash into treasure. It is not economical (because it is much cheaper overall to buy a car in good condition), but it is very rewarding to feel you saved an old toy train from oblivion.
Now, I first want to finish the 1722 and then choose a new trashure project.

Removing corrosion from brass plates

2007-02-11T12:29:00.000+01:00

The Lionel 812 was in poor condition when it arrived. The tin plate was corroded on many places. In one place the corroded tin-plate contacted the brass plate directly and made it turn dark brown (second plate from the left on the photo). Although I do not understand the chemistry completely, but then the exact composition of the tin-plate and the brass are also unknown, it is clear that the brass was affected quiet strongly. I tried to clean this dark-brown brass with a household brass cleaner, metal polish, washing and basically it did not work. Only carefull light sanding did the trick and got the brass back in original luster. I am still sanding and polishing, but it alreday looks much better.
The photo's on the left show the plates when I started cleaning and on the right how they are now.

Transplanting an E-unit into a 1664

2007-01-06T00:23:00.000+01:00

In the summer I bought an old Lionel 1664 steamer for a soft price with some corrosion on the nickel driving rods and an issue with the E-unit. After the steamer crossed the ocean, I soon discovered what the issue was: the steamer only reverses and did not drive forward. At first I cleaned the E-unit drum and checked the contacts, it appeared to work correct in the dissembled state, but as soon as put it all together the damn thing only reversed again... Three times I dissembled it, controlled it with a Volt-meter and thought that it would fine, well every time it proved not to be so. After 2 months, I gave up and started to look for replacement, which I soon found on Ebay. After I assured myself that the second E-unit worked correctly, I removed all the wires and solder-residu from it, cleaned, rewired it with modern wire and soldered back into the 1664. Seeing both E-units connected and step by step disconnecting another wire from the old E-unit and soldering it to the 'new' one, reminded me a bit of heart transplantation. Moreover, the E-unit operates a bit like a hearth in a toy train: controlling the flow of electricity through the motor. The good news is: the patient survived and the steamer enthusiastically runs forward and backward again. All that is left to do is a thorough cleaning job and finding some new shiny nickel drivers and linkers.

Billboard reefer fun

2007-01-02T10:56:00.000+01:00

Well it is a holiday, so a good time to run some trains. This time the billboard reefers with soap, pickles, liquor, cigarettes and beer are running down the track. Quiet suitable for the new year!

Making decals for the Lionel 1722 caboose

2006-12-10T21:41:00.000+01:00

For the past week I was busy cleaning up a scanned picture of the side of the 1722 caboose. The plan is to paint the side red, to paint the windows and oval symbols yellow with the help of masking tape and to finish it of with a large decal that shows all the black details: rivets, lines, etc. Two decals have to be made: one of the side panel and one of the head side. Since the caboose is symmetrical a double print of both will do for the complete car.
Now, I started to straighten out the scanned picture, to convert it in black and white, to remove all unnecessary details and to repaint the lines and rivets. It is almost done. I finally learned myself into Paint shop Pro, because I needed some tools I never used before.

Priming with Hammerite

2006-11-27T23:51:00.000+01:00

Although both the Lionel 812 and Lionel 1722 are clean now, there was lots of rust on them and much of the surface is bare iron in stead of tinplate. Therefore, these cars were prime-painted with a special Hammerite rust preventing paint. The colour is not very appealing, but it is only an undercoat.
The 1722 caboose has some dents that need to be filled with plaster. Furthermore, I am still busy with the top roof. The top-roof will obviously receive a normal primer (for non-ferro metals) when I am finished with it.
The 812 gondola has several rough spots where rust has eaten holes in the side panels, that still need to be filled with plaster. So, there is still much to do.

A new start for the Lionel 812 gondola

2006-11-23T23:10:00.000+01:00

Cutting the brass plate and getting the holes in on the right place was quiet some work. The Proxxon SS230 mini-cutter together with the old fashioned drill and the Dremel were handy to get the shape right and the holes in place.
Today, I finished soldering the side boards back on the new base plate. A new gondola is born... Although there is still enough to be done, it is nice to see that it is starting to look like a gondola again.

Some people might argue that buying a second-hand base plate is much easier. Well that is right when you have easy access to those. Here in Europe it is rather difficult to get spare parts, unless you order them in the States. Moreover, these base plates of the 812 are not ubiquitously available in the US and hence it is quiet a challenge to repair this Gondola from the bottom on.

Other people argue that buying another old 812 Gondola can be used as a base plate donor. But what about the other old car then? I prefer to get them all running again!

Rust and holes

2006-11-05T23:22:00.000+01:00

The rusting of the Lionel 812 gondola car is more severe than thought previous. Several additional holes have popped up while de-rusting the car with Dremel brush and grinders. The base plate is too weak to be trusted for a restoration project. Therefore, I have bought a nice brass plate (K&S, #253, 0.032 x 4 x 10) and I have made too clean cuts on the edge lines of the base plate. One side was very easily cut, the other side had more iron still in it and proved a little bit tougher. Hard to imagine that this pile of junk will once be a nice car again.

Lionel 610 almost finished

2006-10-31T23:44:00.000+01:00

Today, I assembled the Lionel 610 passenger car. I gave it new couplers, but for the rest all the old parts have been cleaned and re-used. The car was an utter wreck without a roof when it arrived and it is nice to see it in this condition now. The only things left to do is getting the decals, repainting the roof once more and getting the light sorted out. The interior lighting works, but the lamp does not shine steady, so somewhere the is a loose connection from ground of the lamp to the wheels.

Lionel 812

2006-10-29T00:10:00.000+02:00

This Lionel 812 pre-war gondola just reached me in time. A few additional years of wear would have made it non-restorable: just for parts. The 800 series freight cars have been made with thicker steel sheets than the cheaper 600 and 1600 series. That has saved this car. During my usual cleaning ritual holes dropped in the car floor. The rust has gone completely through. It makes you wonder was must have happened to this car. Had it been lying out in the rain for a couple a years? It sure would explain the significant rusting. I will have to cut out a major part of the car's floor and replace it with brass plate soldered in.
One day this car will shine again, but it can take a few months!

Lionel 1722

2006-10-28T23:55:00.000+02:00

Recently I acquired a Lionel 1722 pre-war caboose in poor condition. It is rusting, the paint and lithographed picture are poor. And most strikingly it misses a top roof. The top roof used on this model were pretty daft. There were only windows to the sides and not to the front and back. Since, I didn't have a top roof anyway, I decided to be a bit more creative and make a top roof myself from brass plates.
One of the obstacles to make a nice top roof is the wobbly roof itself. It has been folded up and a break / twist line runs diagonal of the middle section. This needs to be evened out by hammering. The triangular missing part of the roof has been filled with solder and brass.
So, there is plenty to restore on this one. The most difficult part will be restoring the lithograph. The current plan is paint the body red, use masking tape and paint the windows and ovale symbols yellow and then to laser print black decals for all the rivets etc. I never done this before, so it is quiet a challenge.

Spray painting the 610 passenger car

2006-10-08T21:51:00.000+02:00

After looking at the webpages of Terry Gibbs, I decided that red body, cream windows, black tanks and trucks and a maroon roof would look the best for my 610 passenger car. So, I started of spray painting. I like to apply double layers; first one layer, then drying in a transparent drying box with a Tyvek window in the sun and after 30 minutes another layer and then 3 days of drying. I used to work with a Bagder airbrush set, but I like the large spray gun better. This handles thicker paints that dry faster and smoother. The disadvantage is that the spray can takes more paint and the paint tube is longer and both need to be cleaned intensely afterwards. Anyway, I like the large spray gun better. So, today I finished with red, cream and black. I just have to do the maroon roof. I will wait for the 1722 to be ready for spray painting, so that I can paint two roofs maroon simultaneously.

Priming the Lionel 610 passenger car

2006-09-24T22:34:00.000+02:00

After the cooking pot treatment, there was still some yellow smuck, predominantly on the inside of the passenger car. This was removed with a brass scraper and a brass bruss (dremel tool). The outside of the car can be brushed most easily and the tin really starts to become glossy. The picture shows the car halfway the brushing treatment.
Several metal tabs were already gone or flimpsy. Thin brass strips of a L-profile (3 mm width) were cut and soldered on the inside of the passenger car to replace missing tabs. The excess of solder was sanded off. Some existing trabs were reinforced with solder.
Then the car was thoroughly cleaned with white spirit and primed with a standard light grey primer for non-ferro metals. Finally the car starts to look good again. Now, I only have to choose the final colours...

Stripping paint from pre-war Lionel cars

2006-09-02T11:49:00.000+02:00

There are many ways to strip paint from pre-war metal tin toys, including: sand blasting, sanding, immersion in white spirit or ammonia and cooking in detergents. The latter method is by far the easiest. You basically take a big pan, fill it up with water, add some normal detergent without bleaching agents and let it come to boiling temperature. Then you immerse the Lionel parts in the pot and let is stand for at least 30 minutes on low fire and occasionally stir the mixture. Afterwards you take it out, rinse the item with hot water and lightly sand the places where some paint had remained. In the corners usually some paint is left, and I use a brass scraper (brass is softer than tin-plated iron) to gently remove the left-overs.
The photo's show the 610 passenger car in dissembled state, in the cooking pan and out after two rounds of cooking. The trouble with this car was that it had been redecorated and a more modern paint which was less easy to remove. It formed a thick sticky yellowish gel and I sanded it of with hot water and a kitchen sanding sponge.
Good luck and mind that the water is really dark coloured after cooking the first time, do not stain your clothes or kitchen with it.
Regarding the alternative methods:
1) Sand blasting works great, but you need to set up your compressor and blaster / cabinet everytime. If you got a permanent set-up, that is great, but otherwise it is a lot of extra time
2) Ammonia immersion works, but stinks and the exposed metal parts get slowly discoloured
3) Sanding is great and there are nice mini-sanders for the hobby available, but it is a lot of work!

Looking for Lionel

2006-09-01T22:33:00.000+02:00

Whenever, we want to see how a pre-war Lionel car exactly looked, web search engines offer often little help. For instance, type in "Lionel 1664" in Google and wait what comes. Usually, the vast majority of the links shown are auction sites (Ebay etc.) with often outdated offerings which can not be retrieved and observed anymore. Followed by a few Frenchmen, Quebecois and a singer named Ritchie. This is rather annoying. Simultaneously, there are much useful websites of train enthusiasts, professionals which offer sharp pictures of Lionel train objects, however, these are not easily found with conventional search engines. Moreover, these sites are usually far from complete, but combining them would improve their coverage. Hence, I thought that it would be a good idea to start with list of links to those "hidden" sites on the web which offer precise pictures and to let it grow organical and indexed on the Lionel number.

Here are the first links:
TG for much useful information of Terry Gibbs

SW for 804, 805, 806, 807, 831, 2653, 902, 1682

GTE for the great Glancy train exhibition that includes: 400E, 400T, 607, 608, 656, 2817, 3814

221
224
262
1666
1688E

Fun with pre-war Lionel trains

2006-08-27T00:09:00.000+02:00

It was time to empty the boxes and run some pre-war Lionel trains. It really amazing how smooth these trains run after 70 years. Since, the 1688E is not compatible with the 027 switches I put him aside, its wheel flanges are simply too high. The 1666E is really a smooth runner and was giving the task to run the freight train of wagons of the 650-serie: 655, 652, 651, 659 and 657.
I also managed to deal with the jumpy pilot wheel of the 289E locomotive. The spring metal had been assembled the reverse way. Reversing the spring ensured that the pilot wheel is firmly pressed on the rail and now it does not derail on the switches any more. The 289E headed a passenger train with 1630, 1630 and 1631 coaches.

655 box car restored

2006-08-15T21:49:00.000+02:00

Half a year ago, I bought a highly abused toy train car and I am proud to announce its restoration complete.
One side of the box car had a corrosion spot, as if somebody had dropped acid on it. When cleaning the affected region, I soon realised that this was a major defect. When the metal was sanded bare, a hole of a quarter inch became visible and at least half an inch around it the metal was much thinner then normal.
The hole was filled with tin-solder and was sanded, plastered and sanded many times before the side wall was really smooth again.
The paint came from George Tebolt and all the parts are the original ones!
Let's roll the box car!
This proves again that one man's trash is the other one treasure....

Holiday in the Jura

2006-08-02T00:06:00.000+02:00

During my holiday, I visited the small steam train in the French Jura mountain named Coni'fer. The wood-fired 0-6-0 steamer runs from Hôpitaux neufs to a place in the middle of the forest and back. It runs on a part of the former railway Pontalier - Vallorbe. However, a lot of the original track has been removed. A group of train enthusiasts likes to recreate the original full track and lets hope they succeed. I was a beautiful experience.

Slow progress with the layout

2006-06-05T21:51:00.000+02:00

During the last weeks I bought two tin buildings: one switch tower from unknown German brand and a small platform from Hornby. I also cleaned some semaphores and the lantern and put them along the tracks. With the Metcalfe freight shed and the self-build station, it finally starts to look a little bit like a layout. There is still much to do, but some progress is being made.
The station was made from Balsa wood, matches, paper and paint. It probably took me 2 years, but little by little, I made finished it. The most dreadful was cutting out the roof tiles from paper. In the end I really wanted to stop, but luckily I did finish it. Inside there are five small light bulbs. Let's hope that I will never have to replace them, because they are glued in.