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51
General Discussion / Re: Interesting Auction Items
« Last post by early0electric on January 24, 2024, 08:34:38 AM »
Nice clean looking outfit!  I never heard of Bailey's or a Bailey Special. I wonder what the History and Newspaper ads are that they mention.
52
General Discussion / Re: Interesting Auction Items
« Last post by Terry on January 23, 2024, 04:17:34 PM »
Here's an interesting train set:

 


 


The listing says the loco box is dated 1930. I had that loco with and without the stripe. I think the stripe version is more common. The observation is common. Check out the factory error baggage with end doors. You see those in orange, but not often in other colors.


https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/170189692_lionel-bailey-special-train-set-w-box


This 1930 Bailey Special Set looks to be assembled from obsolete inventory. They probably painted the locos up to match the cars. I think they did the same with the 253 in dark green with orange windows/cast headlight to get rid of dark green 610 cars.
53
Layouts / Re: Terry's American OO layout 1934-40
« Last post by Terry on January 03, 2024, 08:00:04 PM »
Here's a video of the Nason Atlantic pulling some Lionel cars and the Nason Interurban on the layout:


So far it took me about 8 hours a foot to do the track. I did the gray track, the track with tan roadbed is from 1937.  I spent a lot of time getting the rails perfect, but didn't pay much attention to the 3rd rail. I need to raise it in some areas.

The Atlantic doesn't like the switches. The points are just pinned. I need to clean and repair the points and frogs so they sit correctly.

The interurban will only run counter-clockwise. There is a warped insulator on the underside of the loco and I think it's snagging on rail spikes.

I'm going to add outside pickups to a Lionel 004 Semi-scale Hudson loco and convert it to DC this weekend. I also do a full scale Hudson for the layout.

I'm having fun.
54
Layouts / Re: Terry's American OO layout 1934-40
« Last post by Terry on December 26, 2023, 06:00:18 PM »
Here's some information about hand-laying the track.

Originally I thought the outside 3rd rail should go on the outside of the curves because that would keep the loco on the track, but that's not how the old tracks were made. Firstly, these are scale models and run much slower than our toy trains. Secondly, the locos stick out and would snag the 3rd rail if it was on the outside. Only long passenger cars risk hitting an inside rail, and the under-frame details can be shaved to clear the rail.

The old fiber tie strip is too fragile to drill through. I soaked it in water for a week to get it pliable enough to form curves, but it shatters when drilled.

The spikes won't go into the plywood, so every hole has to be drilled first. I started with tiny bits that broke every 5-8 holes, but a friend recommended I use pins or sewing needles. Sewing needles worked well and I bought 80 of them for $4. I can get 15-20 holes per pin.

I have a lot of different spikes I've collected over the years. Different diameters and different heads. This allows me to put different spikes into the same hole and move the rail.

Lincoln pennies are a great help.  I found a penny with a brass strip in the box of track stuff that came with the old track. The penny diameter is the gauge, and the thickness is the wheel tread.

Here's some pictures.

Marking location of inner rail. Inner rail is radius of the track. This section is 26" radius. I made the wood strip when I did the plywood.

 


 


Here's the tie strip after soaking in the tub and being blotted dry on the cardboard.

 


Start with the rail off the curve in a straight section. The black box is a rail gauge for straight track and allows me to clamp the rail. Here's the set up:

 


Then you work around with the rail over the black line.

 


 


Once the inside rail is laid, the straight section is used to start the curve and you just follow along with the track gauge and the pennies. The outside rail goes much quicker than the inner because it only has one place to go.

 


 


 


This section has a slight S curve and then matches to the existing track. By leaving a few inches of the rail sticking out and then clamping the aligned rails down I can make a transition that works. This is actually much easier than it looks.

 


 


After it's clamped I cut all four rails and trim the roadbed. I can adjust the curve by sliding the two roadbed sections back and forth under the rails. Because the other ends of the track sections influence this joint it will be spiked last.

 


So far I think I'm managing to do a foot every six hours!
55
Layouts / Terry's American OO layout 1934-40
« Last post by Terry on December 17, 2023, 02:51:46 PM »
I have started the 00 layout. Outside 3rd rail with trains made from 1934-40. My locos are by Lionel, Nason, and Scalecraft. I have cars by the three loco makers and by Famaco and Eastern.

The idea is to build a layout using 1930s techniques. Open framework with handlaid track on ballasted plywood is the start. The track plan is a twice around with the high and low points at the back. This means the forward edge has both loops at the same height so the town-site is flat.

Here's a track plan:

 


I decided to test the trains to make sure they'll go up the grade. The raise is 3" overall - so that's about 1.5" in 10 feet. Overall grade is about 1.25%.

Here's a video of a Nason 4-4-2 Atlantic loco and a Nason Interurban running around the layout. There is a section of temporary track in the back that the trains won't go through.


None of these locos ran after sitting for decades. The original 3rd rail layout was taken apart in the mid 1950s. So far they all run after disassembly, cleaning and lubing.




56
General Discussion / Re: Recent Additions
« Last post by early0electric on December 16, 2023, 08:30:38 AM »
Nice find. Any addition is great as they are few and far between.

Probably not an error as I have a couple.

 

 
 


Happy Holidays to all! Stay Safe!
57
General Discussion / Re: Recent Additions
« Last post by Terry on December 15, 2023, 06:15:25 PM »
Here's a new 800 Boxcar (on the right):

 

 


The car on the left is my 800a2 Wabash 6399, orange sides, CLIPPED brown roof, type 2 stamping on both ends, wide wheels.

The new car only has lettering on one end. Might be an error as all my cars have stamping on both ends up to the green 800e. Or maybe I should say all cars with type one and type two stamps have lettering on both ends.

Stamp types:

Type 1 No. 800 on right, LL on left.
Type 2 LL on right, No. 800 on left.
Type 3 LL on right, 800 on left. – Some have corp stamps on bottoms.
58
Layouts / Re: Terry's Layout
« Last post by Terry on December 03, 2023, 07:24:47 PM »
I got another 2353 AA set last week and added the two pullman cars to the layout. The single loco wouldn't pull the eight cars, so I cleaned the new 2353P and locked it in reverse. Now I have two double motored A units pulling 8 cars.

Yesterday a freind gave me a newer Lionel Santa Fe Hudson. It's like a 773 with short tender and no added piping.  I had four scale length Lionel Pullman cars from a deal earlier this year. They don't have roadnames so they can run with any loco. Makes for a nice set.

Here's a video of them running under the blue lights:

Both sets are running on full power.
59
Collector Corner / Re: Odd 1963 Boxed Lionel 3662 Milk Car set
« Last post by starfire700 on November 29, 2023, 04:32:44 PM »
Good call that the odd boxed set is from Madison as it is more likely they would have the 1930's to 40's set box labels on hand in 1963 than Lionel would still have them.
60
General Discussion / Re: Recent Additions
« Last post by Terry on November 13, 2023, 01:51:56 PM »
Jim - Thanks for the input on the steel 160 bin.

I bought a Ferdinand Strauss Twin Trolleys set at a show on Sunday. The seller had some wonderful English 1 gauge live steam from the 1920s that I find very tempting. Then he put out this much cheaper set which I immediately bought.

 


 


 


Each is about 7 inches long. Only the one with the pole has a motor which is a windup. From searching online, the dummy with the center doors might be a little harder to find as most sets have two of the end door type.

These aren't hard to find.

I think these are from the 1920s, but could be from the late teens. Louis Marx and Henry Katz both got their start working for Strauss. Marx supposedly took over The Ferdinand Strauss Corp in 1927. So these are historical relics too.
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