I was directed to the Classic Trains forums by the folks over at the Model Trains forums after my initial thread:
http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/88/t/252944.aspx
Just joined up and reading as much as I can on the trains I've recently aquired.
A little background - my Dad had toy trains when I was growing up, some of which he had when he was a child in the 1930s-40s. They typically only came out around the holidays. They were mostly Lionel as I recall. Nothing fancy, but we had fun with them.
Fast forward, my Dad has been gone a few years now and one of my brothers ended up with his trains. I have plenty of other hobbies (boat racing, outboard motor restoration, R/C boats, etc.) and items of my Dad's, so it wasn't an issue, but I still remembered the trains fondly. My eldest is now 6 and has loved trains since day one, starting with basic wooden trains, followed by a Lionel Little Lines set when he was 3. I happened upon a 1950s era Marx set, in the box, while antiquing with the Missus this fall and grabbed it, not really knowing what I was getting myself into.
Turns out the set I got was in pretty good shape and it didn't take much to get it working. The Marx 666 is pretty stout and really works beautifully! And the 6-year old loves it!
Found another box of odds and ends at a shop last week, including a Marx 495 and a few tin plate cars. Got that engine working, too, and my "collector" gene seems to be kicking in. My wife seems to be understanding, so far... She let me set some track up under the Christmas tree!
The bug has bitten you. boy has a lot happened in trains from when you where a child and your dad ran trains for you. today you can buy engines and equipment to run the trains by remote they will make talk like to and from the tower engine sounds uncouple anywhere you want etc not trying to scare you but to inform you where it all has gone to. I have a lot of the old trains in lionel that are like your marx there manual controll and kinda like them better ( less electronics to deal with)
Next will come some buildings and a place for that board to be all year at least able to be set up off and on. The bug has bitten and having a son who likes it helps as gives a excuse for you to build your empire
happy railroading
Life's hard, even harder if your stupid John Wayne
http://rtssite.shutterfly.com/
Scott,
Welcome to the Classic Toy Trains forum. I'm glad that you found your way here. I went and read the postings on the other thread and I think you will find more folks here that understand your experience.
Your photo of your son is priceless and illustrates the magic of toy trains that many of us experienced. I am fairly sure that most of us have a mental photograph of ourselves doing the same thing at his age.
I understand what it means to have the "collector gene". Be very careful, you will be surprised how quickly gathering "just a few more pieces" turns into an insaitable passion. . The following photo illustrates where that can lead you.
We are glad you are here. I look foward to hearing more from you.
Enjoying the World's Greatest Hobby
Northwoods Flyer
Greg
The Northwoods Flyer Collection
of
American Flyer Trains
"The Toy For the Boy"
Hi
My name is Jim
I am addicted to toy trains
Seriously, trains are a lot of fun especially with kids
Although American Flyers are my first love, old Marx have an appeal of their own being more toy like and robust without tiny pieces for little hands to break. They can be found reasonably priced too. I've got several Marx pieces that are great and the kids love playing with them.
Welcome to toy trains
Jim
In their day Marx trains were considered just one step above a toy. Now they are being discovered by folks that never knew that experience. Problem is they are starting to collect them, making it more expensive for me to buy....LOL
Oil all the wheels and gears then have fun.
"IT's GOOD TO BE THE KING",by Mel Brooks
Charter Member- Tardis Train Crew (TTC) - Detroit3railers- Detroit Historical society Glancy Modular trains- Charter member BTTS
Thank you for the welcoming notes!
Believe me when I say I am well familiar with the collector gene. My first passion has always been boats and outboard motors. Got that from my Dad, too. But, with winter season, it helps to have other hobbies to keep you busy!
I was introduced to toy trains by my dad who'd bought a Lionel entry-level set. Although the trains are more toy-like than scale, they seem much more realistic than many Marx trains. I used to dismiss them, until my brother talked my dad into getting him an old, beat up, Marx set at a flea market. Sure they looked extremely toy-like, but they rolled around the tracks just like the Lionel trains. My brother had just as much fun as I did. We ended up setting up different configurations of track on the floor and having more fun with our stuff combined. My brother's set had come with a couple of switches and a lot of track, so those added to the complexity of layouts we could come up with for our carpet railroad. In the end, I gained a new respect for the Marx line. Now that I'm older, I can understand why the scale guys tend to look down on us toy train fans. They haven't experienced the fun of PLAYING with them yet. (They tend to OPERATE their trains in a realistic fashion.)
I like them outboards you have there.
I have Marx. Lionel, And 3 rail AF prewar. Like them all.
Enjoy.
Joined 1-21-2011 TCA 13-68614
Kev, From The North Bluff Above Marseilles IL.
I am mostly a postwar Lionel guys, find myself bitten by the tinplate bug like you though. Recently finished work on my grandad's 495, and got a Lionel engine and cars from the 1920's and 1941 to go with it. We'll see where I stop lol. Probably before I reach the point Northwood has.
Welcome to the Forum. Soak up as much information as you can, it will help a lot.
Chinewalker, I just love that photo of your son flat on the floor watching the trains barreling around the track. We've ALL done it, flat on the floor watching the train comin' at ya!
Hey, I'm 62 and I STILL do it!
And welcome to the Forum, we have a lot of fun here!
Welcome. This is a great hobby. I am one of those who plays for both teams. I love my 3 rail as well as my HO trains. My dad started me with his Lionel and Marx trains, and bought me my first HO. Dad's been gone since 94, but the Lionel and Marx are still "Dad's Trains". I got my daugher running them pretty much right away and have a video of her operating them before her second birthday. She is seven now, and helps me set up the Christmas display, and also helps me with the basement layouts. Have fun with this! Merry Christmas
Thanks! Yep, that's a typical pose for him. He was disappointed when he couldn't run the train Christmas morning as the track was somewhat cluttered, shall we say, with presents.
The day after Christmas I received a package with a bunch of misc. cars and pieces, some of which I'll keep, some of which I will put back on eBay.
In the lot was a Lionel '1025' 45W transformer, as well as a Marx/Allstate 25W transformer. As I'm apt to do, I dropped what I was doing (sorting out clothes to make room for some new stuff my M-I-L got me for Christmas) and went to the basement with the 6-year old to see what we had. I gave both transformers a quick visual check, then plugged them in. The Allstate seemed to work well with my bench test using my 495 loco. The Lionel worked well at first, then stopped. Then it worked. Then it stopped. The wife hollered down to call us back to reality, so I set it aside.
Got back to it Sunday morning, after Googling about and figuring out how to get it apart. I pried the cover off and during the process a small lump of solder fell out. That seemed to bode well as it pointed toward a simple fix. Sure enough, once the cover came off, I discovered a loose wire that was making intermitten contact with the circuit breaker frame. A quick dab of fresh solder on the gun and good as new!
While I'm at it, another item in the lot was a busted up Marx 490 loco. The shell is junk, but I was hoping to get the motor going. The motor is all crimped together, so no easy way to get it apart. I got it cleaned up with contact cleaner and compressed air, and lightly oiled the shafts and greased the gears. No love. It hums a bit, and if I "help" it along, the hum comes and goes. Also getting arcing on the brushes where they touch the commutator while it's being 'helped'. What I can see of the commutator looks bright, not blackened. Anything else I should check? Or should I just toss it in the spare parts bin?
Bob Nelson
Hi Bob,
I got it figured out. Motor had a few issues, one of which was my own lack of familiarity with them. My issue was I had forgotten that these were not permanent magnet motors and required juice to the coil to get the mag going. I had been running my test leads to the brushes - not juicing the mag at all! I did some direct wiring to include the mag coil in the mix, and got the motor to run.
Still wouldn't run from the pickup and wheels, though, which lead me to issue #2 - I was getting some arcing at the spot where the pickup base connects to the bottom brush holder. Discovered the connection there had come unglued, so a quick re-heat with the solder gun brought them back together.
Issue #3 was the axles weren't clean and the copper pickups that connect the axles to the mag frame weren't making contact. Also bent the pickups to make better contact.
Issue #4 - current entering through the forward wheels takes a rather convoluted path to the mag and needed some "help" to make positive, consistent contact. I soldered a bridge wire from the forward pickup post to the rear pickup post and now it can complete the circuit from either set of wheels.
Be sure that the field coil (what you're calling the "mag") is in series with the armature, not in parallel.
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