THINGS I SHOULD HAVE DONE

[ED WHITFORD]

Sorry about the caps lock thing, we do it at the plant a lot.
here is another qestion for you . Should i get the name of my dads shop licenced or somthing of that nature. the shop name is the same as his back yard rail road ( not g guage but 1-1/2" gauge that you ride on) it is called golden spike trains.

On the lay out i intend to build for my sone & i it will be mostly pre & post war items.
that way i know there will be no operating errors.

Has any one used rr trax program for designing a layout? How is it & what are the pit falls.

[andregg1]

For the old style mean lionel you need oil and grase. Not to think about overload, sparking, programs,etc. the wheel only steel not rubber or plastic.
I agree with the accurated of today is better that early model but I like the weight of componente, motor, frame, gears, etc and also the maintenance shchedule, today you have maintenance free motor. May be is ok but open the motor and change the brushes, oiler is great you feel like engineer that your keep your trains. Is my point of view (sorry for my english)
Andre.

[daan]

I agree with the postwar thing. It's just more train than a simple lower end machine with electronics to get it interesting. But there are also a lot of very nice machines with electronics, and sound is about impossible without electronics.
Electronic cirquitry is not that unrepairable as you might think. The most usual thing to give up first are the end amplifiers. They are available at radioshack or any other electronic shop and because they are a big part of electronics it's easy to solder it out and a new one back in. The second thing giving up is the rectifier bridge. Also a big piece of electronics, easy to swap. Behind the rectifier the capicitor takes away most hazardous voltage changes and problems with those electronics is very unusual.
It's a different problem with programming and problems with that. I'm not using any of the TMCC or otherwise equipped engines, because my time at work is filled a lot with finding bugs in programs for running machines. That should stay at work, not in the hobby..
To keep the electronics healthy: Do not overload your engine, do not ad a lot of wheight and try to keep sparking to the minimum possible. When you like to run long trains, you could think about a (bigger) cooling plate on the end amplifiers and use heat guiding paste between the electronics and the cooling plate. Heat is the big problem with it.

[Anonymous]

My gut feeling is that your father is correct, and that all the electronic gizmos--nice as they are--will eventually prove to be something of a liability for the hobby. Most manufacturers don't even have the parts needed today, let alone ten years or more from now. And to assume that some after-market or secondary industry is going to step into the breech to supply all these various complex parts is simply foolhardy. That just will not happen, and it will not happen because it's not economically feasible to even consider getting involved in such a costly and diverse area for such a small market (and it IS a small market).

All the bells and whistles are fascinating, wonderful, and all of that, but when that bell stops ringing a few years from now, or when that whistle stops blowing, folks are increasingly going to come to the realization that all the short-term "wow" of these products comes at a long-term cost. And you don't have to wait ten years to see this happen. You can see evidence of the problem on this and other forums on a very regular basis.

[tsgtbob]

Ed
Theres plenty of stuff to be done with the classics. Every fall, and early winter I see planty of 'em coming out of attics to be run around the Christmas Tree.
Oh BTW please turn off the caps lock on your computer. Makes ya look like you are shouting!!![^]

[ED WHITFORD]

I THINK I WOULD HAVE TO AGREE WITH YOU FOLKS!![:)]

I THINK THE MFD'S FORGET WHAT GOT THEM TO THE POINT THEY ARE IN NOW,
LOVE OF TOY TRAINS.

I DID NOT GET ANYWHERE WITH THE E-MAIL SO I CALLED THEM, THEY TOLD ME THAT THAT YEAR OF THE BIG BOY HAD A BAD ELECTRONIC BOARD IN IT.

SORRY BUT I MAY HAVE MISSED IT BUT I DO NOT RECALL EVER SEEING ANYTHING ABOUT IT IN ANY NEWS LETTER OR MAGAZINE ARTICAL. THE ONLY WAY I FOUND OUT WAS TO CALL & HAVE THE TECH REP LISTEN TO WHAT IT IS DONG. THANK YOU NICK[:D]

I WOULD LIKE TO PASS THIS INFORMATION ONTO OTHERS AS HE SAID SOME OF THE OTHER EARLIER LOCOS MIGHT HAVE THE SAME PROBLEMS.
PLEASE E-MAIL ME AT [e-mail] IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO KNOW WHO THE MFD IS. OR LET ME KNOW IF I CAN POST THE MFD ON THIS SIGHT & I WILL DO SO.

THANK YOU & TAKE CARE.
ED

[Tom1947]

My approach has been not to buy new engines with electronic inerds. Once they fail it needs to be returned to the manfacuture for repair. With the changes that occure in electronics yearly and company's not wanting to maintain a invetory of parts in stock some of the trains being produced today will end up sitting on a shelf . I stick to my old flyer engines. They run for ever with a little oil and maintance. Many of the old American Flyer and Lionel engines out pull and perform the new engines. Oh well that is progress.

[andregg1]

I agree, nothing is like a post war magic.
Andre.

[lionelsoni]

My approach is to buy the modern stuff that I really want (like a Big Boy), pull out the computer, and rewire it with a Lionel E-unit and whistle.

[ED WHITFORD]

[B)]I AM THINKING OF TAKING OVER MY FATHERS TRAIN REPAIR SHOP.
I MENTIONED HIM IN MY FIRST POST ABOUT LAY OUT Q & A.
MY DAD (KIETH WHITFORD) HAS BEEN REPAIRING MODEL TRAINS OF ALL TYPES FOR THE LAST 40+ YEARS, ALTHOUGH THE LAST 7 YEARS HAVE BEEN ROUGH FOR HIM GIVEN HIS HEALTH CONDITIONS HE STILL PLUGS AWAY AT IT.

HIS MOTO HAS ALWAYS BEEN TO KEEP THE HOBBY ALIVE.
HE WOULD DO THIS BY CHARGING LESS THAN WHAT HE HAS BUT IN IT FOR SOME FOLKS TO NOT CHARGING AT ALL . TROUBLE IS IT HAS TAKEN A TOLL ON HIS OWN COLLECTION THAT MYSELF & SON WILL BE GETTING SOME DAY (HOPEFULLY IN THE FAR DISSTANT FUTURE).

HE WOULD HAVE SOME ONE BRING IN AN ITEM TRY TO GET THE PARTS NEEDED SOMETIMES WITH GREAT SUCCESE OTHER TIMES NOT ON THE NOT'S HE WOULD GO & TAKE PARTS FROM HIS OWN STOCK TO GET THE ITEM GOING.

ANY HOW HE HAS LONG SAID THAT THE TECHNOLIGY OF THE HOBBY WILL BE ITS DOWN FALL. I MYSELF HAVE SOME OF THE TECH STUFF & I CAN SAY THAT I CAN NOT COUNT ON IT TO RUN EVERY TIME ALL OF THE TIME LIKE THE OLDER MECHANICAL TRAINS, FOR INSTANCE I HAVE A SCALE BIG BOY THAT I HAVE HAD SINCE 97 I HAVE RAN IT 3-4 TIMES ALL THE OTHER TIMES IT JUST SITS ON THE TRACK & SMOKES & WILL NOT RUN. ON THE OTHER HAND I CAN GET OUT MY 726 BERK HOOK THE TENDER UP & 99 TIMES OUT OF 100 IT WOULD NEVER FAIL.

I THINK THE MFD'S SHOULD COME OUT WITH THE ITEMS THEY HAVE BUT LETS TAKE THEM TO A NEW / OLD LEVEL, YOU CAN GET THEM IN BASE WITH ELECTRONICS, WITH ALL THE OPTIONS & FINALLY LETS HAVE AN OPTION THAT WOULD COMBINE THE FETURES OF THE OLD MECHANICAL E-UNITS, THE CHUG OF THE AMERICAN FLYER SYSTEM, OLD COIL CUPLERS & HAVE THE MIND SET OF THE KISS (KEPP IT SIMPLE STUPID)[:D]

ANY HOW AS I WAS SAYING I AM THINKING ABOUT TAKING IT OVER FOR MY DAD BUT HOW CAN I GET THE PARTS NEEDED OR THE KNOW HOW OF THE NEW STUFF WITH THE CIRCUT BOARDS IN THEM MOST ALL OF THE ITEMS I HAVE WORKED ON FOR & WITH MY DAD WAS MID 70'S OR OLDER.
WE DID NOT DO MUCH WITH THE BOARDS AS HE WAS ALWAYS TOLD TO SEND IT BACK TO THE MFD FOR REPLACEMENT THEN WAIT FOREVER & A DAY TO GET IT BACK.

SEEMS THE MAKE THEM FOR THROW AWAY APPLICATIONS OR TO KEEP YOU SPENDING MORE ON THE ITEM THAT YOU ALREADY PAID $600.00-$1,200.00 FOR. HECK YOU CAN GET A GOOD LIONEL 773 HUDSON THAT WILL BE MORE DEPENDABLE THAN NEW MODELS FOR THE SAME PRICE.
[:)]

WITH THE TRAINS GOING THE TECH ROUTE IT LEAVES ALL THE OTHER OUT IN THE DARK WHEN IT COMES TO PARTS. I SENT A E-MAIL OUT TO THE MFD OF MY BIG BOY LAST WEEK, ASKING IS THERE A WAY OF MAKING IT OPERATE WITH JUST THE CHUG, WHISTLE & SIMPLE FOWARD, NEUTRAL & REVERSE. STILL WAITING FOR A REPLIE.

WITH ALL OF THIS HOW HARD WILL IT BE TO KEEP MY FATHERS SHOP GOING?

SORRY FOR THE LONG POST & RAMBLEING ON SO.
I JUST THINK WITH THE HIGH COST OF KEEPING OUR TRAINS RUNNING OTHER MIGHT FEEL THE SAME WAY.

TAKE CARE.
ED