Hey , like the train museum idea, i have mine on a shelf above part of the layout...
Thanks
By coincidence, after more than 20 years in storage, I just started a few days ago to service the old locos left to me by my Dad. With some TLC, the better ones are coming back to life - AHM, Rivarossi, and Atlas. Even though these are mainly US roads, and I only model Canadian roads, my childhood favourites will enjoy occasional guest service on the layout. So, in fact, I'm bringing these babies OUT of retirement. Cheers.
twhite The stuff's indestructable, as far as I'm concerned. Tom
The stuff's indestructable, as far as I'm concerned.
Tom
That's about how I feel as well Tom...I have several Bachmann F's that I've resuscitated several times. To quote the old Timex ads, "They take a lickin' and just keep tickin'"
Bob Berger, C.O.O. N-ovation & Northwestern R.R. My patio layout....SEE IT HERE
There's no place like ~/ ;)
R. T. POTEET I never owned one of those mid-70's Atlas offerings and I know that they do not measure up to today's detailing standards but in their day they were sure revolutionary in their performance. While a member of a club while stationed overseas I ordered a couple--two SD35s if I recall correctly--through Hobbies For Men but they had gone out of stock and I never tried reordering. Several members of that club owned a few and had come to swear by them; they did seem to run better than my Athearns; one of the members lashed up one of my Uncle Irv's SD9 dummys with a couple of his SD24s and the discrepancy of the scale width hood became readily apparent.
I never owned one of those mid-70's Atlas offerings and I know that they do not measure up to today's detailing standards but in their day they were sure revolutionary in their performance. While a member of a club while stationed overseas I ordered a couple--two SD35s if I recall correctly--through Hobbies For Men but they had gone out of stock and I never tried reordering. Several members of that club owned a few and had come to swear by them; they did seem to run better than my Athearns; one of the members lashed up one of my Uncle Irv's SD9 dummys with a couple of his SD24s and the discrepancy of the scale width hood became readily apparent.
It's funny you should mention the SD35. My Atlas orignally statrted out as a Penn Central SD35 and it did run great and look great compared to my Athearns. When I switched to modeling the Burlington, I noticed an ad in MR for a guy who handled nothing but Atlas parts in PA (IIRC). I wrote him to see if he had an CB&Q SD24 shell that he would swap for the PC SD35 shell, he did and we made the trade. Went right onto the chasis with no problem. They were great runners. I remember an article about a club who pulled the world's longest train, model or real, N&W Atlas SD35s and N&W hoppers. Can't remember the length but it was a boon to Atlas.
Ricky
Retire??? What you mean, retire?
My first train (Lionel O27 - literally tinplate) went to a cousin when I got a better one.
A different cousin got the second Lionel train when I switched to HO scale modeling.
My first HO locomotive (Mantua 0-4-0T) is parked in a cassette between my wedge plow and my four-truck machinery flat, ready for work train service when required. (Yes, it still runs!)
My first (unknown to me at the time) Japanese-prototype purchase (Tenshodo Baldwin 0-6-0T, 1958) is currently heading up a short freight parked on the up main end-of-track at Takada.
My first (recognized as) Japanese-without a prototype 2-6-4T Kawai foobie is parked in the engine service area at the colliery terminal. A gift from the lady who became my wife later that year (1960.) Both loco and marriage are still running.
I don't remember ever having retired a locomotive, although I horse-traded a few for things I wanted more. I have seriously reworked several, but my Japanese-prototype brass is all going strong.
Most of my roster is old enough to run for Congress; operative word being, "Run..." None of my roster is up for retirement, not even that Mantua. Amazing what preventive maintenance can do...
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
Hi!
Easy answer for me........ EBAY !!!! Been doing it for years, and have upgraded from AHM & Athearn BB to BLIs, Stewarts, & P2Ks. Believe me, a lot of folks are out there wanting your old locos for parts or for running.
Mobilman44
ENJOY !
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central
RedGrey62 I have a couple that will probably be "retired". One is my first Athearn engine for a roadname I no longer model and the other is my first Burlington engine, an older Atlas SD-24 that performance and detailing wise, is just not up with teh rest of the fleet. They will get a prominent display in the train room along with some other rolling stock that won't be on the layout once it is started. Ricky
I have a couple that will probably be "retired". One is my first Athearn engine for a roadname I no longer model and the other is my first Burlington engine, an older Atlas SD-24 that performance and detailing wise, is just not up with teh rest of the fleet. They will get a prominent display in the train room along with some other rolling stock that won't be on the layout once it is started.
From the far, far reaches of the wild, wild west I am: rtpoteet
I have a "model railroad museum" which is shelving over my work table. It includes a hulk of a live steamer my Grand Dad built in 1925, an O guage 4-6-2 scratch build by my Dad in the 1940's, and an assortment of my old HO mdels. The oldest of mine is a 55 yer old Tenshodo NYC 4-6-4 which my Dad gave me back then. Also, I have a glass display case in the "Crew Lounge" for some older models.
GARRY
HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR
EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU
I don't retire them. I just remotor them or rebalance them, whichever they need, LOL!
My very first brass loco is a 1959 PFM Santa Fe 2-8-0. It's still running around my layout with a new motor. So are my 3 1960 brass Akane Yellowstones.
Tom View my layout photos! http://s299.photobucket.com/albums/mm310/TWhite-014/Rio%20Grande%20Yuba%20River%20Sub One can NEVER have too many Articulateds!
I have a couple of old late 1960s Röwa/MRC N-Scale Berkshires which no longer run and which, to be perfectly honest, I don't really care if they ever run. They came into my possession in the late-80s as payment for a carpet cleaning job I did for a close friend--I didn't really want payment at all but he insisted I take these locomotives. I had hoped that I could perhaps have fitted the boiler shells to Mr C's NYC J3as; I never really tried and I've lost interest in trying. My current intentions are to letter these for my Seaboard and Western Virginia Railway and display them as park models at select locations on my next layout.
I have a number of older prototype Atlas and Kato diesels--SD7/9s; SD35s; SD40s; U30Cs--which I.m not sure I could fit into a now (21st Century) diesel fleet; all of these run well but are anachronistic to now-era modeling. I'm also not exactly sure about the feasability of DCCing the SD7/9s and SD40s. If I were to decide on modeling now, the era of current consideration, as opposed to, say, 1980--someone offering an ALCO RSD-7/RSD-15 could easily swing me in that direction--then I'm going to have to make some sort of disposition decision regarding these older prototype units. I don't know whether I would want to decicate them to a display shelf or e-bay/consign them for someone else to enjoy.
This is just a little off-topic to the exact specifications of this posting but I have fifty or more passenger cars, both heavyweight and lightweight. These would fit into a pre-AMTRAK era layout but that would mean the disposition of over 2/3rds of my diesel locomotive fleet. On the other hand it would allow for the use of those SD7/9s, SD35s, SD40s, and U30Cs but would necessitate the retiring of my SD40-s--both 81" and 88" nose models--SD60 and SD60Ms, GE dash-7s and dash-9s, and SD90s.On the other hand, of course a couple of dozen of these could be formed into an executive train but that still leaves me with 25 or more cars for some sort of disposition.
Then there are two Bachmann doodlebugs. Currently it is my proposal to modify one of these units to a straight RPO/baggage configuration and using it to pull a coach.
As you can probably see I have not been very disciplined in my selection of motive power and rolling stock--twenty years or so ago when I purchased my SD7/9s, SD40s, and U30Cs they fit the era; they are horribly outdated circa 2010.
Due to the commitment to my novel--I'm not perspiring very much at the current time but I will get back to it quicko-pronto--it's going to be three or four years before I begin work on a new layout; I'll have to face that decision before then.
If I may ask why are you retiring them, have they just quit all together, not enough room etc? Can't tell by the picture but if there old Blue box Athearns or just about any other brand there are plenty of parts available, re-motoring kits etc.So my way of thinking is don't retire em restore em if you can.
2 reasons i am retiring these.. One problem is the performance compared to new ones is really bad and there is this burning smell that has just appeared.. They are old RivaRossi N scale.. these were also produced by Con Cor for a while , but mine say RivaRossi in the plastic.. I did a bit of work to get them to look like they do , so i do not want to just throw them out
My first HO train and some early scratch building projects are in a wall mounted display case in the family room. A few of the engines can barely run but they are scheduled as "specials" around the tree at Christmas time.
Jim
I had six of those with different drives. A couple of them I could never get to run well and put them on display. I also had some old Atlas RS 11's with traction tires which affected their power pickup. I found that the wheels and axle gears were the same on the retired SW's as were on the RS 11's, so I swapped out the ones on the Atlas units for the SW's, improving the running qualities of the RS 11's.
Well I only have a few special memory locomotives left from my childhood as my anal retentive father thought well your too old to play with toys like that anymore threw out all of my HO stuff I said threw out in the trash not sold when I went into the Army. So have my memory makers sitting up on a shefl with others locomotive that are in use right here at my desk.
Except for two Santa Fe Northerns, I am a diesel person. however, when I do retire older units, I run them through a checkoff to see if they can contribute to the parts collection, or turn them into dummies to run with powered consists, or in some cases donate them to churches I know that sponsor layout clubs for kids. A very small number may end up going into the dumpster.
Bob
I have been forced to retire some old , like 25+ years old , engines , see photo below... I once had 4 of these old SW1200 on my layout, is sad.. So they are on display on some shelfs next to the layout.. What do you do with your old engines , the special ones?