This is not the place for valuable treasures. The things you share could be valuable, but probably not.
I want to see what you have that means the most to you.
For me, it is this N scale model of STRATTON AND GILLETTE oil-electric boxcab locomotive number 4.
This model has the distinction of being the VERY FIRST piece of equipment painted and lettered for my railroad. I built this model over 35 years ago, when I was in high school.
I was 14 or 15 years old, and I am sure I read an article in Model Railroader that inspired this.
It is obvious from the construction that I had absolutely no idea what I was doing.
The mechanism is a Bachmann N scale F9. I cut the truck sideframes off and replace them with sideframes from a scrap passenger car.
The body is an N scale 50 foot boxcar that I removed all the detail from with a belt sander. Yes, a belt sander. You can still see the scratches in the side from this process.
The air tanks are just dowel rods, the radiator is a roundhouse window casting, and the headlight is a Kadee truck bolster bushing. For some reason I used AB brake details all over the place, I guess they are the only detail parts A&J Hobby on Del Prado had in stock.
The tender is from Dimi-Trains with a wood block to convert it to oil.
Lettering is rub-on dry transfers from K-Mart.
This locomotive ran long and well. The Bachmann F-9 was a decent mechanism in N scale back in the mid 1980s, remember, this was before Kato was part of the scene in the USA. I ran this locomotive a lot. This one, and my Model Power RSD-15 were my favorites.
This thing is an absolute treasure for me to still have. Insurance value is ZERO, so I take it with us when we evacuate. Leave the artwork, grab #4. Insurance will get us new artwork, this cannot be replaced.
I am planning to build an HO scale version of it as SGRR #5 when I am finally settled in after the house remodel. It will be built to my current modelling standards using #4 as the prototype for the project.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
Nice work on your first major MR creation. Far above my grade.
My greatest treasure is my spouse....hands down, although if I were forced to choose between her and one of my daughters...I'd have to plead some kind of waiver.
Next is time. I'm losing it by the second.
Third is my mind. I haven't made notable use of it, sadly, but I know its value...finally. Hey, everyone can "get it" at some point. I was lucky.
Next is my home. I'm glad to have it and the opportunity it affords to problem solve and to garden.
As to the toys, which I'm sure you intended, it's a toss up between my Lumix FZ-1000, and one of my favourite locomotives, my paddle board, my Specialized 18 speed. Having a reliable car really counts for someting too...in fact, how about a valid driver's license?!?
I was not trying to be philosophical here, just light-hearted banter about electric toy trains, or maybe live-steam.
Of course I am being facetious when I say SGRR #4 is my greatest treasure. I would sacrifice it in an instant for one of my daughters.
Back to model trains and the treasures you have...
Got this little beauty as a Christmas gift in 1947. I still have it.
Rich
Alton Junction
Here is my other treasure - - - Bertram's.
It is currently on loan to Wayne and can be seen on his layout.
RR_MelSome things just come to me, the book that really got me hooked in HO Model Railroading, Fawcett 133.
This book, which I am sure most of us have, is kind of a treasure. My father bought this when we were building a 4 by 8 HO scale layout in the garage with my Christmas Tyco trainsets.
He kept a notebook with notes in it associated with this book. I wish he would have written in the book. His notebook is gone, the book is in good shape, but it holds few memories.
richhotrainGot this little beauty as a Christmas gift in 1947. I still have it.
I do not have any of the Tyco train cars I received for Christmas when I was young.
I have bought a couple of replacements along the way, they are exactly the same and bring back nostalgia, but not the real things, so not treasures.
My Treasure is my Seaboard Coast Line Spirit of 1776 Bicentennial locomotive my Grandfather gave me for my Birthday when I was about ten. I keep it on the mantle over the fireplace so I can see it.
It isn't just the model itself, it's the fact that every time I look at it I think of the good memories. I used to ride around with him in his oil tanker truck on his deliveries when I was very young.
The one my Grandfather gave me doesn't work anymore. It took me years to find a another alike set that I can run on my layout.
I'm going to take some time now to read over everything. I can appreciate the pictures of the nice things here.
TF
My Grandfather bought this for my father sometime around 1951 or 1952.
It was then passed down to me and my brother, starting with me in 1969.
( It was a "special order" from the Sear's store in Puyallup Wa.
My brother and I played with it WAY TOO MUCH !!! It has suffered at our hand's and has been packed in it's box since 1975. ( That's when I started building my first layout on my bedroom floor with my Tyco Southern Pacific Bi-Centenial trainset. )
Rust...... It's a good thing !
I looked for my 1958 Pennsylvania time schedule from DC to NYC, I cannot find it. IIRC tickets from Baltimore to NYC were $9
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
Out of all of my locomotives this is my pride and joy.. A simple BB SW1500 lettered for Summerset Ry.. I bought this engine on eBay simply because I like the road name and the ACL inspired paint scheme..
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
Little TimmyMy Grandfather bought this for my father sometime around 1951 or 1952. It was then passed down to me and my brother, starting with me in 1969.
Timmy, that really is a treasure! What a great thing to have.
Some of you will already know my answer to Kevin's question.
My favourite model railroading item is the wee brass critter in my avatar. I built it from scratch using a Bachmann N scale 4-6-0 drive plus parts from a Life Like generator. It has 12 wheel power pickup and the lights work. It is DC.
The roof isn't quite right, the exhaust pipe casts a shadow down the tracks and the air tank is in a ridiculous location. Oh well! It was my first attempt at scratcbuilding.
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
I am lucky man, not a rich man, but I have a few treasures quite dear to me (other than my family).
My oldest treasure is a station building, actually more of a flag stop. It was built by me from a Faller kit on Christmas day 1963 at the age of 7. It was a Christmas gift, together with a Marklin starter set. It´s the only surviving model railroading item from that time.
My second treasure is a Westside Model Co. D&RGW HOn3 T-12, which I bought upon return from my year as an exchange student in the US, back in 1974. I was 18 then. It is also my first attempt at painting, lettering and weathering.
My third treasure is a Marklin electric locomotive my wife gave me on our first anniversary in 1985.
And last, but not least, my newest treasure - a OO9 scale steam engine a Japanese friend of mine scratchbuilt for me a few years ago.
Come what may, I will never part from these treasures!
Happy times!
Ulrich (aka The Tin Man)
"You´re never too old for a happy childhood!"
I have so many dear to my heart!
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Simon
SeeYou190 I do not have any of the Tyco train cars I received for Christmas when I was young. I have bought a couple of replacements along the way, they are exactly the same and bring back nostalgia, but not the real things, so not treasures.
I have a lot of model train "treasures" from the late 50's and early 60's.
Revell structure kits my parents build for my original layout, Athearn and Varney metal freight cars, etc.
Original GLOBE (Athearn) plastic passenger car kits unbuilt, etc.
But I only have a few pictures handy:
Most are still packed up from the move.
Sheldon
The 4-4-0 on the right at my "Golden Spike" cerimony is my favorite model RR posession. Although I hinted around about it, on our 5th wedding anniversary, I was still surprised when my wife got me the Roundhouse "Mogul" kit that served as the basis for the 'bash.
I used mainly Mantua components to round out the rest of the project. (She knew it would be converted). It followed an article in MR, still my all time MR article too. The year is indicated by the road number.
It has more recently recieived a genuine Sagami can motor and a custom flywheel, and runs very smoothly. Dan
Edited in: For a model that's supposed to be a favorite, I recon it should have a better picture than that hokey hunnerd year old one above. Here I can see it needs some touching up in the paint dept, but here she is. The article I mentioned above was MR Dec '92, p 90; An MDC/Mantua 4-4-0, by Bob Ottosen.
Edited in: For a model that's supposed to be a favorite, I recon it should have a better picture than that hokey hunnerd year old one above. Here I can see it needs some touching up in the paint dept, but here she is.
The article I mentioned above was MR Dec '92, p 90; An MDC/Mantua 4-4-0, by Bob Ottosen.
The thing I find most valuble to me is a D&H 1980 timetable my dad found at the Albany train show last year. I somehow overlooked it, and he somehow remembered what year and railroad I model and he got it for me for christmas. It has tons of info I could not get elsewhere. Sorry, I don't have a photo.
Harrison
Homeschooler living In upstate NY a.k.a Northern NY.
Modeling the D&H in 1978.
Route of the famous "Montreal Limited"
My YouTube
I guess my treasure is the MILW. terminal caboose I completely scratch built, from measurements from the prototype. It's the first time I have scratch built a rail car.
Sheldon, I have a couple of those Globe passenger car kits I found on Ebay, and I'm using the corrugated roof parts for some of the cars on my fantasy passenger train build. They also fit the ConCor 72' cars.
Mike.
My You Tube
hon30critter Some of you will already know my answer to Kevin's question. My favourite model railroading item is the wee brass critter in my avatar. I built it from scratch using a Bachmann N scale 4-6-0 drive plus parts from a Life Like generator. It has 12 wheel power pickup and the lights work. It is DC. The roof isn't quite right, the exhaust pipe casts a shadow down the tracks and the air tank is in a ridiculous location. Oh well! It was my first attempt at scratcbuilding. Dave
Dave, Actually I like that critter.. It has a lot of charactor.
BRAKIEDave, Actually I like that critter.. It has a lot of charactor.
Thank you Larry!
So far I haven't managed to include it in my new layout plan. Maybe once the layout is up and running I will build an extension where it can run free.
I really like that in this thread, not one entry was/is based, on some big budget purchase, but are either linked to early roots days of modeling, or a family tie, or both. That's just cool.
Southgate I really like that in this thread, not one entry was/is based, on some big budget purchase, but are either linked to early roots days of modeling, or a family tie, or both. That's just cool.
In my case I liked the looks of the SW1500 the first time I saw a photo of one in Trains magazine and the ACL color scheme recalls a Revell ACL SW7 I had when I was 12 years old in 1960. It was a simple and very quick BIN purchase.
A pessimist sees a dark tunnel
An optimist sees the light at the end of the tunnel
A realist sees a frieght train
An engineer sees three idiots standing on the tracks stairing blankly in space
BRAKIE Out of all of my locomotives this is my pride and joy.. A simple BB SW1500 lettered for Summerset Ry.. I bought this engine on eBay simply because I like the road name and the ACL inspired paint scheme..
that paint job is identical to the Nitrany and Bald Eagle.
Tinplate Toddler I am lucky man, not a rich man, but I have a few treasures quite dear to me (other than my family). My oldest treasure is a station building, actually more of a flag stop. It was built by me from a Faller kit on Christmas day 1963 at the age of 7. It was a Christmas gift, together with a Marklin starter set. It´s the only surviving model railroading item from that time.
Ulrich,
Although we live on different continents, experiences can be shared! I built the same kit in the mid-1960s. I don't still have it but I remember it fondly. Your picture brought the memories flooding back.
Here are two of my treasures (apologies to those who have seen these shots before):
My first HO scale lomotive - It still runs and I still have it somewhere in my stuff:
And another childhood favorite, this thing is so heavy that it used to rattle details off of the layout when it ran :
There are many other train treasures from recent times - these are the historical ones.
Guy
see stuff at: the Willoughby Line Site
trainnut1250My first HO scale lomotive - It still runs and I still have it somewhere in my stuff:
Guy - that´s the same engine that came with my starter set! I wish I still had it!
Apparently we both got the same starter set for Christmas in another lifetime - What are the odds?
Probably my model of GN 1914, which I kitbashed with Cannon parts and Hi-Tech details SD39 sides, painted, and printed custom details for. Of course, I recently found out that Athearn later offered the exact same unit ready-to-run.