HO TRAINS HALL OF FAME

[Anonymous]

I would also like to see in Hall of Fame'
1. Athearn's 40 boxcars
2. Plasticville buildings
3. Bachmann's Metroliners

[Anonymous]

Maybe I missed the reason for the Hall of Fame nominations, but many of the older PFM Crowns and certainly the latest Overland models are super detailed and run very well. Price??? Well most of the nominated and elected Hall of Fame are expensive.

Challenger Imports and Division Point are excellent canidates for this category., since they are few and far between.

I nominate the Division Point Nickel Plate Bershire, #711. This is a model that is great in detail and runs like a Hall of Fame engine.

[novacoach]

Peco track

[Anonymous]

In the "Structures" category, I nominate:

Walthers Blast Furnace (and releated steel-mill structures)

They made industrial railroading accessible to a much-wider population of modelers besides the hardcore scratchbuilders.

[Anonymous]

I nominate the Rivarossi Heisler. It put accurate, idiosyncratic, ready-to-run geared steam in the Walthers catalogue, and in the shopping malls.

[dknelson]

Wow BR60103/David is really going back with some of those! I know I already posted my list above but what about
Varney self-quartering drivers, Mantua's hex-head bolt for side rods, Midlin track, Picard boxcar bodies, the Campbell signal system, Walthers's Oscar, Kemtron's Wabash 2-6-0 kit, Maerklin's Swiss Krokodil electric, and Pacific Fast Mail's Santa Fe 2-8-0. Strombecker's paper and wood streamlined trains. And let's not forget Carsten's book of cardboard buildings that you could cut out and assemble?
Dave Nelson

Dave Nelson

[BR60103]

Mantua Couplers
Fiber tie strip
Tru-Scale roadbed
Nickel-Silver rail
Snap Track
Kadee Magne-matics
Transistor throttles

[nfmisso]

Atlas/Kato Alco RS-3: the model that started us on the way to the high performance, highly detailed models we have today.

Bachmann Spectrum 2-8-0: As mentioned above, revitalized HO scale steam locomotives, leading to more Spectrum, P2K, Athearn, BLI and Lionel HO steam models.

[Anonymous]

Kato SD45
Athearn GP7

[espeefoamer]

1.Athearn PA
2.Athearn GP7(They called it a GP9)
3.Athearn Hustler
4.AHM Cab forward
5.AHM N&W Y6b

[Anonymous]

How about the original Atlas/Roco GP38-40 and SD24-35.Really set the standard back in the 1970s.I would also put the Athearn GP38-40-2 in the hall of fame.Dan

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by jcferna

Here are my "nominations" (and no, I'm not following the "minimum age"
rule):

1. Kato Unitrack (first r-t-r track good enough for use by serious modelers)
2. MRC Tech 2 power packs (set a lasting standard for the product)
3. Life Like Proto 2000 (set lasting standard for quality, detail)
4. Hornby HO steam-driven loco (need I say why?)
5. DPM Modular building components.

Juan

Two more I forgot to list....

6. Roco Minitanks (one of the few HO product lines that transcends model railroading)
7. Woodland Scenics roadbed system (made creation of a layout easier than
any other single product line)

[Anonymous]

Here are my "nominations" (and no, I'm not following the "minimum age"
rule):

1. Kato Unitrack (first r-t-r track good enough for use by serious modelers)
2. MRC Tech 2 power packs (set a lasting standard for the product)
3. Life Like Proto 2000 (set lasting standard for quality, detail)
4. Hornby HO steam-driven loco (need I say why?)
5. DPM Modular building components.

Juan

[METRO]

My criteria would be as such:

1: Must have contributed to the furthering of the hobby (aka been a milestone)
2: Must have had incredible popularity
3: Must have been a first
or
4: Must have been made famous in some way

As such some of my picks would be:

HO Locomotives:

1: Athearn F7
2: Atlas RS1
3: Original Life Like Proto2000 model
4: Tyco 0-4-0
5: BLI GG1
6: Athearn GP38-2
7: Stewart Hobbies/Kato F7
8: Walthers FM switcher

HO Rolling Stock:

1: Athearn Blue Box kit
2: Walthers Streamline Passenger Car
3: Intermountain Freight Car
4: Tyco Train Set Freight Car
5: Con-Cor Passenger Car

Structures & Accessories:

1: Walthers Cornerstone Structure
2: MRC Tech 2 Powerpack
3: Display of DCC systems
4: Sound Card
5: Atlas Snap Track
6: Flextrack (probably Atlas but Peco works too)
7: Preiser figures
8: Herpa Vehicles
9: Tyco Power Pack
10: MRR

~METRO

[randybc2003]

Some of my nominations are already listed: however I would submit the (not complete) following list:

Atlas Shanty
Atlas Watertower
Tyco 0-4-0 Shifter (already mentioned)
Atlas Snap Track (system)
Atlas Track Plan Books
Simple "Shake the Box" Kits - MDC & Athern

[Anonymous]

Good choices so far, everybody! However, there's one very important essential addition: The Bing Table Railway. These tinplate trains and accessories of the 1920's were the very first HO/OO gauge trains ever produced and were what got the hobby of modelling trains smaller than O gauge in motion.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by ac4400fan

matt nice pic :)

Thanks! Need to re-take it as the backscene has now been repainted - no more "half white, half MDF", it's all sky blue now.

[twhite]

Hey, neat topic--here's just off the top of my head:

Varney, Athearn, Ulrich and MDC metal freight car kits.
Varney 'Casey Jones' 4-6-0
PFM 1850 ATSF 2-8-0
Varney F-3 diesel
Varney 0-4-0 'Docksider'
Globe F-7 carbodies
Silver Streak wooden freight car and caboose kits
Akane 2-8-8-4 M-4 Yellowstone
Revell passenger station kit
Atlas deck bridge (a kit-basher's dream come true)
Ambroid 3-in-1 open-platform wood passenger car kit
Rivarossi Y6-b 2-8-8-2 (first version with tender pickup)
Varney 4-6-2 Pacific

That's for starters.
Tom
[:D][:D]

[BRAKIE]

What a fun topic! [8D]
My choices
1The Globe/Athearn F7
2.The Athearn GP7.
3.Varney's old Lady 2-8-0 and the Casey Jones 4-6-0 can't forget the Lil'Joe.0-4-0T.[:D]
4.The Hobbytown of Boston RS3.
5.Gotta be the Tenshodo GP7.
6.Atlas's N scale line of steamers from the 60s.
7.AHM's NKP 2-8-4
8.Trains Inc. RS1325 and SW7 cow and calf.
9.Alco Models C&O steel caboose.
10.United's 2 truck shay.
11.Alco Models RS11.
12.MRC's Golden Power Pack with pause power.

10.

[Train 284]

That would be the Bachmann 2-8-0! I really like the fine detail and the look of the locomotive, thats why I purchased one and I'm currently using on my railroad.

Matt[^]

[CNJ831]

My personal choice?

1. Mantua's "Master Model Builder" series of brass & zamac locomotives...the first essentially screwdriver assembly series of locomotive kits ever offered
2. Varney "Little Joe" docksider (zamac, not plastic)
3. Mantua "Goat" 0-4-0 camelback (brass & zamac, not plastic)
(absolutely every layout in the 1940's and early 50's had both of these)
4. Mantua post war Pacific...first truly RTR quality (?) locomotive
5. Varney F-3 (not an F-7)
6. Athearn F-7 (by Globe)
7. Varney's first plastic freight car (a stock car wasn't it?)
8. Various John English road locomotives, mainly Pennsy
9. Revell's bakery/printshop/engine house (more kitbash articles based this item than any other in the hobby's history!)
10. Athearn heavyweight plastic passenger cars

CNJ831

[Anonymous]

When I got started in 1952 I received a Mantua Shifter (0-4-0) and that was a started loco for just about everyone. None of this ready to run, all locos were kits untill brass came along.

Bob

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by dknelson

The famous Revell bakery or farm house.
The Bowser articulated
The AHM/Rivarossi Y6b 2-8-8-2
A piece of Atlas snap track
The Renwal "House a'fire"
The Athearn Santa Fe caboose or B&O hopper
The Tyco/Manuta General
The Plasticville signal tower
The Kadee #5 coupler

Dave Nelson

GREAT LIST DAVE !!!! but lets not forget the Varney F-7. It created momentum effect with an actual functional centrifical clutch. First you start to rev it up and then the clutch begins to engage. I Loved running Dad's Varney. It took 30 more years to get to relaible momentum throttles. I still have one of the Y6Bs and the farm house but I must also nominate the Revell 2 stall Engine House, designed by Al Armatage, and from which the Bakery and Print Shp were also developed. I have 2 of them...Also the Atlas railroad yard building set. and the plasticville 'ranch house' .......

......and I model in O scale, so I guess you might say I have a bad case of nostalgia to keep so much vintage HO around.

[ac4400fan]

matt nice pic :)

[cjcrescent]

My nominations;

Varney's 0-4-0T docksider kit. Basic easy to assemble "screwdriver" type kit. One of the first. Anyone could build it.
Varney's first plastic car kit. I believe these were one of the first plastic kits widely available on the market. When these first came out, Athearn's, and MDC's kits were still metal.
Athearn's first GEARED chassis. Over the years, motors have changed, flywheels added, but the basic setup is still same and widely copied by just about everyone else.
Hobbytown's flywheel drive. 1st practical fw drive, not requiring machinist skills.
First transistorized throttle. Practical realistic speed control.
Linn Westscott's Twin-T detection system. Made working signals practical for everyone.
GE Astrac. First commercially available onboard control system.

[selector]

Aggrojones...hasn't he been around for 25 years, and his 'trees' are everywhere!!

[aloco]

Homasote and Hydrocal.

[Cox 47]

Better give Globe credit for the Athearn F 7 and what about Varney? Cox 47

[DavidBriel]

Athearn, Atlas and Walthers HO Locomotives

Athearn, Atlas and Walthers HO Freight Cars

Athearn Passenger cars

Atlas, IHC and Walthers Structures

Boley HO Vehicles