The beginnings of our 2020 holiday train display, featuring my 1938 Lionel OO set form the very first year or production. Layout is the same size as the factory demo layout and will eventually be decoreated as such. But for now it has grass on it, which also allows me to use velcro squares to hold the track in place. The unique for 1938 style track lacks any screw holes, and drilling nearly 100 year old Bakelite is risky. Only non 1938 is the little 40 watt transformer. I need a prewar 75 watt Type B with the brass tag, and the 66x whistle controler. But I want the controler rebuilt with modern guts so the operation is less "clunky with the train speeding up or darn near stopping. I have a 166 controller but it buzzes, and has one heck of a voltage drop to it. So no ablity to blow the whistle yet Once I get the tree decorated and things finished up, I will take a nice video of it running. Enjoy and from our family to yours...Merry Christmas! Mike and Michele
Silly NT's, I have Asperger's Syndrome
Interesting outfit. Could you secure the track with thin black wire-ties?
Nicely done Mike! Looking forward to your video!
Your set-up kind of reminds me of the small layout I do on the dining room table, a circular N gauge track starring the Maine potato train and our fiber-optic "Robo-Tree" in the middle.
there is really nothing to hook wire or tiny zip ties to under the track. The velco squares are sticky back and stick to the connector fingers between each section and are easily removed without any damage to the track's roadbed. The later style track made from 1938 till end of production in 1942 have screw holes in the roadbed. But you still have to be very carefull when screwing this track down, the Bakelite is very easily chipped or cracked. So just finger tight is all you want. Here is a video with some background music from the GRP Christmas Collection.
Cool! I don't know who's pushing the button, but I definately hear that whistle blowin!
Same me, different spelling!
Mike, I think you've got that OO Hudson running BETTER than new!
The OO Hudsons run better than the O gauge ones of that era. You just have to strip them down and go thru them, they are nearly 100yrs old now. I taught myself how to straighten the warped frames as well. It's not a zinc pest issue on these, but a design flaw in how the boiler is held to the frame at the front that warps them if that screw is more than barely finger tight.
Makes sense, I wouldn't think zinc pest would be an issue on something that's 80 years old and still around. Zinc pest would have killed it a long time ago, unlike plain old rust on iron or steel it's impatient and strikes pretty quickly.
Very nice. That really gets one in the Christmas spirit. To see a trains manufactured in 1938 still runing well is a testament to the quality of engineering and American made products of the time. I always though 00 was the perfect gauge but the market wanted O and HO. I went with O and still run that gauge exclusively.
dlagrua I always though 00 was the perfect gauge but the market wanted O and HO.
Well, Lionel could have brought OO back after the war, it might have even proved to be more popular than HO, but they chose not to. I suppose it made sense to them at the time, no-one's got a crystal ball that works after all.
It's right in-between S and HO. OO is 1/76, and the geometric mean of S (1/64) and HO (1/87) is 1/74.6 .
American and British OO are the same scale, except that British OO runs on the 16.5 millimeter track gauge of HO.
Bob Nelson
dlagruaI always thought 00 was the perfect gauge
Not according to these guys: https://www.berliner-tt-bahnen.info/
I'll light it up for you.
https://www.berliner-tt-bahnen.info/
Und don't panick venn der schreen komes upp in German, der's a "Google Translate" blok dat should appeer on der upper right korner uff your schreen.
Verstehen sie alle? Gut!
Nice stuff!!! You need some vintage C6 lights for your tree.
Banks, Proud member of the OTTS TCA 12-67310
I use c6 bulbs when we put up a big tree. But 2 hyper, young large breed dogs made a mess of last years big tree. So just the small prelit tree this year. Mike the Aspie
Good idea!
Tree is decorated now, and this is my 003/003w Hudson, converted to 3 rail power pickup with original and reproduction parts(still need the roller pickup on the tender for the whistle). She "shows" a bit better with crisper lettering and runs better than my older 001, which is down now waiting on new motor brushes.
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