I have that set. My father ordered it in November 1956 and assembled the engines and cars. Where would you recommend I get parts for it? The dome car is missing its antenna wire and stanchions, and one coach is missing a disc-shaped roof vent. I found them in a box last week. Their axles are pretty rusty and the glue he had back then wasn't the best, but they run well when pulled behind a powered unit (both engines were dummies) and frankly still look pretty good. Thank you
I wouldn't hold my breath for a response, as you replied to a 14 year old thread, and the OP (original poster) is no longer around, as you can see by his "name" Anonymous.
I just did a quick Google search, and the only thing I found was a couple of reefer billboard cars, by Athearn.
Mike.
My You Tube
Thanks Mike. Thought I'd give it a shot. Is there an HO part supplier that you would recommend?
Dave
Not really Dave, I'm on Ebay a lot, and I've never seen that set anywhere. I didn't even know something like that excisted.
Maybe go to the other forums in here, like Classic Toy Trains, maybe someone there can help.
Go to the very top of this page, far upper right hand corner, small type, look for "Trains.com sites", put your mouse on it, and a list drops down, with the other sites that are part of the MR/Trains forums.
Worth a try, other than that, you'll just have to keep searching around.
Good luck, Oh, and maybe you will get lucky, and the guy that posted before you might still be active, and respond.
S-gauger I have that set. My father ordered it in November 1956 and assembled the engines and cars. Where would you recommend I get parts for it? The dome car is missing its antenna wire and stanchions, and one coach is missing a disc-shaped roof vent. I found them in a box last week. Their axles are pretty rusty and the glue he had back then wasn't the best, but they run well when pulled behind a powered unit (both engines were dummies) and frankly still look pretty good. Thank you
Dave: Being Athearn produced, they were probably standard Blue Box cars, with a special and short run paint job. If this is true, any replacement axles would work, and likewise for other missing parts.
I would contact Athearn Customer service. They sound like the old Athearn Blue Box lightweight passenger cars, which are still made and sold under the Roundhouse or Ready to Roll brands. Athearn probably has the truck and wheel assemblies available.
Boris
Actually, what cars I did find on a Google search, they are older. The boxes were mostly yellow, no blue involved.
Maybe try HOSeeker, and see if you can find them in there. There is a lot of Athearn stuff.
https://hoseeker.net/lit.html
Good luck, trying to find the parts you seek. Long before blue box Athearn, there was yellow box Athearn. Initially, Athearn's passenger cars did not have one piece bodies. You had to glue the sides to the ends and the floor and roof to that. Athearn went to one piece bodies in the very late 1950s and as far as I can remember, the antenna supports and antenna did not make the transition.
Also, Athearn's streamlined passenger cars were and are shortened renderings of pre-WWII Santa Fe equipment, to the best of my knowledge.
I actually like the cars you had to put together, as you can kit bash with ConCor 72' cars, and use the same body panels and roof.
The Athearn roof snaps right into a ConCor, for making the ConCor car into a streamliner.
I'm working on a passenger set, using Athearn cars, and I needed a sleeper. I found a smooth side ConCor sleeper and was able to use the Athearn parts to make it a streamliner, so it matches the Athearn cars.
Anyway, I just looked through what HOSeeker has on Athearn, and they have most the catalogs except for 1956.
I didn't find the Carnation train. You'd have to find some passenger equipment of that vintage to rob parts from.
It just so happens that an anonymous donor at the recent Lincoln Square Train Show gave us parts of the Carnation train as part of a donation of equipment that looks to be all early to mids 1950s. I will confirm that the Carnation train offer was made by Varney. Here's a kinda crappy pic of offer sheet, which had instructions for the Vista Dome Lounge on its back.
The prices were cut off by accident in my pic, but the A and B units and the baggage-mail cars were 50 cents each. The "D" dome car and "E" observation were 75 cents. Here's the four kits we found.
We had instructions but no car for the dome, but we found complete-looking kits for the A-unit, the E round end observation, plus two freight car kits that appear to have come packaged identical to the way the Carnation cars were, so maybe were part of an earlier or later offer? These were a Michgan Central gon and Virginian hopper.
The models were relatively crude per today's standards, but plastic was already renowed for its accuract, although maybe not on the nose of this particular F-unit.
The bottom of the F.
Pretty rugged stuff but still has a certain charm.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
mlehman It just so happens that an anonymous donor at the recent Lincoln Square Train Show gave us parts of the Carnation train as part of a donation of equipment that looks to be all early to mids 1950s. I will confirm that the Carnation train offer was made by Varney. Here's a kinda crappy pic of offer sheet, which had instructions for the Vista Dome Lounge on its back. The prices were cut off by accident in my pic, but the A and B units and the baggage-mail cars were 50 cents each. The "D" dome car and "E" observation were 75 cents. Here's the four kits we found. We had instructions but no car for the dome, but we found complete-looking kits for the A-unit, the E round end observation, plus two freight car kits that appear to have come packaged identical to the way the Carnation cars were, so maybe were part of an earlier or later offer? These were a Michgan Central gon and Virginian hopper. The models were relatively crude per today's standards, but plastic was already renowed for its accuract, although maybe not on the nose of this particular F-unit. The bottom of the F. Pretty rugged stuff but still has a certain charm.
Mike, the hopper, gon and F3 pictured are most definately VARNEY.
But the artwork on the passenger set, and the little I can see of the passenger car clearly looks like early GLOBE/ATHEARN.
As I have explained before, ATHEARN first produced those passenger cars with separate sides, floors, roofs and ends, and introduced them under the GLOBE name, along with the rubber band F7.
Once well received, they quickly chamged the packaging to say ATHEARN.
And ATHEARN has always been willingto these sorts of private label projects.
And for all you not old enough to remember, or not into trains in those days, ATHEARN boxes have been:
Red and white, Yellow, then Blue.
Note the Athearn instructions that came in the GLOBE box.
Sheldon
Sheldon,
They certainly appear to be the same instruction sheet and parts as you show. These must be "brown box" cars, though...
The only mfg's name on any of the items is Varney, with the instruction sheet emblazoned with the Varney name. The dome lounge and obs sheets have the Athearn logo expunged for whatever reason.
The sheets do supply a confirmed date, with the offer expiring on 31 Dec 1956.
Maybe back then, if you bought a "train set", the cars might have been individually boxed, the way Mike's are.
Just guessin'
As for S-gauger Dave, it looks like his best bet for the missing parts, is scratch building, and looking for some older Globe/Athearn models.
It doesn't sound like the parts he needs is nothing major. That antenna, and a roof vent.
I do have a couple of the old kits, just for my own curiosity, I'm going to look at the trucks and wheels, and see how they compare to what's out there now.