1.Dummy locos
2.Brass track on the main line & every where else.
3.N scale & ho scale cars sold for 99 cents each.
4.The only way to do scenery was dyed sawdust & screen wire over plaster.
5.DC or AC power,no dcc or sound.
6.Long tethered wire to drag along behind you if you wanted to use cab control.
7.Very few scale people & they came unpainted.
8.Over size autos with no winshields.
9.If you wanted to change the roadname on an engine,you painted it & then hand lettered it.
10.My first engine (marx steamer)
11. model railroader magazine was black & white,no color.
12. a sound car with chug chug sound that ran behind the engine,it worked on a cam.
13.fiber track ties
14.a smell of ozone after a long operating period.
15.engines could be bought brand new for $7.00.
16.When you did find an engine you liked and you could afford it,it had a starting speed of 10 scale m.p.h.
17.A 4x8 foot layout was par for the course.
18.Horn hook couplers for ho, or rapido couplers for n,were the norm.
19.Most all buildings were kit built or scratch built.
20.Wheels had deep flanges and most freight cars had plastic wheels in ho and n.
Looking back,it was still lots of fun.
the old train man...Looking back,it was still lots of fun.
While I recall much of what you've listed, plaster over wire screen, DC operation, with a tethered (but moveable) throttle, painting and re-lettering almost everything, building or scratchbuilding all structures, and plastic wheels on most rolling stock is still fun.I don't recall ever using horn/hook couplers, though, as I started in the mid-50s with Kadee's K-type couplers.
Wayne
Looking back-the 1960s..
MRC "Golden Throttle Pack" with pulse power..That had to be the best thing since peanut butter and honey.That tame a lot of jack rabbit start locomotives.
Brass Steam and diesel locomotives between $21-49.00.
Athearn's "Hustler" locomotive that could outrun any slot car of the time.
Hobbytown RS-3s,RSD4/5s and drives for Athearn's GP7.
Introduction of NMRA RP 25 wheel standards and availability from Athearn and Lindburg. Another great introduction into the hobby.
Champ private road name decals..I really do miss Champ decals.
KD couplers becoming widely used and slowly becoming the defacto standard coupler.
X2200 South magazine..That magazine started us on the path of what we are enjoying today.
The 60s was exciting times as far as new cars,locomotives and new modeling innovations.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
BRAKIE Looking back-the 1960s.. Brass Steam and diesel locomotives between $21-49.00.
Close, but not quite. My PFM GN S-1 was 54.50 in 1962.
Ed
7j43kClose, but not quite. My PFM GN S-1 was 54.50 in 1962. Ed
Frank P. Hall's had a discount and those are the prices I remember the most.
Was your S-1 factory painted? Those was beautiful engines.
The Revell Passenger station was mandated by law for any layout (or so it seemed).The Atlas crossing gate tower was also ubiquitous.As was the E. Suydam Purina Chow Feed Mill.And the fat bachman business man with cigar ruled over it all...
Things I remember from back in my day:
1. Dummy locos, always hated them.
2. Brass track came in my train sets.
3. New freight cars were 2.99
4. Woodland Scenics was always around.
5. DC power,no dcc or sound (still like this today).
6. Long tethered wire to drag along behind you if you wanted to use cab control.
7. Factory painted scale people look like garbage.
8. Hot Wheels cars were the thing to use.
9. Always change the roadname on everyting.
10. My first engine (Tyco F unit)
11. Model Railroader magazine was color.
12. Sound cars with chug chug sound were awful.
13. Track always had plastic ties
14. Smelling ozone after a long operating period.
15. Locomotives could be bought brand new for $17.00.
16. Athearn engines were affordable and ran great.
17. A 4x8 foot layout was par for the course.
18. Horn hook couplers were the norm.
19. Most all buildings were scratch built.
20. Wheels had deep flanges and most freight cars had plastic wheels.
.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
Before horn-hooks, there were the Mantua basketball hoop couplers, and the Baker (which owed a debt to the logger's Peavy.) Also the Devore scale automatic and about a dozen mutually incompatable scale dummies.
How about printed-cardboard car sides, to be pasted on boxcars that were, basically, blocks of wood.
Then there was the Kitchen Table Locomotive, with its broom-handle boiler. And Dollar Car scratchbuilding projects every month in MR.
Almost every issue had a Trackside Photo featuring the saw-tooth roof Ideal cardboard and cellophane factory. Later the Eric Stevens 200-ton coaling tower became de reguer.
Good old days? Not really. I'll take the present, thank you.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
tomikawaTTGood old days? Not really.
Chuck,Those was the good old days in many ways..
Would I want to go back? Perhaps I do every time I use my BB SW7, GP7 or GP35 to switch my BB and Roundhouse cars. Now if I had a MRC Golden Throttle pack it would be back to the hobby in the 60s..See? We can buy the same Athearn and Roundhouse cars we had back then.If you still own a BB GP7,GP35,F7A/B,SD45,SW7 you own the same engines we did in the 60s.
We started taking baby steps toward what we enjoy today back in the 60s.
And that broom handle was used to form the boiler.There was other things use to form larger boilers.The majority of us(and that includes me) wouldn't have a clue where to start or how to make a frame and cylinders.
chutton01 The Revell Passenger station was mandated by law for any layout (or so it seemed).The Atlas crossing gate tower was also ubiquitous.As was the E. Suydam Purina Chow Feed Mill.And the fat bachman business man with cigar ruled over it all...
As was Revell's 2 stall engine house,sand and pump house and the crew shed..Plus the interlocking tower was a must.
Deciding which local hobby shop to patronize.
Or was it better to order from America's Hobby Center? Or Polk or E&H (remember them and their newsletter?).
Visiting guys' layouts which often were lit by one 60 watt bulb.
Waiting for Tyco/Mantua to release a Pennsy J1 2-10-4 in plastic that they "teased" in their catalog for a few years.
Wondering why the Athearn GP30 disappeared so fast in favor of their GP35.
Dave Nelson
I recall the stuff you guys posted.
I remember Globe F7's which later became Athearn models.
Road names on Athearn locomotives were mostly limited to ATSF, SP, UP, PRR, NYC, and B&O. ...
The F7's had no clear windshields or portholes.
I can not forget the Athearn Hustler which could go 400 scale MPH !
GARRY
HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR
EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU
dknelson Even for it's day Athearn's GP30 was so far out of scale that they remade the die to make the GP35. Rick Jesionowski Wondering why the Athearn GP30 disappeared so fast in favor of their GP35. Dave Nelson
Even for it's day Athearn's GP30 was so far out of scale that they remade the die to make the GP35.
Rick Jesionowski
Rule 1: This is my railroad.
Rule 2: I make the rules.
Rule 3: Illuminating discussion of prototype history, equipment and operating practices is always welcome, but in the event of visitor-perceived anacronisms, detail descrepancies or operating errors, consult RULE 1!
I started in the early 70's with brass track on fiber ties. My first structures were Atlas - station, lumberyard, signal tower. My trains were Tyco's. And it was a lot of fun.
I added Central Valley old timer kits and MDC old timer kits. I bought the MDC Boxcab kit and then the upgrade kit for it.
While the equipment is better these days, in many ways I enjoyed those early days more. There was a real spirit of having fun and working with what was available that seems to have gone missing today.
Paul
I do miss that whiff of ozone.
NittanyLionI do miss that whiff of ozone.
NittanyLion,
I agree! I have a Tyco two axle diesel switcher with a pancake motor that generates all the ozone you could possibly ever want to smell! You don't get a 'whiff', you get a nose full. The few times I have run it on my test track I was waiting for the smoke and flames to appear. It positively stinks and I like it!!
I bought it a long time ago when I didn't know any better. For obvious reasons it won't likely see the light of day on my layout.
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 sure it has already been mentioned but I really miss going to my local Fisher`s Big Wheel and buying HO scale cars for 99 cents each. On sale, they were around 69 cents. Engines for around 6 bucks or so. I think the Plymouths were even cheaper. Good old brass track for around 49 cents a pack. Kits for a buck or so. You could always use two KFC`s on a layout, plus the good old blinking oil tank or whatever it was. I had a lot of stuff on my layout from that store and it all started with the Chattanooga Choo Choo I got when I was about 7. Some of those engines I wish I would have kept but most were destroyed in the flood. Somebody still has to have a Silver Streak they take for a spin every now and then?
I'm surprise nobody including me mention what was found on just about every layout from Maine to California from Michigan to Florida.. It was a icon..It may have been the most popular engine of the time. How can we not recall..
Varney's Little Joe?
Hmm, looks like Tony Cook's HO Scale Trains Resource website, with many images of old Bachmann, Lifelike, AHM, etc, is being revamped.At least the Tyco section looks to be still mostly operational, if rather wonky.On Long Island in the early 1980s, Woolworths was the store with the cheap Tyco and Lifelike cars for under a buck (~3.00 present value). Of course, at a certain point (say, age 14) it was a bit of an embarssement to pay for these in front of the pretty 17 year old girl cashiers...(why hobby shops were important, of course).I am proud to say I never owned a Varney, although my first locomotive was a Tyco 0-4-0 (Shifter and Tender). First Diesel was purchased with Christmas money from Mays (now just another entry in the Defunct store listing) - Athearn Wide-Body GP9. (Actually, that may have been the second diesel, the first was I think an AHM GP...don't recall which, just that it was in the cool Green and Black BN livery...)
Gee fellas, I still have that MRC Golden Throttle Pack and use it on my test oval to get those DC engines tuned up before I convert them to DCC. I remember buying my first Mantua Big 6 kit. Removing all the flash, getting the running gear perfect, dis-assembling it, painting (Floquil engine black), and hearing my mother hollar because I baked the paint in her oven!
BRAKIEAs was Revell's 2 stall engine house,sand and pump house and the crew shed..Plus the interlocking tower was a must.
I still have all of those. The engine house was too short for my Athearn Pacific, so I spliced 2 of them together - my first kitbash
George In Midcoast Maine, 'bout halfway up the Rockland branch
Hi!
I went to HO in 1960 and used Atlas track, MRC packs, Athearn rubber band locos and Athearn car kits. NMRA couplers were the standard until I could afford KDs in the very early '70s. Revell had some nice kit buildings too. Gotta say, I enjoyed the heck out of the hobby back then, maybe more so than now with the DCC and BLI locos and details, details, details.
ENJOY !
Mobilman44
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central
I seem to have missed all the "fun"! Although I was born in the 1950's and grew up in the '50's and 60's, I didn't get into scale model railroading until the early '90's. But, yes, I did have a Lionel train set, which my parents were generous enough to help me expand by buying me some switches and some extra cars. I laid that O-27 track on an old door. I also had an interlocking tower and a station, both tinplate construction, that were Christmas gifts, when I was about 7. I don't remember the manufacturer's name, but they were cool to me back then. I actually scratchbuilt a feed mill and another industrial structure out of cardboard; the windows had scratchbuilt frames and mulloins, (also out of cardboard strips), with cellophane for the window glazing. I had no access to any paints, so I used crayons and pencil to "paint and color" the exteriors. Later on I scratchbuilt a mororcar shed and the motor car. The shed was built out of popsicle sticks. The (non-functional) motor car was built out of cardboard with shirt buttons for wheels (my mom had a coffee can full of various buttons). I actually painted that structure from some oil paint that was left over from painting our house. This was all done in my pre teen and up until I was about 14 years old. I had only a dirt floor basement to work in, so needless to say, it was not only dirty, but often very damp and cold; more of a cellar than a basement. The structures were built at my desk in my bedroom - - a bit more of a hospitable environment. I also remember making trees out of cut and shaped sponge dipped in green paint and mounted on twigs to represent tree trunks, and yes, the dyed sawdust too! Yes, the good old days!
chutton01On Long Island in the early 1980s, Woolworths was the store with the cheap Tyco and Lifelike cars for under a buck (~3.00 present value). Of course, at a certain point (say, age 14) it was a bit of an embarssement to pay for these in front of the pretty 17 year old girl cashiers...(why hobby shops were important, of course).
I remember that, except it was the toy department at Sears and the 17 year old girl, Roxanne, was my big sister’s very cute friend that I had the hots for. I remember buying boxcars and she remarked that she liked slot cars better. I told her I had those too…. It led to a good conversation about my layout which at the time had both trains and slot cars. Good times.
I remember my layout looking like this in the late 1970s. An Atlas GP40 and a pair of Tyco F7s were my only locomotives. I had lots of Tyco cars and a layout that filled a garage.
I remember I had some kind of scenery mix that came in a yellow box. You mixed it with water and then spread it over wire screen. It was already brown so it didn’t need to be painted. I had four store bought pine trees. The rest of my forest was clear cut, or burned wooden matchsticks in an area destroyed by wildfire. Of course my pastures were made from rolls of paper grass over open grid bench work. I remember making some really long cords for my Tyco slot car controllers so you could stand where ever you wanted. Then I tried using the slot car controllers with a Tyco train transformer and BINGO. I made my own walk around throttles.
chutton01On Long Island in the early 1980s, Woolworths was the store with the cheap Tyco and Lifelike cars for under a buck (~3.00 present value).
Woolco in Columbus(Oh) had AHM cars for $1.29 and a Y6B for $9.99 and IHB 0-8-0 for $6.99.
Clean up day was Decemeber 26th..All model train items was 50% off. Yeah 60% of my Christmas money was spent at Woolco and the other 40% at Halls. I was a hard kid to buy for so I recieve a lot of cash.
Then my modeling project was converting those AHM cars to body mounted couplers.
nycstlrr ...Somebody still has to have a Silver Streak they take for a spin every now and then?
...Somebody still has to have a Silver Streak they take for a spin every now and then?
Too funny! My first introduction to model trains were Dad's HO Tyco Silver Streak set and a Lionel O gauge set (the name escapes me atm) that my mom bought him for one of their early Christmases together. He'd set them up in the floor around Christmas and that would be it. He never had a layout and I would occassionally be allowed to play with them when I was older.
Dad gave me the sets when he and mom moved (one of many times). The last time I had them out was probably 10 years ago and neither loco worked at the time. Maybe I'll try and repair them at some point after my wife and I get our layout done.
Silver Streak. Fun memories for sure. lol
Something else occured to meThe two most popular freight car models in train set must have been (via carefully research anecdata...)1) Peabody hopper cars - how could you go wrong with such a bright yellow car? I had one that was rather translucent...2) Hooker chemical tank cars - cause the word "hooker" is slightly bawdy I suppose. (Yes, Hooker was a large chemical firm into the 1960s - Wiki entry states it was sold in 1968, but the number of model cars on layouts were out of proportion to the prototype ratio...just like Galloping Geese and single trucked Piker/Oscar passenger cars come to think of it )
Going to Manhattan and visiting five train stores.
Just be glad you don't have to press "2" for English.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQ_ALEdDUB8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hqFS1GZL4s
http://s73.photobucket.com/user/steemtrayn/media/MovingcoalontheDCM.mp4.html?sort=3&o=27