Fellas,
While visiting a local HO club today a bizzare subject came up and I wonder what your thoughts would be.
Is it possible to build a 1960 era layout in 2018 using Atlas brass or nickel silver track and a MRC 501 Throttle Pack? Guide lines and scenery techniques for layouts of that era would need to be followed.
I believe it can be done since a lot of 50/60 era cars and locomotives can be found on e-Bay and at train shows.
Three of the 20 something members thought it would be a cool idea for a hobby heritage display layout.
Before the "why" part was discussed it was time to start operation.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
Larry,
incidentally, this is exactly what I am doing right now! Over the past half year, I have been buying all the track and accessories from the 1950s and 1960s for my Marklin HO scale 3 rail AC tinplate layout. Living in the motherland of Marklin, there is no shortage of that stuff and, with a little patience, you´ll be able to find real bargains.
Last Friday, I built the "table" for my "train set" and since Saturday, the trains are rolling on the temporarily laid track.
I can assure you that this is just pure fun!
A few pictures:
I am really enjoying this more than I care to admit, although the project was born out of necessity, as my dexterity has gone south due to reasons of bad health. It´s the only way for me to stay in the hobby.
Happy times!
Ulrich (aka The Tin Man)
"You´re never too old for a happy childhood!"
Yep Larry that'll work. I'm living proof.
I buy all my locomotives and rolling stocks 50s 60s era on eBay and train shows. I guess you could almost say I'm kind of an eBay train show freak. I get a little carried away.
A lot of the old buildings are still made today. A lot of the old rolling stock from Athearn, MDC, etc was made for many years afterwards. So you can very easily capture a 1960's layout.
I would have any old power packs checked out before I used them.
I don't go back to 1960, but I have all my HO stuff from the early 1970's except for the brass fiber tie flex track. I have thought about doing a 1970's retro layout with what I have. I think it would be a fun project.
Paul
A word to the wise. When you select the category of things you are looking for on eBay type in free shipping and start there first.
Absolutely you could build a layout using only materials that were manufactured in the 1960s. It sounds like a fun project.
.
I was at a train show in Brooksville, Florida on Saturday, and one dealer had all the scenic material you could need. Life-Like trees and turf, molded foam tunnels, etc.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
I've seen people on facebook model train groups building entire postwar lionel layouts with only postwar equipment, buildings, props,etc. So it is entirely possible, and a very interesting idea.
(My Model Railroad, My Rules)
These are the opinions of an under 35 , from the east end of, and modeling, the same section of the Wheeling and Lake Erie railway. As well as a freelanced road (Austinville and Dynamite City railroad).
BRAKIEGuide lines and scenery techniques for layouts of that era would need to be followed.
I've got the glue ready!
Dope_60s by Edmund, on Flickr
Sounds like great fun!
Cheers, Ed
You guys are making me feel bad about throwing out a big bag of old brass Atlas snap track.
Well.
Not really.
Ed
7j43k You guys are making me feel bad about throwing out a big bag of old brass Atlas snap track. Well. Not really.
I had a bunch of it from my 50s/60s layout, but I couldn't throw it away. I took it to a train show and gave it to a vendor who was selling the stuff. Everyone went home happy.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Having run my layout with DCC, no, I could never go back. Don't even ask.
I have lots of pre 1960 rolling stock on my layout, Varney and Athearn metal kits, early Athearn plastic kits (the boxes were yellow that far back), etc.
And I still use DC.......
Sheldon
I think you could do a layout built with 1960 era materials. Seems to me at the RR flea markets I go to, there are tons of very old stuff being sold very cheaply. There's a magazine now on HO train collectibles, so there is an interest in such things. BTW IIRC in the TM video/DVD for Lionel's 100th anniversary they showed someone's then current (c.2000) layout built with only 1950's Lionel HO materials.
You'd have to decide if you wanted only items actually made before 1960, or just accept the modern versions of them. Like, a 1960 Athearn reefer with fairly poor lettering and horn-hook couplers, or it's recent MDC incarnation - same body, but with excellent graphics, better wheels/trucks, etc. Course you could paint and decal the cars...except the two big decal makers of the time, Walthers and Champ, don't make decals anymore.
After reading another thread in here, I suggest you start saving saw dust . You'll need it for ground cover.
The only train I had in the 60's was a Penn Line FA unit and a few freight cars. It never really got past the plywood stage, although I did start some paper mache hills.
That all got trashed when I moved out, and didn't get back into trains until the early 80's, when we started having kids.
Mike.
My You Tube
Track fiddlerA word to the wise. When you select the category of things you are looking for on eBay type in free shipping and start there first.
I check "price + shipping lowest first" because most free shipping items are overpriced. They usually appear quite a way down the list.
I tried to sell my two cents worth, but no one would give me a plug nickel for it.
I don't have a leg to stand on.
I love the transition era- it affords flexibility in structures and engines/rolling stock that is somewhat lacking in 80s- modern era themes. The shorter box car lengths allow for that extra car or two on a siding or a short freight train. More modern architecture can mix with older style structures under the guise of "progress", etc.
It would seem that "HO Railroad that Grows" by Linn Wescott would serve as a touchstone here as it was written and designed in the late 50s.
On the brass track issue- I have not seen as much as I used to at flea markets/swap meets so I would stick with modern nickel silver and modern plastic tie flex track. The DC power packs might be okay if they were checked and rebuilt a bit for electrical safety. Otherwise, a great idea!
Cedarwoodron
BRAKIE Is it possible to build a 1960 era layout in 2018 using Atlas brass or nickel silver track and a MRC 501 Throttle Pack? Guide lines and scenery techniques for layouts of that era would need to be followed. I believe it can be done since a lot of 50/60 era cars and locomotives can be found on e-Bay and at train shows.
BTW I'm reading this to mean building a layout using 1960 technology - rubber band drive engines, craftsmans kits for freight cars and buildings etc....NOT necessarily building a layout set in the year 1960.
When I started model railroading in the early 1970's, most modellers only wanted to model steam. Diesels were considered 'the enemy', so many (most?) layouts were set in the pre-transition steam era. John Allen allowed diesels on his layout for photos for ads and once in a while when brought by a friend, but he never owned any himself. Remember, someone in their 40's in 1960 would have been born in the 1910's, so grew up with steam in the 1920's and '30's. That was often what they wanted to reproduce on their layouts.
I assume it was even more the case in 1960. I know MR in reviewing their history has cited a 1963 ('64?) article called "Diesels - I Like Them!" as being a breakthrough article, as it was the first article where someone admitted to liking the diesels more than steam.
gmpullmanI've got the glue ready!
wjstixBTW I'm reading this to mean building a layout using 1960 technology - rubber band drive engines, craftsmans kits for freight cars and buildings etc....NOT necessarily building a layout set in the year 1960.
Yes,building a layout using 1960 era technology including Athearn engines with "all new 8 wheel gear drive" locomotives.
Diesel heads vs. steam heads at the Columbus HO club in the 60s was mostly one sided seeing the few junior and 20 somethings members was the diesel heads.
Just for fun.IIRC the ratio was around 10 steam engines for each diesel on the layout.Any road diesel made one trip across the layout and was promptly placed in the roundhouse never to be ran again that night. After who would want to model a diesel truck on rails?
We had a lot of fun ribbing each other.
Just be careful how authentic you try to go. In Bill McClanahan's book "Scenery for Model Railroads" (has to be that era, but I'm not at home to double check), one of the scenery mixtures he used contained asbestos powder!
Mike
I respect the old school modelling of years ago because if not for that we wouldn't have what we do today...
I guess I don't entirely understand the appeal of building a layout with vintage materials. Things have evolved so much in the hobby in the 50 (nearly 60) years since I don't see a reason to go back to snap-brass track and DC power (full disclosure, I have never ran a DC layout. My experience in the hobby has been 100% DCC if that helps to explain my opinion on this idea).Not to say you shouldn't do it, if this is what you want then do it! Not my place to say what you should or shouldn't be up to.
xboxtravis7992I guess I don't entirely understand the appeal of building a layout with vintage materials.
While I can't speak for everyone, I think it is a nostagia trip. A return to simpler times when the hobby was new and we were still young. For me the year is not 1960 but 1972. The Christmas of 1971 my wife gave me a train set and I found Model Railroader on the PX newstand. Over the course of 1972 I built 2 layouts and had a lot of fun. And the fun is what I remember, the aggravations and shortcomings, if any, are long forgotten.
xboxtravis7992Not to say you shouldn't do it, if this is what you want then do it! Not my place to say what you should or shouldn't be up to.
Actually it was a discussion at a club I was visiting and since I know several of the members I was asked what I thought and I got to wondering what you fellas on the forum would think.
Personally I would not want to build a "heritage"layout from that time.
Myself, I don't have enough time, even if I wanted to. And I don't.
One benefit, though, of building a "nostalgia" layout: There's so much less pressure. Scenery, for example. What was considered acceptable back then just doesn't cut it, now. And you don't have to worry about breaking off delicate ladders and other details--there wasn't any. Weathering? Nope! Signals? Nope. Just run a couple of wires from your hi-tech power pack. And it just goes on.
One thing, it would be relaxing!
BRAKIEPersonally I would not want to build a "heritage"layout from that time.
Well, OK, and I wouldn't either. Heck, I never finished my layout, started in the mid 60's. As I said, I got as far as starting on some paper mache hills, painted green, after waiting days and days for the paste to dry, then I moved out, right after high school, and everything was trashed.
So, I guess it's do-able, but who wants to do it? Not me.
DSchmitt Not according to my roster and buying experience. I pick a subject, Great Northern for instance free shipping. I get the whole kitten Kaboodle. It takes me an hour or two to go through everything but I get stuff I want for $15 or less. That's my quota. I never paid more than $15 for Rolling Stock. I have a slew of cars I picked waiting in my cart. They're a steal but I think I better start thinking about going to modeltrainstuff and getting my track now. Track fiddler A word to the wise. When you select the category of things you are looking for on eBay type in free shipping and start there first. I check "price + shipping lowest first" because most free shipping items are overpriced. They usually appear quite a way down the list.
Not according to my roster and buying experience. I pick a subject, Great Northern for instance free shipping. I get the whole kitten Kaboodle. It takes me an hour or two to go through everything but I get stuff I want for $15 or less. That's my quota. I never paid more than $15 for Rolling Stock.
I have a slew of cars I picked waiting in my cart. They're a steal but I think I better start thinking about going to modeltrainstuff and getting my track now.
Track fiddler A word to the wise. When you select the category of things you are looking for on eBay type in free shipping and start there first.
Sometimes this posting stuff doesn't quite act the way it should. What are you going to do though? Oh well!
I'm sure we're all intelligent enough to get the gist of things
P.S. I post from my phone. There was a time when I was definitely smarter than a phone but I'm kind of a dinosaur now, I'm not so sure I'm smarter than my smartphone.
I think the idea is interesting too, but again, who how many people are going to actually take the time to build a nostalgia layout? Especially if you already have another one.
If you do build one, don't forget that you need a styrofoam tunnel! I didn't realize they even still made them until I looked in the latest Walthers catalog.
And you need people with giant round bases on them.
Jim
IRONROOSTERWhile I can't speak for everyone, I think it is a nostagia trip. A return to simpler times when the hobby was new and we were still young.
As I have posted earlier, that´s exactly the journey I have just embarked on - moving forward into my past!
IRONROOSTER And the fun is what I remember, the aggravations and shortcomings, if any, are long forgotten.
And again it is!
In my previous layouts, my thrive for perfection nearly made me forget what it is all about. Building that classic tabletop train set (I don´t dare to call it a layout) - using old materials, like tinplate track, with all the bells and whistles of the 1950s and 1960s, like operating semaphore signals, openeing and lowering gates at the grade crossing, the tinplate bridge and the tinplate engine shed with the doors closing like a jack knife when the engines reaches the contact, and, finally, colored sawdust for ground cover - is giving me back a happy childhood in my 7th decade!
It´s nevere too late for a happy childhood!
Now I better take my hat and coat, before someone suggest I continue in the CTT forum.