And more junk.

T
Isn't that the truth, Chris! If someone had a track already set up and that crowd were to get to walk up to it and try running a car, the first time it would de-slot or crash they would be shocked that a person has to put the car back on the track. They'd probably try looking at their phone while driving too. Sad world.


Glad you get good memories from this stuff, Jim! I thought there was a conventional Mack truck in the early '60's but the only pics I could find were of cabovers like this.
View attachment 86768

Guess I skipped over the T-Jets in previous posts. Here's 25 of them that were collecting dust. Gave me a good excuse to wipe the dirt off of them. These are ones that got raced through the years. Some are customs, others I didn't alter or made time to do the paint jobs and lettering. There are a few that didn't get raced I think I pictured earlier.
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Got a bunch of chassis and chassis parts that never got completed and there's plenty of bodies in that one box to finish them.
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Fun fact---the little wheels in cassette tapes were easily adapted to be front wheels on HO scale cars---LOL!
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Looking forward to seeing a train layout at your place someday Jim!


Wow Roger, that is a beautiful layout! Don't think I ever saw pics of it before. I sure hope the owner now is having a great time with it!
I remember your garden railroad, but I forget what scale it was.

DAC
The garden railroad was G scale. I went as a total package to a guy out in Ne. Year later he had it listed on CL for 5 times what he paid for it. Don't think he ever sold it for that as I was pushing the top for value.

The HO scale was parted out on eBay and at train shows. Way too big to try and move in sections and set back up again. Rewiring it would be a nightmare. I had the train club over one afternoon. Most of those people had run the DCC system at the club and had run the train there but were used to one train on one track. When it came to two trains on one track, double track and trains going opposite directions threw them for a loop as they could not follow the train each person was controlling and follow the block signals. Most were used to running the old Lionel and Marx trains and had to run them fast to keep them going. Did not work on this layout and after about the second wreck had to go back to one train on each track.
 
View attachment 86763 View attachment 86765
Container yard. Switch yard and yard control panel.

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Business district of town. Note the white power lines. Housing part of town.

View attachment 86764
Showing most of the length of the layout.

Couple photos of my last HO layout. Was built in a 14' X 70' trailer house. Full walk around the outside. Double main lines could handle 4 or 6 train at once, depending on the experience of the operators. Digital Command Control to all engines by radio signal. Both mains were block signal controlled so the operator of each train had to watch where their engine was and obey the signal lights. Switch yard was 10' long with 8 tracks. Well over 800 feet of track and countless turnouts. All cars were equipped with brass wheel sets and Kadee knuckle type body mounted operating couplers. Eyesight got bad enough it was difficult to keep up with the maintenance required to keep everything operating properly. It was a ton of fun to build and run trains through the winter months but in 2007 I had to make the decision to sell it off and make room for the
woodworking equipment.
Very nice Roger mine wasn’t that big I think I had around 600’ total. I never got into DCC at that time but will on this next layout. I could get by on a starter set from NCE is the one I like. My previous layout was actually three separate tracks plus a main line that ran constantly as a loop. I actually enjoyed building the structures more. I could go on but don’t want to hack Doug’s thread. Lol
 
Here in Canada Eldon slot cars were what we grew up with in the 1960's. The first set Santa left for my brother and I was for Christmas and used two old style crank phone batteries (think they were a #6 and were 1.5 volts each) as a power supply. The controllers were simply a button that you pushed to open and close a switch so cars either got full voltage or none - had to learn how to feather the button on the corners. I can remember "borrowing" the phone batteries once on a Sunday afternoon when mom and dad were away - not a good plan I found out when they got back home - OOPS.
 
Isn't that the truth! :confused:
I did work with a couple of millennials before I retired that really could make management look like idiots (which they were)! Management would tell us some parts or procedures aren't available for equipment around the plant. In a few minutes they would prove them wrong. Of course since they were low life operators, the information they would find very rarely got used, or the inept "parts and information specialist" would take credit for any info the grunts found.
T

The garden railroad was G scale. I went as a total package to a guy out in Ne. Year later he had it listed on CL for 5 times what he paid for it. Don't think he ever sold it for that as I was pushing the top for value.

The HO scale was parted out on eBay and at train shows. Way too big to try and move in sections and set back up again. Rewiring it would be a nightmare. I had the train club over one afternoon. Most of those people had run the DCC system at the club and had run the train there but were used to one train on one track. When it came to two trains on one track, double track and trains going opposite directions threw them for a loop as they could not follow the train each person was controlling and follow the block signals. Most were used to running the old Lionel and Marx trains and had to run them fast to keep them going. Did not work on this layout and after about the second wreck had to go back to one train on each track.
Dang. Too bad there wasn't club members or other interested folks that couldn't have preserved your work of art, Roger. Hope all the pieces from it went to good homes. Sounds like the guy that bought the garden railroad though he could make a killing flipping your stuff. He probably didn't profit a lot since you knew the market.

Very nice Roger mine wasn’t that big I think I had around 600’ total. I never got into DCC at that time but will on this next layout. I could get by on a starter set from NCE is the one I like. My previous layout was actually three separate tracks plus a main line that ran constantly as a loop. I actually enjoyed building the structures more. I could go on but don’t want to hack Doug’s thread. Lol
I don't know scale railroading terms at all but I love the work and ingenuity that goes into them. Please hack away, Jim! I enjoy the experiences shared and the nostalgia of it all! If I ever did anything with the HO rail stuff I have it will be set the power supply to a certain speed where there's no trainwrecks sit back and dig watching them. Probably won't happen and neither of the kids want any of the slot cars, train stuff, diecast or antiques! I'm gonna have to start unloading some day.

Here in Canada Eldon slot cars were what we grew up with in the 1960's. The first set Santa left for my brother and I was for Christmas and used two old style crank phone batteries (think they were a #6 and were 1.5 volts each) as a power supply. The controllers were simply a button that you pushed to open and close a switch so cars either got full voltage or none - had to learn how to feather the button on the corners. I can remember "borrowing" the phone batteries once on a Sunday afternoon when mom and dad were away - not a good plan I found out when they got back home - OOPS.
I remember Eldon as 1/32 scale here in the states, Stew. I did have a couple cars and a small track at one time. Can't even remember what cars were with it anymore as it wasn't my favorite little electric car. A friend gave me an old 1/32 track and a couple cars he had as a kid a couple years ago. I did not find markings on them and didn't spend much time. Only one car ran when I messed with it a bit. Will try to get a pic of it tomorrow. It is still not buried under other junk!

DAC
 
Here in Canada Eldon slot cars were what we grew up with in the 1960's. The first set Santa left for my brother and I was for Christmas and used two old style crank phone batteries (think they were a #6 and were 1.5 volts each) as a power supply. The controllers were simply a button that you pushed to open and close a switch so cars either got full voltage or none - had to learn how to feather the button on the corners. I can remember "borrowing" the phone batteries once on a Sunday afternoon when mom and dad were away - not a good plan I found out when they got back home - OOPS.
I had one Eldon car that was a 1/32 scale Chaparral I believe. I didn’t like it because of the fixed guide pin unlike my others that had a drop shoe pickup which you could do wheelies. lol Good memories Stew.
 
I still have ton of lionel stuff we dug out of my great grandfathers house before they tore it down. It’s not HO. The bigger scale. I’d say it’s late 40s early 50s

There is some pretty cool stuff in there. We had it hooked up once 30 years ago.
 
Looking at the pics of the slot cars ..... I can actually still smell them!
That brings back a memory Daniel. The Christmas I received a train set I was much too young for it, (maybe 6? and also a girl who had never even thought about a train set. My idea of a Christmas gift was always a puppy. Never got one, but I digress, LOL.) anyhow, my father wanted it soooo, there it was. During the holiday the neighbours came over to visit and of course we kids all had a great time running the train around the track and loading stuff on the little flat cars. When they got too heavy or overbalanced the train would derail or spin out and the smell was distinctive to say the least. Then one of the kids somehow got the idea to roll a shinney ball bearing along the track....sparks flew, the smell.... and then my father discovered what we were doing...... That was the end of the fun, the company left shortly after and I never got to play with the train again. My father was a hard, hard man.
 
That brings back a memory Daniel. The Christmas I received a train set I was much too young for it, (maybe 6? and also a girl who had never even thought about a train set. My idea of a Christmas gift was always a puppy. Never got one, but I digress, LOL.) anyhow, my father wanted it soooo, there it was. During the holiday the neighbours came over to visit and of course we kids all had a great time running the train around the track and loading stuff on the little flat cars. When they got too heavy or overbalanced the train would derail or spin out and the smell was distinctive to say the least. Then one of the kids somehow got the idea to roll a shinney ball bearing along the track....sparks flew, the smell.... and then my father discovered what we were doing...... That was the end of the fun, the company left shortly after and I never got to play with the train again. My father was a hard, hard man.
See you're back in town Lorna....
 
Looking at the pics of the slot cars ..... I can actually still smell them!
Yes Daniel! they have a distinctive smell for sure! Soon as the juice is put to those little electric motors there is an instant smell. Good smell!

I had one Eldon car that was a 1/32 scale Chaparral I believe. I didn’t like it because of the fixed guide pin unlike my others that had a drop shoe pickup which you could do wheelies. lol Good memories Stew.
I didn't get to get pics of that old 1/32 track today after all. Loree came home sick from work so did some stuff for her. The 1/24th A/C Cobra I have from my childhood that we found after the flood was slow but a great wheelie popper. I don't remember what body was on it originally.

Doug do you have any of the Aurora vibrator cars that were popular in the 60’s. I’m not sure I remember what they looked like. They are worth a lot on eBay.
No Vibrators Jim. they were a done deal back when I was a kid since the DC powered Thunderjets had come out by then. Those AC motors were noisy and slow. The reed that vibrated to spin the rear axle was prone to fail quickly. I never collected anything but stuff I could race and never wanted any of them.

I still have ton of lionel stuff we dug out of my great grandfathers house before they tore it down. It’s not HO. The bigger scale. I’d say it’s late 40s early 50s

There is some pretty cool stuff in there. We had it hooked up once 30 years ago.
That brings back a memory Daniel. The Christmas I received a train set I was much too young for it, (maybe 6? and also a girl who had never even thought about a train set. My idea of a Christmas gift was always a puppy. Never got one, but I digress, LOL.) anyhow, my father wanted it soooo, there it was. During the holiday the neighbours came over to visit and of course we kids all had a great time running the train around the track and loading stuff on the little flat cars. When they got too heavy or overbalanced the train would derail or spin out and the smell was distinctive to say the least. Then one of the kids somehow got the idea to roll a shinney ball bearing along the track....sparks flew, the smell.... and then my father discovered what we were doing...... That was the end of the fun, the company left shortly after and I never got to play with the train again. My father was a hard, hard man.
I got a train set too, in the very early 1960's It had 3 rails. the middle one was the power. Much bigger than HO scale, but don't know what it was. I remember that oil could be dripped into the smokestack and it would smoke as it ran. It was plastic bodied. I really remember a blue boxcar that had a giraffe neck and head sticking out of it. There was a piece of track that had a mechanism that would make the giraffe duck it's head under an overhead obstacle. An Uncle gave me a couple of metal bodied steam locomotives too that were well used by my cousins but still ran good. All went down the creek in 1972.

Worked on some more stuff for the slot car club today too when Loree was sleeping. She felt better this afternoon and kept a nail appointment she had already made.

DAC
 
My 9 dollar HF calipers bit the dust today. At least 15 years old. The display was erratic and it would not zero. Put a new battery in it and still did the same thing. Hope they are still pretty cheap!
View attachment 86892

DAC


Dad had a nice Mitutoyo digital caliper that did the same thing. Looks like they have one thats still $9.99 that is called a composite digital caliper. The other 6" model is $22.99.
 
I have a starret 6” dial caliper. I carried it in a case in my backpack at the mine. It was pretty handy to have around. I’ve used it just a few times at home. Also have a set of dial indicators and magnetic bases. Used those for shaft alignments.

When I left the mine I kept everything that was in my tool bags. My electrical test equipment came from that bag as well. Simpson 260, a fluke 87V and a Fluke amp clamp. Figured after 18 years there I earned that stuff.

I’m oddly sentimental about tools and items I used or carried every day….i had this weird superstition about my hard hat. I never wanted to change it because I didn’t get killed wearing the one I had….felt wrong to wear a different one. Hard hat is hanging on the wall in my office at work.
 
My 9 dollar HF calipers bit the dust today. At least 15 years old. The display was erratic and it would not zero. Put a new battery in it and still did the same thing. Hope they are still pretty cheap!
View attachment 86892

DAC
They are twice that now Doug. I have one like yours that ate batteries then like yours stopped working. I’ve been measuring things with it then transferring the jaws to a ruler. I’m getting tired of that and thought about buying this one that has both fractions and thousands and no batteries needed.

 
They are twice that now Doug. I have one like yours that ate batteries then like yours stopped working. I’ve been measuring things with it then transferring the jaws to a ruler. I’m getting tired of that and thought about buying this one that has both fractions and thousands and no batteries needed.

Kinda like that one. Do you have to zero the dial every time or does it stay in place ?
 
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