What Started My Interest in McCoy and Standard Gauge

Steve, that's one impressive McCoy collection! Nice layout too--looks like plenty of room for them to run around. 

John

Great pics: I'd be inspired too, Steve. No, wait - the bug has already bitten.....I'm doomed!

Great pictures and what a collection.

In the last picture there is a white and green steeple loco. Is thsi standard gauge and who makes it.
I only have 3 pieces of McCoy cars, 2  1975 TCA KITCHEN CAR SOUTHERN BELLE and 1  Supply Car. TCA Convention 1974. Not sure on what I will do as I only have two Lionel's #8 and 1 #10. I think these are to small for the cars or use them for trading purposes (would like to get a #33 with the super motor).

GOLLY GOSH GEE WHIZ! Did I mention AWESOME?

beautiful! I can see why you were tempted.

Wow impressive! Will these run on standard track? F-N-R with no whistle, correct. Saw a red gondola a week ago at a antique store for $39. May have to go pickup now!

Joe Gozzo

Fantastic collection.  My interest in tinplate/standard gauge started when I was 9 and read Louis H Hertz's "Riding the Tinplate Rails" written in 1948 when he was all of 18 or 19.  

BlueComet400 posted:

Steve, that's one impressive McCoy collection! Nice layout too--looks like plenty of room for them to run around. 

 

John

John, it was a decent size layout. At the time of my visit, portions were being rebuilt to accommodate the soon to be shipped Brute.

Steve

RonH posted:

Great pictures and what a collection.

In the last picture there is a white and green steeple loco. Is thsi standard gauge and who makes it.
I only have 3 pieces of McCoy cars, 2  1975 TCA KITCHEN CAR SOUTHERN BELLE and 1  Supply Car. TCA Convention 1974. Not sure on what I will do as I only have two Lionel's #8 and 1 #10. I think these are to small for the cars or use them for trading purposes (would like to get a #33 with the super motor).

Ron, in the fourth picture there are a couple of shells also. At one time, McCoy was going to make a steeple cab, but dropped the project. The gentleman who owns this collection was good friends with and lived near the McCoys. He picked up the task and made some on his own. I'd love to have one.

Steve

Trainlover160 posted:

Wow impressive! Will these run on standard track? F-N-R with no whistle, correct. Saw a red gondola a week ago at a antique store for $39. May have to go pickup now!

Joe Gozzo

Joe, McCoy runs on Std Gauge track. Even the big twin motored Cascades will run on 42" curves. The usually have a manual reverse switch, but I have a few that have been given Lionel type E-Units.

Steve

Steve "Papa" Eastman posted:

I 2009, my collection was a mixture of pre & postwar, mostly Marx. Took a trip to Oregon for a weekend visit with my friend Dave Hess for his Friday Train Night gathering, I try and go every couple of years. As he does when I visit, he took me to visit one of his friends. To say I was stunned is an understatement. The seed had been planted. It took a few years before I got started acquiring Std Gauge, but it is now probably 75% of my purchases. The size of them has caused the selling off of a lot of very nice stuff to make room for and fund the Std Gauge. No looking back and loving it. Here a a few pictures from that trip that planted the seed.

Steve

Steve - tell me more about that lonely 4-8-2 loco sitting there on your layout .

Jim

Jim

Not my layout or collection. Not sure what it is, but it's looks to be a beast, and it looks like it has a tether.

Steve