This is a great thread, I'm loving every entry. I can soooo relate.... For example RSJB18, I have a barn find (honest-to-God-in-a-barn-when-I-found-it find) 623 NW-2 - dirtiest cleanup I have ever done, but now runs like it's new and has many years of "Kid patina" all over it. Part of me prefers that, to serve as a reminder of what fun THIS engine has brought into some kid's life, and of course part of me wants it to look like new - on this one, a NOS shell is probably out of the question.
RSJB18, I also have the 218 Santa Fe, acquired from a Goodwill store in Madison, Wisconsin in 1971 (great runner!), and I have a 2026 which is now partially disassembled, pending a good cleanup.
TMCC you say? I am slowly acquiring enough pieces to load up my first engine with it, but this will just be an experiment. With all the PW stuff I have, I don't think I'll ever go straight TMCC, or any other remote control system - those PW engines would drown out a sound system!
So, rusty old sh*t? Yeah, but there's no better in the hobby in my mind.
