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OK so its always fun to post up a pic of your latest gleaming addition to the stable, but lets have some love for the beaten up mongrels of the hobby.

I have a bit of a passion for these as they all no doubt have a story behind them, they illustrate a life well lived, with miles of smiles and young bright shiny eyes behind every scratch and dent.

Stuff that has had years of neglect, but gave generations of kids so much fun as opposed to those locos and sets that a kids dad had and wouldnt let him touch ... Too often our focus is on bright shiny things of value, and rarity... Let us pay homage to the wonderful toys that gave up their shiny litho and paint, bringing joy and wonder to eager young minds.

Raggedy Rusty Relics of a Ripping good time !

I will kick it off with my little Joyline

( bonus point if they still run ! )

 

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The "Gravedigger" posts here unless there is two of us, or they borrowed it or I'm sleep posting other sites... all fine by me

That one is worse. A clearcoat candidate if I've ever seen one. I badly want to dip it in clear enamel and look for a suitably "tarnished" tender and caboose. Shiney litho between them🤗 ...but only on Wednesdays once the car roster grew 😎

The dirt kinds presevered some of the cars and finish on mine.

It was my Grandmothers Christmas present 1936-37 because she eloped at 17 and was married already 38. It ended up in Great Grandfather's dirt floor carriage house, and slowly got buried by wind under the doors over decades as it's use was reduced to nothing. In the 80s it became lawnmower storage and occasional shade for BBQs.  I bet I walked on it all 1000 times myself. Heck, the lawn chairs usually straddled the box, lol. Just inside the right hand door 3ft into it, maybe an inch of hard packed dust/dirt on top of the box.  "Wasp's nest-ish" A hard rake hit the box top and I yanked it off stirring a thick cloud of dust. I still recall watching the open box comming into view thru the cloud. Loco in the left closest corner on it's side. Soaking in a half bath sink for an hour or so, screwdriver & wire brushing mud away, and drying on the fuel oil room heater in July heat. Soaked in an oil bath, sprayed dry. It sparked, R-unit moved and it budged. I polished the wheel treads and shoe and it took off like a bat out of hell. I was laughing my *** off instantly hooked. Born with a Lionel waiting.... I was a Lionel snob until that moment.

The one on the left. Only the engine nose was bad, the Brown cattle head car, a red,wht,blue car, and GN hopper were "snake skins" on piles of rust dust; a cavity = air = iron oxide.  The repaint was Rusto' cured in my freezer with only short periods of warm up each day for about a week. The imediate result is a awful white haze, but this will fade over a month or so and the result is a near perfect match to a very nice vintage finish. It looks "right" with its well used tender.(headlight lens is a thick magnifying lens ground down for a "big bulb"/ eyeball at the peephole/"big-eye bi-focal" look). 

IMG_20181127_194216~2IMG_20170928_000957

 

But this is my rat rod. A mechanical mystery why is doesn't ever derail. It can push or pull all day without complaint. I replaced the armature someone here had gratiously donated while it didn't belong to me, then he (his girlfriend) decided it was too old and he should sell it... I traded a pair of boots for it I think before it got pawned for two coffees or something. It will be here if he wants it back. That's how my collection rolls, cheap, but willing to sell it back cheap near original price if the deal is right the first round. I just care for them

IMG_20180725_234109

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overlandflyer posted:

probably closer to what you're looking for...

Hafner - copper 1110 & type III tender

this copper clad locomotive from Hafner has certainly seen better days, but it will never be restored while in my hands.  if i wanted something shiny with zero character i'd buy current production tinplate.

Hard to find high truck tender too. 

overlandflyer posted:

probably closer to what you're looking for...

Hafner - copper 1110 & type III tender

this copper clad locomotive from Hafner has certainly seen better days, but it will never be restored while in my hands.  if i wanted something shiny with zero character i'd buy current production tinplate.

Hard to find high truck tender too. 

I didn't restore Grandmas until it became apparent that I might outlive it if I left it alone; and that was an unacceptable thought.

It was developing black spots and pitting vs surface rust ... deeply blackened metal like that scares me more than orange surface rust. Black is deep oxidation about to become orange rust as most folks know it, that particular shade of blackness in metal needs to come off if possible. I've done more than enough metal work to know what will last in our climate. (I don't like a closed up house or air conditioning until it's miserable outside, drive with the window down summer or winter, etc.)

Dennis Holler posted:

100_0755100_0756 

This.
I want this, an engine that shows it's age.
Unlike my Bing and Ives Locos, you can tell this engine is old.
And considering those photos were taken in 2009, the engine must be in far worse condition.
I would gladly buy/trade something for this, so I can fix it enough to make it run whilst keeping as much of the rust as possible.

Edit: I think someone here talked about a rusted marx train that they ran, was it Adriatic?

Last edited by Berkshire

The CV Crusader shown was worse than Grandmas, but neither had the "deep sea patina" of Poppa's or Dennis's.  Dennis was likely running some oxide queens and got me really excited and I began foaming over them.

I think if I hit the lotto for a few hun.mill. I'll start a communal home/resort for wayward rusty train lovers.

  Don't worry, you'll all be invited

😀😎😱😍🤗😴🤤😳😋

Steamer posted:

my 262 barely ran when I got it, but it did run. Some time in the shop and a parts engine generously donated by George S and it's almost done.I would have just cleaned it up, but it had a bad repaint that was flaking badly.

s-l1600s-l1600 [6)262. [2)

I had a 262T tender that looked much like that.  Here is what it looks like now, my first full restoration.

t1t0

t3t6

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overlandflyer posted:

wow... i never posted a photo of this before and now twice in one week...

pumpkin CV
it's feeling much better these days and in good hands.  not surprisingly (with Marx) the motor was never in question.  even at this stage it still ran like a champ.

cheers...gary

That is a blast from the past!  Yes, I acquired this locomotive from Gary and did a restoration.  For those of you who wonder why anyone would rescue a Marx windup, this is an early reversing mechanical Commodore Vanderbilt and as such aren't extremely common, although they certainly aren't rare either.  Still, they can be a challenge to find.  This one was complete, albeit dented and sporting the custom paint job.  Here it is after some TLC:

2012-11-21Finished2

OK, I know it isn't a ratty locomotive anymore... let's see what I have in the archives:

GreenCV1

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I suppose I should add this little lot I just picked up today ...

A gaggle of Hornby that I picked up with the intent of repurposing into hopefully a replica of the U.S.A. Built 1927  Hornby that I am having so much trouble finding an original of ( over two years of intensive searching so far and not one for sale I can find sadly , it will come .. one day )

So for now these shabby loco's may have to give up their identity

 

 

One day to become....

Not in my collection sadly , but Photo for reference

 

BTW If ANYONE has one they can part with or knows of one , feel free to contact me

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OGR Publishing, Inc., 1310 Eastside Centre Ct, Suite 6, Mountain Home, AR 72653
800-980-OGRR (6477)
www.ogaugerr.com

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