post war comeback

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But I think that is the point, PW prices have not held up unless absolutely mint in the Box, part because there are less and less PW folks buying, and more and more as they age selling.

From what I see on Ebay, postwar prices may not be at their peak, but quality postwar items certainly aren't going for peanuts.

Interest in "O" gauge model railroading and collecting is going to continue to drop. That includes all brands and all eras. Sometime in the future, those still interested are going to be able to pick up trains for close to nothing.
It will be great times for those who actually like trains, and aren't buying as an investment.
Arguing over "my train is better than your train" isn't going to change anything.

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Originally posted by Christopher2035:
I'm all postwar & MPC all the time. After so much trouble with all the modern engines, I went back to basics & have not been happier with my trains. It's what the magic of Lionel was built on. The new stuff is cool too, but I don't have the time/money to put into that.

Amen! I'm back to postwar for good as well after dumping my hi-tech trains and guess what? I'm happier as well!

Lionel is making some awesome looking stuff these days but too bad it's rather troublesome for the price you pay. Nowadays I sit back and skip over on the posts regarding the never ending debate over quality control. I don't need the frustration, I can get that for free in other areas of life.

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Originally posted by Tommys_Trains:
I'd still rather own the genuine article as opposed to the crappy Chinese made repro's. Give me a good old fashioned buzzing mechanical e-unit anyday. Lionel can keep its PWC and Conventional Classics. Half the fun of the hobby is the search for PW trains. +++++++++++++++++++

I'd have to agree there. I've got some of the Conventional Classics stuff and it's nice, but it just AIN'T THE SAME.

I had a decent but average PW collection about 20 years ago (no rare or super-rare stuff) that at the time made economic sense to sell off.

(Still got my modest PW Flyer collection, though.)

One of these days I'll get back in the hunt.

Rusty

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Alas, I can't head out to the train room to fire up some "Growlers". Instead, I gotta' go work the night job here shortly. Guess I'll fire up some different "growlers" within an hour or so. Big Grin

Was this photo taken in Fort Smith? Mark

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quote:
Alas, I can't head out to the train room to fire up some "Growlers". Instead, I gotta' go work the night job here shortly. Guess I'll fire up some different "growlers" within an hour or so. Big Grin

Was this photo taken in Fort Smith? Mark

Or maybe Van Buren ?

I'll probably be wrong, but Springdale AR will be my "official guess". That's where we boarded.

..Only Andre can announce the winner..

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Originally posted by Happy Pappy:
As for my owning a new MTH Tinplate piece, YES I do. My family (children, grand-children and great grand-children) gave me a new, "Baby State Set" for Christmas. Yes, it sure is pretty, however, I will never run it because it is, "Made In China".

Boy, talk about disrespecting your family by that statement above about the gift they gave to you. Might as well just spit on it in front of them after you opened the box. If anyone in my family ever disrespected me that way, they sure as heck wouldn't be getting any gifts from me anymore, that's for sure. Did you even tell them you refused to run it based on the principles you stated here on the forum?

I wonder if you even thought about that when they bought it, they also supported MTH's American employees here in the states. You know, apart from the executives, the tech support people, sales team, engineering staff, shipping/receiving, secretary, and even the custodians they pay to clean the offices at night, the money they got out of that purchase helped retain their jobs.

Unbelievable.

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Boy, talk about disrespecting your family by that statement above about the gift they gave to you.

There's no disrespect there. He said it was pretty. He doesn't have to run it.
Haven't you ever gotten a gifr you didn't really like or want?
Lots of people must, otherwise there wouldn't be so many returns after christmas.

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Originally posted by C W Burfle:

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Boy, talk about disrespecting your family by that statement above about the gift they gave to you.

There's no disrespect there. He said it was pretty. He doesn't have to run it.
Haven't you ever gotten a gifr you didn't really like or want?
Lots of people must, otherwise there wouldn't be so many returns after christmas.

It's disrespectful by making a statement about his refusal to run it because of where it was made and grandstanding it on a public forum.

I've never returned a gift from my family that was train-related, even if it was something I didn't necessarily want. I've run it for them too, because I appreciate the fact that it was a gift. You know, the whole thought-that-counts thing? Even if I did, I wouldn't go and make a statement on it behind their back on the Internet. Not fully the point anyway, they knew he liked tinplate, so that's what they got him, right?

I used to have a 2383 set also. It was my first F3. I've frequently had seller's remorse about swapping it to a repair guy for train repairs and work years ago.

At the time I wanted to have it repainted into a local roadname, add a Mars light, sound and put in glass portholes.

Well, I did the sound part - an Ott analog system. I guess few here remember those...

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Happy Pappy:



As for my owning a new MTH Tinplate piece, YES I do. My family (children, grand-children and great grand-children) gave me a new, "Baby State Set" for Christmas. Yes, it sure is pretty, however, I will never run it because it is, "Made In China".
________________________________________________________________________________
This by far the most ignorant statement i have ever seen on this board and i have been here since the beginning. What a great gift from your family and all you did here is disrespect it. Next time it would be best if you said nothing at least on a public forum. If i were part of your family i would be very, very angry. Being older is no excuse for bad behavior.

Dave

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As for my owning a new MTH Tinplate piece, YES I do. My family (children, grand-children and great grand-children) gave me a new, "Baby State Set" for Christmas. Yes, it sure is pretty, however, I will never run it because it is, "Made In China".

And if it runs marvelously you'll be too horrified?

Pete

And another thread goes down the toilet...

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Happy Pappy:
And yes, my children know exactly how I feel about non-American made products. QUOTE]

Boy, your house must either be full of really old stuff or not much of anything at all! Or you have a ton of money to have things custom made here. Just curous, what make of computer are you using? I think most are made overseas and even if they are made here most of the components aren't.

Jerry

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Originally posted by mlavender480:
And another thread goes down the toilet...

well put

i can make this simple on why i like the old stuff
brand new top of the line preorders s-3 runs for 45 seconds(we've all seen that thread). $995.00
beat up rough looking 2029 with the tender shell held on by medical tape 39 bucks of the bay lubed it put it on the track runs like a top!
that's why i tend to stick with the older stuff, i have some newer stuff i really like as well my BANG comes to mind i also run my SF 0-8-0 quite abit and i run the wheels off starter engines i just can't see taking a oplunge for a grand or more for something that i would fir is going to fail. i love the looks and detail of the modern stuff but i just can't get past all the failure threads i read on here. give me PW any day.
oh yeah almost forgot the whistle in that taped up tender works great as well
Dave

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Boy, your house must either be full of really old stuff or not much of anything at all! Or you have a ton of money to have things custom made here. Just curous, what make of computer are you using? I think most are made overseas and even if they are made here most of the components aren't.

with computers,and all that other stuff there really isn't much choice. With toy trains there are.

I'm curious, does anyone make a slow starting, smooth running conventional steam loco? And a digital whistle that sounds like a postwar air whistle? Or a postwar looking steam loco like a 726, that runs on Legacy?

I'd love to have some Legacy postwar steam options.

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I'm curious, does anyone make a slow starting, smooth running conventional steam loco?

Good question Woo, I've been waiting more than 20 yrs and haven't seen it yet. I would like to add "traditionally-sized" to your wish list. The K-Line 3000 series 4-6-2 (from the Marx mold) were ok for their time, but lacked a flywheel. Maury Klein was too stubborn to even consider a redesign. RailKing steam with PS2 might be another option. But compared to Lionel Postwar, IMO most aren't that artfully rendered, the "selective compression" just isn't as good. Also they have no more than two closely-spaced pickup rollers, and are quite sensitive to voltage drops, because the circuitry interprets the track voltage as a speed command. (There's a LOT of electronic gimmickry inside that can fail, and conventional transformer operation gives a distant "drive-by-wire" feel.)

At October York, Williams by Bachmann revealed a new 4-6-0 steamer that might be the most promising example yet. Smooth and slow, with modest gearing and no gimmicky electronics! Unfortunately it's a 19th-century prototype. I really, really hope Bachmann develops a new, similarly-geared chassis for the Berkshire and Hudson clones which have been part of their Golden Memories line for years. That would give us what we're asking for. C'mon Bachmann, 30:1 or bust!!

I've bought only scale trains since 1996, mostly hoping for the promise of better performance. Unfortunately, scale steam is about as housebroken as a pet dolphin! It looks totally out of place on a Plasticville layout with sharp curves. If you don't have 20 feet on a long wall, forget about building a layout. If someone builds a smooth starting, slow running postwar clone with a strong mechanical pedigree, my check is in the mail!!!

Heck, all someone would have to do is design a replacement mechanism for the 736 or 2046 chassis. There are plenty of die-cast shells out there, and tooling for the boiler shell is the most expensive part! With all the folks out of work, I guess there are no machinists willing to step up to our challenge?? Good question!