My Dad, like many at the time, was fond of throwing a train set under the xmas tree for me when I was a little pup. I think it might have been as much for him as me sometimes! LOL!
Always a CN set of some sort. Memory is of the F9 loco sets. Also like most (I'm guessing) it was usually set up and run for a few days and then boxed back up. Dads been gone many years now, but the fond memories of setting them up together remain.
Once in a while, I take a walk through the local thrift stores. Nothing in particular I'm looking for, its just a nice little time waster sometimes. This time, there was one of the old box set HO trains on a shelf. The CN hustler/diesel Hustler set or something like that. Engine, caboose and 3 cars. All Bachmann branded. Price was peanuts (a little under 20 bucks) so not much to loose either way. "Nostalgia" mostly made me pick it up off the shelf and head to the cashier. I figured if nothing else, it can sit on a shelf and hopefully help evoke those old xmas memories of me and Dad working together now and then.
Got it home and cleaned it up a little and it's pretty much as I remember it:
(https://i.ibb.co/HT0Qr0pD/fr-5273.jpg) (https://ibb.co/k2pFhp6g)
In all it's Horn-hook, plastic wheeled glory. The CP car is missing two axles and I believe it would have had the "coal load" filler piece in it. Otherwise, it's in pretty good nick cosmetically, for the low end train kit that it is. Remarkably few scratches or marks. Standard stuff really: the caboose stack is broken off, one of the car brake wheels is a little mangled and such.
It also came with a "TYCO" power pack. Straight and simple DC setup. It's not from the original Bachmann set, but it will still serve to run the train should I wish it.
I pop the body on the engine and its the expected "pancake" motor. 8 wheel pickup, 4 wheel drive, traction tires on the rear most axle/wheels. The motor still has the factory "blobs" on the screws, so that's a good sign. Take it apart to check it and the brushes are barely burnished. Tiny bit of fuzz here and there but that's about it. I'm guessing this was a xmas set: run a couple times on the living room carpet and then boxed up, never to be seen again. I clean the contact areas and then go through the trucks/wheels, cleaning contacts where needed. The gearbox gets an IPA clean out and a little dot of grease on the axles where the gears/axles run. It's all remarkably clean and undamaged, which further supports the "forgotten xmas gift" theory.
Flip it over and install a couple jumpers from the Tyco box to the train wheels. Little engine starts right up and runs smoothly. As smoothly as can be expected for a pancake. I test out all the contact wheels on the front trucks and they all pass power fine. Tyco power pack build no heat whatsoever over about 20 mins of testing, but of course it's not feeding through 30-40 feet of brass track either.
At that point, I figured why not at least get it running on a track and see how it does? If nothing else, It would be a nice little thing to throw it around the xmas tree for the memories.
I don't have any track, so Ebay turned up some with another CN train set for not much more than I already had spent. It appears to be all brass track, like what would have come with these sets to start with. 22 curves, 8 straight, one curve re-railer, 1 curve power tap and a left and right turnout switch track. Plenty to do a t least something with. Enough for a circle or oval for around the xmas tree at least. Same 9162 engine and caboose plus 3 more cars. The cars are a little different though. Horn hook couplers, but on the car bodies instead of the trucks like the first set. The second engine I may make a helper or just a "dummy" helper.
The electrical side of things is a doodle for me with a simple dc setup.
At this point, I'm not even into the whole thing for 100 bucks. I can deal with brass tracks for that low "buy in" price. I'll get it all running first and then decide what I want to do with it: xmas setup only or perhaps the start of a more detail and a more permanent layout. Lots of time to decide where to go with it all.
I'm thinking it will end up a xmas thing, as I already build HO slot car sets:
(https://i.ibb.co/qM4R0JyC/fr-3528.jpg) (https://ibb.co/7JTGgkYQ)
(https://i.ibb.co/dJHmWxVt/fr-3529.jpg) (https://ibb.co/Hp9hF3bC)
(https://i.ibb.co/cSBH8w3K/fr-4557.jpg) (https://ibb.co/0R7S9K2p)
So on top of those, I really just don't have a lot of space for a permanent train layout. If I do a train layout, the cost will have to be kept low. That's not a big problem though as I 3d print the things I need on my 3d printer (FDM) for the slot sets. Adding detail to the engines/cars is just busy work/time really. Not much expense there as I already have the setup to do the slot tracks. Same materials and techniques are employed to do the slots.
I'd kind of like to show this little "toy train" a little love and give it some detail, but as it stands, it's likely its going to do be doing xmas tree duty.
But memories are priceless and fun is where you make it, so who knows?
;)
Love it. But even if it's just for a Christmas set up, I would quickly move away from brass track because of it's tendency to very quickly oxidize. Many ways to clean the oxidation off, but residue will inevitably work into the motor and kill it randomly by bridging electrical gaps.
Steel track is going to be pretty cheap as most people are just trying to get rid of it, and it lasts quite a while. But if you live in a humid environment it will rust and then whem you clean it, iron will work into the engine.
Nickel-silver track will last almost forever because when it oxidizes the "rust" will still conduct electricity just fine and you won't have to clean your track nearly at all.
Quote from: bbmiroku on April 09, 2025, 09:33:26 PMLove it. But even if it's just for a Christmas set up, I would quickly move away from brass track because of it's tendency to very quickly oxidize. Many ways to clean the oxidation off, but residue will inevitably work into the motor and kill it randomly by bridging electrical gaps.
Steel track is going to be pretty cheap as most people are just trying to get rid of it, and it lasts quite a while. But if you live in a humid environment it will rust and then whem you clean it, iron will work into the engine.
Nickel-silver track will last almost forever because when it oxidizes the "rust" will still conduct electricity just fine and you won't have to clean your track nearly at all.
I have never heard of brass track causing motors to short out. You do have to clean it more, but we ran on it for many years without the problems you describe. Slaty Fork yard on my dad's layout had some old brass Atlas switches and yard tracks were all brass as well. It was in heavy use from 1978 to about 2020 when it was redone with new nickle silver track. This was the first section of his railroad completed, and was redone because the plastic frogs on the switches wore out from 40+ years of traffic. Literally hundreds of thousands of cars and locomotives passed over those tracks, and we never had a motor short because of it. As a matter of fact, this track even operated under DCC for about ten years or so. This was an area where a constant parade of trains were arriving, being broken down and sorted, and new trains dispatched. If what you clain was true, we would have seen it and found a solution. It was never a problem. If it was a problem for you I suspect you were using steel wool or some other method of cleaning your rails that is not recommended.
Steel track, on the other hand, is a royal pain. Not only does it need to be kept clean, it also is almost impossible to solder feeders to, and the flux you have to use causes it to rust. For all practical purposes, you have to rely on the rail joiners themselves to maintain contact, never a good idea for long term use. At least with brass, you can solder the rail joints when they lose contact, and add feeders where you need them. Soldering the joints also helps keep the track from shifting over time on a permanent layout.
Quote from: bbmiroku on April 09, 2025, 09:33:26 PMLove it. But even if it's just for a Christmas set up, I would quickly move away from brass track because of it's tendency to very quickly oxidize. Many ways to clean the oxidation off, but residue will inevitably work into the motor and kill it randomly by bridging electrical gaps.
Steel track is going to be pretty cheap as most people are just trying to get rid of it, and it lasts quite a while. But if you live in a humid environment it will rust and then whem you clean it, iron will work into the engine.
Nickel-silver track will last almost forever because when it oxidizes the "rust" will still conduct electricity just fine and you won't have to clean your track nearly at all.
So much wrong with that I won't even address it.