Yeah, those depot trains were really swell. I liked eating at the depot after we left the depot and then checking out the other restaurant 8 miles away at the depot. I have pics of my kids hanging out at the depot on the caboose but I'd have to blurr them out to post them at the depot.

I agree about the depot clock.

Large scale is indeed your best bet at that height. Furthermore, a lighted passenger set makes a great evening show. If you use a power pack (VS battery/remote) I suggest you mount a switch at your son's eye level to control power to the power pack, but have the power pack well out of reach with a preset speed you determine. Your child may then be the boss of his railroad without any worry of excess speed or accidental reversing. If you cannot cut a wall box in and fish wire, check out Wiremold surface mounted conduit. I have an around-the-room, Large scale Bachmann layout and I agree that, using that much track, you'll be well served to employ multiple feeds.

You might want to put a lively border up first or have an "artsy" relative/friend do a mural behind the track locale.

QuoteOne idea to ease the transition is to convert a car

I agree completely, and rickho will probably have to buy a car with coupler pockets to use, unless he has purchased some newer stuff along with his new locos. I suppose some of his 80's stuff might be Athearn, in which case the upgrade/update would be fairly straightforward.

1980's... Nobody has explained to rickho how he's supposed to install Kadee couplers on the proprietary talgo trucks that came with his old, poorly detailed, underweighted 1980's rolling stock.

rickho, unless your cars happen to have coupler pockets (with covers) you will have some work to do in order to change coupler style. You'll probably have to add some weight, too. May as well ream the truck journals and install some metal wheel sets while you're at it.

Quotewas the museum open when you were there?

I don't know. I was riding with my future ex brother-in-law and we had an itinerary. I made him stop so I could show my kids the NS/Ex Conrail Dash-8's in the yard and let them play on this:


Then we ate here:


This was pretty cool:

QuoteI have even seen it in books..I have one of those Arcadia "Images of Amercia" books about "The Valley", being Waverly, NY, Sayre PA and Athens PA.
the Lehigh Valley had a huge yard and shop complex in sayre..
nearly every photo in the book taken anywhere in the Sayre yard/shop complex says "here we see a train at the Sayre depot"...
by "depot" they mean "anywhere in the Sayre yard complex, even if its 3 miles away from the actual Sayre passenger station"  "depot" being synonymous with "yard" apparently.. 

You mean this? I was just there.

Quote from: ebtbob on August 04, 2007, 06:59:10 AM
Mr. B....

     Besides the amount of cast on detail.....how different is the drive train between the standard and Spectrum steam engines?    Are they all being made with the belt drive now?

Bob

I. too, would like to know how the mechanism of this new offering compares to the Spectrum machanism.

Quotewhy are model trains so expensive

They aren't. I've never paid anything even close to retail, nor would I. Model trains are one of the many products that can frequently be acquired very reasonably if you are savvy.

Examples:
I recently picked up four powered proto locomotives from MB Klein for $100.00 total and two Stewart F units for $65.00 total. I got two children involved in railroad modeling last Christmas by gifting them each a complete Athearn train set with EZ track. They cost only $50.00 each, with shipping included and came with a bonus Genesis freight car. My Genesis steam locomotives were each less than $60.00 and my Spectrum steam locomotives were less than $50.00. 100 yards of flex track and cork roadbed? $125.00 total.

This hobby can be very inexpensive if that is your goal. It certainly is mine.

This one sold for 1200.00 Mexico Pesos . I would expect you'd get about 1/3 that amount.

Actually, what you have is a suitcase full of model rail stock. A model locomotive or freight/passenger car does not a model train make.

What scale are these? What other brands? Unfortunately, plastic model rail stock does not appreciate in value. Where locomotives are concerned, today's product is far superior to anything produced in even the recent past. Items that old may not even run and they have no collector value. That doesn't mean you don't have something that would sell or that somebody might like to see in his or her roster.

As has been suggested, locate similar items on eBay for approximate value. But know that you can’t compare 20-year-old products with modern offerings, price wise. They just didn’t compare in quality to current merchandise.

I suggest 2" thick extruded foam, or other dimensional foam sheets glued and stacked to amount to 2”. Dow Styrofoam would be my choice. Owens Corning Foamular would be my alternative.  When placed upon a rigid frame with adequate support, either will make a fine alternative to plywood. Paint it first to help deaden sound.

Incidentally, your "frame" would be considered the bench work and your "layout board" would be considered the sub roadbed.

GP9B it is.

That's not it.

I confess I'm not 100% sure what this is, but I know what it was listed as.

That's not a "5", its a "B", the Bachmann logo.

The set is worth less than it originally cost. The equipment is far inferior to the modern product and plastic model trains have no collector value. Open it, play with it, give it to a child. Just don't expect to gain anything by keeping it longer and don't expect to get rich selling it. I paid 40.00 for a far superior, modern set this year.