1960 Model Trains Magazine.

[john tricarico]

hi guys

sorry steam gene  i was raised on east 10 street
iam now in brooklyn

woody
i still have some late 50s early 60s
athearn kits  unbuilt   i picked up back in the 80s

its ashame years ago there were many many
hobby stores all over the country

still love those old  h.o. revell kits


good luck guys  john t  brooklyn ny

[Woody Elmore]

I love to hear people complain about the quality of products. They didn't have to deal with Balky Athearn rubber band drive engines or kits that would take a miracle to assemble. There was brass "snap" track or yard long pieces of flex track that had fiber ties. A little moisture (from ballast glue) and they swelled, taking the track out of gauge.

The new modelers just want to take things out of a box and have them run. I feel that they are missing the enjoyment and satisfaction of taking something that needed to be assembled, tinkering with it, and watching it run for the first time.

My first kit engine was a Bowser L-1 mikado. I carefully worked on that engine until it ran effortlessly. What a letdown it was to find out that it could only handle a small train due to the weight of the engine and tender. That led me to Hobbytown...

Joe T - I think that the there was another brand of 10 cent paint - Testor's PLA. Or maybe the Pactra was "PLA" The PLA meant it was suitable for plastic.

[Joe Satnik]

Just showing off:

http://index.mrmag.com/tm.exe?opt=M&proc=HOMT

http://index.mrmag.com/tm.exe?opt=I&MAG=HOMT&MO=1&YR=1960

Sincerely,

Joe Satnik

[Santa Fe buff]

I love to hear people complain about the quality of products. They didn't have to deal with Balky Athearn rubber band drive engines or kits that would take a miracle to assemble. There was brass "snap" track or yard long pieces of flex track that had fiber ties. A little moisture (from ballast glue) and they swelled, taking the track out of gauge.

The new modelers just want to take things out of a box and have them run. I feel that they are missing the enjoyment and satisfaction of taking something that needed to be assembled, tinkering with it, and watching it run for the first time.

My first kit engine was a Bowser L-1 mikado. I carefully worked on that engine until it ran effortlessly. What a letdown it was to find out that it could only handle a small train due to the weight of the engine and tender. That led me to Hobbytown...

Joe T - I think that the there was another brand of 10 cent paint - Testor's PLA. Or maybe the Pactra was "PLA" The PLA meant it was suitable for plastic.

I think your right, but my cement is done for, so I can't currently model, so I buy model kits a lot of freight cars. I don't have the tools for engine building, plus, if it turns out to be a dud, I can pin it on Athearn and get a new one easier.

Just showing off:

http://index.mrmag.com/tm.exe?opt=M&proc=HOMT

http://index.mrmag.com/tm.exe?opt=I&MAG=HOMT&MO=1&YR=1960

Sincerely,

Joe Satnik

Yeah, Jan. 1960, exact cover match, but it's red, not orange.

[Joe Satnik]

I was looking at the mags table of contents, and I saw "Ice Plants"... 

Wazzat? Some kind of fancy flower with transparent cube shaped buds?... 

Oh, oh,yeah, "Block Ice Factories" for the old reefers....

"Never Mind" (Emily Litella)

Sincerely,

Joe Satnik

[Santa Fe buff]

I wonder what that 'Ice Plant' thing is about...

[Woody Elmore]

The ice plants manufactured ice for reefer cars. There would be a long (10 car or so) platform at the height of the roof of the reefers. The hatch would be open and workers would push the block ice into the ice storage area of the reefers.

[Santa Fe buff]

The ice plants manufactured ice for reefer cars. There would be a long (10 car or so) platform at the height of the roof of the reefers. The hatch would be open and workers would push the block ice into the ice storage area of the reefers.

Oh the mag.  I'm so silly      . Yeah, I saw it, it's the ice loading platforms. Sorry. 

[grumpy]

 A lot of that ice was cut from frozen lakes an stored in so called ice plants . If packed properly in sawdust and straw it would last until the lakes froze over again. Out in that strange world of model railways someone should be able to come up with a photo of the inside of an ice plant.
Don

[jsmvmd]

Dear Joe S.,

I think you meant "Emily Litella."

Best Wishes,

Jack

[japasha]

Woody,

The Hobbytown Diesels were way ahead of their time. Back in the early 70s I was experimenting with R/C in HO and used a set of A-b-b-a f-7s to hose the motor, control and batteries.  I had an identical set that was track powered and all were decrated for the Western Pacific in silver and orange. They could pull a 90 car train up a 2.5% grade with ease. I would demostrate the R/C unit at a club with most people in awe at the pulling capabilities. I did a set of SD-(, all for SP as individual unit and each was capabile of 40 cars up a 2.5% grade. You just couldn't stop them.  A great product if you were serious about running large trains. I still have a pair of ALCO PAs in L&N colors to mess with the guys at the club with.

Model Trains had a layout series called the Portage Hill and Communipaw that any beginner should study for ideas. It was one of the best project railroads done by Model Trains and finished in Model Railroader. The articles are reprinted in Popular Model Rauilroads You can Build

[Johnson Bar Jeff]

still love those old  h.o. revell kits

I always thought Revell structure kits were particularly nice. I was thrilled recently when I finally was able to buy a complete, unopened yard building kit on eBay. 

[Santa Fe buff]

I like their model cars and paints.

[Joe Satnik]

Dear Jack,

Noted and corrected.  Thanks.

Hope my reference brought a smile...

Emily Litella: I'm here tonight to speak out against busting schoolchildren. Busting schoolchildren is a terrible, terrible thing. ...

Good ol' Gilda Radner.  Gene must miss her.   

I figured out why my brain went to "the leafy variety" of plants.... Garden (Large Scale) Railroading.....

Sincerely,

Joe Satnik

[Woody Elmore]

japasha - I had a two unit Hobbytown with Cary FT shells. There was no way I could see how many cars the engine would pull on the club layout. I think I got to 75 cars. I also had a Hobbytown PA, Alco RS-2  and their SW mechanism. I didn't care for the switcher mechanism because of a large nylon gear. All my Hobbytowns had great flywheel drives. Another member had an E-7/8/9 mechanism. I believe it had a die cast shell. This thing had the Hobbytown centrifugal clutch and was quite realistic. It would sit and slowly gain speed like the real thing.

When I joined an HO club in the mid Seventies Hobbytowns were the engines of choice. The only real alternative were Athearn products but they just didn't work with the longer club trains.

I had seen the Hobbytown booth at my last trip to the train show at Timonium. The current owner was including can motors for DCC control. I understand that the company has gone out of business and remaining inverntory was sold off. Too bad - Hobbytown made a great diesel drive.