I just happen to have one of those watermelon Ambroid car kits. Have had it for several years. One of these days I'll get around to building it...:mrgreen:
Oldies but Goodies. The Old Stuff.
- Thread starter toptrain1
- Start date
Currently the Whiskey River Railway shop forces are undertaking a few restoration projects. As we speak I have two Silver Streak caboose kits (one bay window and one center cupola) in various stages of completion. The center cupola one had it's original cupola removed and replaced by a AHM or IHC drover's caboose one. I also carefully pried the glued on metal ends off to strip the paint off with my old tried and true method of using floor wax remover and added my trusty self stick tire weights and is waiting for paint and to find the window castings as they somehow got lost. The bay window was a beast. I purchased it in a lot of cabeese that some guy though the proper color for a caboose was Penn Central (or whatever that disgusting color is) green. I pried off all the metal parts and put them also in the bath of floor wax stripper then primed them. As she stands the caboose body and underframe are painted in their appropriate colors but the window castings also got lost with the center cupola's. When I find them progress will commence.
Also in my eBay treasure quest I scored a old, possibly pre-war Mantua combine kit. It came to me missing a truck, the underframe became unsoldered from the body and Kadee's either soldered or epoxied to the frame. Once my workbench has a fewer amount of projects it'll have it's day but for now in my big box o' trains it shall live.
Tyler
Also in my eBay treasure quest I scored a old, possibly pre-war Mantua combine kit. It came to me missing a truck, the underframe became unsoldered from the body and Kadee's either soldered or epoxied to the frame. Once my workbench has a fewer amount of projects it'll have it's day but for now in my big box o' trains it shall live.
Tyler
Attachments
Z
Zathros
engine shops
I have some old stuff in the engine shops right now. , One is a Bowser Atlantic that Tyler (gbwdude) picked up on e-bay. I am working on it in advance of acquiring it from him. I have cleaned up the commutator, and cleaned and lubed the gears. I have found a spring for the trailing truck, and have been studying the tender trucks. they were sprung with leaf springs that have collapsed. I am also going to add extra electrical pick up. I'm studying it for remotoring; which would be a shame, as the monster Pitman motor in it runs very well on DC, but it would be nice to get this thing operable on DCC, as it doesn't fit my Railroad's theme well.
Also in the photo is a Porter Mogul that belonged to my Mom. I think it is a Ken Kidder import, but we never had a box. Mom saw it at a hobby shop, and asked my dad to buy it for her; which he did. she asked me to make a display track for it, which I did, and it sat on her dresser by her jewelry box for many years I'm thinking Dad bought it for Mom somewhere near 1965.
Now it is on my work bench to get extra electrical pick ups. In the back ground is a Westside models horizontal boiler class A Climax, also on the work bench to get upgraded electrical pick ups, as is the Mantua 2-6-2, which Dave from out club picked up at a yard sale for $5.00. I have already put a can motor in it, and it runs very well via jumper wires. I need to get better electrical pick up on it and then try to find it a good decoder, possibly sound.
I have some old stuff in the engine shops right now. , One is a Bowser Atlantic that Tyler (gbwdude) picked up on e-bay. I am working on it in advance of acquiring it from him. I have cleaned up the commutator, and cleaned and lubed the gears. I have found a spring for the trailing truck, and have been studying the tender trucks. they were sprung with leaf springs that have collapsed. I am also going to add extra electrical pick up. I'm studying it for remotoring; which would be a shame, as the monster Pitman motor in it runs very well on DC, but it would be nice to get this thing operable on DCC, as it doesn't fit my Railroad's theme well.
Also in the photo is a Porter Mogul that belonged to my Mom. I think it is a Ken Kidder import, but we never had a box. Mom saw it at a hobby shop, and asked my dad to buy it for her; which he did. she asked me to make a display track for it, which I did, and it sat on her dresser by her jewelry box for many years I'm thinking Dad bought it for Mom somewhere near 1965.
Now it is on my work bench to get extra electrical pick ups. In the back ground is a Westside models horizontal boiler class A Climax, also on the work bench to get upgraded electrical pick ups, as is the Mantua 2-6-2, which Dave from out club picked up at a yard sale for $5.00. I have already put a can motor in it, and it runs very well via jumper wires. I need to get better electrical pick up on it and then try to find it a good decoder, possibly sound.
Attachments
Nice Mantua brass combine, Tyler. As you are likely aware, but perhaps others here are not, Mantua offered a three car set of these during the late pre war, early post war era. Their quality was unusually good for the period and one does see them still turning up on eBay from time to time.
Somewhat later Walthers offered a more extensive stamped steel set of cars with plastic roofs based on the heavyweight cars common between about WWI and the end of steam. Unlike the Mantua's, no soldering was necessary and they were sold as "screwdriver assembly" kits. Truncated in length and dubbed "Pug Cars", they were specifically intended for use on layouts with 18" and lower radii curves that were quite common during the spaghetti-bowl layout era of the '50's.
Offered as a set consisting of a baggage, RPO, coach, diner and observation, they came in painted but unlettered and in several roadnames. Whether they did not sell well, or were quickly overtaken by the introduction of Athearn's larger plastic and more accurate passenger cars is unclear, but they do seem to be quite rare in the secondhand marketplace today. Somewhere in the trainroom I have a full set, plus some extra coaches.
CNJ999
Somewhat later Walthers offered a more extensive stamped steel set of cars with plastic roofs based on the heavyweight cars common between about WWI and the end of steam. Unlike the Mantua's, no soldering was necessary and they were sold as "screwdriver assembly" kits. Truncated in length and dubbed "Pug Cars", they were specifically intended for use on layouts with 18" and lower radii curves that were quite common during the spaghetti-bowl layout era of the '50's.
Offered as a set consisting of a baggage, RPO, coach, diner and observation, they came in painted but unlettered and in several roadnames. Whether they did not sell well, or were quickly overtaken by the introduction of Athearn's larger plastic and more accurate passenger cars is unclear, but they do seem to be quite rare in the secondhand marketplace today. Somewhere in the trainroom I have a full set, plus some extra coaches.
CNJ999
I have a very early model railroading book that has pictures of the matua coaches with a high drivered locomotive called something like the Belle of the eighties; I a
lways wanted one.
lways wanted one.
CNJ999,
I had to do some research of what the Pug cars are and it seems to me they're the same thing that Rivarossi sold when Walthers still carried them but in metal and kit form. I'd be interested (and I'm sure many others too) to see what you have, so once you find them throw some pics up.
The only things I plan to do to my Mantua combine is repaint it for my railroad and make it operational once more. It has great enough details for me and should be a interesting piece of rolling stock. Not many people use things from the olden days of model railroading anymore.
Tyler
I had to do some research of what the Pug cars are and it seems to me they're the same thing that Rivarossi sold when Walthers still carried them but in metal and kit form. I'd be interested (and I'm sure many others too) to see what you have, so once you find them throw some pics up.
The only things I plan to do to my Mantua combine is repaint it for my railroad and make it operational once more. It has great enough details for me and should be a interesting piece of rolling stock. Not many people use things from the olden days of model railroading anymore.
Tyler
CNJ999,
I had to do some research of what the Pug cars are and it seems to me they're the same thing that Rivarossi sold when Walthers still carried them but in metal and kit form. I'd be interested (and I'm sure many others too) to see what you have, so once you find them throw some pics up.
The only things I plan to do to my Mantua combine is repaint it for my railroad and make it operational once more. It has great enough details for me and should be a interesting piece of rolling stock. Not many people use things from the olden days of model railroading anymore.
Tyler
I had to do some research of what the Pug cars are and it seems to me they're the same thing that Rivarossi sold when Walthers still carried them but in metal and kit form. I'd be interested (and I'm sure many others too) to see what you have, so once you find them throw some pics up.
The only things I plan to do to my Mantua combine is repaint it for my railroad and make it operational once more. It has great enough details for me and should be a interesting piece of rolling stock. Not many people use things from the olden days of model railroading anymore.
Tyler
Indeed, Bill, the Mantua Belle of the Eighties went with the Mantua brass passenger cars. In the early part of that era there was also the "8-Ball" Mogul, an 1880's, or so, freight locomotive more-or-less suitable to haul these cars around, too. Oddly, I don't think Mantua ever offered more modern brass passenger cars to go with their larger Reading Atlantic and Pacific brass passenger engines, although they did offer a range of brass freight cars.
Tyler, I'll check around the trainroom but I suspect the Pug cars are packed away in some obscure location as I don't recall seeing them for a long time. I purchased them with the intent of using them on a show layout back in my modular club days. I don't think that they had anything in common with any of the Rivarossi cars that I remember, however. Like the John English diecast heavyweights of the same period the Pugs were 60-footers (maybe even a little less?) with 4-wheel trucks.
CNJ999
Tyler, I'll check around the trainroom but I suspect the Pug cars are packed away in some obscure location as I don't recall seeing them for a long time. I purchased them with the intent of using them on a show layout back in my modular club days. I don't think that they had anything in common with any of the Rivarossi cars that I remember, however. Like the John English diecast heavyweights of the same period the Pugs were 60-footers (maybe even a little less?) with 4-wheel trucks.
CNJ999
Tycho/Mantua 2-6-2
I have this Tycho/ Mantua 2-6-2 ready to go to the club for testing. It is an early Tycho, model (still has the good working valve gear, and a good merchanism left over from the Mantua days.
Dave at the club got this at a yard sale for $5.00 I have remotored it with a can motor salvaged from a GM remote adjustable rear view mirror
I have added electrical pick up to the insulated drivers (excepting the one with the traction tire). I have yet to hook up pickups on the tender, it will need pick ups for both sides of the pick up, as I have replaced the tender trucks with plastic trucks, but it runs ok for now with the tender just there for the ride
I have this Tycho/ Mantua 2-6-2 ready to go to the club for testing. It is an early Tycho, model (still has the good working valve gear, and a good merchanism left over from the Mantua days.
Dave at the club got this at a yard sale for $5.00 I have remotored it with a can motor salvaged from a GM remote adjustable rear view mirror
I have added electrical pick up to the insulated drivers (excepting the one with the traction tire). I have yet to hook up pickups on the tender, it will need pick ups for both sides of the pick up, as I have replaced the tender trucks with plastic trucks, but it runs ok for now with the tender just there for the ride
Attachments
I have been gone a long time. just drooped in to say hello. And try to leave with you another train photo.
Here in the oldies section is a Walters all die cast metal, model of a 40' wood gondola with outside bracing. Before I got this model I never seen one before. Now having it awhile I can sat I have never seen another one.
toptrain
Here in the oldies section is a Walters all die cast metal, model of a 40' wood gondola with outside bracing. Before I got this model I never seen one before. Now having it awhile I can sat I have never seen another one.
toptrain
Attachments
Glad to see you back in the saddle, that is a great car, not many composit gons ont there, and I'm going to need quite a few when my railroad's rebuild gets down to Montgomery Furnace. there is only one available new as a kit (there may be some resin kits out there) It is very fime with a combination of lazer cut wood, and injected plastic frame and suports, but is a complicated kit that builds to a fragile car, after a lot of work. I'd like to have a bunch of bulletproof ones like you have there, great find, welcome back.
Bill Nelson
Bill Nelson
Here is a Bowser atlantic that Tyler found a good deal on, and passed it on to me. I picked it up, as I had always wanted to play with Bowser stuff, but waited too long and the kits were no longer easily available. I realy want an Old Lady mechanism. I have an O gauge breass static model of a porter Mogul, the first locomotive imported in to japan. it is 42 inch guage, and since it is static , the wheels are not insulated. If I could locate an old lady chassis, I might be able to get some apropriately sized ax;le material to rebuild the chassis in ON3, and have a relatively cheap ON3 Porter Mogul. I recently aquired an NWSL On3 Spartain 4-4-0, and a Porter Mogul would be an excellent companion locomotive for the American.
Thanks for the hello Bill. They show up train shows at reasonable prices. It is a good thing to double head I or l class locos. They even run OK with the H class. You can mix or match. They will run fine.
frank
I thought I posted a photo here. Opps I must not have done so. I think I witting on 2 Penn-Line decapods.
frank
I thought I posted a photo here. Opps I must not have done so. I think I witting on 2 Penn-Line decapods.
Last edited:
* Mantua Train of cars. This train is made up of cars listed in catalogs in 1948 and after to the later 1950's. They are gondola, 2 bay hopper, and tank cars. A all brass caboose from the same time period is at the back with a Mantua P&R rear cab 2-8-0 ( brass and cast) pulling to station. All cars and loco are from the same time period. The cars are of all metal construction with embossed and printed paper sides. This entire train fits well into the Oldies category. The P&R will remove its power and the Lehigh Valley will place theirs at the head end. A LV Class N1 mikado waits at the station for the transfer.toptrain
Last edited:
Here are the old Mantua cars assembled on the streets of Bergen point for a photo. These are from when Mantua stopped making all metal cars and went to that were basicaly metal but had paper sides. These paper sides with their printed coloring and lettering had rivite detail embossed into them. Once assembled they had a nice finish. The caboose is of the older style with a all brass bady and cast metal flootr and frame, made like their old time passenger cars were.
toptrain
toptrain
Last edited:
Here is a pair of ancient Pocher passenger cars the Bob aquired. they went into my shops to get body mount couplers. the passenger car was missing a truck and the truck pins. I did not have a matching poacer passenger truck, so I replaced the trucks on the coach with a pair of MDC wood frame passenger trucks leftover from an MDC shorty overton I kitbased into an Hon3 car. since this photo was taked, both sets of trucks have been painted flat black. I scrounged some truck pins from other cars in my shops, but they did not fit the MDC trucks, even after I drilled out the holes on the MDC trucks to make them wider. I used a trill the size of the hole for the pins in the coach floor as a guide to set a caliper, and then I chucked a piece of sprue off a random plastic kit into a drill, and turned a couple truck pins that would fit the holes in the coach floor, with a tiny shoulder that would retain the MDC trucks, and slear the materal around the screw hole. I have a pair of the truck pins out on my work bench, and I am going to use them as a master to make a mould so I can cast replacements out of resin. I have a bunch of old AHM freight cars I may be able to get back in service with replacement truck pins, be they cast, or turned like the ones I made for the coach. next I have to get some black paint, and touch up the end of the screws that hold the body mounted couplers on. Ideally I'dd trim them off, but doing so with a dremil cutting tool would risk the platform. when I painted the cars I put soem white glue on the gold oval on the coach, and let it dry before painting; and then after I had painted the car bodies with red auto primer, I picked the glue off with a hobby knife.
I really like these cars wish I had a string of them to complement my Mantua, MDC, and La Belle cars
Bill Nelson
Bill, Got to keep looking for them at train shows and hobby shops. Some people, not me, get good results at auctions on line. I like the older Pocher cars with no cresatory roof over entrance platforms. When these were first made by Pocher a baggage car was released also. I always look for them. I'll try to find some photos.
frank
View attachment 130861 View attachment 130861
frank
View attachment 130861 View attachment 130861
Last edited: