Layout project that brings back memories.

I started in the 1970s with this East German TT set, with a gauge of 12 mm:



After I collected a certain number of items, the money ran out and I sold it all.
After that I started with this East German PIKO set, with a gauge of 9 mm, because it was cheaper and it was possible to collect a large amount:



After a few years, life circumstances changed and all this was stored disassembled in boxes (locomotives, wagons, rails, switches, etc.).
A friend came to me, already in the 1980s, and offered to buy all this for $ 50.
I already had other hobbies, the price seemed reasonable to me, and I sold it all to him for $50. At that time, the ruble's exchange rate changed unpredictably relative to the dollar, sometimes by 2 times in one day.
It took 10 more years, I happened to be in a model railroad store and saw one of my locomotives, which sold for $ 50.
I still remember how long I stood in this store in shock. Now it just makes me smile.
 
I can remember buying a complete Tyco set for $19.95 US. That was about 55 years ago. Now, your lucky to but a single car for that price let alone a locomotive!

Model railroading was quite different then.....I remember getting a 50' section of telephone main cable....that was a gold mine! Sure helped being able to quickly trace wiring issues. Besides the 6 trains running, every train could be moved to any other track by going through powered/nonpowered sidings. (Remember the plastic rail joiners to enable that?) And, no terminal tracks allowed to be visible......wiring was soldered onto the brass rail joiners and run directly through the platform. One track on each level had trestles to get to the next level. I also had several working crossing gates with pressure switches. Plus about 40-50 lighted houses and buildings.
 
autodctr said:
I can remember buying a complete Tyco set for $19.95 US. That was about 55 years ago. Now, your lucky to but a single car for that price let alone a locomotive!

Model railroading was quite different then.....I remember getting a 50' section of telephone main cable....that was a gold mine! Sure helped being able to quickly trace wiring issues. Besides the 6 trains running, every train could be moved to any other track by going through powered/nonpowered sidings. (Remember the plastic rail joiners to enable that?) And, no terminal tracks allowed to be visible......wiring was soldered onto the brass rail joiners and run directly through the platform. One track on each level had trestles to get to the next level. I also had several working crossing gates with pressure switches. Plus about 40-50 lighted houses and buildings.
Click to expand...
I was able to collect a bunch of TELCO punch down blocks from the old company I worked for. When they moved into a new building, there were leftover blocks from the previous company that were headed for the dumpster. I scoffed those up and used those as termination points before sending the wires to the screw-termination blocks I also got from another company that was closing before connecting the wire to the ATLAS track blocks.

Having the wire terminated into sections like that made troubleshooting so much easier and everything worked right off the bat until my cat Lily decided to hang on the neat bundle of wires that was strapped under the layout! It was then I had to trace my connections to the termination blocks and reclip them into place.

I made my wired track clips by soldering the wires on to them. I did this one very wet Saturday afternoon with my cats watching every move. They then confirmed that the wire tasted good and that they could then pull everything apart later. ;-)
 
Me too -- just viewed the references to brass models. I used to admire them in model shop windows but never had enough money to buy.

But some time ago I did the next best thing in Trainz. See these three threads:


P

Thread 'Brass Model Trainz'

For those with an interest in using brass models in Trainz. You know, those $400 Big Boys, Challengers and other locomotives that you saw in the model shop window but could never afford to buy? Well, I've found that it's not all that hard to take an existing Trainz locomotive, passenger car or freight car and convert it into a brass model:


Full description in Post #4717 here:

https://forums.auran.com/trainz/sho...-Steam-Locomotive-pics!&p=1627905#post1627905

Phil


Phil
 
philskene said:
Me too -- just viewed the references to brass models. I used to admire them in model shop windows but never had enough money to buy.

But some time ago I did the next best thing in Trainz. See these three threads:


P

Thread 'Brass Model Trainz'

For those with an interest in using brass models in Trainz. You know, those $400 Big Boys, Challengers and other locomotives that you saw in the model shop window but could never afford to buy? Well, I've found that it's not all that hard to take an existing Trainz locomotive, passenger car or freight car and convert it into a brass model:


Full description in Post #4717 here:

https://forums.auran.com/trainz/sho...-Steam-Locomotive-pics!&p=1627905#post1627905

Phil


Phil
Click to expand...
That's really neat!

What's great about your models is we don't have to search for electrical shorts in the bogies and frames. This is one of the annoyances I remember as being a big issue as told by those who could afford those models.
 
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