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 Posted - April 30 2022 : 07:15:10 AM
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Life and the acquisition of Vintage HO trains hasn't stopped. But it has slowed down quite a bit just like me. The main problem with collecting vintage trains is those uncatalogued items that keep turning up you can't account for. They match nothing of the cataloged items and must be thought of as being custom made. When you find them, and they are nice enough you keep them with your collection but can never list them as a part of your collection. They are just odd ball items to show and speak of and think about. With my Favorite company HObbyline some Ho trains come to mind, of trains seen it preview catalogs, and teasingly in retail catalogs and advertisements or a part of a photo or drawing in trade magazine., Nothing is mentioned as to their being a listed part of the companies 'sale offerings. With HObbyline trains, these are seen but never found listed anywhere in catalogs. The Virginian 2 bay hopper, Frisco 4 bay hopper, Inland Ammonium Sulphate box car, and inland cresol tank car, Victor tank car, CONOCO tank car. I have thanks to another collector, a Rhom and Hass tank Car, and a photo of a Humble Oil tank car. These are very rare items produced by HObbyline made for private companies. They are call special cars and are uncatalogued items, though made by HObbyline, not a part of the HObbyline line of trains. I found on my own the Union Switch and Signal Co. gondola which is another special car. I found when researching HObbyline sets an advertisement in the 1955 Oct issue of Model Railroader by Lloyd's Hobby shop of Baltimore for Lloyd's set #1 a B&O passenger set, and a set #2 also a B&O freight set. These were made by HObbyline for sale by Lloyd's. I have seen online auctions of the B&O set #1 the B&O passenger set, and of set #2 also a B&O freight set I know nothing. I have found no information anywhere on this set. I have found and purchased 2 B&O FA-1's and the combine and one coach from the set, and still need 2 more coaches to complete the set. The B&O freight set must use the same 2 FA-1 locos and is said in the advertisement to have 6 ready to run freight cars and a caboose. HObbyline only made 5 different freight cars so something had to be doubled. This B&O Freight is the largest freight set ever made by HObbyline. HObbylines largest freight set sold as a HObbyline set has 5 ready to run cars and a caboose. As to the caboose, in this 1955 freight set as they are known to be, the only caboose released with HObbyline sets that year had the HObbyline name used as a road name. A photo of this B&O freight set has to my knowledge never been seen even by any collectors of HObbyline I come across.. Whoever has one B&O freight sets has never shared the information on-line. Nothing is known about how many of each set were sold. All search engines I have access to have no photo of this B&O freight set. Now you know the great train collecting delima. In truth you can never collect them all for you dont know what else was made. You can only collect what is listed in catalogs. Everything else you find is just custom cars. unless there is some type of varication of the car acutely being produced. Good luck collectors.
toptrain
" It's a Heck of a Day " !!!
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Posted - April 30 2022 : 07:36:35 AM
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Going along with the opening post recently only I have noticed HObbyline tank cars lettered for Diamond Chemical Co. ALL three use decals. I noticed different recording numbers. I don't believe these to be of HObbyline make. They are just custom cars.
toptrain
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 Posted - May 01 2022 : 09:03:49 AM
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You certainly have an extensive collection Frank. And growing.
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Posted - June 11 2022 : 5:48:06 PM
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I would like to add to Toptrains comments, but from a different perspective. In my case, I was a model railroader for many years and have acquired many things. I am new to collecting within the last two years because, as for now, have no room for a layout. The situation that I have run into is that I cannot find catalogs from a manufacturer, or information on a manufacturer. Not even HOSeeker has information ( Is that site still active? ). Examples: Dallas Model Craft, Famous Model Company, Diesel Model Craft, Twinn-K or Limited Editions.
The only information I have so far is that the company's based in Spanaway, Washington. These kits were made around 1980.
Here is one I have information on the company but not the product.
As far as any info I can find, this may be the only one in existence, which I doubt.
As Toptrain mentioned, no one has posted information ( that I have found ) on line so I have done so in case anybody needs proof of existence.
One issue that Toptrain did not mention, and unfortunately has been common here, is that many of these collections are ending up in landfills because the beneficiaries don't know or don't care about what they have. The information is then lost forever.
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Posted - June 11 2022 : 8:10:25 PM
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That semaphore that uses a heating element for a motor would probably not be popular with your fire insurance underwriter. Seems okay inside a toaster, but I have my doubts under a layout.
Carpe Manana!
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 Posted - June 11 2022 : 9:24:27 PM
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C'mon, where is your sense of adventure?
The crossing gate is the same way.
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Posted - June 12 2022 : 12:40:34 AM
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quote:C'mon, where is your sense of adventure?
The crossing gate is the same way.
Originally posted by Guidostrains - June 11 2022 : 9:24:27 PM
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Holy Toaster Elements, Batman! Seriously, that is some wild technology; I didn't pick up on it
until Frank pointed it out. Back in the day when MR suggested the use of asbestos for snow
capped mountain peaks.
There were chemistry sets containing things like raw potassium, that really could blow you to kingdom
come, by simply adding water, and few other volatile chemicals that could burn, explode, and
become exceedingly caustic.
Additionally, I was certain that read "Klutz Kraft," on first glance. I thought, aha! Something
for people at my skill level!
Edited by - Chops124 on June 12 2022 12:43:50 AM
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Posted - June 12 2022 : 11:44:09 AM
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It's kind of surprising just how many ancient manufacturers are out there that have virtually no internet presence.
Here's a Dallas Model Craft, as Guidostrains listed above:
Another manufacturer with very little information is Grant Hobbycraft (based in Ontario, Canada), which was producing aluminum streamliners (and possibly other products) in the 1950s.
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Posted - June 13 2022 : 12:02:30 PM
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I'd like to offer a different angle on collecting. SO far the perspective has been collecting by manufacturer, with an eye toward scarcity and oddball items. My philosophy flips this on its head.
I collect my items based more upon what they represent in the real world, with an emphasis on locomotives and cars I was familiar with in real life. Hand in hand with this is the desire to build a coherent roster for my freelance railroad. This railroad has a locomotive roster drawn up on paper, and locomotives acquired are either given a number slot based on that roster, and will be eventually repainted into company colours. Or they belong to a connecting railroad from the era I am trying to model.
As such, the scarcity of a model is far less important to me than how it fits into the overall theme, and how well it runs. A good example it the Bachmann F9 which has a[[eared in several versions over the years. Unlike the Tyco, the Bachmann actually has the spotting features of a real F9. The older versions are usually pancake motored, with traction tires and I avoid these like the plague. They don't perform well on my steep grades. These were superceded at some point with ab all wheel drive version with a chassis that was also used under the FT and F7. Those are the smooth running, gutsy pullers I am looking for, and I have several awaiting service right now. A quick conversion to knuckle couplers, and test run to diagnose any problems before i put decoders in them, and they'll be rotated into service on the layout. Eventual repainting into company colours will follow when I find somebody to make custom decals.
Freight cars are acquired at random based as much upon whether I like them as whether they fit with the theme. Again, the emphasis is on good running cars, or stuff that can be easily upgraded.
In doing so I have acquired quite a few oddball items, including a number of Hotco cars I can find next to nothing online regarding.
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Posted - June 13 2022 : 6:46:31 PM
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I admit I want some of those old accessories they made before the 70s
they are so cool looking
Like that crossing gate would look good on a early 20th Century layout with a gateman 
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Posted - June 13 2022 : 7:54:22 PM
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jward: I think there is a misconception here. The topic title is collection vintage model trains. I think that is why the posts are leaning in the direction they are. I have known many people doing exactly what you do, but you are the first person I have come across who referred to yourself as a collector. If you called the people I know like yourself a collector, you had better be running. They consider themselves modelers and are adamant about it.
My definition is: Collector = A person who acquires items they like.
Microbusss: I haven't been here too long, but I will bet that you are a younger person by the phrase "old accessories they made before the '70s". Have patience and keep looking; you may still find them.
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Posted - June 13 2022 : 8:53:08 PM
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Before there were model railroaders, there was this:
Looks contemporary, but it is actually from the tomb of of Meketre (Prime Minister to
the pharaoh Mentuhotep II, 2050-2000 BCE) show an ancient brewery at work.
This guy would be an awesome model railroader in today's world. What's new is old?
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Posted - June 13 2022 : 11:56:34 PM
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quote:Microbusss: I haven't been here too long, but I will bet that you are a younger person by the phrase "old accessories they made before the '70s". Have patience and keep looking; you may still find them.
Originally posted by Guidostrains - June 13 2022 : 7:54:22 PM
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mmm nopes nearly 50 hehe
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Posted - June 14 2022 : 07:07:34 AM
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quote:jward: I think there is a misconception here. The topic title is collection vintage model trains. I think that is why the posts are leaning in the direction they are. I have known many people doing exactly what you do, but you are the first person I have come across who referred to yourself as a collector. If you called the people I know like yourself a collector, you had better be running. They consider themselves modelers and are adamant about it.
My definition is: Collector = A person who acquires items they like.
Originally posted by Guidostrains - June 13 2022 : 7:54:22 PM
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There is no misconception here. Your definition fits me alot more than "model railroader" does. I find the "Modeller" philosophy as currently espoused by the magazines and the local clubs to be diametrically opposed to how I approach things. Call me a modeller you better run for the hills.
I find the modellers, especially those attempting to duplicate that with which they are not familiar, often lose context. I have a friend who built a freight station kit and put it on his layout. It was to exact scale yet it was so huge it dwarfed the town and everything else on the layout. The same person collects PRR locomotives with the intention of running one of everything on the roster. He doesn';t get it when I point out that most types were assigned to specific regions, and that if he'd actually spent a day on the PRR in the 1950s, most of what he saw would be F units and GP9s.
I am the guy who still believes in the 4x8, when the "modellers" would rather build straight track around 4 walls and deal with liftout sections across the doorways. I run mostly older equipment that, while not prototype for my era looks right for what I am doing. And what I am doing is far closer to what you do here than it is to the stuff seen in the magazines. The biggest difference is that my stuff isn't going to sit on a display shelf. I expect it to run and will do what I have to to get it to run reliably, even if that means putting Athearn guts in that Tyco shark. That is why you see me post here instead of over on the other forums where nobody understands what I am trying to do.
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Posted - June 14 2022 : 12:48:52 PM
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Microbusss: I forget that the 70s are 50 years ago; or maybe I just don't want to remember that.
jward: I like your style. 
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