Any Model Railroaders?

john&niki · Joined: 23 Sep 2008 Posts: 35 Location: Fishers, IN

Just wondering, any model railroaders out there amongst you folks?
John Dick
_________________
2008 Trailcruiser 191C
2006 Dodge Dakota (tow vehicle)

porscheracer · Posted: Mon Sep 29, 2008 6:14 am Post subject:

My Dad was seriously into HO in the 50s - '60s. Lost interest after he lost his layout and workshop in a move. I still have a few of his classic pieces in storage. He was into handcrafting steam locomotives, and had a couple of units featured in MR and RMC over the years.
_________________
Norm & Janet
'08 Winnebago View 24H / '09 Escape XLT AWD toad
'05 Winnebago Vectra 36RD / '03 Dakota QC 4x4 toad, or a 24' trailer with another car;
Probably somewhere in NA - or maybe on another continent.

john&niki · Joined: 23 Sep 2008 Posts: 35 Location: Fishers, IN

My father is a model railroader (HO circus and NYC passenger and freight trains). I got it from him, and now my 2 1/2 year-old loves trains. I model the limestone quarries and mills of Southern Indiana on the old Milwaukee Road.
Was your Dad published in the same time frame as well (50s and 60s)?
John
_________________
2008 Trailcruiser 191C
2006 Dodge Dakota (tow vehicle)

porscheracer · Posted: Mon Sep 29, 2008 11:56 am Post subject:

Yes - John Floyd out of Paris, TN. One was a "track cleaner" car modeled after a N&W (IIRC) snowplow; the other was a one-of-a kind Mikado.
_________________
Norm & Janet
'08 Winnebago View 24H / '09 Escape XLT AWD toad
'05 Winnebago Vectra 36RD / '03 Dakota QC 4x4 toad, or a 24' trailer with another car;
Probably somewhere in NA - or maybe on another continent.

Motor31 · Posted: Tue Sep 30, 2008 5:55 am Post subject:

I have some track, a fair amount of rolling stock, and even some accessories like buildings and poles. The problem is that it takes quite a bit of room to use the train and it doesn't fit my RV lifestyle any more. This isn't the small gauge train, it's the old 3 rail that was common in the 50s. The engines still work fine but I just can't use them any more.
_________________
Mike, Nancy and the Fuzzies
2005 MS 38 RL3
2001 Volvo MH (HDT)
2004 R1150RT (piggyback)
1996 Jeep Cherokee (toad)

porscheracer · Posted: Tue Sep 30, 2008 6:22 am Post subject:

That vintage O-gauge (Lionel) stuff is bringing a fortune on eBay, if you have a hankering to clear out some space.
_________________
Norm & Janet
'08 Winnebago View 24H / '09 Escape XLT AWD toad
'05 Winnebago Vectra 36RD / '03 Dakota QC 4x4 toad, or a 24' trailer with another car;
Probably somewhere in NA - or maybe on another continent.

anniepoo · Joined: 20 May 2008 Posts: 164 Location: San Francisco Bay

Before I became an RVer, I was a model railroader.

I ran into a fellow who had agreed with his wife he'd only become a fulltimer if they could figure out a way he could continue his hobby.

Turned out they did.
He puts out feelers on the net calling himself the 'wandering gandy dancer', and offering to help on people's railroads in exchange for a place to park and/or just fun. I think a few of the guys who are building giant 'basement fillers' have hired him for cash as well.

He was coming through my area and stopped off on the farm I was living on. Only stayed a day, but we did a layout design review of my planned layout.
_________________
working fulltimer, 21 ft 1977 Jamboree.
No:fridge, generator, hot water
yes:good times, laughter, friends
"Oh, Sam, I can't sleep without wheels beneath me" (Barbara Stanwyck, in 'Union Pacific')

john&niki · Joined: 23 Sep 2008 Posts: 35 Location: Fishers, IN

Anniepoo,
What's your layout going to be? Scale? Are you going era-specific or anything like that?
John Dick
_________________
2008 Trailcruiser 191C
2006 Dodge Dakota (tow vehicle)

anniepoo · Joined: 20 May 2008 Posts: 164 Location: San Francisco Bay

Truth is, my reduced lifestyle makes the layout impractical these days.

I was doing the DHR in OO9, going to build it into a container so if I moved I could take it with me.
_________________
working fulltimer, 21 ft 1977 Jamboree.
No:fridge, generator, hot water
yes:good times, laughter, friends
"Oh, Sam, I can't sleep without wheels beneath me" (Barbara Stanwyck, in 'Union Pacific')

Chuck · Joined: 31 Oct 2005 Posts: 94

Oh, man! Model railroads. Brings back memories of my very favorite Christmas. I was five and Santa brought me a Marx electric passenger train. My grandfather built a train station out of painted Log Cabin syrup containers. I was in heaven. My grandfather died a short time later and I'll always remember him for making that train station for me.

I suspect that a model railroading hobby would be next to impossible for a full-timer. But not for others. Maybe full-timers really into the hobby could keep an eye out for local clubs where they travel and stop by. That would be fun -- and a good way to make friends.

Did anyone who grew up in the Los Angeles area in the '50s ever spend time at the big outdoor model railroad layout at the L.A. county fair in Pomona? My folks would drop me off there when I was a little fellow and I could kill an hour watching the trains and the moving cars and buses.
_________________
Get the latest RV news headlines on Twitter.
http://twitter.com/rvtravel

Sign up for the RV Travel.com weekly newsletter, now in its eighth year:
http://rvtravel.com/RVnewsletter.shtml

Chuck Woodbury is the editor of RVtravel.com

anniepoo · Joined: 20 May 2008 Posts: 164 Location: San Francisco Bay

No particular reason why you couldn't be a fulltimer and a modeller.
Here's a way to do it -
Build some long narrow boxes, sort of like long narrow modules, coat them with something to weatherproof and put G gauge track on them. Store them on the roof. If you go high tech, make them of plastic, heat bend them with a slight angle, and they'll stack.
Get some G scale trains and convert to radio control.
Pull into a park, lay out the modules on the ground and link them up. Box of shims later, you're ready for a day of running. Or trade space in a flea market for being an attraction.
If your knees are like mine, consider putting them up on stands. Maybe steel tube (like fuel line) rods with a slight bend a few inches from one end - the end goes in a socket in the module.
I admit this wouldn't be much fun for me - I need scenery. If you're into operations you could write up really simple instructions, and recruit passersby and have ops sessions, LOL! Industries painted on masonite clamped to the modules with standoffs would do for ops session scenery.

There used to be a fellow whose toad was a trailer with a circus layout in it.

I tried keeping a standard module with me in my old class A, but it's pretty large for that. Pix of my zoo are at http://www.hon30.com/annieszoo/index.html

In my weirder moments, I considered attaching a monorail to the ceiling of the class A.
_________________
working fulltimer, 21 ft 1977 Jamboree.
No:fridge, generator, hot water
yes:good times, laughter, friends
"Oh, Sam, I can't sleep without wheels beneath me" (Barbara Stanwyck, in 'Union Pacific')

bob22barbh · Joined: 06 Dec 2008 Posts: 2

Yes, we are into model trains in a very serious way. During the Christmas season we decorate our displays with lights and other decorations. We have both "O" & HO gauge. Our "O" gauge is two 1937 Lionels. HO gauge is purchased as necessary. We also advertise our displays in the St Petersburg Times (Florida) during the holiday season.

We are workampers for seven months in the great state of Minnesota and then return home to Florida for the other five. During November and
first of December, it's a real rush to get the displays and all decorations completed for Christmas viewing.

Bob/Barb

HD2008 · Joined: 19 May 2009 Posts: 1 Location: Florida

Yes, there are a few of us out here. I have an old 1975 Airstream and take my trains with. Have an "N" scale layout in process that is mounted over one of the twin beds. Have an "O" scale under my mattress. As with all model RR, they are always a work in progress.
_________________
Smile! Makes people wonder what you are up to.