A Very Special Train Track.

Last week I paid a visit to my friend Mitchell, a fellow toy train enthusiast. He recently moved to a new house, and laid out an electrical O Gauge train track which he was very eager to show to me. He also had some items for me which I needed to pick up, so I jumped into my Einser and drove to his new home.

 

I must admit that I wasn't prepared for what I saw: a big, fully functional electric track full of vintage toy trains and wagons, coaches, signs, buildings, figurines, etc, etc. In other words, a very special train track indeed!

 

I spent a few hours taking in everything I saw. The guy has done such an amazing job, and he's not even finished yet (or, as he said: a good train track is never finished!). It is truly magical to see these old trains (some are close to 100 years old) running over the tracks with their head lights on. The sounds, the smell, the sparks, the charisma they have is simply indescribable!

It was a joy to listen to him talk about these old trains, because his knowledge is truly vast, and his enthusiasm contagious. It does help that he spends time working on real steam engines (in fact he's a locomotive fireman, often to be found at the helm of these powerful metal monsters), because he knows everything about train tracks and track changes, traffic signs, etc, which helps in adding more realism to his own track.

At a certain point I asked him if I could take a few pics, which I did, and later on decided to dedicate this blog to him and his track. The pics were taken very quickly, so it wasn't like a photo shoot or anything, but I still managed to get a few 'presentable' one's, which after some working on them I'm sharing with you here.

This image and below: the engines have working head lights, which light up the track in the dark. A very special thing to watch!

Mitchell and I share one thing in common: we love vintage toy trains that really show their age. We love the rust, the dents, and the scratches that time has left on them. These give them character, a 'personality' that makes them truly unique. When we buy these items, we leave them as they are, and wouldn't in our right mind dare to even think of 'restoring' them (for example by re-painting them) because we know that it would kill the magic and charisma that they possess. That evening I felt like a child again. Thank you, Mitchell, for allowing me a front seat view of your incredible train track!

This image: Mitchell's oldest coach, dating back to the early 20th century, hence more than 100 years old.

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Thanks for visiting, and see you next time!

© José Pereira Torrejón. All rights reserved. No part of the content of this blog may be distributed, published or reproduced without prior authorization from the author.

Progress on the 'O' gauge tanker project

I'm currently working hard to get an old, derelict, 1950's Shell oil tanker rail car back on its feet, and transforming it into a LyondellBasell (LYB) tanker. The 'O' gauge car was manufactured by Bub in Germany, and looked in a sorry state.

The wheels and axles have been installed, completing the truck assembly which now sits on rusty, Märklin rails.

 

As you can see, I've left the chassis intact in its original condition, meaning that I haven't taken away any of the rust and the aging it showed. I feel that if I had restored it to 'mint' condition, its charm and charisma would have been lost, making it way less attractive. Likewise, the spare parts used are not new, but from the same vintage as the rail car or even older. After all, 'Rust' is in the name of this blog for a reason!

The missing coupling is now also in place. It's not the original coupling type that should go with a Bub rail car, but I thought this one would make it more interesting than the original, which was rather basic (i.e. boring).

 

Same thing goes for the buffers. Actually, this rail car never had them, but I wanted them in place because they make it look more detailed and interesting to look at. I'm now considering whether I should leave them like this, or 'weather' them a bit to match the chassis.

So, basically, the chassis is now complete, awaiting the installation of the tank, which is currently being worked on.

The tank itself has received two coatings of primer and is awaiting further processing. Note the dent on one of its flanks, which is a 'battle scar' sustained in the course of his long, working life. I decided to keep it for the same reason I left the chassis intact: it's all a matter of preserving as much as possible the 'magic' that comes with age.

As you can see from the above picture, the inside of the tank shows traces of rust too, which I will also leave 'as is'.

Finally, the cap of the tank was removed before the latter got the primer treatment. I want to keep the cap 'as is' too, because it looks perfect already, so why change it!