Hobo Jungle

[Tramp]

WAyne, I know Roger died a couple of months ago. WTF? My best friend Mitch just died.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

WAyne, I know Roger died a couple of months ago. WTF? My best friend Mitch just died.

Thanks for letting us know - I think that Mitch's absence here was questioned without resolution.

Rufus, I'd like the buy a train to run on the track. BUT I know nothing about standard gauge.

Check with Healey; I know less other than I have my father's set that I have failed to take out and run recently.

[robert.]

Check with cabinfever auctions. They have a few usable standard gauge sets coming up.

[Tramp]

Rufus, I meant that comment for Healey.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Rufus, I meant that comment for Healey.

Yes; hopefully he will provide his thoughts on the subject. As stated I have my father's set, but my own was sold off by my parents while I was at grad school.......

[Neil]

There is not a lot of new in box Standard Gauge available at dealers and it's pricey. Sidetrack Hobbies is one dealer who specialized in these MTH repros and originals. No new standard gauge has been made in quite a few years. Best bet is used original or MTH repros or Lionel Classics bought on eBay from reputable sellers. Probably won't be inexpensive unless the models are relatively rough (good to excellent) prewar examples that have been restored. That's been my experience. A set of Lionel Classics State Set cars and loco will run about $2,000 in like new condition. Less if a little worse for the wear. But you can get restored prewar locos for a few hundred dollars if you keep an eye out.

[healey36]

WAyne, I know Roger died a couple of months ago. WTF? My best friend Mitch just died.

MTJ's Mitch? Ugh, that's terrible. A really nice guy that helped me with a number of automotive mechanical issues over the years. Last I exchanged messages with him (probably four or five years ago), he was still humping it in the service department of a local Chrysler dealership. My thoughts are with him.

[healey36]

Rufus, I meant that comment for Healey.

Yes; hopefully he will provide his thoughts on the subject. As stated I have my father's set, but my own was sold off by my parents while I was at grad school.......

Tramp, there's a ton of standard-gauge stuff out there (just not NIB repro stuff, as Neil said), but the prices on both repro and original have crept up since MTH (LC) bailed out a couple of years ago. Similar to my stock market timing skills, I sold off a bunch of stuff just before that; probably could have tripled my money if I'd just waited six months or so.

You need to figure out if you want some of the reproduction gear or originals, and then what size stuff you want. There are many guys out there that know way more than me, but here's a few long-winded thoughts.

MTH's repro stuff is really nice. Wolf offered an extensive line of equipment over a couple of decades. Not only Lionel, but select repros of American Flyer, Ives, and Dorfan as well. After the MTH/Lionel agreements ended, he retained the Ives and Dorfan rights, while Lionel and American Flyer reverted to Lionel. Whether he ever makes any of the stuff again is pure speculation. Other than a one-off here and there, it seems doubtful.

The MTH repro stuff was manufactured both in traditional (open frame motor and e-units) and modern (can motors, electronics, smoke and sound). The advantage of the traditional gear is the operating life should be pretty open-ended, being basically the same construction as the originals (barring any material issues). Who knows how long the modern stuff holds up. Having worked in the space telecom/electronics industry for many years, I know components last a long time, but not forever. For every one traditional piece manufactured, probably twenty modern pieces. People were attracted to the "features". The point is, finding repro traditional motored gear is going to be tough at this point.

The other thing to note is that the standard gauge gear built by MTH during the branding/marketing agreement will feature Lionel Corporation badging. Before and after, it's all MTH badging. If that bugs you, one can purchase repro Lionel plates from after-market vendors that will easily replace the MTH badges. Decals are available as well, but those are not so easily substituted.

If, as many do, you poo-poo the idea of reproduction stuff, than you need to start looking for original stuff. Lionel is basically in two chunks, the "early" stuff made up until the late 1920s, than the "classic" stuff made thereafter up until the war. The stuff made up until the late 1920s is pretty nice, but a bit primitive in appearance and construction. Locos would be, for example, the 33/38/42 electrics and a few steamers (primarily the 5-series). These are very toy-like in appearance. Me personally, I like that, but if you want something made to look like something prototypical, best pursue the later "classic" stuff.

If you like the "classic" Lionel stuff, than you have to decide if you want small, medium, or large standard gauge gear. Sounds crazy, but Lionel, just as they did with O-gauge, produced three sizes of standard gauge. If you want an electric-profile loco, than the 8/8E and the 10/10E are the smallest and probably the most common (the 'E' denoting those with an electronic reverse unit). The 9/9E, and the 318/318E are the medium sized locos, and the 381/381E, 402/402E, and the 408/408E are the behemoths. The 8/10-series typically came in sets with smaller cars, some of which carried over from the early period. The 9/318-series locos typically came in sets with the medium-sized 500-series freights and various passenger cars including the 339/341-series and the 428/429/430-series (amongst others). After that, you get into the big locos and crazy big stuff, 200-series freights, State sets, Blue Comet sets, 309/310/312-series passenger cars, etc.

Lionel standard-gauge steam is very toy-like in appearance, possibly with the exception of the 392E. That one seems to be about right proportionally for a 4-4-2. The rest of them look a bit peculiar to me, but maybe that's just me. The largest, the 400E (4-4-4) came with the premier sets (States, Blue Comet, etc.). The rest of the steam works best with the 500-series freights and the smaller passenger cars.

I held onto my MTH repros of the 9E and the 392E. They are very nice, and I have a set of 500-series repro freights that I drag behind them. I don't have any of the medium-sized passenger gear. My remaining Lionel original gear is a 33/35/36 set that's been "refurbished" (the loco by an old friend of mine, long gone, and the cars by me), and a 10/332/339/341 set that has also been partially refurbished. Both run great given their 90+ years.

If you're hard-core, you'll want to look at the American Flyer and Ives originals. The Flyer steam is drop-dead gorgeous, but as Dave (Scalecraft) pointed out in another thread, they are a pain to maintain or repair. The Ives electrics are also very cool, some having cast-iron frames and more prototypical outlines. Both Ives and Flyer dropped out of "wide" gauge long before Lionel, so nice stuff in good shape is scarce (read expensive).

One last thing - you'll need a decent-sized transformer to run standard gauge, at least 100 watts. The motors, especially on the big stuff, are massive. Throw a half-dozen freights behind it and you're going to be drawing some power. I ran mine using a postwar Lionel LW that pushed out 125 watts.

Let me know if you have any questions. I'll tell you what I know (not too much, lol).

[healey36]

Believe it or not, the tree fell over. I had to completely resurrect it. A lot of broken glass! I was crestfallen. BUT, A Celt never quits.

Ugh, that's a recurring nightmare, Tramp; sorry to hear that. Years ago I had a woman working for me that had a rather frantic/anxious personality. One year her tree fell over three or four times. By Christmas morning, all of the ornaments were hanging perpendicular. She was a hoot.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

[healey36]

Even the lobstermen have hit the skids.

Merry Christmas!

[Mitch]

Don't wanna rain on you guys' parade, but rumors of my death may have been greatly exaggerated. At least I think so. Just checkin' in to see the Christmas stuff. Retired from ChryslerJeepDodge&Ram dealership in early September. I'm 71 and waitin' 'til after the first of the year to go job huntin'.

[healey36]

God bless, so glad to hear from you, mate! Congrats on the retirement. Stay well and hope you have a great Christmas.

[gregj410]

Don't wanna rain on you guys' parade, but rumors of my death may have been greatly exaggerated. At least I think so. Just checkin' in to see the Christmas stuff. Retired from ChryslerJeepDodge&Ram dealership in early September. I'm 71 and waitin' 'til after the first of the year to go job huntin'.

Damn Mitch…..you made my Christmas! I’m glad your well and I miss your posts. I could use some more people on my side around here Merry Christmas!

[webenda]

Pete died?

Hev's wife, Skippy, died last September.

I don't know what happened to Pete. He just disappeared after Hev died.

If the candles were not lit when your tree fell over, that is good news.