The ORIGINAL 1000+ Posts Club

[Kelda]

I love me some BetterMost.  Though the more time I spend on FB, the more often I look for a 'Like' button. 

 

 

 me too!

[Jeff Wrangler]

Hi Jeff!

Here are some pictures of my Auto Train. I bought it in the mid 1970s (just after riding on it back from Florida), ran it for a few years and then put it in a box, long with my other trains, and it sat there for 35 years until I finally got it back out again. Like I said, I have no idea if it even works anymore. And it's a bit dirty (I'll clean it up soon!) but remember it has been in sitting in a box in the garage for decades.

I'll look forward to looking at the pictures at home tonight, David. I can't see them here at work.    The company network blocks "sharing" sites like photobucket, and also social networking sites. 

[Penthesilea]

I'll look forward to looking at the pictures at home tonight, David. I can't see them here at work.    The company network blocks "sharing" sites like photobucket, and also social networking sites. 

Thankfully for us, we aren't a social network - oh, wait.
Thankfully we are small enough not to be known by bosses.

[Jeff Wrangler]

Here are some pictures of my Auto Train. I bought it in the mid 1970s (just after riding on it back from Florida), ran it for a few years and then put it in a box, long with my other trains, and it sat there for 35 years until I finally got it back out again. Like I said, I have no idea if it even works anymore. And it's a bit dirty (I'll clean it up soon!) but remember it has been in sitting in a box in the garage for decades.

Well, now I can see the pictures! 

That's a nice train, David. I've never seen that set before, and I've never seen one on eBay, either. Do you remember the brand? The name might be on the bottom of the cars. The station is a very common model. It's been released by several different manufacturers over the years. It comes up on eBay quite a lot.

[David In Indy]

Hi Jeff! I looked at the train and stamped on the bottom of each of the pieces, including the engine is the name Bachmann. It says "Bachmann Hong Kong". I didn't see any date or year (to indicate the year the train was manufactured) or any other words or numbers; just Bachmann Hong Kong.

[David In Indy]

Jeff, I forgot to mention I have another train station in addition to the one in the picture. It's much smaller though. It's the same color as the larger one, but it's a one story ranch style building. I'll take a picture of it today or tomorrow and post it here so you can see it.

Now I'm anxious to go through those boxes thoroughly (there are two of them, both fairly large) and see what else is in there. I know there's a pink motel and a few houses, trees, cars, a switching station and a couple of engines and a few box cars and cabooses. The motel is a snap together model and it looks like those roadside motels common in the 1930s - 1970s. It has four motel rooms and an office. I bought three of them to make a larger motel. It even has a little white chair sitting next to each of the rooms' doors. I'll try to find all the pieces and put it back together and take a picture of it. It fell apart inside the box but I'm sure most of the pieces are still there.

What ever happened to those cabooses anyway? I remember seeing them at the end of trains all the time when I was a kid. Often times the conductor would be standing at the back door and he'd wave at us as the train passed by. I haven't seen a caboose in years.

[Jeff Wrangler]

Hi Jeff! I looked at the train and stamped on the bottom of each of the pieces, including the engine is the name Bachmann. It says "Bachmann Hong Kong". I didn't see any date or year (to indicate the year the train was manufactured) or any other words or numbers; just Bachmann Hong Kong.

I'm sort of not surprised that it's Bachmann. The company headquarters is here in Philadelphia but virtually everything is manufactured in China.

[Jeff Wrangler]

Jeff, I forgot to mention I have another train station in addition to the one in the picture. It's much smaller though. It's the same color as the larger one, but it's a one story ranch style building. I'll take a picture of it today or tomorrow and post it here so you can see it.

That undoubtedly is the Arlee station, which, like the two-story station, was made by several manufacturers over many years. It's still quite common. I have a couple of them on "Watch" on eBay right now.

Now I'm anxious to go through those boxes thoroughly (there are two of them, both fairly large) and see what else is in there. I know there's a pink motel and a few houses, trees, cars, a switching station and a couple of engines and a few box cars and cabooses. The motel is a snap together model and it looks like those roadside motels common in the 1930s - 1970s. It has four motel rooms and an office. I bought three of them to make a larger motel. It even has a little white chair sitting next to each of the rooms' doors. I'll try to find all the pieces and put it back together and take a picture of it. It fell apart inside the box but I'm sure most of the pieces are still there.

That is undoubtedly the Bachmann "Plasticville" Siesta Motel.    I think they still make that. I have one of them, too. Plasticville (Oi! That name!) was never as detailed or sophisticated as other lines of model buildings, but it had the virtue of being inexpensive (once upon a time), and some of the structures really had the design flavor of the post-World War II period. I picked up a couple Plasticville Cape Cod-style houses last year, with the intent of someday cleaning them up and repainting them to look like they have brick walls and slate roofs, as lots of little houses very similar to the Plasticville house were built in my home town during the 1950s.

What ever happened to those cabooses anyway? I remember seeing them at the end of trains all the time when I was a kid. Often times the conductor would be standing at the back door and he'd wave at us as the train passed by. I haven't seen a caboose in years.

They don't use "cabeese"  anymore. They just have an electronic device that gets mounted on the last car of the train.

[Sason]

Here's a sad example of how a drunk Swedish tourist misbehaves and wrecks a bar in Las Palmas......     


[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cds7lSHawAw[/youtube]

[Penthesilea]

Here's a sad example of how a drunk Swedish tourist misbehaves and wrecks a bar in Las Palmas......     


[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cds7lSHawAw[/youtube]

 

This is real fun. Begins a little on the slow side, but then it gains.