Dad was avid model railroader

[wdwrkamp]

Hello everyone,

I joined today for the purpose of getting contacts to sell a few items that have been discovered in storage from my Dad's collection. He had died about 15 years ago and my Mother had sold what she thought was all of what he had in the way of model railroading. Somehow these few models came into my possession.

When I was still living at home he and I were the only ones in the family that were into model railroading. I have three brothers which made a special bond between Dad and I. We were members at a local club and went every Wednesday night and we didn't get home most times until about midnight which was never allowed on a school night, but it was OK because I was with Dad. I am now 54 and have long since faded away from model railroading for various reasons: got married and moved out, don't have the room for a layout as Dad did and without him to share it with, it just wasn't enjoyable anymore. He knew so much about everything to do with the subject that I had hoped I would learn from him, but it didn't seem to happen. My knowledge is pretty limited in this area, so I do a lot of research before commiting to anything.

So I hope my purpose for joining this forum isn't offensive to anyone. I am working to sell one particular locomotive at this time that has been mentioned in a thread started by "davetoshio" back in April of 2009 about the Roundhouse 2-truck Shay. My Dad had started to build this kit but had not finished it.

Please contact me for more information if you are interested. I need you to know, though, that the box and instruction sheet have been severely chewed by mice while in storage. The model itself is still in good condition. I originally started to research this to get another copy of the instuction sheet to give along with the model when I sell it, most likely on ebay. I am going to see what knid of response I get here to see if this should be the route I take.

Well, I said more about that here than I was going to since I saw there is a place to sell things.

Thanks for reading, Dean rambler.

 

[TwrOpr 87]

Welcome aboard


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- Sent from my phone

 

[Trussrod]

Hi Dean,
Glad you joined the forum, welcome, especially being a Model Railroader yourself, you never really get it out of your blood. I know as I have many other interests too but always come back to model RR'ing.


As far as the Model Die Casting - Roundhouse 2 truck Shay, if you still have it and want to sell it let me know what you want for it as I built two others in the past so no instructions are needed. In fact most all my equipment I've built from kits.


I was going to say that you might want to keep that Shay as the kits are no longer available and it makes a very ni ce slow running engine for something like a shelf layout you might enjoy yourself as it doesn't take up much room and most often there is always an available wall and even a corner area that can be utilized.

You'll get all the help you'll need on the forum here and I can even help you to assemble the Shay so it will run good for you. I've been int he hobby for 60+ years and actually was at the original Model Die Casting Shop in Hawthorne, Calif many years back.

So give it some thought as that would be a great rememberance of your Dad and the times you shared together.

David

 

[wdwrkamp]

Thank you

Hi, David,

Thanks for the ideas. There would have to be some drastic changes in my circumstances for me to even have the tiniest of layouts, though. How does all of the RR modeling react to being in extreme temperature changes. I ask because there is much more of a chance of doing a little something here in my wood shop than in the house that is climate controlled. But, then, I would have the dust to contend with. That probably would be such a nuisance it would take all the joy out of it, huh?

I know I said it almost gives me the "bug". I have been out of it so long it doesn't really have the pull it once did. I still have the locos and rolling stock I acquired as I was growing up, but I had them out to look at maybe three times in the last 30 years; mostly just to see how the storage was treating them. I do have a very sad feeling when I think of how it used to be with Dad. You are right, it would remind me of the good times, but I can still remember that without having the models. And I still have plenty of interest in seeing it all, Including seeing the real thing, too. I live within 50 miles of the Strasburg RR and museum. My job actually had me install some dust collection ductwork in the restoration shop there. (Seems like an eternity ago.)

The other thing about the Shay: I still haven't studied it to determine if all the parts are there. Would you be interested in it even with that fact? I really don't have the desire to check it. I am fairly sure it would bring more if I could comfirm that all of the parts are there. I also said that I would like the buyer to know one way or the other so there's no "pig in a poke".

I have other steam locomotives and some rolling stock I inherited from Dad. I am going to sell it all, including what I've had all this time. If you or anyone else is interested, I will post a list in the appropriate spot on this forum if I was pointed in the right direction.

I may still one day get back in, but right now, I am a woodcrafter. All my interest is in it. About 20 years ago my main interest was in snakes. I bred Burmese Pythons for several years and kept many other species. Looking back, I see that was a phase I was sort of forced out of as circumstances changed in my life. The model railroading went the same way. I grew up, moved out of Dad's, got married...things change.

With selling these items I can offset the cost of my woodworking and maybe give some MRR'ers a good deal. If I ever change and get out of woodworking, I will sell this equipment to fund whatever I get into next. I never really thought about it like that until just now as I am writing this.

Anybody let me know if you are in the market for some long-stored models.

Dean.

 

[Trussrod]

Say Dean,
I'll tell you, I'm building my New/ Old layout in an enclosed garage that is attached to the house but it does experience some fairly drastic changes as I live at 1875' elev. which is just South by 18 miles from the Southern entrance to Yosemite Nat. park and the little town of Fish Camp just outside the park is One-Mile high in elev so this area I'm in can get very cold and wet too. Also for the last two seasons I haven't used the evaporative cooler as the roof in the back bedroom near the cooler was leaking so the layout get cold in the winter, I do heat the garage to some extent though, but it get fairly warm in the Summer.

Also I would think much of the new wood working equipment has dust collection to it.

As I'm building my layout within the eclosed garage I do much of the cutting and sanding as need right in there so it get fairly dusty too and hasn't seemed to cause too much of a problem and running a Old Time Box Cab Diesel track cleaner around can be fun too !!


Now as far as the Shay kit you have I'm not sure how much of a hassel it will be to get parts, if needed through Athearn at this present time? Could you send me a picture of the Shay showing the trucks and simulated drive linkage, tenter Cab and boiler and another shot showing the various parts layed out. No need to layout the various smoke stacks but all the additional parts les the coupler are still there which I would imagine they are.

Also what kind of a price are you thinking of asking for it?


Talk with you again,

David Smith
ddp@sti.net

 

[Scordicus]

I was going to say that you might want to keep that Shay as the kits are no longer available and it makes a very ni ce slow running engine for something like a shelf layout you might enjoy yourself as it doesn't take up much room and most often there is always an available wall and even a corner area that can be utilized.

So give it some thought as that would be a great remembrance of your Dad and the times you shared together.

I must admit, I'm with Trussrod here - It does beg the question, do you have any kids of your own that you could leave it too?? Would then be grandpa's shay eh..

Being a woodcrafter I dare say putting up a nice micro shelf layout would be well within your skill set & it doesn't have to take up much room at all.. Those of us in the UK are far more used too minimal space railroading as in the main we don't have basements over here, let alone space for railroading empires (if only) lol..

Just an idea....

 

[wdwrkamp]

Well, David,
I do have a dust collection system I put together, but it does'nt work as well as I had hoped it would. And, everything you do can't be 100% dust free because theres dust collection. I guess I am just trying to justify selling it all. I realize I don't have to do that, but it makes me feel better if I have reasons in my own mind.

I will attempt getting some pictures on here. All forums, I am sure, have their own quirks. One I belong to has a three picture limit on any one post. I guess I'll find out; I have nine I just took of the Shay. I'll start with the most important for the subject at hand to make sure that is taken care of.

I am going to try to explain them a little, but I may not have to. You will see the first one is everything you would get. Also evident is the damage to the "paper goods" by the mice while it was in storage. Then I got some close-ups of the parts,etc.

OK, that appears to have worked. I see we have a limit of four pictures per post here, right? I can only assume the attachments listed below will be available to open in the post. It would be neat if they would automatically be opened, but they won't be in the right places in the text.

So, David, take a real close look at the parts to see if you can tell if there's anthing missing. More than likely, if there is, it will be a very small part(s).

Don't forget thad Dad had started this and I can put the pictures in another post of what he did on the tender/cab/boiler. You can see in the one parts cup that he assembled the trucks and the three gang cylinders.

That card in the first picture has two pieces of handrail taped to it so they don't get lost or bent.

Let me know if you want me to modify/clarify anything in those shots.

Oh, I almost forgot about the asking price. I did a little resaerch and found these kits are going for a range of around $40.00 to $100.00. of course the NIBs are bringing the most. If we can't determine if there are, indeed any pieces missing, that is, if all seem to be there, I will take $50.00. That will be negotiable if we can say, "part XXX is missing".

Thank you, Dean.