gotta take the bad with the good


O

OldTrail

High Tech Recycler
well, heres where my weekend went:

the bad: my grandfather is currently in a nursing care facility, and most likely won't be going home on his own again.

the good: he has given me his entire american flyer collection. i mean its huge! his basement if filled with at least a 24 by 30 bowl of spaghetti layout. i just have to go and pack the goods and remove the layout it self including the huge asbpestos mountian.

I'll have probably at least three weekends involved in packing and moving this stuff.

sooo, i guess i have to further put off the basement remoldeling but i guess for good reason.

maybe ill include an area for a small american flyer layout to keep the trains outa the boxes

i think id even keep the plastic ville building to keep with the whole american flyer era, not even sure if people even still model these toy like trains

one question though, what scale is american flyer? S? its the two rail stuff.
 
OT, sorry about your grandfather. I'm glad his hobby will be in good hands though. There are still many people who model American Flyer, which was considered the "scale" model train of the toy train era. Those Plasticville buildings have some real historical and monetary worth so be careful when handling them. American Flyer was in 3/16" scale, which is close enough for it to be S scale. Before WWII, A.C. Gilbert also made three rail American Flyer trains that were about S scale but were not consistently S scale. If your grandfather has any of that, it is worth real money in good condition.

Do you know for certain if that mountain is made out of asbestos? If it is, a dust mask won't protect you if you are demolishing it. I'd suggest you take a sample to a testing lab to find out what it's really made out of. If it turns out to be asbestos, you need to check with your local officials about hazardous material disposal laws. Assuming that your grandfather has homeowners insurance and this asbestos scenery was built before about 1965, the insurance company will pay to have it removed. It's safe as long as it's in one piece - the danger comes from airborne particles when it's demolished. Don't try to guess on this or remove it on the sly. There can be substantial criminal and civil penalties for violating hazmat laws.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
old
I to am sorry to hear about your grandfather, However I have a question, how did he come about obtaining asbestos ?? I know it was used for pipe insulation and etc etc years ago, did he work somewhere where he was able to get his hands on it ?
When I was just out of school I was on a project for the BIG BLUE where I had to go to school to learn asbestos abatement. There are 3 types and each has differant friable {airborne} capabilities when its broken. There is ALOT involved in removal of this stuff, negative air pressure machines,misters,containment rooms.. suits..etc etc unless it can be glove bagged {requires special bags and pps equipment }which is what we did on pipes. Dont play around with it but I would definatly research it as it wasnt readily available to the public even back in his day.
 
as far as the asbestos, my father id nearing 60 and the trains were for him, although he never took any interest in them, so the mountain would have been pre 1965. working in construction and scrapping i am aware of the danger of the stuff. his local trash co say they will take it and are to be sending some papers on how th handle it. i think it will fit in one of those contractor trashbags in one peice.

i have NO intentions on selling the trains or equiptment. i may retool them so to speak to use DC rather than AC clean the track up and do an around the wall continous run loop above my future n scale layout.

the builings are rather hooky looking.

another question? is that track still available? or even this scale equiptment new? i know that there are about three diffenrt coupler styles as well on his lay out. i will take some photos before i tear this thing down

ryan
 
Ryan, very sorry to hear about your grandfather. Sounds like you are getting some trains that will have both some collectors and memory value. The most priceless locos and other equipment is stuff given to me by my Father-in-law many years ago. Most is of Tyco quality and will never run again. It will end up being displayed proudly on my layout though. Woe befall the person who tells me it is junk!

As far as the availability of asbestos. Back in the 1960s, the Railroading Merit Badge for the Boy Scouts encouraged kids to make their mountains out of asbestos as it was easy to use, inexpensive, and available at any hardware store. I remember making all kinds of stuff with it when I was a boy on the farm (1950s). And yes, Dad bought it for sealing heat ducts and insulation at the hardware store. We also had and used stuff like Carbon Tetracloride, and DDT often. I remember a bag of arsenic bug dust that we had sitting in the back shed that had broken and spilled all over the floor...... We used that on the cows backs to get rid of grubs. We never used masks or gloves, just our bare hands to apply it. Dad did have us go wash our hands when we got done though. I sometimes wonder how I ever made it to adulthood considering the stuff I was using back then.
 
In 1961 when I built my 1st layout in Miami, Fl. I made the whole mountain out of Asbestos sheets. It was real flexible & cheap. All I had to do was make a wood frame to mount it on. I use to get it at the airport for free. The aircraft rebuilders used it all over the inside of the planes. DC3's, C46's, B25's, B26's, C123's, Grumman Goose & the Widgens. When I tore out the layout in 1963 I hauled it to the local dump. I still have some of it in 1" wide rolls.
We use to use it in our welding shop all the time to lay hot stuff on.
Nowadays when it's removed it looks like the Aliens are coming.
Larry
 
WOW,
Well I stand corrected and I apologize, we were always told this was an industry item....hmmmm
of course I guess now thats why they call us old blue boys EXcon's..
LOL
 
You must log in or register to reply here.



Back
Top