Info needed

[jk1169]

I was recently given an old train set that included an engine, nine cars and about 30 pieces of track. The engine and most of the cars are Mantua HO scale and were last operated in the early 70's. The engine is actually two pieces connected by a wire, with the rear peice reading "Delaware & Hudson."
Any information would be greatly appreciated.

*Interested in building but do not know where to begin.

 

[Trussrod]

Your Loco & where to begin.

Hi JK - and Welcome to the forum!
You've made possibly the best start you could by accessing this forum as besides myself there are many very knowledgeable modelers on here with a wealth of freely shared info to help guide you and answer your questions.

Your Mantua HO Loco sounds very usual, I still have my first two Mantua Locomotives from the 1950's, except that the engine and tender should be connected by a fiber [then] or plastic drawbar attached to both the engine and tender by a screw in the middle back of each. Mantua was all metal in those years and used the tender to pick up the current from one of the rails and the engine to pick up the current from the other, as is still done on many engines & tenders today, but due to the fact the tender was all metal as were the trucks and wheels it was very important to ensure that both sets of insulated wheels on each tender truck were on the same side as the positive pick-up of the engine so as not to short things out. Possibly it was left in that fashion but a plastic or fibre drawbar is necessry between the engine and tender. It easy enough to make one yourself from most any semi-ridged to ridged plastic found in most any pill bottles caps etc. of about an inch or slithtly longer in length and about 3/16" wide. Just drill a small hole in from the ends enough to leave some material to pull against and you've got a drawbar. Just be sure not to tighten the screws down to tight so as to pinch the drawbar whiich should swing freely on both the engine and tender. If I remember correctly Mantur used Shoulder Machine Screws so it was only possible to screw them in so much, the just have to be somewhat snug.


Now as far as where to start in beginning to build a layout for yourself is to determine what space you have abailable and design a track plan to fit that area.

While it's very normal to want to start with a 4'x8' board as that is readly available, unless you have an area big enough to be able to walk around both long sides plus an end to give you easy access to everything it isn't necessarly the best idea.

I think you might be much happier with a shelf type layout with a loop on either end or some variation depending on what what your trying/want to model. Space is the defining factor and trying to fit everything in and the planning is half the fun.

I'm building an around the wall shelf layout that is 30" deep to make it somewhat easy to reach most areas and yet due to square corners some areas will still require a bit of a reach for certain things.

Also something that will inhance the enjoyment of your layout is to have it high enough that you don't have to stoope to much so as to be looking at the trains from more of an eye level standpoint. That's the other nice thing about a shelf layout is that the shallower reach over allows the layout to be built much higher to suit yourself and still retain somewhat easy reach over when needed.

My lay will have three different levels starting at 45 1/2" climb to 54" for the upper main line and having a logging area that will climb to 62" to give you an idea. I'm modeling Colorado and the steep hills and grades there as well as California and running early Steam Locomotives around the 1900's for a rural type of single track main line with passing sidings so common for the time period.


I hope this has helped to give you some good starting information?

Talk with you later,

David

I was recently given an old train set that included an engine, nine cars and about 30 pieces of track. The engine and most of the cars are Mantua HO scale and were last operated in the early 70's. The engine is actually two pieces connected by a wire, with the rear peice reading "Delaware & Hudson."
Any information would be greatly appreciated.

*Interested in building but do not know where to begin.

 

[OldTrail]

welcome to the forum!! the mauntua were not bad sets in the day. i still have mine!
as david stated, you have made the move possible by joining this forum. the people in this forum are the absolute best and most freindliest people i have ever met! never seen another forum like this before!

Ryan

 

[UP2CSX]

JK, welcome aboard. In addition to the great information you've been given, the first thing likely to need doing is to give the track a good cleaning. I assume it's brass and it can be cleaned with either an abrasive cleaner like a an ink remover eraser or using something like Mother's Mag Wheel Polish. You'll probably have to clean the locomotive and tender wheels as well. This can be done with Q-Tips and some rubbing alcohol.

Did the train set come with a transformer? If not, you'll need one of those to make it run. You can find them on e-bay for less than $10 - any inexpensive transformer will do just to test things out and it can always be used later if you get into the hobby as a variable 12 volt source for lights and such. If one of those tracks looks kind of like a street crossing and has some clips or binding posts, that's where you need to hook up the wire from the transformer to the tracks. If you don't have a terminal track, you can get one for a few bucks at almost any hobby shop.

The other thing I'd invest in is new rail joiners since the ones on the tracks now are probably corroded and will not give good contact between the track sections. Pull the old ones off with needle nose pliers and put on the new ones.

Now you're ready to connect all the track. It's best if you can do this on a a rad, flat surface like a piece of plywood big enough for the track circle but you can do it on a floor, even on carpet, as long as you're careful to keep all the tracks aligned. Now you can hook up the transformer, put the engine and tender on the tracks, and let 'er rip. It probably wont work right the first time you try all this so don't be afraid to come back and ask questions. It also helps if you can post pictures of the engine and tender so those of us who've had one like it can give more specific advice.

 

[Trussrod]

Say JK,
A couple of things additional to note;
It would be a good idea to lay the Loco on its back and take a tooth pick or thin skewer and try and spin the Armature around to ensure it turns freely. In case your not too familiar with small electric motors be careful not to push into the small wire windings between the Armature plates so as not to damage the windings. A small drop of Lite Sewing machine Oil on the front outside of the motor frame as well as at the rear between the back of the frame and the magnet, there might be a felt pad there, will help to lubricate the motor bearings. DON'T us WD40 by itself, it will work great at first but after a while it will get gummy and cause problems!

By spinning the Armature around till it turns easily will also actuate the drive wheels and get everything moving again so some lite grease like White Lithium or Label Gear Lube should you have that works great on the gears and a drop of lite oil on the engine axels should really help to free things up.

As for a transformer I wouldn't buy an extremely cheap one if your planning on getting into the hobby, there are some pretty decent ones available for not too much sometimes at some of the hobby outlets and you'll also have a guarantee if it doesn't work right!

Hopefully there's one with the set you have? If not MRC put out very good units and I guess some of the other mfgs do to.

HTH