Tinplate or Hi-rail? Yes!

[Guy64]

The fire station is kitbashed, but the equipment is mostly Code 3 or Ertl. Jim's very good at finding the odd diecast item.


There were many photo ops, unless one considers time. Time to shoot pix. There was very little of that. Ironic, really. Usually we have lighting issues at these events. This time we had (relatively) ample light, but very little time to use a camera.

I did manage to get a shot of "kid #5" (my designation). His expression was typical...

 

[UP2CSX]

Well, there's some nice fire apparatus available in 1/64 apparently. I haven't seen that nice a hook and ladder in HO. That's a classic photo with the kid. Those 1/64 trains sure attract a lot more attention than our 1/87 trains.

 

[Guy64]

One of the advantages we have in attracting the attention of kids is our table height: 30" at the rail head. Kids tend to gravitate toward what they can see, and many can't see trains that are 48" or more off the floor. We also got several appreciative comments from parents who were glad not to have to hoist up their kids to see the action. Yes, the layout edge is more vulnerable, but how can we get new blood into the hobby if we keep sending "trains-are-for-adults-only" messages?


I'm not sure what this little one was trying to say, but I think it was generally positive...

 

[UP2CSX]

I agree about the low table height. As long as you have enough members to keep the kids from tearing things up too bad, you'll get a lot more interest.

I think that little girl was hoping she could press those buttons and make the train go faster.

 

[Guy64]

"Whuuuuuuuuuuuuut?"

It seems like an increasing number of kids register profound amazement when they push a button and something really... well, happens. Especially when something moves. I mean, you push a button that's not on a computer keyboard, and what could happen? If somthing did happen, how would you know it? There's no monitor, no LCD screen. There's nothing but this little button, out in the middle of nowhere, all by itself.

So you push this button just out of curiosity, and what happens? Something moves! Something right there. Not an image on a screen, but a real 3-D object!

How cool is THAT?!?

 

[UP2CSX]

LOL, Chuck, you have a good point. There are all kinds of neat things being done with computer games now but nothing tops being able to press a real button and watch the results before your eyes. As a little kid in Cleveland, Higbees Department Store had a huge train layout set up in the window. They had all the latest Lionel stuf like logs unloading, cows getting into the stock car, and milk cans being put in the reefer. They had buttons set up, kind of like yours, and the line was an hour long just to press that button and dump those logs. Still one of the biggest thrills of my life.

 

[Guy64]

Whenever I hear the name "Higbees" I think of Ralphie and his interview with "Santa", heh.

"You'll shoot your eye out, kid."


Otoh, "May Co." always made me think of clothes. I hated shopping for clothes. Still do.

Our friend Jim Radke has different memories of the place...

 

[UP2CSX]

Chuck, indeed, Higbee's will live on forever because of "A Christmas Story". The layout reproduced in the movie is a pretty good representation of what I saw when I was Ralphie's age. I often wonderd how much it cost to put that layout together. I hated May Company too - it always meant back to school clothes for me. Those long lost days of going downtown to shop for special occasions. Now it's just a trip to the mall. Too bad for the kids of today.

 

[Guy64]

The man in the white T-shirt was especially taken with the G+P buildings. I wasn't sure if he was enthralled with the 1960 set with the yellow panels, or the 1970s sets with the blue panels.

One of them rang his bell, that's for sure.

 

[UP2CSX]

Chuck, if you look close, it looks like the one girl is closely examining your rope while her little sister looks on. I've never heard of G+P buildings. Are they S scale kits or something put together by a member?

 

[Guy64]

Yeah, I noticed those two girls checking out the rope. Dunno why they were so interested in it. Maybe they were thinking of making a jump rope out of it?

The G+P--or "Girder and Panel"--buildings are a construction toy system that was first offered in 1956 or thereabouts. The concept was acquired by Kenner Toys in the late '50s and re-worked a little into the concept as it now is. There are also "Bridge and Turnpike" sets, "Hydro-dynamic" sets (for manipulating water), "Sky Rail" sets (monorails), and "Home and Subdivision" sets (houses). They are all compatible with each other. Basically they are scaled for HO scale use, more or less. The instruction sheets show pictures of buildings with HO trains running through them.

Kenner updated the look of the buildings over time, issuing several very different panel styles. Kenner sold the patents sometime after going hog-wild into the Star Wars action toy gold mine in 1977.

The Girder and Panel idea was offered again in the mid 1990s by Irwin Toys of Canada. Basically the same size as the Kenner sets, the Irwin sets were re-tooled completely, and their columns and beams are not compatible with Kenner columns and beams.

Currently, the line is owned by Bridge Street Toys. The sets have been re-tooled again, and these sets are compatible with the Kenner sets. You can see them on the web at:

http://www.bridgestreettoys.com

(No, I don't get any compensation from Bridge Street)

We have a couple of small Bridge Street sets, like this bank building...

 

[UP2CSX]

You know, I thought they looked familiar. I'm sure I had a set of the G+P scyscraper kits when I was about 10. It seems to me that they worked with American City blocks, where you could use them for infill between the girders. Or maybe I just jammed them in there. Of course, I think I somehow made Lincoln Logs work with them too. I was a real little engineer then.

 

[Guy64]

Stuffed blocks between the girders? Never thought of that one, heh.

Wish I had.


Here's the other side of the 1960 building. The little red building just beyond it is a Bridge Street fire station...

 

[Guy64]

Bossy the Bovine wasn't the only busy citizen of the C+D System. Billy the Bag Smasher (lower right) also got a constant workout. He was grateful for the shade under the station eaves...

 

[Guy64]

We may have middle management material here. This little guy was determined to keep Billy working...

 

[Guy64]

Jim (at left) watches as another gate operator (far right) struggles to give up his post.

"But there's a train coming!!"

 

[Guy64]

Thought I'd hang out at the car show going on in the MayCo parking lot. The intersection of uncluttered back streets seemed like a good place to shoot some rolling stock.

Unfortunately, we couldn't get the engineers to do photo stops on the 1st day. The necessary slow shutter speeds made the subjects a bit... indistinct.

See if you can tell what models of locomotives are passing...

 

[Guy64]

Accross the layout from Billy the Bag Smasher is Louie the Loader, another crowd pleaser (bottom right). Well, for the most part.

But it isn't clear whether this gentleman is pleased, incredulous, confused, stunned, or ?

 

[UP2CSX]

Chuck, more nice pictures. Great show it must have been. I don't know about the trains behind May Company. One looks like a Black Widow SP Trainmaster. The only thing I can tell from the other one is that it looks like some kind of NYC lighting stripe cab unit.

I think the guy with the camera is wondering if the thing on the forklift is really an S scale beer keg.

 

[Guy64]

Thanks, Jim. You're correct about the SP Trainmaster (American Models). The gray loco is a NYC E8, also by AM.

Maybe the guy with the camera did have a keg on his mind. It wouldn't be the first time somebody made a reference to beer while watching Louie. I guess it's the aluminum barrels.


As interesting as Louie is, this kid was distracted by celebs more contemporary.

Once again, upstaged by Terence the tractor...