HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: sdejour@mksol.dseg.ti.com (stewart l dejournett)
Subject: Re: INFO on early 1960's Lionel
Keywords: uncovered in basement
Organization: Texas Instruments, Inc
Date: Wed, 9 Sep 1992 20:53:43 GMT

In article <1992Sep9.181754.17001@cbnewse.cb.att.com> gotribe@cbnewse.cb.att.com (richard.g.barry) writes:
>
>I'm not a model train enthusiast, so pardon my ignorance
>on posting this.  I recently came across an old Lionel train set
>in my parents basement, still in the original box.  
>I set it up for my kids to play with, and it runs, but not very well.
>(It moves verrry slowly...).
>The box is orange and white and I would estimate it is from the early
>1960's.  The box even has the retail price sticker on it of $17.95.
>
>I understand older trains have become quite collectible - any estimate
>of what this set might be worth? 

For my 0.02 cents worth what I have typically seen is that the grease around
the gears has gotten hard over the years.  What I do is pick the old grease out
and replace it with a new type grease like Lubriplate or ??

As far as value is concerned a fellow in the last few days posted the same
question about some American Flyer he had.  The answer is two fold 1) get
the model number of the set and/or engines and cars and 2) go to your local
library or hobby shop and get Greenburg's pricing guide on AF or Lionel 
depending on your set and look it up.  The basic fact is the sets vary
from as low as $20 to $2000 depending upon rarity, condition and what the local
market will pay.  I can NOT say an old AF or Lionel set is worth $X by 
what information you posted and I have been collecting over 20 years.

Hope this helps
stewart de journett
Texas Instruments
Newsgroups: rec.models.railroad
Subject: Re: L-girder benchwork
From: hansend@physc1.byu.edu
Date: 14 Sep 92 11:27:32 -0600
Distribution: world
Organization: Brigham Young University

In article <priddle.10.716218830@ace.acadiau.ca>, priddle@ace.acadiau.ca (PETER RIDDLE) writes:
> An L-girder is made up of two boards (1x3's for example) butted at a right 
> angle.  One rail extends downward, and the legs and braces of the table are 
> bolted to it.  The other rail is horizontal.  All the roadbed, scenery, etc. 
> are attached to this.  The advantage of this construction over flat table 
> tops is that it's open, and you can easily build depressed scenery (such as 
> a pond or river) without having to cut into the table.
> 
>         ________
>        !________!
>        !  !
>        !  !
>        !__!
>        
> It looks like an upside-down and backwards L; hence the name.  Lynn 
> Westcott (late editor of Model Railroader) wrote a soft cover book on the 
> subject.  It's available from Kalmbach Publications, 1-800-533-6644 toll 
> free.  It explains how to suspend the roadbed and how to build all sorts of 
> scenery on it.

I posted this question a week or so ago, and no one seems to have 
responded.  

Question:  I understand this is a great way to build benchwork for 
something that doesn't have to move, but I wonder if benchwork built in 
this fashion is rigid enough to stand the stresses of being tilted on 
its side and moved to another home.  Does anyone have any experience, 
information, etc., that would tell me whether or not this is true?

Doug Hansen  Hansend@physc1.byu.edu



Newsgroups: rec.models.railroad
From: cmwolf@mtu.edu (christopher m. wolf)
Subject: Commodore 64 controll
Organization: Michigan Technological University
Date: Fri, 11 Sep 1992 18:23:36 GMT

Keywords: 

Has anyone here ever used a C-64 to controll a layout.  I'm in the process of
looking into it to begin considering it as a proposal, and wondered if anyone
had done it already.  It would be easy with the user port accessable out
the back.

Newsgroups: rec.models.railroad
From: Joe.Russ <Joe.Russ@mixcom.mixcom.com>
Subject: NMRA WISE Div. meet Sept. 13
Organization: Milwaukee Internet Xchange BBS, Milwaukee, WI U.S.A.
Distribution: usa
Date: Tue, 08 Sep 1992 17:57:44 GMT


For those of you in the area, the next meet of the Wisconsin
Southeastern (WISE) Division of the National Model Railroad
Association (NMRA) will be September 13 at the Milwaukee Light
Engineering Society's live steam park near Germantown, Wis. Admission
is free and the fun will start around 11 a.m. Bring a picnic lunch,
lawn chairs, etc. and enjoy watching live steam in operation. Aside
from watching and riding the live steam trains, members of the society
will be giving the following presentations:
 ============================
 12:30  Steaming a locomotive 
 Ken Rodig will show  how to operate a live steam locomotive.
 
 1:30  Getting started in live steam 
 Byron Motl and Walther Ringe will provide information on how to get
started in this unique form of model railroading.
 
 2:30  Live steam rolling stock
 Tom Artzberger will give an overview of what goes into building
rolling stock for a live steam railroad.
 
 At 3:30 we will disperse a map on how to get to a club layout and a
couple of home layout in the area which will also be on tour. 
 ==============================
 To get there (from the west) take I-45 to Hwy 167. Head east to 167
and Holy Hill Rd. to Division Rd. (Hwy. G). North on Division Rd. to
Pioneer Rd. (Hwy. C), then east to County Aire Dr. (Hwy. M)., then
north about a half mile to the Society's grounds. From the east take
I-43 to Pioneer Rd. (Hwy. C) and head west to Country Aire Dr. (Hwy.
M). Head north on Country Aire Dr. about a half mile to the Society's
grounds. Address is around 2700 North. If in doubt, use a map. For
more information contact Mike Bauers at 871-3945 or reply here.
 You may notice that this meet is not at our normal UW-Milwaukee
location. We lost use of that facility during the summer and are
moving the meets to different locations while looking for a new
facility. Any ideas or contacts would be appreciated.
 Joe R.
 WISE Div., NMRA
-- 
Joe.Russ@mixcom.com
From: myers@hplred.HP.COM (Tom R. Myers)
Date: Thu, 10 Sep 1992 05:59:20 GMT
Subject: Re: INFO on early 1960's Lionel
Organization: Hewlett Packard Labs, Palo Alto CA
Newsgroups: rec.models.railroad

> Would the reason be:  1) the tracks, 2) the transformer, or the 3)
> the engine?  

Dirty track and motor brushes could explain the poor performance.

> I understand older trains have become quite collectible - any estimate
> of what this set might be worth? 

More info is needed to id the set. What are the numbers and road names
on the engine and cars? What is the set number on the box?

Lionel tried to sell HO for a while in the late 50's and early 60's.
They flopped at it. The equipment was by and large Rivarossi that
Lionel imported.


trm
From: quentin@twent4.uk.sun.com (Quentin Hordle - Sun UK -  Bristol Senior FSE)
Newsgroups: rec.models.railroad
Subject: 16mm Narrow Gauge
Date: 4 Sep 92 08:16:35 GMT
Reply-To: quentin@twent4.uk.sun.com
Organization: Sun Microsystems
NNTP-Posting-Host: twent4.uk.sun.com

Sorry if you may have seen this before and even answered, but all my incoming news mail
seems to have taken a hike.
My local club is starting a 16mm scale Narrow Gauge layout, and are currently looking for some ideas/pointers.
Firstly using locally supplied rail, they are looking for track spikes to hold the rail onto sleepers.
Secondly, they are looking for any mags from any where in the world, that talks 16mm Narrow Gauge talk.
Thanks for any replies.
Quentin
From: priddle@ace.acadiau.ca (PETER RIDDLE)
Newsgroups: rec.models.railroad
Subject: L-girder benchwork
Date: 11 Sep 92 13:40:30 GMT
Organization: Acadia University

An L-girder is made up of two boards (1x3's for example) butted at a right 
angle.  One rail extends downward, and the legs and braces of the table are 
bolted to it.  The other rail is horizontal.  All the roadbed, scenery, etc. 
are attached to this.  The advantage of this construction over flat table 
tops is that it's open, and you can easily build depressed scenery (such as 
a pond or river) without having to cut into the table.

        ________
       !________!
       !  !
       !  !
       !__!
       
It looks like an upside-down and backwards L; hence the name.  Lynn 
Westcott (late editor of Model Railroader) wrote a soft cover book on the 
subject.  It's available from Kalmbach Publications, 1-800-533-6644 toll 
free.  It explains how to suspend the roadbed and how to build all sorts of 
scenery on it.
From: wes@uf.msc.edu (Wes Barris)
Subject: Re: voltages of transformers
Reply-To: wes@msc.edu
Organization: AHPCRC, Minnesota Supercomputer Center
Date: Wed, 9 Sep 1992 21:29:14 GMT

In article <PRATTA.92Sep8112338@marcus.rpi.edu>, pratta@rpi.edu (Anthony Edward Prattico) writes:
|> In article <1992Sep7.135130.27545@access.digex.com> car@access.digex.com (Mr. Blue) writes:
|> >   I have a simple question:
|> >
|> >   I've been out of the hobby for a few years, and I notice that now
|> >   some of the transformers out there go up to 20 volts..However our
|> >   trains operate on 12 volts..why the mismatch? Can you burn out a 
|> >   12 volt engine by going over the voltage???? What gives??   >
|> >
|> >   Thanks,
|> >   Chris
|> 
|> Are you sure what you saw were the terminals for track power> Some MRC Tech II
|> packs have fixed 20 volt dc for another throttle or switch machines or whatever.
|> Rarely does the actual variable voltage go above 14 volts.

I have several MRC powerpacks (1500, 2500, 9500).  I have plotted and compared
the voltage response to throttle position of all three.  In each case the
response is roughly linear peaking at a point between 19 and 20 volts.  The
difference between loaded and non-loaded response is almost negligible.

The Tech III 9500 has a volt meter on its front panel.  The range of this
meter is 0 to 20 volts.  Comparing this meters response to that of my test
equipment yields the same results.

To address the original posters question: How do you know the train operates
at 12 volts?  I thought the same thing, but I can't remember seeing this
stated on any of my equipments documentation.

-- 
                                       o O O O O o o o o o o o o . . . . . . .
 __________    ___           ___      __                _
/_______|--`--|_ _|--=-==---|_ _|--,_|__|_             |-+-------`____________,
| ||_| /        -  |        / - \  |      || ________  |                      |
|_|___/------------|----__---------|------|||__|__|__| |Southern Pacific Lines|
|_|____________/-------{__}---------------{__}_______|=|_________     ________|
/_(o)=(o) ( )( )( )( ) [__]  ( )( )( )( ) [__]--(o)     (o)(o)(o)-----(o)(o)(o)
===============================================================================
Wes Barris                                                   PH: (612) 626-8090
Minnesota Supercomputer Center                               Email: wes@msc.edu
From: scholz@watsci.uwaterloo.ca (Guenter A. Scholz)
Newsgroups: rec.models.railroad
Subject: Maerklin HO train wanted
Date: 11 Sep 92 14:08:26 GMT
Organization: University of Waterloo


	As stated in the title, I would like to buy a second hand Maerklin
HO train set for my litle boy ---well, maybe for myself too---

					thank you,   guenter
From: che238n@vaxc.cc.monash.edu.au
Newsgroups: rec.models.railroad
Subject: Re: Help me with RailCad
Date: 7 Sep 92 09:36:40 +1000
Organization: Computer Centre, Monash University, Australia

In article <1992Sep4.223132.16258@nntp.hut.fi>, s35284b@puukko.hut.fi (Timo J. Pekurinen) writes:
> For some time ago there was a posting about RR Cad software for IBM
> downloadable somewhere. I just got my own PC 384/40 and I'm looking for
> an ftp address for the railroad cad program for MSDOS.
> 
> Since I'm an avid fan of railroad building and a new owner of MSDOS
> comuputer, I'm looking for Your mail or reply. 
> 
> Please tell me where I'can find a copy. Thank You!
> (BTW where is FAQ for this group?)

Let's write one!!

> 
> s35284b@puukko.hut.fi
> or
> peku@clinwet.fi

Don't mail it, post it so we can all find out.
Edittrak v2 is available from jdb.psu.edu
logon as trains, password is k4s. Don't download et2.zip from the trains
directory. Look in /et2

DAB

> 
> ThankYou!
> 
> 
> Timo J. Pekurinen                    -"What a pretty sight!" 
> peku@clinet.fi                       -"I, wish our children  
> s35284b@puukko.hut.fi                  were here."                  
>                                      -"I wish our luggage were here" 
Newsgroups: rec.models.railroad
From: genea@geneapcSanDiego.NCR.com (Gene Anderson)
Subject: 1956 American Flyer set
Reply-To: genea@geneapcSanDiego.NCR.com (Gene Anderson)
Organization: NCR Engineering and Manufacturing, San Diego, CA
Date: Mon, 7 Sep 1992 19:11:10 GMT


I have a complete, working train set that looks
like it did when came out of the box.

Any guess as to its worth?

reply:  genea@raider.sandiego.NCR.COM

thanks,

gene
From: mdb@csc.liv.ac.uk (Martin Beer)
Newsgroups: rec.models.railroad
Subject: Re: [benchwork]: What kind of wood?
Date: 7 Sep 92 09:38:08 GMT
Organization: Computer Science, Liverpool University
X-Newsreader: Tin 1.1 PL5

Fred Mikkelsen (fredm@progress.COM) wrote:
> All good responses for building bechwork for model railroads. L and T beams
> made of pine are strong. Screw things together--NO glue. Things always need
> to be changed.

I always screw and glue the basic structure.  It always seems a good idea
to be able to change things, but as soon as any trackwork or scenery is built
it is in practice impossible.  I now lay trackwork initially with a few
pins, sort out the levels and allignments, wire it, and then glue
everything down solid.  The layout is in a loft room, subject to
a wide range of temperatures, and if everything is not solid it starts to warp
and go out of allignment.  
> 
> Also, put the girders about 3 to 5 inches lower than you expect the track
> and scenery to be in that area, and attach to the sub-roadbed/scenery layers
> with risers. This may sound odd at first, but over time, track levels, climb
> drop, scenery, under layout wiring, etc, change and the actual structural
> members should be as pristine as possible.
> 
I have always used L girders as the underlying support.
Th top of this structure is taken as the datum point for the virtical
allignments, and of course should be lower than the lowest track level.
The whole underlying structure is builst first, and the tops of the Ls are 
made quite level.  This stops embarassing mistakes in vertical levels
appearing later on.

I tend to build stations etc on their own removable baseboards,
so that they can be worked on in comfort, and wiring can be undertaken somewhere
other than laid flat on the floor.  The baseboards then sit on
horizontal cross members which locate them at the proper
level.

I can then take my latest masterpiece to club exhibitions etc. without
difficulty.

Track between stations is laid on medium density fibre board on horizontal
risers that give full support across the width.  This seems to
be more than stable enough for N gauge trackwork.


Martin Beer
--
Dr. Martin Beer,
Department of Computer Science,		Telephone 051-794-3672
University of Liverpool,		Fax: 051-794-3715
Chadwick Tower, P.O. Box 147,           EMail mdb@uk.ac.liverpool.compsci
LIVERPOOL.  L69 3BX. United Kingdom.
Newsgroups: rec.models.railroad
From: cb@oddjob.mitre.org (Christopher M. Byrnes)
Subject: Re: "O" Gauge Buildings
Organization: The Mitre Corp., Bedford, MA.
Date: Tue, 8 Sep 1992 23:25:00 GMT

In article <18767jINNld0@uk-news.UK.Sun.COM> quentin@twent4.uk.sun.com (Quentin Hordle - Sun UK -  Bristol Senior FSE) writes:
>Having recently started out in 7mm narrow gauge, and not being the
>world's best at building, any form of buildings. I am looking for any
>possible supplies that supply items for this scale, either in kit or
>fully built form.
  Here in the U.S., several companies make `0' Gauge kits of various
industrial buildings that are vague enough to cover most eras and
locales.  Builders in Scale have a line of buildings.  Design
Preservation Models (DPM) also have a line of building components
(parts of walls, doors, windows, etc.) that can be connected to form
the buildings of your choice.  I don't know if either has a
distributor in England.
--
					Christopher Byrnes
					The MITRE Corporation
					202 Burlington Road
					M/S A378A
					Bedford, Mass. 01730-1420

					cb@Mitre.org
	...!{att,decvax,genrad,ll-xn,philabs,utzoo}!linus!mbunix!cb.UUCP
From: s35284b@puukko.hut.fi (Timo J. Pekurinen)
Newsgroups: rec.models.railroad
Subject: Help me with RailCad
Keywords: rail cad help etc
Date: 4 Sep 92 22:31:32 GMT
Organization: Helsinki University of Technology, Finland

For some time ago there was a posting about RR Cad software for IBM
downloadable somewhere. I just got my own PC 384/40 and I'm looking for
an ftp address for the railroad cad program for MSDOS.

Since I'm an avid fan of railroad building and a new owner of MSDOS
comuputer, I'm looking for Your mail or reply. 

Please tell me where I'can find a copy. Thank You!
(BTW where is FAQ for this group?)

s35284b@puukko.hut.fi
or
peku@clinwet.fi

ThankYou!


Timo J. Pekurinen                    -"What a pretty sight!" 
peku@clinet.fi                       -"I, wish our children  
s35284b@puukko.hut.fi                  were here."                  
                                     -"I wish our luggage were here" 
Newsgroups: rec.models.railroad
From: robdean@access.digex.com (Rob Dean)
Subject: Welsh Narrow Gauge
Organization: Express Access Online Communications, Greenbelt, MD USA
Date: Wed, 2 Sep 1992 17:51:04 GMT

After a recent trip to England, I am considering the possibility of building
some sort of model railroad with a Welsh narrow gauge theme to it.  Are there 
any mail order suppliers of kits for engines or rolling stock?  I suppose
that engines would be conversion kits for N or Z scale running gear (HO/OO
would be my preferred operating scale.)

Any help appreciated, presumably from you .uk folks...

Thanks,

Rob Dean
robdean@access.digex.com
rsdean@apgea.army.mil (preferred for email)
Newsgroups: rec.models.railroad
From: pierson@empror.enet.dec.com (dave pierson)
Subject: Re: voltages of transformers
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation
Date: Fri, 11 Sep 1992 17:23:02 GMT

In article <BuF3pz.5E4@news.cso.uiuc.edu>, brentk@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Brent
Knecht) writes, in part:

>mdb@csc.liv.ac.uk (Martin Beer) writes:

>>Anthony Edward Prattico (pratta@rpi.edu) wrote:

>>Rectification means that some of the voltage is lost before it gets
>>to the track.  Some voltage is also lost in the controller.
>>It is therefore normal to specify a 15-18v transformer, rather than just 12v.

>Not quite true.  Transformer ratings are RMS values, but when you rectify
>the current, you get a DC voltage approximately equal to the peak AC
>voltage.  A transformer rated at 12.6VAC will usually give 17-18 VDC.
	IF.   IF there is a (largeish) capacitor on the output.  And IF there
	is little loading.  Practically, at the rated load current, one should
	get the rated voltage, less a small (1-2v) "forward drop" on the
	rectifiers.

	The actual voltage will depend on the throttle setting.  The setting
	(for a given speed) does depend on the load.

thanks
dave pierson			|the facts, as accurately as i can manage,
Digital Equipment Corporation	|the opinions, my own.
146 Main St			|I am the NRA.
Maynard, Mass	
01754				pierson@majsty.enet.dec.com
"He has read everything, and, to his credit, written nothing."  A J Raffles
From: 737ochs@gw.wmich.edu
Newsgroups: rec.models.railroad
Subject: Re: Commodore 64 controll
Date: 13 Sep 92 16:23:40 EST
Organization: Western Michigan University

In article <1992Sep11.182336.1290@mtu.edu>, cmwolf@mtu.edu (christopher m. wolf) writes:
> Keywords: 
> 
> Has anyone here ever used a C-64 to controll a layout.  I'm in the process of
> looking into it to begin considering it as a proposal, and wondered if anyone
> had done it already.  It would be easy with the user port accessable out
> the back.
> 

Haven't used one, but the C/MRI article siad you can use one in this month's
Model Railroader. The original article back in 1985-86 series of MR had an
interface listing for almost any computer, including the Commodre 64, so you
should be able to use one. I'm planning on using mine for this when I get a
layout going.
Good luck,

Fred
Newsgroups: rec.models.railroad
From: roller@cbnewsi.cb.att.com (paul.r.michaelis)
Subject: Turning white-letter decals into yellow-letter
Organization: AT&T
Date: Sun, 6 Sep 1992 15:39:41 GMT


I had a problem recently that turned out to have such a simple
solution that I thought I'd share it.  (If this solution turns
out to be one that all of you already know about, sorry for the
wasted bandwidth.)

Here's the problem: I wanted to paint some O-scale heavyweight
passenger cars in the green w/ yellow lettering style used by
the New York Central in the 1950's.  The problem is that the
only decal lettering I could find that was the correct style 
and size was available only in white, not yellow.  Here is my
solution: after I put the white decals on my cars, but before
I hit the cars with dullcoat to seal the decals, I used a yellow
fine-tip marking pen (of the sort used when making "viewgraphs")
to color the white portions of the decals.  I was careful not to
allow any of the yellow to spill over onto the clear portions of
the decals.  The end result looks perfect!  

-- Paul Michaelis
   roller@drutx.att.com

Newsgroups: rec.models.railroad
From: gotribe@cbnewse.cb.att.com (richard.g.barry)
Subject: INFO on early 1960's Lionel
Organization: AT&T
Date: Wed, 9 Sep 1992 18:17:54 GMT
Keywords: uncovered in basement


I'm not a model train enthusiast, so pardon my ignorance
on posting this.  I recently came across an old Lionel train set
in my parents basement, still in the original box.  
I set it up for my kids to play with, and it runs, but not very well.
(It moves verrry slowly...).

Would the reason be:  1) the tracks, 2) the transformer, or the 3)
the engine?  

The set consists of a small white engine with a working headlight,
and 5 cars.  I went to a local hobby shop and he explained to me
that I had HO tracks for my Lionel train (not sure I understand
why I don't have the bigger Lionel tracks).  The engine is made of
metal, the other cars are made of plastic.
The box is orange and white and I would estimate it is from the early
1960's.  The box even has the retail price sticker on it of $17.95.

I understand older trains have become quite collectible - any estimate
of what this set might be worth? 

Thanks,
Rich Barry
barry@ihlpe.att.com
Newsgroups: rec.models.railroad