# Childhood Trains



## tnfishdaddy (Nov 1, 2018)

Talking to a friend the other day, I got to thinking about my childhood trains. My grandfather worked on the Pennsylvania RR. Because of this, my dad had an interest in trains. When I was young, my dad decided to build a layout. it was a mountain logging layout. This would have been the mid to late 70s. It folded out of the wall and was a lot of fun. Fast forward many years. The layout is long gone but I knew I had stored the box of trains under the stairs when we bought our house 20 years ago. Last night I dug them out and have decided to get back into the hobby. I took some quick pictures and wanted to share what I have. Some of them need a little work and some look brand new. I have the controls and was wondering if they will still work on a new layout or has the technology changed too much?


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## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

Your trains look good. Most likely you'll need to
take the locos apart to clean the old lube from
gears and trucks. It has probably gelled and
will hinder good running. Replace it with Labelle's plastic
friendly lubes, both grease and oil.

Clean the loco and tender wheels to ensure good
electrical contact.

If your track is brass it will need extensive cleaning
to remove any tarnish or other corrosion. Today,
we all use Nickle Silver track for better electrical
conductivity. It requires much less maintenance.

You have a number of DC power packs. One or
more should still be working so you can test
your locos.

Today, DCC is the control system of choice. 
(Digital Command Control) The
track is continuously powered with around 14 volts
of modified AC. It also carries digital control
signals to decoders in the locos. Each can be
addressed individually, which means you can
run a number of trains on the same track without
special blocks, a panel of switches and yards of
wire. Just a 2 wire bus powers your entire layout
with drops from the track every 6 feet or so to
ensure smooth power flow.

Many older locos can be converted to DCC with
the installation of a tiny decoder. The decoder
will turn the lights on and off and provide DC
speed control for the motor,

If you convert, save the old DC power packs to
run your turnouts, lights and other accessories.

Don


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## tnfishdaddy (Nov 1, 2018)

Thank you for the response. The track is gone so I will have to buy all new track. Is there a brand of track better than others? As far as cleaning and oiling, are there any good tutorials you would recommend on YouTube? Thanks again.


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## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

I used Atlas nickle/silver flex track when I
ran an N scale layout some years back. Join
that with Peco turnouts and you can expect
a smooth running railroad.

The Forum N scalers will be glad to help you
with the cleaning and oiling of your locos.
They've had the experience to guide you.

Don


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## Nikola (Jun 11, 2012)

This is so, so cool! Congratulations! Use as much of the original stuff as you can, even the controllers IMHO.

That diesel with a 6 wheel and 4 wheel truck is interesting. In the 80s (?) to 90s (and later IIRC) the LIRR had a couple like that that were converted to also run with a pickup shoe for the third rail so they could run on the non-electrified lines all the way into Penn station. I believe there were two of them and they often broke down. They had distinctive red-white-and-blue paint jobs. We used to call them 'Supertrain'


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## traction fan (Oct 5, 2014)

*C-liners*



Nikola said:


> This is so, so cool! Congratulations! Use as much of the original stuff as you can, even the controllers IMHO.
> 
> That diesel with a 6 wheel and 4 wheel truck is interesting. In the 80s (?) to 90s (and later IIRC) the LIRR had a couple like that that were converted to also run with a pickup shoe for the third rail so they could run on the non-electrified lines all the way into Penn station. I believe there were two of them and they often broke down. They had distinctive red-white-and-blue paint jobs. We used to call them 'Supertrain'


Nikola;

The model your referring to is a Faibanks-Morse product called a C-liner. The Milwaukee Road used them too, though not with a shoe to pick up power from a third rail like your "super train" ones.

Traction Fan:smilie_daumenpos:


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## traction fan (Oct 5, 2014)

*Track recommendations*



tnfishdaddy said:


> Thank you for the response. The track is gone so I will have to buy all new track. Is there a brand of track better than others? As far as cleaning and oiling, are there any good tutorials you would recommend on YouTube? Thanks again.


 First I have to disagree with the others on the quality of the old trains you have. Looking at your pictures all the locomotives are rather poor runners. This is typical of old N-scale equipment. I have been an N-scaler for decades and I have owned some of those locos and seen the rest. Compared to their contemporaries The J-3a Hudson steam loco, and Alco PA-1 diesel, (both made by Kato and imported by ConCor) they are dogs. Compared to today's offerings, well there just is no comparison. If you want to use your dad's trains, and run them with the DC power packs you have, well that's up to you, and I can understand the nostalgia factor. 

However, If you want to build a layout that will work better, and more reliably, then I suggest buying one, or two, smooth-running; new production, locomotives and using the old ones as static display models.

The cars are OK, but they have the old deep-flanged, "pizza cutter" wheels, and Rapido couplers. If you want to upgrade the cars to shallow-flanged wheels and Micro-Trains couplers, the easy way is to replace the truck assemblies on your cars with Micro-Trains trucks with their excellent couplers attached.

Those wheels will not work on Atlas code55 flex track. Those wheels will hit the oversize spike detail on the Atlas code 55. Micro Engineering brand, code 55 flex track will accommodate the deep flanges as it has smaller spikes. Micro Engineering is what I use because of it's realistic appearance.

The deep-flanged wheels will work fine on code 80 track. Atlas brand, code 80 flex, or sectional, track will work. I personally do not have a high opinion of Atlas turnouts (track switches) I agree with DonR that Peco turnouts are a much better choice.

The rapido couplers will also work, though uncoupling them is a problem. At some point, you may want to do some switching, and Micro Trains couplers excel at that. They are much easier to uncouple, and look more like real couplers.

good luck,

Traction Fan:smilie_daumenpos:


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## traction fan (Oct 5, 2014)

*Track recommendations*

Sorry for the double post.


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## GNfan (Jun 3, 2016)

What nikola is describing is an EMD FL9. But if your diesel is stamped "ATLAS", it probably is a C-Liner, made by Rivarossi and imported by Atlas circa 1967.


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## tnfishdaddy (Nov 1, 2018)

It is a c liner. Atlas told me after sending a picture. It would not work except for the headlight. After taking it apart and cleaning, nothing works now lol. Thanks to everyone for the help. I will be purchasing some new engines as soon as I figure out what I'm interested in getting. I was hoping to use all the old stuff but from everything I am reading, dcc is the way to go. Interested in rebuilding the old cars as 3 or 4 are missing a truck (I think that's what they are called). Need to figure out where to get the parts.


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## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

Here is one of the most popular on line model
train retailers. They have an extensive stock of
train parts including knuckle couplers, trucks and
wheels. I suggest calling them on the phone to
discuss what you need.

https://www.modeltrainstuff.com/?ne...epJBrXdQ0axP-v1CKqeKv27IuQt4GVjRoCLGYQAvD_BwE

Don


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## bewhole (Dec 31, 2016)

Well if you want to get into DCC here are some videos on it. Mostly on the controllers but still a good watch.


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## Nikola (Jun 11, 2012)

traction fan said:


> Nikola;
> 
> The model your referring to is a Faibanks-Morse product called a C-liner. The Milwaukee Road used them too, though not with a shoe to pick up power from a third rail like your "super train" ones.
> 
> Traction Fan:smilie_daumenpos:





GNfan said:


> What nikola is describing is an EMD FL9. But if your diesel is stamped "ATLAS", it probably is a C-Liner, made by Rivarossi and imported by Atlas circa 1967.





tnfishdaddy said:


> It is a c liner. Atlas told me after sending a picture. It would not work except for the headlight. After taking it apart and cleaning, nothing works now lol. Thanks to everyone for the help. I will be purchasing some new engines as soon as I figure out what I'm interested in getting. I was hoping to use all the old stuff but from everything I am reading, dcc is the way to go. Interested in rebuilding the old cars as 3 or 4 are missing a truck (I think that's what they are called). Need to figure out where to get the parts.


Thanks for the info! I had always thought they were something that the LIRR cobbled together in their shops.

I wonder what happened to them? They seem long gone.

Plenty of interesting stories riding behind them, mostly some variation of them not being able to start the diesel after exiting the East River tunnel.


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## traction fan (Oct 5, 2014)

*C-liners and terms*



tnfishdaddy said:


> It is a c liner. Atlas told me after sending a picture. It would not work except for the headlight. After taking it apart and cleaning, nothing works now lol. Thanks to everyone for the help. I will be purchasing some new engines as soon as I figure out what I'm interested in getting. I was hoping to use all the old stuff but from everything I am reading, dcc is the way to go. Interested in rebuilding the old cars as 3 or 4 are missing a truck (I think that's what they are called). Need to figure out where to get the parts.


 tnfishdaddy;

Those C-liners were not very good runners anyway, so you didn't really harm anything good. You're correct, the assembly under each end of the car that holds the wheels is called a truck. The first attachment below contains that, and many other railroad terms. You may want to refer to it if you're unsure about a word you see here on the forum. The second one discusses many of the basics, and contains a comparison of DC vs. DCC control systems that might interest you.

DCC is a very nice system, in that it lets you control more than one train on the same track, and adds the possibility of sound from the locomotive. All done with far less wiring than a traditional DC layout. Traditional DC control is still a viable control system, but electrically much more complicated to wire, and it doesn't have the on board sound option.

I recommend going with DCC if you can. I use the NCE "Power cab" DCC system and like it very much. It is all contained in one hand-held unit, and only requires two wires from the DCC controller to the track. It's also easy to program and somewhat less expensive than some other brands. You can buy new locomotives with DCC factory installed. Most do not have sound, but some do. They will advertise sound if they have it and the loco will cost more with sound. N-scale locomotives are quite small, of course, so the speakers tend to be tiny and can be difficult to hear (though I'm hard of hearing so part of that's me)
I added a bigger speaker in a dummy B-unit and it makes a huge difference. Test run a DCC sound equipped locomotive if you have a good hobby shop nearby. That's the best way to find out if sound is something that you want. (not everyone does) Basic, non sound DCC decoders operate the motor and headlight only, typically.

Have fun!

Traction Fan:smilie_daumenpos:

View attachment Model Railroad Terminology 2.1.pdf


View attachment WHERE DO I START.pdf


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