Salvador Dali rides the Carolwood Pacific 7 1/4 gauge in Walt Disney's back yard. Ward Kimball, engineer.
Posted on 01/17/2015 5:03:44 PM PST by goldstategop
What is it about toy trains that has continued to entertain children, admittedly mostly boys, for nearly two centuries? A major new exhibition is about to find out.
They ran to your own personal timetable. Engineering work at weekends was rare. And there were never leaves on the line, just the occasional bit of fluff from the living room carpet.
For decades, toy trains have enthralled generations of youngsters - and this coming March the National Railway Museum, in York, looks into why children love them so much, in its exhibition Playing Trains.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
I’m not a train buff (although I grew up literally across the street from a sidetrack- when I was a kid, I used to go over and visit with the engineers and the guys in the caboose), but I have recently seen some very cool train stuff- full scale at that. My employer had a dinner for us at the Forney Transportation Museum in Denver (the founder of my company founded this museum, as well). Inside, besides a whole bunch of amazing cars, motorcycle, bicycles and other items, the have a number of railroad pieces- including a Big Boy locomotive, and it’s tender. It has be be seen to be believed!
Salvador Dali rides the Carolwood Pacific 7 1/4 gauge in Walt Disney's back yard. Ward Kimball, engineer.
My dad worked just before it closed and then worked at Atlantic refinery. good jobs and dangerous. he lost many friends in fires. office building is still there in eddystone. There is also a statue of baldwin at city hall. I’m sure no one either in the building or passersby know who the bloke is.
The Baldwin Locomotive Works was an American builder of railroad locomotives. It was originally located in Philadelphia, and later moved to nearby Eddystone, Pennsylvania. Although the company was very successful as the largest producer of steam locomotives, its transition to the production of diesels was far less so. Later, when the early demand for diesel locomotives to replace steam tapered off, Baldwin could not compete in the marketplace. It stopped producing locomotives in 1956 and went out of business in 1972, having produced over 70,000 locomotives, the vast majority powered by steam.
Initially, Baldwin built many more steam locomotives at its cramped 196 acres (0.79 km2) Broad Street Philadelphia shop[13] but would begin an incremental shift in production to a 616 acres (2.49 km2) site located at Spring Street in nearby Eddystone, Pennsylvania, in 1906. Broad Street was constricted, but even so, it was a huge complex, occupying the better part of 8 square city blocks from Broad to 18th Streets and Spring Garden Street to the Reading tracks just past Noble Street. Eddystone on the other hand was spread out over 600 acres. Its capacity was well over 3000 locomotives per year. The move from Broad Street was completed in the late 1920s.
Cattle cars, diesel switchers, barrel loaders, milk cars, log loaders, dump cars.....all good......
Hah. I have done work in Oak Island, actually... and have run 142, which you might recognize. Last big track job was inspection of the Utica Main from a couple miles above Chenango Forks up to Earlville. Army Corps of Engineers insinuated themselves into permitting for reconstruction of washouts... and we will just have to see what happens there with the project.
Stealing your girlfriend, his now wife, however, was a little bit of Karma maybe?
Yes I seem to remember a firebreathing dragon numbered 142. Seems to me I got some flyash in me eye from being behind it. ;-) So if you ran the beast we may have bumped into each other (I would have been one of those guys with foam and a camera.)
Speaking of Utica Main, between multiple governments, NIMBYs, ACoE, turn-it-into-a-trail people, enviroweinies, and the scrap-it-to-recoup-our-investment people that is a continuing multi-year-spanning cluster fudge.
Last update I saw was some pics of washout repair by Earlville posted on the yahooooo group forum on Jan. 9. That may be good, but still waiting as you say.
I worked high - VERY HIGH! - pressure steam turbine repairs at the Eddystone power plant just a few yards away from that old complex a few years ago over Christmas and New Years.
Sobering work: A 12 inch diameter pipe for steam pressures over 4500 psig - needed walls over 4 inches thick.
Ok I need some advice. I inherited 2 boxes filled with trains and tracks. One looks circular. The box had the word Lionel and it seems they are made out of metal not plastic. They may have been purchased around the late 50’s or early 60’s. They belong to my brother but he no longer interested in them. He remembers me being placed as a baby in the middle as the train circled around me. Now I’m trying to get rid of stuff. I’m not sure if they still run since they have been in its box for decades. I want to get rid of them but I’m not sure how much they are worth. The trains are still in very good condition however like I said I’m not sure if they still run. Any advice?
wow and wow . wind and solar? stand near one of those turbines
thx i’ll get it for my dad
YES!
They ARE valuable, but the exact value depends - like all collectibles and “soon-to-be-antiques-but-not-quite-old-enough” stuff - the real value depends on what it is, what condition it is in, how rare the item is - and, of course, these get more rare every year, what its history is (do you know who owned them and when they were bought and were they were first played with?)
OK, so a “played with” bunch of steel Lionel toy trains from the 50-60’s era is not “virgin in the box” ultra-rare. But, DO NOT mishandle them, do NOT paint them and wash them and scrape and polish them. But DO treat them carefully and get them appraised. it will cost some dollars, but try to get two opinions from professionals.
do NOT just put them on ebay and let the world tell you a price without getting them appraised. But, then too, do NOT just give them to your grandchildren or to the neighborhood kids or to the neighborhood toy bank at Good Will or St Vincent de Paul either.
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