Model Railroading in the 50s and 60s.


Umm, Arn't those types of Ferrys spelled Fairy?
 
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Brass has been in the magazine all along, Balboa, PFM, LMB, Lambert, etc. Most all the scratch build locomotive articles from the beginnings of the magazine, where built from Brass. Even now, in 1970 I am impressed by how many scratch building locomotive articles are printed in the magazine, something that hardly ever occurs, now.
 
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In fact, Brass was certainly around when I first started in the hobby in the very early 1960s. There was a hobby shop in one of the first mall type shopping centers in the U.S., named Southdale in Edina Minnesota. This hobby shop was named "Gagers" and it was on the main court of this shopping center. Gagers had a cabinet with rows upon rows of brass locomotive models. I remember spending a bunch of time drooling over the models there and this was my first exposure to Camel back Locos. Previous to this I had no idea they even existed and they really sparked my interest in these types of locomotives! Alas, Camel backs only existed out East and I never had any interest in modeling Eastern roads.
 
I can very well remember all of the brass locomotives that came onto the marker in the 60 and continued well into the 80's. The detail was incredible compared to the average locomotive on the market. Being that I was in the service and didn't have a layout, I think I saved myself a lot of $$$. What was nice about the brass is that they were so accurate and were so railroad specific for those that were modeling a particular railroad. When I got out of the service I ended up having to go into N scale due to my available space, but when I moved on to HO scale I was lookiing extremely hard at brass locomotives.

I did get a few before I finalized my layout plan and it ends up that I really can't use them. Bummer. My Z-5 Yellowstone and 2626 Northern only get to see the rails a few times a year to be lubricated and run for a while. The 2626 was put out of service in Washington in 1957. That's my cut off date. The Z-5 Yellowstone was at the end of their careers also at that time being used as helpers over Bozeman Pass. (I did get to ride in them when I was a kid over the Pass. What a thrill) That is very close to where my layout is set in southwestern Montana, but it is way too long for my 90 foot turntables and really wouldn't have shown up on a small railroad like mine.

I did pick up a few more brass locomotives, but ones that were more fitting to a small railroad. A Northern Pacific Y-1 and a PFM Santa Fe which I custom painted for my own railroad. Both of these are consolidations which are ideal locomotives for a small railroad.

There are a lot of brass locomotives that I really like, but I guess I'm cheap as I can't see buying anything that I can't run on the layout.
 
Does anyone know where to get some nice 50's - 60's style type gasoline pumps (single types not duals like we have now) with maybe a hose and gas handle built in or around it. (I could always make the hose tho) HO scale. I looked at most of the Woodland DPMs, Walthers kits and may buy one but do a little kit bashing with them.. maybe. Is there a company that makes just 1/87th scale accessories like these for this era? Thanks!
 
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Perfect Chet thanks!! Yup, they even have that 60's style look to them like the station I want to make and JL Innovative even has a few other gas station buildings that look really cool.

JL Innovative - gas pump2.jpg
 
Those are the pumps I used for this Sinclair Station.

IMAG1042.jpg

Thet also make a service station interior detail kit. It has a lift and various interior details that are nice.

Can't see much of it in this photo because there is a car on the lift.

IMAG0298.jpg
 
Those are the pumps I used for this Sinclair Station.
Similar, these in my picture is when the late 50's came along with out the Name on the top, yours is the 40's where the name was on the top of all of them (like a bubble) but not so far back when the entire pump was round and also very tall! If you look at the Skelly's in my pic and my time frame they were made in the 50's or so and flat on the top. I do like the bubble ones tho very much, it just screams vintage gas!! lol
 
Actually I looked at JL again and these are just like the Skelly's but show red Mobile, (wish there were Gulf tho) but then again I can repaint them and glue some logos on it by printing them from my color printer. Hmmm
Mobile HO pumps.jpg

If you remember Chet, I looked at all of your youtubes (yes all) and I think I commented on your Sinclair station (man that was really well done!) a few days ago! Thank you for all your work making those video's, so very cool. I hope I can make my Station just as good!
 
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I can remember seeing the pumps with the globes on the top well into the 50's and even a few in the 60's, but then we are in a more rural area. Check out their web site. I have seen so many sifferent types of pumps for numerous oil companies. http://www.jlinnovative.com/
 
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I can remember seeing the pumps with the globes on the top well into the 50's and even a few in the 60's, but then we are in a more rural area. Check out their web site. I have seen so many sifferent types of pumps for numerous oil companies. http://www.jlinnovative.com/
Yes I bet your quite correct, as a boy (and Im saying that I was 5 when my Dad has his Gulf station in 1960 when I lived in Connecticut and only ever saw the flat ones. Growing up there and pumping gas for him I never saw the bubble types until I got older and saw them more out west where you guys are when I stated travelling, long after he died. I was a 60's dude I guess, but I do love your 40's layout!! mainly because when he was making trains, his was just like yours. Well a fraction of it. I like my memory but I appreciate yours (and his) much better..... It was a better time.
 
I was looking at the same thing -- NO GULF! ... Watzmater wit doz clowns? Also can't find a Gulf tank car!
 
Tony, the layout is set in 1957

View attachment 60661 Hint, Hint
HAHA! yup, I remember quite a few of those late chevys (some beautiful 55's as well) as well as my Dads woody being worked on in that gas station.... my God those were beautiful cars!! Your right Chet with your bridge display that I saw on one of your utube tours... on the side of the black bridge I saw (I think) something like this!
chevy rules.jpg
hehe!!

Sherrel - Yea, I spent my childhood at that place....what the!!!
 
I am at the end of 1972 now. This is an interesting year for me as in July, I got out of the U.S. ARMY and was very happy to be be back in the states, again. Model Railroader Magazine is taking on more and more the look we see it as, today, with colored covers and much of the inside in color, also. Although I certainly could have paged through without noticing, previous to the November issue, Z scale is now being advertised. I wonder what the ratio of Z Scale Modelers is today? Now that Walthers has combined HO, N and Z Scale in their annual catalogs, my guess is, I will buy one eventually and be able to see what things are available for Z Scale. Looking at the size of the catalog in Wathers' advertisements makes me wonder what stuff from HO is no longer in the catalog, to make room for the N & Z stuff. The catalog does not look very much bigger, seeing as the three scales are combined. Anyone have one and have anything to say about this?
 
I don't have a Walther's catalog, but a major past component of their catalogs was Athearn and MDC Roundhouse products. After Horizon Hobbies bought those product lines, they did their own distributing, thus cutting Walther's out of the picture. A lot of blank space left in the catalog.

Willie
 
Willie, Not what I found to be the case. Although, it certainly was a loss for Walthers, they did seem to find other stuff to fill the catalog with. Horizon took over MDC and Athearn some time ago, I would say that Walthers has seemed to recover O.K.
 
Willie, Not what I found to be the case. Although, it certainly was a loss for Walthers, they did seem to find other stuff to fill the catalog with. Horizon took over MDC and Athearn some time ago, I would say that Walthers has seemed to recover O.K.

Yeah! They filled the catalog with "N" & "Z" stuff. I do realize that the takeover was probably 12-15 years ago.
Willie
 



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