Message 125
From: myflyertrains
Date: Sat Jul 14, 2001 8:09 am
Subject: Complete 600 set accessories on eBay...
This auction I found today has a complete set of
accessories for a 600 set. The only thing I see missing is
the log fencing and part of the plasticville trees...
http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1616481290
Message 124
From: portlines
Date: Fri Jul 13, 2001 9:23 am
Subject: Re: Just an Idea...
Several of these former ACG employees are present
each year at the "Train Collectors Train Show" in New
Haven. This show is run by John and Robin Vanacore, and
they do an outstanding job. The show is on Sunday
(August 19th this year), but Saturday always includes a
tour of the old factory, a show-&-tell, visits with
former employees, etc. It's a great take, for anyone
who can make it. Some of the well-known names in S
come every year, including Andy Jugle, Bob Bubeck,
etc. Doug Peck Port Lines Hobby Supplies 6
Storeybrooke Drive Newburyport, MA 01950-3408 Shop
hours: Weekday evenings: 7 PM - 9:30 PM
EST 978-465-8798 1-888-708-0782 (Toll-free; Orders only,
please). http://www.portlines.com
portlines@mediaone.net
Message 123
From: myflyertrains
Date: Fri Jul 13, 2001 9:17 am
Subject: Just an Idea...
I recently purchased another copy of a reprint of
some of the A.C. Gilbert company newsletters. It gave
me an idea... Since A.C. Gilbert company went
out of business in 1967, that would be about 34 years
ago. If you were say a worker there and 30 years old,
you would only be 64 years old right now! Where are
these people? Maybe we could start a search for former
employees of Gilbert, and find someone that perhaps could
give us the real story of the L shaped house, first
hand... Unfortunately the reprint of the newsletters is from 1954 or
there abouts, so that won't be of much help, but I
would think the Internet could be used as a resource to
track some of these people down. What do you
think? Chuck...
Message 122
From: myflyertrains
Date: Fri Jul 13, 2001 8:58 am
Subject: The EXCITEMENT of All Aboard Railroading.
I wonder if other AF train folks feel the
excitement I do over this All Aboard stuff? I got home from
work last night at nearly midnight local time, and
found Karl's pictures of his kitbashed Plasticville All
Aboard house. It made my day for sure and brought a big
smile to my face! The replication of the ultra
rare L shaped house has been a major topic here in the
All Aboard Club, and in fact Karl's interest in the
subject was the actual spark that led to the forming of
the club. Where this is all going to lead I have no
idea, but I for one am having a lot of fun getting
there, and after all that is the whole purpose of Toy
Trains anyway. < I have changed the club picture
to one of Karl's photos. I am going to start
changing this picture frequently. Partly, so we can all
look at something different, and partly to show
non-members a photo that better represents the activities of
club members. (non members can not view the PHOTOs
areas). I would like to also take this opportunity to
welcome our 27th member to the club, emily_lacque. I hope
you enjoy the club! Thanks
everyone! Chuck
Message 121
From: belairchevy
Date: Fri Jul 13, 2001 12:00 am
Subject: Re: New photos in PV1701 on panel Album
Karl....That house is excellent! How did you do
the chimney end? Did you try it on the whistle panel
to see if it will fit over the whistle motor?
Finally we have the "L" house.....really nice job
Karl....Brad
Message 120
From: myflyertrains
Date: Thu Jul 12, 2001 10:00 pm
Subject: Re: New photos in PV1701 on panel Album
REALLY NEAT!!! How did you fill in the missing
portions of the Chimney. How about another picture of the
back side of the house where the garage door is? This
is really neat. I am going to have to get going on
completing my own house!
Message 119
From: frilen2
Date: Thu Jul 12, 2001 9:45 pm
Subject: New photos in PV1701 on panel Album
There are new photos posted in the PV1701 Album... First attempt at an L
shaped house wannabe. Karl
Message 118
From: myflyertrains
Date: Wed Jul 11, 2001 9:39 am
Subject: Regarding
When All Aboard stuff was brought out by Gilbert,
I was in High School and my interests had turned to
HAM Radio and other things... So, I never had
All Aboard as a kid, or even remember seeing any.
When I got back into the hobby 2+ years ago, I was not
very impressed with Pike Master trucks, particularly
the fact that they were all plastic, and the design
of the couplers. Today, Pike Master rolling
stock is nearly all I buy! I have found out that I was
wrong. Cars with these truck roll real easy, and you can
have a longer train than you can with stock 900 series
trucks. Also, pikemaster cars stay coupled together when
you run the train, which is a real plus! They are
great if you are not into automatic uncoupling
operations. Regarding the panels, I had one objection to them; pike
master track. For me, I have solved that by switching
them to Gargraves, and the result I love. Lets see,
the guys who look down their nose at All Aboard
layouts are running their trains on green painted
plywood, right? To each his own!
Message 117
From: belairchevy
Date: Tue Jul 10, 2001 8:03 pm
Subject: I posted this on s-list
In response a post on s-list that called the last
of the AF line "junk" I sent the following: From:
belairchevy@webtv.net Date: Tue, Jul 10, 2001, 8:48pm To:
S-Trains@yahoogroups.com Subject: Re: 60's Flyer...was it junk?
I was 10 years old in 1965 and the first train set
I got was an All Aboard set. Over the next few
years that poor old set got quite a workout, had a
couple of switch panels added to it, and an upgraded
21168 smoke and choo choo locomotive. Was it
junk?...Not to me or my brother. In fact several kids in the
old neighborhood had them. The train set was around
until the early 1980's when my mom cleaned out the
basement and sent the trains, slotcars, G.I.Joes, baseball
cards etc. to the Goodwill! About 1995 I decided to try
and replace the old All Aboard set and ended up with
all kinds of All Aboard stuff. Is it junk? Maybe to
you but not to me. Lots of neat memories are
associated with it. Pikemaster and All Aboard may not be the
most popular of the AF line to collect, but they have
their place. There is a nice Pikemaster/All Aboard
group on Yahoo at:
http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/allaboardsets
Bradley D. Eggeman Denver, Colorado
Message 116
From: belairchevy
Date: Fri Jul 6, 2001 6:03 pm
Subject: Re: All Aboard accessories survey
Streetlights, stop signs, and long picket fence sections for $2.00 each sounds
good to me. Where do I order? Seems very reasonable. Could S Helper Service
make them for you?
Message 115
From: frilen2
Date: Fri Jul 6, 2001 5:55 pm
Subject: Re: Doug's Survey
Doug... You have my vote. $2 a piece would
be reasonable price, for those items...How about the
small trees? Those always appeared to be good
candidates for resin reproductions...Please keep us
posted. Karl
Message 114
From: portlines
Date: Fri Jul 6, 2001 9:41 am
Subject: Re: All Aboard accessories on eBay
You are correct about the RR Xngs at HSS,
although who knows how much longer they will have them in
stock. They've run out of most all the other parts they
used to have. I AM still looking into the 3
parts you mentioned; I'll move this project back onto
the front burner. My first choice is injection
production overseas, and I've already (today) made another
inquiry about this. Hopefully I'll have an answer before
too long. You're right about injection costs in
US....totally out-of-sight unless you want about 100,000 of
something! SURVEY: As a point of interest, assuming these 3 parts
(streetlight, long picket fence, and stop sign) could be made
available in injected white plastic form (probably with the
appropriate silver or red paint applied.....BUT for now,
let's assume NOT.....Assume you would have to do that
yourself), for no more than $2.00 per item..... is that
reasonable and marketable ?????? Will keep everyone
informed. (BTW...this isn't All Aboard related, but we have just
announced exclusive production of a very colorful Brookside
Milk wood-sided reefer, for delivery this fall. Info
available on our website.) Doug Peck Port Lines
Hobby Supplies 6 Storeybrooke Drive Newburyport,
MA 01950-3408 Shop hours: Weekday evenings: 7 PM
- 9:30 PM EST 978-465-8798<br>1-888-708-0782
(Toll-free; Orders only,
please). http://www.portlines.com
portlines@mediaone.net
Message 113
From: belairchevy
Date: Fri Jul 6, 2001 9:21 am
Subject: Re: All Aboard accessories on eBay
Doug....Anything you can reproduce for All Aboard
is great. There is a real need for the streetlights,
stop signs and long picket fence pieces. At one time
I checked with an injection mold outfit here in
Denver to see about having streetlights reproduced.
Would have required a second mortgage on my house! The
expense is in the actual creation of the mold. Is it
possible that the original molds still survive at Lionel
or Plasticville and could be used for a special
production run of the parts? I honestly believe there is
more of a market for this stuff than you would think.
Lots of panels out there with no scenery to go on them
and to a certain extent that's what inhibits the
growth of All Aboard as collectable....Brad
Message 112
From: myflyertrains
Date: Fri Jul 6, 2001 7:38 am
Subject: Re: All Aboard accessories on eBay
Doug, Doesn't Hobby Surplus still sell the RR Xngs, and quite cheap at
that?
Message 111
From: portlines
Date: Fri Jul 6, 2001 7:06 am
Subject: Re: All Aboard accessories on eBay
I actually went a little higher than that, but the
$113 (+sh !) was a bit of a surprise. I AM working
on reproducing four of the panel
items----streetlights, stop signs, long picket fence, and RR Xngs. The
problem is that injection is out of sight, although
overseas is still in the realm of possibility. More
likely to be resin castings which would then have to be
painted (by the user, not by me!) Reaction to
that??????? Doug Peck Port Lines Hobby Supplies 6
Storeybrooke Drive Newburyport, MA 01950-3408 Shop
hours: Weekday evenings: 7 PM - 9:30 PM
EST 978-465-8798<br>1-888-708-0782 (Toll-free; Orders only,
please) http://www.portlines.com
portlines@mediaone.net
Message 110
From: belairchevy
Date: Thu Jul 5, 2001 11:23 pm
Subject: Re: All Aboard accessories on eBay
It surprised me too. I went up to $60 and dropped
out. Too bad someone doesn't reproduce the scenic
items for All Aboard. Last week I won a bid on a
Plasticville Church and an All Aboard colonial house. Turns out
the seller had an extra colonial which he sent along
for free. Got it all for $17. Sometimes you get lucky
I guess.
Message 109
From: myflyertrains
Date: Thu Jul 5, 2001 7:41 am
Subject: Re: All Aboard accessories on eBay
It does seem like the price of All Aboard stuff
on eBay is holding up quite well this summer. The
price of this auction surprised me.<br><br>Here is
another auction to watch:
http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1613763685
Message 108
From: frilen2
Date: Wed Jul 4, 2001 8:23 pm
Subject: Re: All Aboard accessories on eBay
It ended at $113.00. Quite a race at the end to get in the final bid.... I
guess the value of these items is increasing.
Message 107
From: myflyertrains
Date: Sun Jul 1, 2001 6:40 pm
Subject: Re: All Aboard accessories on eBay
Corrected url...
http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1611481320
Message 106
From: myflyertrains
Date: Sun Jul 1, 2001 6:38 pm
Subject: All Aboard accessories on eBay
OK, here is another auction on eBay. This one is
for just about a complete set of accessories for a
600 set, except no houses...
http://cgi.ebay.com/awcgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1611481320
Message 105
From: belairchevy
Date: Sat Jun 30, 2001 10:14 pm
Subject: Plasticville Cape Cod Houses
Just for the heck of it I purchased a couple of
Plasticville Cape Cod Houses to see how they would fit on the
straight panels. They measure about 4x5 inches and sit
perfectly in the mounting area. A little careful
positioning covers the holes in the panels. The roof height
is about the same as the colonial house. I guess if
there is a drawback it's that the Cape Cod has no
garage. I purchased four older Cape Cods off eBay,
however I believe they are still available new. There was
also a Plasticville Bungalow that looked like it might
fit. My knowledge of Plasticville is pretty limited
but looks to me like many of the smaller
accessories...wishing well, footbridge, gazebo, etc. could be used on the panels......Brad
Message 104
From: frilen2
Date: Sat Jun 30, 2001 9:12 pm
Subject: Message Drought
OK!....1 week and no new messages???? Every body
can't be on vacation at the same time. Thank you
Brad for the info on the Plasticville Trees reissue,
that one got past me somehow. I finally tracked down a
couple of sets at a suburban Chicago train shop. They
look great.. I also picked up a split level house
kit. I suspect that may be the source of the tapered
chimney on the "L" house...Karl
Message 103
From: myflyertrains
Date: Sat Jun 23, 2001 10:28 pm
Subject: Westerner Set!
I won a Westerner set (panels only) on eBay
Saturday. My wife found this auction almost hidden in the
Trains->General group, as it did not say anything about American Flyer, All Aboard or anything else likely in its
title. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160798584
Hurray, I finally got a crossover panel!!! That has been
hard to come by, and my layout needs it. But now I am
up to 51 panels. Is this getting a little out of
hand? Do I need professional help perhaps?
Message 102
From: belairchevy
Date: Fri Jun 22, 2001 9:11 am
Subject: Re: 1966 T-166-6 catalog
Karl...I will have to have a friend scan them for me. Then I will post them....Brad
Message 101
From: myflyertrains
Date: Fri Jun 22, 2001 7:15 am
Subject: All Aboard Humor - eBay / Hobby Surplus
Ok guys, you have to look at this one! I think
the value of All Aboard stuff is increasing. :-) http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1606486309
In case any club members need one of these rare
manuals, you can purchase them from Hobby Surplus for
$8.00 in mint condition. You will find the link in the
Links section under OUR PAGES. Hobby Surplus
also has many other All Aboard items, such as RR
crossing signs, ranch houses, billboards, and other
original parts for All Aboard.