HO train I.D.?

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abdywgn

abdywgn

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got these from the brother-in-law while he was cleaning up...they were headed for the trash before being grabbed. two of them have the rubberband drive and the steam locomotive is worm gear. no markings on the underneath of it... any hints to who made it? the boxed one has a date of '59 on it.
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The rubber band drive was fantastic in its day. Very smooth operation for what it was. Athearn may not have invented it, but they darn sure perfected it. I would be interested in the small one if you want to sell it. It's an Athearn Hustler.

What's the steamer made out of? Is it metal or plastic? It might be a Mantua. Whatever make it is, it's a 2-8-4 Berkshire.
 
RustyRatRod said:
The rubber band drive was fantastic in its day. Very smooth operation for what it was. Athearn may not have invented it, but they darn sure perfected it. I would be interested in the small one if you want to sell it. It's an Athearn Hustler.
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I looked that one up and found the name. was that one used for in yard move around? as for the rubber bands, guess they are still available. do you know how long they were made that way? send me a PM and see what we can work out.
 
abdywgn said:
I looked that one up and found the name. was that one used for in yard move around? as for the rubber bands, guess they are still available. do you know how long they were made that way? send me a PM and see what we can work out.
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Most any small rubber band works good. I believe they've not been made in a very long time. They were made from about the late 50s to about the mid 70s.
 
The second one was made by Varney, a pioneer in HO scale. Part of their line was sold to a company which later sold to Bowser (no grease for peace) and Varney finally sold to Life Like.
All respected names in the business.
 
Thank-you all for so much information! Thank-you for the video Princess Valiant, almost makes me want to go get bands and replace them...then find some track and the transformer, a sheet of plywood....
As far as history goes, where does HObbyLine sets fit in?
 
abdywgn said:
Thank-you all for so much information! Thank-you for the video Princess Valiant, almost makes me want to go get bands and replace them...then find some track and the transformer, a sheet of plywood....
As far as history goes, where does HObbyLine sets fit in?
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I looked on eBay and there are a few sellers with new bands for them. I also looked at the prices they are going for.....and evidently their value has increased. You probably oughtta hold onto it.
 
RustyRatRod said:
I looked on eBay and there are a few sellers with new bands for them. I also looked at the prices they are going for.....and evidently their value has increased. You probably oughtta hold onto it.
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last I looked, all the sales were completed with no prices.have to take a look again.
would you post a picture if you have a train layout? it was something my Dad wanted to do but as a kid I was more interested in the car sets so his sat in boxes...and still is. know anything about wooden box car kits?
 
RustyRatRod said:
The rubber band drive was fantastic in its day. Very smooth operation for what it was. Athearn may not have invented it, but they darn sure perfected it. I would be interested in the small one if you want to sell it. It's an Athearn Hustler.

What's the steamer made out of? Is it metal or plastic? It might be a Mantua. Whatever make it is, it's a 2-8-4 Berkshire.
Click to expand...
sorry I missed the part about the steamer, it's metal. Thanks for the info! Bob
 
While historical, those old blue/yellow box RB drive Athearn's aren't really valuable or desired by today's crowd.

I see them for $10 at train shows, and see the same ones show after show.

Sorry.

If that really is a Varney steam loco, it's quite a bit more rare.

It's also NOT a "standard" Berkshire design.

Although Steam was almost always custom designed by a specific railroad in conjunction with a builder, most 2-8-4's were built late enough to be partially standardized to Lima's "Van Swearingen" design, which is quite a bit larger than the model represented above.

What road name is on the tender?

My bet on that one is AHM. If it had really deep wheel flanges, I'd say Rivarossi.
 
abdywgn said:
last I looked, all the sales were completed with no prices.have to take a look again.
would you post a picture if you have a train layout? it was something my Dad wanted to do but as a kid I was more interested in the car sets so his sat in boxes...and still is. know anything about wooden box car kits?
Click to expand...

All I have right now is an empty layout table. I had originally built an On30 layout, then swapped to Fn3 and now I am going back to On30. I just have so much On30 I decided to go back to it. I'll take the Hustler if you want to sell it cheap. I just don't have a lot to throw at it right now.
 
I didn't think Mantua/Tyco made a 2-8-4.

Maybe it was converted from a 2-8-2.
That would explain the small appearance.
 
I am not finding anything with a sand dome like that.

.....and now I'm becoming obsessed!
 
YY1 said:
I didn't think Mantua/Tyco made a 2-8-4.

Maybe it was converted from a 2-8-2.
That would explain the small appearance.
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Yeah, Mantua made some big stuff before Tyco bought them out. I used to have a Mantua 2-8-4 when I was a kid. I thought about Rivarossi, but it doesn't have enough detail, IMO. Rivarossi is pretty high end. It might be AHM before Rivarossi took them over. Unless there's some markings on it somewhere, who knows?
 
Are we sure there are 8 drivers?

That pic is not the best for detail.

That's why I was using the sand dome.

I'm gonna rest my case with the Varney 4-6-4.
 
Me either.

Agree on details.

Tender is also different but boiler sure is similar if not identical.

I couldn't find any other with a sand dome like that.
 
Riv used to be the shnit for steam before BLI pretty much revived interest in the '00's.

Athearn tried but failed and Bachmann tried with polarizing reviews although the Lifelike Proto line is "the bomb". Also from the '00's
 
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