These four hulks date back as far as Christmas of 1960. They were not my very first trains, but
they were the first "real" HO models I had. It's weird to play archaeologist in your own basement.
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There isn't much left of this Fleischmann baggage car. The car has some American elements, and
sliding doors, and some kind of facsimile of a "Commonwealth" truck, but the other aspects are
clearly European.
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This is some serious, realistic rust here!
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The car still has BOTH of its original horn-hook couplers! But no wheels.
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The roof was a low-arch smooth gray plastic piece which was held in place by a screw in the center.
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The curvature of the ends and the recessed ponger gives away the German heritage. This car was originally
Union Pacific yellow, which you can see - but got brush painted with Floquil Tuscan around 1965, when I went on
a Pennsy kick and slopped tuscan on everything.
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I recently found a photo of Christmas 1960, which shows the three year old watching two diesels and three
passenger cars running around the tree. That makes this the oldest "artifact", and makes me feel really old
to look at the wreckage.
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Another Fleischmann car, essentially identical to the baggage but you can see the remains of the original
paint and lettering. Same chassis, roof, etc. Notice the translucent window material... the car did not
have lights though, at least not that I remember.
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The baggage came later, although the way my parents operated, it could have been purchased by them at the same
time as this coach. Or at least, it looks kinda like a coach, although it says "Pullman". It was kind of a
tradition for "Santa" to hold back a few things for later - as much as a year later - or as spares in case of
breakage. So, perhaps that explains the two Fleischmann cars with the same pedigree.
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This is devastation on a major scale. The loss of the chassis, roof, etc was basic childhood wear and tear.
The partial crushing of the body was due to a staged "train wreck" and my discovery that bent sheet metal
made a much more realistic "wreck" than cracked plastic.
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This is both depressing and fascinating - like one of those History Channel shows that digs up artifacts
from volcanic eruptions or sunken ships.
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The heavy rusting probably occurred in my mom's basement (possibly even lying on the floor) between the late
1960s and the mid 1970s. In other words, this wreck - though now 44 years old - probably looked about as bad
when it was less than 15 years old.
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This brown/tuscan colored Fleischmann car is an anomaly. I do remember getting it, probably some time
in 1961 or 62. It may have been a gift from a family friend who got it and didn't know what to do with it.
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This car makes no attempt to be an American prototype and as such is probably far more accurate than the
other two cars. I've been told the prototype is Swedish.
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This car originally came with the Fleischmann hook-type couplers, and I couldn't run it until we got the
guy at the hobby shop to replace them with horn hook "NMRA couplers". Back then, we still were putting the
"new" NMRA couplers on to replace various Euro couplers as well as Mantuas, Bakers, MDCs, etc.
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Most people will recognize this car. It's an Athearn heavyweight observation shell. This car is still
available today, virtually unchanged -- and once again available as an assembled model! Its true, in 1960
you could buy RTR Athearn cars, shortly after, came the ubiquitous blue-box kits which were the norm for
35+ years.
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Although the body is chipped and cracked, and has been used for airbrush painting practice and testing - more
than once I dare say - compared with the tinplate Fleischmann cars, the body is still more or less intact. This
was the third car of my 1960 train set, so it's the same age as the UP coach.
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I don't have any intention to restore these cars, just to keep the cadavers as they are. But I am looking
to buy mint (or as close to it) replacements of the Fleischmann UP coach, and the Athearn observation. I know
I can buy an Athearn B&O obs brand new for just a few bucks, but I want one in the original look, in the original
box if possible. The third car of my original train set was a Gilbert NP coach. More on that one soon.
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