Sometimes I venture into the 1950's

Thursday, August 14, 2014 
                  Cloud and rain

Sometimes I Venture 

into the 1950's

  If you've read enough of my posts, you'll know that my daily schedule is to get up in the morning, go for a coffee and low-fat muffin, walk our dog Buddy, open the computer, check the mail, then start looking for inspiration for the next several posts.

  Yesterday, I was looking on Liveauctioneers, when I saw an eye-catching rubber train from  AmbroseBauerTrains. The Company promotes themselves as "The Nation's Foremost Marketplace of Toy Trains & Toy Train Auctions". If I had the time, AmbroseBauerTrains and the vast archives would keep me busy for the next 20 years writing just about model trains! However, I've learned in my writing a blog, to always look what else an auctioneer might sell, and I've had many pleasant surprises on the AmbroseBauerTrains website finding items that were not train-related.

  I was this beautiful intense orange diesel engine yesterday made by Auburn Rubber. The company had made rubber toys in the 1940's and I discovered them a few years ago on my journey of writing this blog. I even purchased a few Auburn, and other manufacturer's toys to see them "up close". I was amazed at how well made they were, and how thy had lasted for so long. 

Please click here to visit this most fascinating model train auctioneer's website

Of course, whenever an original box, abbreviated "OB" in the description is included, the value of 

any toy escalates.  However, what attracts me to this toy is the ability for the rubber and the mould process to capture small detail. An example (without even enlarging these images) is the windshield wiper blade.

Today rubber toys have mostly been replaced with plastic toys. What I especially like about rubber is how long these toys last. Also, rubber (like plastic) is able to form and contour into small impressions in the mould to which the hot material is poured into.

The wheels are not  that impressive, but they're functional. The toy designers were smart enough to make the sides of the toy low-profile (low to the ground) so that the body covered the black wheels!

Nevertheless, you can see how the Auburn Rubber company was still producing fine toys into the 1950's - a place that I rarely visit, but if I live long enough I will - for my next blog!

Thanks for dropping by,

and as always,

have a great part of the day or night,

'wherever you may be.

Stacey

toysearcher@gmail.com

Interesting Train Bridges

Sunday, May 19, 2013

Interesting Train Bridges

     One of out main bridges in Montreal has been in the news for the last 6 months.  It's the Champlain Bridge, named after the French explorer Samuel de Champlain. The bridge is about 55 years old, and our federal government has decided, along with Montreal, and Quebec Province, that it needs to be replaced for safety reasons. So that's how today's post came to be. Also, I pass under magnificent bridge called the Gendron Bridge whenever I cycle along the Lachine Canal. THGe Gendron Bridge is called a Pescule bridge. That's a bridge that can rise, and the Gendron bridge used to. It has huge concrete weights that would  act as counterweights when the bridge would rise for ship traffic along the Lachine Canal.  The bridge was built in 1913, but in 1958 the Lachine Canal stopped being used for river traffic.

   The Lachine Canal had been successfully created in the 1820's after having been attempted many times before. The canal was created to help smooth the route of ships through the Lachine Rapids.

Basically, the canal has a series of closed portions, that allow a ship to rise  about 50 feet from the beginning to end. Currently the canal is used as a tourist attraction, as well as allowing private craft to pass through it.

A part of the Lachine Canal close to Lake Saint Louis.

The canal is about 14 KM or 8.5 mils in length. It's main use now is for tourism and cyclists. The City of Montreal has become renowned for having an excellent system of safe cycling paths around the city.

A photo illustrating the height differences in the locks. 

THe height variation between Lake Saint Louis and the final downtown Montreal area is about 50 feet. AS a result, a series of "locks" had to be built in order to elevate the canal for ships to move from the lowest to highest elevation. 

As the wooden locks are opened, a ship can move to its' next elevation as the heights will be equalized. Right now, the photo above shows you how much different the 2 sides of the canal are in height.

On the left, you can see 5 rows of huge blocks of cut rocks, while on the right you can see 8 rows!

Here's a sample photograph of the Lachine Canal.

The bicycle path is to your left, and the canal is to your right. When I go out for a ride, I take about 2 hours and cycle about 40-45 KM. Certainly not the fastest, but it at least keeps me in "somewhat" of a good shape  for being almost 65.

The cycling pathway is mostly for cyclists, although the occasional pedestrians, their leashed doges, skateboarders, and some low horsepower and electric skooters are permitted to use it. The  best thing about the pathway, is that there are no cars!

Please click on this sentence to be redirected to the nice site of AmbroseBauerTrains

      I took the above photos early this morning. I hadn't use my camera in a while, and completely forgot how to use it in the manual mode for exposure. And to make matters worse, I didn't have the instruction manual that I normally carry with me all the time!

This once beautiful Pescule bridge is no longer in use. However, I still marvel at it's great engineering every time I pass under it when I cycle in the summer.  It's the 100th birthday of this once-great functioning bridge, and may she - the Gendron Bridge, be around for another 100 years! 

Thanks for dropping by, 

and have a great  restful Sunday,

wherever you may be.

Stacey

Did You Know?

Monday, May 13, 2013

Did You Know?

(Some Model Trains are made of Brass)

     A few weeks ago, I was speaking with someone in Tim Horton's (A very successful Canadian coffee restaurant chain in North America). The conversation turned to toy trains, when I asked the person if she had any old toys. The only toys she had but had given them away were a set of brass electric train toys. That perked my interest since I didn't know that model trains were sometimes made of brass. IN fact maybe more than "some" might have ben made form this alloy. As it turns out, the lady informed me that brass if a very useful allow for modelling, because it can reproduce very small detail. If you've ever seen metallic model trains up close, you'll know that there is always lots of minute detail on all of the engines and cars. 

 Please click to be redirected to Ambrosebauer's fine website

   The dimensions of the train images are too wide to present larger-sizes. However, if you click any image, you will be able to see the larger sizes as well as the fine detail on the trains. In looking at these fine examples, I now realize why trains were so expensive even when I was a child. First, there were always so many different train cars and engines to be made, and secondly, there were so many parts that had to be assembled.

   I assume that trains that are made of brass, are subsequently painted over in the respective colours in terms of what they are modelled after. It's too bad, because the detail is so apparent and "striking" when the trains are presented in their unpainted states.

Thanks for visiting,

and have a great part of the day,

wherever you may be.

Stacey

Coordinates: 58°06′24″N 68°23′55″W
Coordinates: 58°06′24″N 68°23′55″W

Electric Models of Electric Trains

Wednesday, March 25, 2013

Electric Models of Electric Trains

   Most train models that have been produced have been reproductions of either coal or diesel engines. Since the USA has always had an abundant supply of coal, and then oil, that's the reason.  Europe on the other hand, alwys had large supplies of coal, but they chose to go the route of electric,when coal as a fuel supply became outdated.However, there are a few that are electric. Of course, in North America, the majority of the "real" machines have been coal or diesel. In browsing AmbroseBauer Trains,I did find some electric models, and their interesting. Most of the models are by Lionel (USA), so there is some slight deviation. I did concentrate on the more recent models, although there are some models (nor shown today) that have been made prior to the 1940's.

Please click this sentence to be redirected to the AmbroseBauer website

     Electrically-operated "real" trains operate by having a special connection on top of the train called a pantograph. There are usually 2 of them, and they make contact with the electrical lines about the train. There are 2 contacts (side by side) on each pantograph. I assume that's to always keep the electrical contact ,so that if the train turns sharply, one contact is always live, even if the higher one might be less taught on the wire.

    I was surprised to find several USA models. I mistakenly assumed that there never were or are any electrical trains in the USA, but there are.  Most of the engines have very large vents on top of their roofs. Since these engines produce a lot of heat, the fans and exhausts on top are needed to cool off the engines. I assume that there are batteries within the engines to  power and elevate the pantographs when they need to make contact with the electrical grid (wiring) above them. You can see the pantographs in the down and up positions. 

   As for the toy telectirc models, their power comes from the track as all models do. It would be too complicated and dangerous to have an electrical grid as the "real" trains.

 Many times, AmbroseBauer  takes apart  a train model for bidder viewing. That's certainly a lot of work to do and then to photograph. THey also take loads of photos of each listing, but for today, I just concentrated on presenting the different models that I found on their site. THe uncovered train above is the power for the model train. The "real" train is entirely different.

I enjoyed looking at these electric model trains as I worked with them in Photoshop. They're very different form the coal and diesel engines.  In  the movies made in Europe, I've always enjoyed looking at the electrical trains and the passenger cars. They're certainly different from the ones that you mostly see in North America.

Thanks for dropping by,

and as always, have a great day.

Stacey

The Coal Years of Model Trains

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

The Coal Years of Model Trains

Introduction 

  I can't tell you up until when the last of the coal engines still moved along a track.  However, with oil becoming more prevalent, the diesel engine becoming more efficient and cleaner, and  pollution becoming a bigger issue, the last of the coal engines eventually went into history in North America and Europe. I think there are still coal-burning steam engines left, as the world creates those "carbon credits" for emerging nations. I believe China and India, and perhaps some  African countries still run their train engines on coal.

   When I was a kid (young child) in the 1950's  of about 7 -12, I'd see the steam driven coal-buring trains about 1/2 mile (500M) from my house. In those days there were fences of course, but it was easy to get over them, compared with today in most larger cities. I'd find small pieces of coal along the railway  tracks. Also, when we moved to Outremont, a suburb on Montreal Island, the furnace had just been changed to oil. I found a shiny pice of coal (the cleaner and more efficient coal) in the furnace room. Also, in the garage was a metal coal chute to shovel coal into the furnace room bin.

   The coal-burning  train engines  would start up slowly, and the massive wheels and giant metal rods attached to the wheels would slowly rotate. There would be a large amount of smoke, and the train would start making that choo-choo-choo-choo sound until it  moved faster, and the choo-choo became one long and fast word.

The Model Train World

   The model train world is undergoing a resurgence in the new century. In doing a bit of research, I was surprised to see at least 20 companies that still make these great model trains in all sorts of gauges (scales). Also, these particular toys and models were played with mostly inside of houses. As a result, they seem to have survived a lot better than let's say the toys that would be played with outdoors.  This  is more so in the area of retaining the paint finish. 

   Since I limit myself to about 10 images of 10 montages of images, I decided to stay with the Lionel company for today. I'll see what train engines and cars are around from other brand names, and see if I can assemble posts about another theme, but with a different manufacturer.

Please click this sentence to be redirected to the fine site of AmbroseBauer Trains

     Of course, there still are coal cars that are used to transport coal to certain factories and electrical burring power houses. However, the era of coal  has long since gone by with oil and hydro-electric power having replaced it. I'm sure one of these days, maybe they will be able to create a better furnace to burn coal, yet achieve the air pollution standards needed today.

    What's fascinating about model trains is that a hobbyist can create a miniature world of industries, and cities based on the past and present. What's more interesting is that you can see up close models of these "worlds" that you'd never really get to see in your lifetime!

Thanks for dropping by,

and have a great part of the day,

wherever you may be.

Stacey 

Model Train Passenger Cars

Monday, March 18, 2013

Model Train Passenger Casrs

   As far as North American passenger statistics go, North America is way down on the list . Topping the list are the Sub-Continent countries like India and Pakistan. Once upon a time, passenger trains were a necessity to North America. Today, they're not. Travel by car and by jet is faster.

    My first experience with train travel was in the 1950'd with my grandmother Lilly. My mother Ida, and Lilly were from Toronto and moved here to Montreal. I can't remember the reason why we went to Toronto, but I do remember taking the overnight sleeper. I assume that the train was much slower then.

    In the last 15 years, I've occasionally taken the train to Toronto via Via Rail. At first I figure it would be slow, but the time actually goes by fast, and I prefer it more than driving. If I book the express train, it take about the same time as a car, and the cost is slightly more than driving in my Corolla (return trip).

   As for local riding, I never needed it. I drove most of the time to work as it was only abouy 8 KM (5 miles) to my College, where I taught. It's not like the suburbanites fromConnecticut who ventire each day to NYC and wall street or the Fortune 500 firms.

   Our local (Montreal and environs) municipal train system is AMT. I see it in the morning pass near my house at &:30 A.M. when I'm walking Buddy Our dog), and at about ^:30 PmM. or later coming home while Heidi and I are eating supper. Buddy is under the table getting "treats"!

    Canada used to have a train that would take you from the east coast to the west coast, but that's no longer. There also was the Rockies train from Calgary to Vancouver. That too is no longer, although once in a while there are special offers for train rides through the Rockies. For those who don't know, the Rocky mountains are to Canada as the Alps are to Europe.

Click this sentence to go to the fine AmbroseBauer website

   It's a real pleasure and "treat" to have companies like AmbroseBauer Trains LLC allow me to use their photos. This is more so, when the quality of the photography is excellent and the files are large.

 That's it for today, and I'll be going to AmbroseBauer in the near future for a post about rail cars.

It turns out that railway shipping has not dwindled but has increased over the years. Mr. Warren Buffett even bought a railway line and system about 4 months ago.  He must know something! 

Thanks for dropping by,

and have a great part of the day wherever you are.

Stacey