I had looked into these when I was in the military around 1996 when there was a person custom making these type of layouts into whatever table size you wanted. I planned to use my re-enlistment bonus to purchase one. The fact you got that one for $140-$150 is insane considering the price for one the size of yours back then was around $2K-$4K. Outstanding deal!!!
What a deal! Bet that whistling Transformer is worth 140 bucks. I'm starting to see these little layouts as true folk art; they're so personal and their builders are so attentive to detail. I got a N scale Santa Fe locomotive, 10 Freight cars Transformer and a few little buildings from an estate sale. Soon as I can find some track and a airbrush I'm going to build a grubby little southwest town with lights in the little adobe's 😅
It’s funny how the 1990s were one of the last big eras for miniatures for a while. I remember years ago seeing handmade pinball machine from around the late 1990s for a dollhouse about 1:25 scale.
It is really sweet. The more you look the more you see. It's telling a story. It's not to scale but that is no issue for me, it's historic and really well thought out. Bargain for sure ! Well done you lucky fellow you.
In the late 1970's, a dealer and a friend of mind had just bought the Sound and Power 7000 brand new for $250 alone. He place speakers around his train set so it sounded like the sound was coming from the locomotive. Railroad crossing had speakers for the whistle. That was state of the art transformer in that era. Yes, The old tymer and The Americana N gauge was about $89 at the Navy Exchange without tax and about $109 outside. The early cork bedding was that mix color to it. I still have some of that cork bedding today. I would say you go a great deal,
Please a mini go pro camera 📷 for n scale. Going through the tunnel, and over bridges is really cool, and bothering directions too please!! Ok!! Kooool!!!!!
Did good! Reminds me of the time (3 yrs ago) that I got a 1/48 scale B25 bomber model with extras, would be about $200 worth for $4.50 CDN. You never know....
Your thrift stores must be pretty great out there. our thrift stores where i live (N.Y.C.) the thrift stores here are a joke. I think ill move to your state. LOL, BTW that's a pretty cool coffee table.
Have been back to this particular thrift store many times and haven't purchased anything else. Just right place at the right time with a little luck thrown in
Really good price! The train set is worth that. And in scale or not, it is a great piece to display! Wait, kids, make it even more enjoyable! My N scale coffee table is scratched dinged and a few scuffs work fine and I have a a son daughter and a 19 year old grand son, a 9 year old granddaughter and I wouldn't trade it for anything. You will see.
That's nice.... It's honest. It's innocent. It's not pretentious, and it's not over the top. I like it, a lot. Pricewise, I think you did alright. I think I'd happily pay that much for it. Maybe even a tad more if I had go head to head against another interested party.
Cool find. This is the kind of thing that would blow your mind as a kid at Grandma and Grandpa's house. I'm curious if those buildings have collectible value on their own, separate from the layout. It would be kind of shame to break up the set but at the same time, a model railroader would be more inclined to purchase without all those, I think.
The Indian community, townspeople, and animals look to be closer to HO scale. The buildings are in between & would be more suitable on a TT scale layout. The switches may have been used to control the lights inside the buildings, old-time gas streetlamps, or the lights on semaphore signals for day/night operation. The builder could have also considered adding switch tracks & spurs to a mine or quarry, or for the freight station in town & any other industry that would have used rail in the 1800s & early 1900s.
Yeah the scale is all over the place, but I understand the concept he was trying to go for. I've been thinking about switching up the scenes but haven't decided on a theme yet. Maybe people camping in RV's/trailers on the desert side and a little town on the pioneer side? I'm not sure yet.
It's realy cool, but there is no tender behind the locomotive. It's a blast form the past. Was this a boy scout project? Too bad there's no history about Robie & this project.
Good eye! I have the tender but the wheels are messed up and it kept falling off the track so I just removed it until I can find another tender that pulls correctly
Burke - A friend of mine showed me the requirements for the Boy Scout merit badge in Railroading many years ago. Building a layout was one of the qualifying activities. The requirements seemed to be around having certain scenic elements; the theme and overall design seemed to be left up to the builder.
I had looked into these when I was in the military around 1996 when there was a person custom making these type of layouts into whatever table size you wanted. I planned to use my re-enlistment bonus to purchase one. The fact you got that one for $140-$150 is insane considering the price for one the size of yours back then was around $2K-$4K. Outstanding deal!!!
What a deal! Bet that whistling Transformer is worth 140 bucks. I'm starting to see these little layouts as true folk art; they're so personal and their builders are so attentive to detail.
I got a N scale Santa Fe locomotive, 10 Freight cars Transformer and a few little buildings from an estate sale. Soon as I can find some track and a airbrush I'm going to build a grubby little southwest town with lights in the little adobe's 😅
A great find. Have fun!
Fantastic find! Have FUN! 🙂
The Power Pack by itself retails for around $150 ..... you got a GREAT deal!!
👌👍👍👌
Great video.....with a change of scenery to scale this would be awesome....
Great purchase ! Fun train set.
It’s funny how the 1990s were one of the last big eras for miniatures for a while. I remember years ago seeing handmade pinball machine from around the late 1990s for a dollhouse about 1:25 scale.
You did very good,a lot of thought and geometry no one else would try or imagine.
Agree!
It is really sweet. The more you look the more you see. It's telling a story. It's not to scale but that is no issue for me, it's historic and really well thought out. Bargain for sure ! Well done you lucky fellow you.
In the late 1970's, a dealer and a friend of mind had just bought the Sound and Power 7000 brand new for $250 alone. He place speakers around his train set so it sounded like the sound was coming from the locomotive. Railroad crossing had speakers for the whistle. That was state of the art transformer in that era. Yes, The old tymer and The Americana N gauge was about $89 at the Navy Exchange without tax and about $109 outside. The early cork bedding was that mix color to it. I still have some of that cork bedding today. I would say you go a great deal,
There were better systems, the sound and power were the poor boy substitute.
Please a mini go pro camera 📷 for n scale. Going through the tunnel, and over bridges is really cool, and bothering directions too please!! Ok!! Kooool!!!!!
So Cool. I wish I had found it! I envy ou great find!
Thank you! I still go back to the thrift shop but haven't found anything this cool!
I'd say that was a good buy! Neat layout, with seldom seen Native American village! Awesome.
LOVE it. I prefer the pre built versions. I am still working on mine and it has been years...
Too Cool! It runs nice.
Did good! Reminds me of the time (3 yrs ago) that I got a 1/48 scale B25 bomber model with extras, would be about $200 worth for $4.50 CDN. You never know....
Thank you! and nice score yourself!
A serious bargain, and it looks like lots of fun!
Your thrift stores must be pretty great out there. our thrift stores where i live (N.Y.C.) the thrift stores here are a joke. I think ill move to your state. LOL, BTW that's a pretty cool coffee table.
Have been back to this particular thrift store many times and haven't purchased anything else. Just right place at the right time with a little luck thrown in
@@mountdoravintage 'Lucky' you. i wish i was in your shoes. and, thank you for answering my comment.
Really good price! The train set is worth that. And in scale or not, it is a great piece to display! Wait, kids, make it even more enjoyable! My N scale coffee table is scratched dinged and a few scuffs work fine and I have a a son daughter and a 19 year old grand son, a 9 year old granddaughter and I wouldn't trade it for anything. You will see.
Yes totally agree. No kids here but we do have nieces and nephews visit and they love it!
I was just thinking the same thing , the people in the Diorama would not fit into the train ! But what the Heck !
Nice layout at a good price
That's nice.... It's honest. It's innocent. It's not pretentious, and it's not over the top. I like it, a lot.
Pricewise, I think you did alright. I think I'd happily pay that much for it. Maybe even a tad more if I had go head to head against another interested party.
Small is beautiful...
I want one so bad, and that price is crazy!!!
Great, what are the other switches to the left of the controller?
They are just dummy switches. I'm guessing they were on the box and he only needed the power switch
@@mountdoravintage Cheers, thought they may have been lighting in the buildings and tepees. Enjoy and no doubt lots of coffee breaks coming up😀.
I’m guessing those switches are for the track switches
@@mrbigbadtrev All the lights come on when you turn on the power. I've flipped the switches and nothing happens
@@JohnGrazier Could be, but there are no switches on the track, just one continuous loop
What girlfriend could ever get mad about something so awesome!
She actually doesn't mind it, and likes to show it off to anyone who comes over and has kids :)
@@mountdoravintage She spoke enthusiastically about/us. She toured with me in Las Vegas at Hilton. She says we’re alike. Lol
Amazing!
How big was that cow!
lol
haha, yeah unfortunately I can't remove it cause there is a light behind it. who ever Robie was, he sure had fun with the design
Cool find. This is the kind of thing that would blow your mind as a kid at Grandma and Grandpa's house. I'm curious if those buildings have collectible value on their own, separate from the layout. It would be kind of shame to break up the set but at the same time, a model railroader would be more inclined to purchase without all those, I think.
I never thought about that regarding the buildings. I may one day re-do the concept, but not sure what concept I would go with
Model railroader wouldn’t want such a toy! 😂😂😂😂 we want to spend hundreds if not thousands to do more a less the same thing!😅😅
@@tonyromano6220 😂😂😂
To fix the scale issue, purchase some HOn30 trains, they are narrow gauge and about the right scale for the houses.
I didn't even know those existed. Looking at some on ebay and they seem to be going for more than I paid for the table!
@@mountdoravintage well you got a very good price on the table,
It's not that trains are expensive, it's just the table was very cheap
well worth it!
Thanks, I think so too!
Not to scale, so what. A great find looks like fun to operate and watch.
It is! something soothing about watching it
The Indian community, townspeople, and animals look to be closer to HO scale. The buildings are in between & would be more suitable on a TT scale layout. The switches may have been used to control the lights inside the buildings, old-time gas streetlamps, or the lights on semaphore signals for day/night operation. The builder could have also considered adding switch tracks & spurs to a mine or quarry, or for the freight station in town & any other industry that would have used rail in the 1800s & early 1900s.
Yeah the scale is all over the place, but I understand the concept he was trying to go for. I've been thinking about switching up the scenes but haven't decided on a theme yet. Maybe people camping in RV's/trailers on the desert side and a little town on the pioneer side? I'm not sure yet.
It's realy cool, but there is no tender behind the locomotive. It's a blast form the past. Was this a boy scout project? Too bad there's no history about Robie & this project.
Good eye! I have the tender but the wheels are messed up and it kept falling off the track so I just removed it until I can find another tender that pulls correctly
Burke - A friend of mine showed me the requirements for the Boy Scout merit badge in Railroading many years ago. Building a layout was one of the qualifying activities. The requirements seemed to be around having certain scenic elements; the theme and overall design seemed to be left up to the builder.
What did you pay for it?
you might want to find a railroading friend to clean and lube the locomotive, sounds like its running a little dry. just a thought.
Thank you. Didn't even know that was a thing. Is that something I can do myself or send in somewhere? Thanks
You can do this yourself. Get some hobby oil at a train shop. Don't overdo it, though!!!
An N scale train set with a loop of track at my hobby store is $150 by itself
Classic!
Gives me ideas for my next layout
You lucky son of a Duck . Why cant I find an instant layout ? :)
I've never seen one in person before, and even though the scene inside is a little weird I knew I had to have it!
you sure did...
What are the Dimensions of this track may I ask ?
Hi, the table is 28 inches by 48 inches so the track is a few inches smaller
@@mountdoravintage Thanks for the video and your time .
I think you paid waaaaay too much. I’ll bail you out and give you what you have in it. 😊. Seriously, that’s a no-brainer. Nice find!
Thank you
Good find for $140
Thank you, I thought so too!
You didn't do good you done great for 140 dollars very cool 😎
Thanks, I think I did too
like watching paint dry
Bill be chugging that Haterade 🤣