Modern model railway provide an amazing experience. Not only that the modern locomotives and cars are made in ever greater detail and resemble their full size originals, they can be remotely operated and they produce authentic locomotive sounds.
However, I still sentimentally remember the past times, when my father first introduced me into the world of model railway. Those models were far from being as sophisticated as modern ones, still they were worth a fortune those times. It just does not feel right to simply discard them forever.
I therefore started a project of creating a tiny collection of Mehano(tehnika) locomotives between 1960s and 1990s, regardless of their condition. My plan is to do necessary repairs and digitalize them so they could start a new life. All should be done with as little intervention to the original design as possible, which however rules out the sound effects.
In this little blog I decided to present some of my repair and improvement solutions, so you could start your own nostalgia project yourself. If you want to share some of your own experiences with me, please do. Until then, enjoy repairing and playing!
Making your own HO locomotive test stand yourself.
Repairing a broken coupler holder at the undercarriage.
Repairing a broken screw hole that helps holding the train shell to the train underframe.
Improving old automatic switch. The explanation of the two-solenoid actuator operation is included.
Comparing characteristics of original incandescent lamps and modern LED lamps built in during the digitalization endeavour.
Comparing characteristics of original and modern motors built in as a replacement/improvement endeavour.
Pictures of Burlington Northern locomotives digitalised.
Created by Marko Pinteric.