Get a Trian Set.....the old rocketry version of "If you can't stand the heat....."

[neil_w]

If I'm not mistaken, those used the toothed plastic strip to spin them up.

Those were the best! What were they called???

 

[troj]

No, they used this which is rubber band powered.

Ah. Kenner SSP is what I was thinking of. Had to go find it.

-Kevin

 

[Steven]

Some decals, wheel alignment tool, axles and spare backside wheel caps for the Snake and Mongoose FEDs.

 

[Steven]

Ah. Kenner SSP is what I was thinking of. Had to go find it.

-Kevin

I was baking my head over the company and name as well. Good job.

 

[Rob Campbell]

Ah. Kenner SSP is what I was thinking of. Had to go find it.

-Kevin

I had one of those as a kid. My friends and I used to race them. They were a hoot.

 

[Steven]

https://www.history.com/news/hot-wheels-most-collectible-valuable'Cheap' Hot Wheels.

 

[Steven]

Now we have Planes, Trains and Automobiles.

 

[Cape Byron]

I LOVED the Vertibird! But I think I loved my JohnnyAstro more.



View attachment 576094

I HAD ONE OF THOSE!

 

[Banzai88]

If I'm not mistaken, those used the toothed plastic strip to spin them up.

SSp racers

 

[Cape Byron]

 

[ThirstyBarbarian]

SSp racers

My brother and I had these, and they were fun.

We also had something where you put the car on a ramp with a hand operated air pump. You would pump the handle, and the air would shoot out of a nozzle under the car and spin up a flywheel, and then you would turn a lever, and the car would zoom down the ramp and across the floor. Those were fun too, but the pump thing broke easily.

Both kinds of cars we used to like to crash into each other. At one point, I guess someone realized we liked crashes, and we were given a set of cars that were designed specifically for crashing — smash up derby, or something like that. You would crash them, and the body panels would pop apart. Then you’d put it all back together and crash them again.

 

[ThirstyBarbarian]

Lol! You posted this while I was writing about it!

I had the blue and green station wagon, and I think my brother had the bug. That video could have been filmed on our living room floor.

 

[BigMacDaddy]

Trains can be as expensive as rocketry. Digital control and internal sound boards are now pretty much standard on locomotives.

I think way more expensive than rocketry -- there are so many more train models to collect...

I collected N-scale so you could have a ton of trains in a small space...

 

[Donnager]

SSp racers

Yeah, mom would chew us out for letting them go on a vinyl floor. They'd leave about a 3' black skid mark each 'launch'. Two kids with these in a narrow hallway meant lots of floor cleaning and drywall repair.

Pretty sure me and my brother wore the pull sticks out on ours before our rear ends were worn out.

 

[FredA]

It can be if you do it right!





"Why else would a grown man play with trains?"

Gomez was the BEST!
Loved it when he played with his trains!

 

[SolarYellow]

Just thought I'd mention that live steam is a thing. Real heat there.

 

[Curtis Enlow]

I HAD ONE OF THOSE!

I learned about Bernoulli's Principle from those They were actually very cool!

 

[Steven]

Couple of extra drag chutes.

 

[Halvey]

The "heart stopping" bit. $4500 to $7500, for just the Locomotive and Tender, on some of the highly detailed HO scale stuff. Then you have to buy the rest of the matching cars,,somehow. Another vicious circle, as it were.

 

[troj]

Just thought I'd mention that live steam is a thing. Real heat there.

I have two steam engines on the shelf in front of me.

 

[Kabulrocks]

Was I the only one who wound up using the train controller as a variable power supply for electrical experimentation...?

View attachment 576095

I used one to heat nichrome wire to cut out foam wings for RC airplanes.

 

[Banzai88]

Who remembers these? I had 2 motorcycles, the funny car, and the dragster!

 

[lakeroadster]

Who remembers these? I had 2 motorcycles, the funny car, and the dragster!

I think I was "too old" at the time to get one of those...

Ah, but I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now.

 

[Halvey]

Because me and her always tangled as kids. Mom thought a stopgap was in order. It worked,,for a bit. Dear Sister found me a NIB set a few years back. One of the best gifts ever.

 

[Hyak]

Oh yea - another expensive and time consuming hobby.
Thought about it at times but just can't imagine I have the time to invest to get what I would want.
I think it's way more of a time sink than rocketry.
Better to join a club like CGMRC to get a train fix.

However the whole notion of "Prototypical Operation" drives me around the bend.
Just run a bunch of trains - no OCD needed.

Or, I don't know.... When some - expletive deleted - dispatcher isn't paying attention and allows a train into you working limits, and you are in a narrow canyon.... on single track,.... well that was pretty 'heart stopping!'

As to "Prototype Operation": Folks! If you like trains that much, get a job playing with the real ones! Not a bad career, and it gives one the money to play with Rockets!...

 

[ThirstyBarbarian]

The "heart stopping" bit. $4500 to $7500, for just the Locomotive and Tender, on some of the highly detailed HO scale stuff. Then you have to buy the rest of the matching cars,,somehow. Another vicious circle, as it were.

I feel like you should be able to get a real train for that.

 

[FredA]

Just thought I'd mention that live steam is a thing. Real heat there.

Oh yea - had a friend offer me one of his two hand-built engines if I wanted to setup it up in the yard.
Thing of beauty and tickling all the senses when fired up with all the fire, steam, noise, etc..
Tempting as that was, I had to decline as that represented a monumental money sink but would have been fun.

 

[Peartree]

I feel like you should be able to get a real train for that.

$30k will easily buy a used locomotive at auction. If you can do some of the restoration, you can get them for much less.

Storage is a bit of a problem for most people.

 

[SolarYellow]

How much for a caboose? Could be an interesting retro tiny house. Or were those all gone 30-40 years ago, like the Jeeps in crates full of Cosmoline?

 

[Halvey]

Or, I don't know.... When some - expletive deleted - dispatcher isn't paying attention and allows a train into you working limits, and you are in a narrow canyon.... on single track,.... well that was pretty 'heart stopping!'

As to "Prototype Operation": Folks! If you like trains that much, get a job playing with the real ones! Not a bad career, and it gives one the money to play with Rockets!...

I have a college buddy who made it to General Electric Transporation as a project manager for the latest Evolution Tier 4? loco Units. Got a tour around the factory, with the air-float floor. Deluxe cab units, better than my workspace. Extremely quiet, I think they will have to add referee whistles to the front.