Message 250

From: Chuck Harrington <myflyertrains@cfl.rr.com>
Date: Wed Feb 13, 2002 2:12 am
Subject: Re: All Aboard Sets New Site

Hello Karl,

Thanks for the kind words! I spent a pretty long day yesterday putting
the new All Aboard site together. Not much work left to maintain,
except I have to keep the site backed up in case the server goes down,
and I will be adding pictures manually.

Please email me any pictures you from the old site, the L shaped house,
etc, and any pictures of your layout if you would like that posted.
There will be a place on the site to register, in time, but it may
remain unnecessary to register to do everything the club has. I am
impressed with the fact that two or three people just stopped by last
night, who are new, and one of them not even an All Aboarder. I know a
friend of mine kept having trouble with Yahoo not remembering who he it,
and he has already used the site without problems.

Thanks,

Chuck

Message 249

From: frilen2
Date: Tue Feb 12, 2002 9:15 pm
Subject: New Site

From: Karl Raab, Frilen@aol.com
Remote Name: 152.163.213.77
Date: February 13, 2002
Time: 12:03 AM

Comments
Hi Chuck I received your email, your site really looks great, Ive
visited before. The information on both All Aboard Sets and Kris
Models is outstanding. Both of these areas in American Flyer Lore
have been overlooked for too long. If you would like copies of the
photo's that I had posted on our old club site just let me know.
Maybe an independent site would be better than all the popup adds,
but does it require a lot of maintenance to keep updated? Let me know
if I can be of help. The main thing is that the Club stays together
no matter which site is utilized. Fifty people with a common interest
in All Aboard American Flyer Sets and information may not be very
large but we are a dedicated group. So here's to the future no matter
where it takes us... Karl Raab, Frilen@aol.com, Chicago

Message 248

From: dave63126
Date: Tue Feb 12, 2002 8:28 pm
Subject: VEHICLES FOR USE ON THE PANELS

I AM ALWAYS LOOKING FOR AUTOMOBILES AND TRUCKS TO USE, BUT MOST OF
THEM HAVE THOSE AWFUL TAMPOS ESPECIALLY ON THE NORMAL VEHICLES.
I WAS GIVEN THIS SUGGESTION FROM A WRITER AT TOY CAR & VEHICLE
MAGAZINE ON HOW TO REMOVE THOSE TAMPOS WITHOUT REMOVING THE PAINT TOO.
I JUST COMPLETED ABOUT TEN VEHICLES AND THEY CAME OUT LOOKING REAL
GOOD.
THE PRODUCT I USE IS A "NON-ACETONE" NAIL POLISH REMOVER PAD BY
CALICO LABS. ITEM NO. 5075. THREE PADS TO A BOX. FOUND AT WAL-MART
IN THE HEALTH & BEAUTY DEPT. IN THE BINS THAT HAVE THE SMALL TRAVEL
ITEMS. IT'S A WHITE BOX WITH FUSHA PRINT. COST IS $0.78 / BOX.
THE ONLY INGREDIENTS ARE: ETHYL ACETATE, IPA, CDP CONDITIONER,
FRAGRANCE.
I HAVEN'T TRIED ANY OF THE LIQUIDS, BUT THEY HAD A LOT MORE
INGREDIENTS THAN THIS.
ONE PAD DOES ABOUT 2 - 3 CARS DEPENDING ON HOW LARGE THE TAMPOS ARE
BEFORE IT EVAPORATES.
TAKE THE PAD A RUB GENTLY OVER THE TAMPO UNTIL THE TAMPO DISAPPEARS
AND THEN WIPE WITH A SOFT CLOTH. WASH IN SOAPY WATER, DRY AND THEN I
POLISH WITH NEUTRAL SHOE POLISH TO BRING OUT THE SHINE.
PRACTICE ON SOME CARS THAT ARE REPLACEABLE UNTIL YOU GET THE HANG OF
IT. WATCH OUT FOR THE PLASTIC WINDOWS, IT FOGS THEM UP.

Message 247

From: "myflyertrains" <myflyertrains@cfl.rr.com>
Date: Tue Feb 12, 2002 7:04 pm
Subject: Possible move of the ALL Aboard Sets Club

Hello all,

Please go to http://www.myflyertrains.com and click on THE NEW ALL
ABOARD CLUB. This is an experiment!

Post a message there, and tell me what you think!

Thanks... Chuck

Message 246

From: Chuck Harrington <myflyertrains@cfl.rr.com>
Date: Mon Feb 11, 2002 3:04 pm
Subject: Yahoo Strikes - It is worse than I thought!

It appears that in "Migrating" us to Yahoo Groups, that all of our
uploaded photos have been lost! I can't find any photos at all!

Later, Chuck


Message 245

From: Chuck Harrington <myflyertrains@cfl.rr.com>
Date: Mon Feb 11, 2002 2:58 pm
Subject: Yahoo Strikes the Club!

Well, they warned us it was going to happen, and it has. We have new
features on the club, like those nagging camera ads, and I have already
been offered many opportunities to purchase a valentine!

I have to say, I am a little disappointed that our club is now a group!

Chuck

Message 244

From: myflyertrains
Date: Sun Feb 10, 2002 10:34 am
Subject: This eBay Auction is really something!

Ok, since I am saving my money for York, I will
share this one with the club. It is incredible! If you
win this auction, I hope you are prepared to lay down
some money for shipping! "Trains: these are
Pikemaster trains. 2 # 21165 engines and tenders. Both run
well in forward and reverse but one has to be manually
switched. Both in good condition. 1 #24533 service car w/
die-cast frame. Excellent condition. 1 # 24422 box car, in
very good condition. 1 #24569 crane car, in very good
condition. 1 #24549 spotlight car, spotlight works, near
excellent condition, a small burn mark on bottom edge of
frame. 1 #24125 sand car, car is excellent on one side
and with melted plastic in spots on the other side. 1
#24325 Gulf tank car, good condition minus the wire
rail. 1 #930 caboose, this is lit caboose that works in
very good condition this is not pikemaster. 1 100 watt
#22030 transformer. We have six boxes. All are in very
good condition with shelf wear no missing flaps or
major rips. One left switch box, one right switch box,
two straight panel boxes, one switch panel box and
one main set box. One nice booklet with track layout
and trains. Panels: one left switch panel new, one
right hand switch panel new, two crossover panels used
very good condition, 9 curved panels and 4 straight
panels all new. 15 or 20 more used curved panels (some
damaged) I will send if top bidder wants them. We have two
large bags of trees signs telephone poles fences etc.
that have never been used, another large box of same
item that have been used. 20small gray bridges, 5 good
houses a small box of 4 more houses with some damage for
extra parts. We have five tunnels and 18 mountains.

http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1703386356
I counted a total of 37 panels!? Enjoy thinking
about this one! Chuck...

Message 243

From: myflyertrains
Date: Sun Feb 10, 2002 8:48 am
Subject: Re: Need an opinion

Brad,< In similar problems on eBay, I was
able to negotiate a partial refund and keep the goods,
when they were not properly represented. Generally,
sellers say they did not realize there was a problem with
the item, and offer some money back. This has worked
for me two or three times. Like the time the seller
just put All Aboard panels in a box without any
packing, and one of the panels was completely broken in
half when received. (The straight panel, wouldn't you
know it!). I had another "AF Expert" that sold me a
360 Santa Fe with only one motor in it. Said he
forgot that it was supposed to have two, and refunded
$25 or so. I felt a lot better about the transaction
at that point. Sellers usually do not want to take
an item back, because then they have to deal with
selling the item and its shortcomings, what ever they may
be, all over again. Of course sellers on eBay fear
bad feedback, and TCA sellers fear complaints to
headquarters, so you have a little leverage
anyway... Just a thought... Chuck

Message 242

From: belairchevy
Date: Sun Feb 10, 2002 12:12 am
Subject: Re: Need an opinion

Chuck...yes it is a wonderful problem that didn't
have to be. I bought this set sight unseen from a guy
in the TCA with the idea of running it. There was
not supposed to be anything damaged on the panels. My
choices are to return the set and get a fairly
substantial amount of money back or keep the set and deal
with it. Because it is a very nice set otherwise I
will probably keep it and fix the track. I'm more of
an operator than a collector although I try to
strike a balance between the two.....Brad

Message 241

From: myflyertrains
Date: Sat Feb 9, 2002 4:09 pm
Subject: Re: Need an opinion

Brad, I would think that would have a lot
to do with what you intend to do with it. If you
want to use it, than repairs are needed. If you are
planning on selling it, than leave it alone. If you are
just "collecting it", and are not going to run or sell
it, than again leave it alone. If you are
going to keep it, do what ever pleases you! Seems like
we had this discussion once before when you had a
mint set :-) and were trying to decide whether to run
it. As I said then, who are you saving it for? Sad to
say that the next generation does not care much for
trains. The last train collecting old guy to die from our
generation is going to have one heck of a collection for
little money. That is my guess.. I will say this.
It is a wonderful problem you have! I almost started
my snow panel collection with a switch panel, but I
think that particular deal fell through... I am keeping
my eyes open for a set, and we have been kicking
around the idea of repainting some regular panels to
look like snow panels. I am overstocked on curved
panels, and I may try that on a couple of those. It is a
shame that snow panels are so rare, because they would
be great under the Christmas tree with some of that
Snow Village stuff that is so popular now. Oh
well.. Chuck....

Message 240

From: belairchevy
Date: Sat Feb 9, 2002 1:09 pm
Subject: Need an opinion

I have a pretty much complete boxed Winter
Wonderland set. The panels are in excellent shape except for
the track. Three panels have broken track ends and
one has the track broken away from the eyelet. From a
collectors standpoint it's still original but from an
operators standpoint it would be almost impossible to run
it. It's a really nice set other than the track. My
question is do I replace the track with original type and
paint the snow back on the tie strips or should I just
leave it alone. It would grade TCA Excellent if the
track was replaced but would not be original. Your
opinions would be appreciated...thanks...Brad

Message 239

From: belairchevy
Date: Sat Feb 9, 2002 1:10 am
Subject: New page added to All Aboard Site

A new page about the patent for All Aboard Scenic
Panels is available at

http://www.geocities.com/belairchevy/ab/patent.html 

Many thanks to John DeTreville of the club for
providing the information.....Brad

Message 238

From: myflyertrains
Date: Wed Jan 30, 2002 2:18 am
Subject: Re: Using curve panels for switch panels

Hello Dave, And welcome to the club! In
the photos section, you will find some pictures where
I made switch panels out of curves, but I am using
Gargraves track. Your conversion is different, and I would
request that you continue to share with the club and
upload photos of your converted panels!
:-) Thanks much, and once again welcome to the
club. Chuck Harrington

Message 237

From: dave63126
Date: Tue Jan 29, 2002 8:04 pm
Subject: Re: Using curve panels for switch panels

By:dave63126 Date: 1/29/02 10:02pm Hi
everyone. New to club so bear with me. I read all the
messages but no one seemed to have tried what I did so I
thought I would share. I ended up with an excess of
curved panels so I made several of them into switch
panels which worked quite well. I bought several
pikemaster rh & lh switches from Hobby Surplus sales, some
extra track and a number of the red railroad
bridges. I removed some of the curved track off of the panel
and put in a switch depending on which panel it was.
I then glued two of the railroad bridges together
and laid straight track on top of them to the next
panel. There is some test fitting and trimming to get it
right. When completed it looks like the bridge is
crossing over a dry creek bed. The curve of the switch
just follows the curve on the panel. Another thing
I did was take thin piano wire and cut and bend it
to fit into the rivet holes between panels to hold
the panels together. Thanks for letting me share
this with you.

Message 236

From: ssolderitch18014
Date: Thu Jan 24, 2002 9:32 am
Subject: Lionel coal tower review

It is a 752A with door. The coil for the door was
moved up and had a metal cover added. was it added to
keep coal from jamming? heat from the coil from
melting the plastic coal or a safety concern? the frames
around the windows are a separate piece of metal so they
can paint them a different color. Originals were
embossed and stamped printed. the window material is held
in place with metal tabs, not glue. the door was
closed on the house, so you don't see the motor, but you
see a door frame with no door punched out. wires are
attached with four binding posts on the end of the base. I
think some of changes are good, however some are bad.

Message 235

From: ssolderitch18014
Date: Thu Jan 24, 2002 9:19 am
Subject: Lionel Gabe review

They are out and here is some of the differences
compared to the originals: Gabe has only two buttons.
the lights go on automatically when he reaches the top
and will only go off when he climbs up again to turn
them off. they will go off when the power is turned
off (if they were on, they will not come back on when
the power is turned on. Lionel warns that to not
climb Gabe too fast the coil will get too hot. they
also warn not to turn the unit off when the lights are
on because the switch for the lights will be out of
sequence. How many of us will turn off the main layout
power when Gabe is on? Packaging is poor! overall
appearance is good. big wire going up the one corner is
readily seen. the red roof does not come off the house.
Green is a little light in color.

Message 234

From: ssolderitch18014
Date: Thu Jan 17, 2002 9:23 am
Subject: Lionel 2002 items

NYC Pa-Pa 4 car pass set- gray lighting stripe Gp-9 RI red & black, red
deluxe caboose 6 colorful freight cars bubbling checker board tower

Message 233

From: ssolderitch18014
Date: Wed Jan 16, 2002 9:22 am
Subject: WINTER WONDERLAND SET FOR SALE

SET LISTED IN TCA NEWS FOR $800.00

Message 232

From: myflyertrains
Date: Sat Jan 12, 2002 7:29 pm
Subject: Re: Pioneer 600 Set on eBay

Here is the link to this set. Looks pretty nice!

http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1688910526

Message 231

From: firex43
Date: Fri Jan 11, 2002 10:02 am
Subject: Pioneer 600 Set on eBay

Pioneer 600 set on eBay at item# 1688910526. Six panel set

Message 230

From: firex43
Date: Sun Jan 6, 2002 6:36 pm
Subject: 6 Panel Set at NETTE

A 6 panel set is advertised as auction lot # 288
at New England Toy Train Exchange and can be viewed
at http://www.newenglandtoytrainexchange.com . Approximately
40 lots of other AF trains are on the site. John

Message 229

From: kaufu2001
Date: Sun Jan 6, 2002 6:17 pm
Subject: Re: Nice All Aboard Set on eBay!

It looks great, but unfortunately the seller does not ship to Canada, and with
the exchange rate, it makes it tough to afford. But, I can still dream.

Message 228

From: myflyertrains
Date: Sun Jan 6, 2002 8:51 am
Subject: Nice All Aboard Set on eBay!

This a a 6 panel set with 5 extra panels,
including switch panels and accessories. This one is
tempting, but I currently have 50
panels...

http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1685841044 

Chuck...

Message 227

From: myflyertrains
Date: Sun Jan 6, 2002 6:27 am
Subject: All Aboard Club Newsletter #1

Happy New Year to all! It is time to get
things going again in the club. Surely, everyone does
not have their trains parked!? I see people
visiting the club, but nobody has anything to say. How
about some layout pictures from you guys? Pictures are
easy to upload to our club's photo area! Its a new
year, lets post post post!  Does anyone have
pictures of the All Aboard houses with unusual colors they
could post? A ranch house with windows colored other
than red, or a colonial house windows colored other
than blue? I know they exist, and have been wondering
what other colors Gilbert made? I have a new
Micromark model saw, and am getting ready to start cutting
on Plasticville parts to make my first L shaped
house. During the Winter months, my layout shrinks to 14 panels
and more pictures of it can be seen at
http://www.myflyertrains.com I have been working on
repairing a junker 336 that
I have owned a couple of years. If anyone wonders,
I can confirm that a 336 Northern will NOT run on
All Aboard Track radius! (yea, I really tried it) I
have also noticed that my S-Helper SD-9 runs on the
panels, but the gears make a grinding noise on the
curves, so I don't run it either. Happily, most every
other trains I have tried run fine, even Alcos. I have
to wonder though how the crane was packaged for All
Aboard use, as it is not real compatible with the
layout's mountain tunnel piece! I am currently
running a train with 14 cars on my All Aboard layout,
pulled by a 21085. I have had to lock the reverse unit
in forward, because sudden direction changes on a
long train make for a catastrophe. Lately I have been
ignoring my wife's objections, and filling up the smoker
and letting her puff. (The engine puffs a little too
:-) I really love that smoke! If you didn't
order eyelets to attach your track to All Aboard panels
I still have some left. This was a special All
Aboard Club member price of 30 cents per dozen! The same
price you would get if you walked through the door of
the Surplus house here in Orlando to purchase
them! You will see a notice at the top of the All Aboard
Club's home page from Yahoo that they are merging Yahoo
Clubs, and Yahoo Groups into one. I am not sure what
this is really going to mean for our club meeting
place, but there will probably be some small changes at
the least. You may wish to click on the "Special
Announcement" at the top of the club page and read
this... There has been a real shortage of All Aboard stuff
lately on eBay. Have club members bought it all
up? Well that's it for Newsletter #1. Hopefully I have
generated some kind reaction that will result in message
postings. If not, hopefully it is because you are all too
busy with your All Aboard Sets to play on the
computer! Later.....Chuck

Message 226

From: myflyertrains
Date: Sun Dec 30, 2001 8:52 am
Subject: You Are Invited to MyFlyerTrains.com

Hello everyone. I would like to invite everyone
to visit my new website at http://www.myflyertrains.com
which is dedicated to American Flyer Trains, but
in particular All Aboard Sets and Kris Model S Gauge
trains. The site is being improved every week, and there
is much more to come. Many articles will be posted
there in the future regarding the restoration and
kitbashing of All Aboard, so stay tuned! Happy New
Year Everyone! Chuck