Message 75
From: myflyertrains
Date: Mon Jun 4, 2001 11:41 pm
Subject: Re: Snow Panel Pictures Preview
It felt a lot cooler down here in Florida tonight while I was looking at your
snow pictures! Very nice! Too bad snow panels are so rare. They would be great
for use at Christmas, etc...
Message 74
From: belairchevy
Date: Mon Jun 4, 2001 8:24 pm
Subject: Snow Panel Pictures Preview
A preview of My Snow Panel Pictures Page is linked below. This will be added
to my website. Includes pictures posted in the club any many others:
http://www.geocities.com/belairchevy/ab/ww.html
Message 73
From: belairchevy
Date: Mon Jun 4, 2001 7:33 pm
Subject: Pufferbellys
Pufferbellys has All Aboard items listed at:
http://www.pufferbellys.com/cgibin/orders.cgi/inv/pbafcol.txtor
you can call Bill at 1-254-756-1518
Message 72
From: belairchevy
Date: Sat Jun 2, 2001 9:21 pm
Subject: A New Champion 800 set!
Just purchased a new Champion 800 set. It's never
been run but box was opened to verify contents. Has
the ranch house and colonial (sorry no "L") hooker
tank and yellow caboose. It should arrive next week.
Looking forward to this one!...Brad
Message 71
From: frilen2
Date: Fri Jun 1, 2001 5:52 pm
Subject: Re: PV 1701 More Information
Hi Brad Mike Cedro's Guide shows the AF houses
on pages 94 & 95. He has them listed as Connecticut
Hobbies/American Flyer. Two Story House. Walls are medium Tan with
either Turquoise or Blue roof and windows. Prices range
from $20 to $55. Under Small Ranch House he lists that
all walls are white then indicates variations between
combinations of Red Green and Blue Roof and Trim. Prices are
again $20 to $55. In Emails to Mike he was not aware of
the Barn or "L" house. I sent him my info and he sees
the kitbashed PV theory resemblance. There is a
Plastiville Yahoo Group that he posts to on a regular basis.
He also publishes a Quarterly Magazine..."Plastic
Village Gazette" He has been looking for more info on the
American Flyer House for an upcoming article. I pointed
him to the Vince Amato Story at the Hobby Surplus
Sales Website, and to your All Aboard Website. Hope
that helps...Karl
Message 70
From: belairchevy
Date: Fri Jun 1, 2001 7:35 am
Subject: Re: PV 1701 More Information
Karl....Does your Plasticville information list the standard Ranch or Colonial
houses for All Aboard?.....Brad
Message 69
From: myflyertrains
Date: Fri Jun 1, 2001 7:30 am
Subject: Kitbashing the 1701
I think that Gilbert probably kitbashed 2 and
perhaps 3 houses in order to make the L shaped house. The
problem is the chimney! The simple way to make a repro of
this house, will be to buy a second house, and take
the complete end panel from it, and cut it up and
install at the end of the house where the chimney is.
Then, on the outside of it, add a new chimney that is
completely formed. Note that the chimney on the 1701 house
is incomplete. Also, the chimney on the 1701 is too
straight, and too short. The chimney in the catalog photos
is wider at the bottom and tapers. I suggest we need
to look at other Plasticville houses, and see if we
can figure out where Gilbert, and where we can steal
a chimney!
Message 68
From: myflyertrains
Date: Fri Jun 1, 2001 7:09 am
Subject: Re: PV #1701
Karl, Now I am more sure than ever, that
the pictures in the Gilbert catalog were a kitbashed
version of this house. Look at picture #2 of the All
Aboard house pictures. This is the view that shows the
end of the house with the 3rd window near the peak.
Look closely, and notice that the window partially
overlaps the vent, the same vent that I see in the 1701
house! And yes, the new pictures show why the porch posts
went away. So that the house could slide forward so
that the back end worked. Then, they added the
trellis, but it does not come as far forward to the front
of the house. I notice another problem, that could
be the reason Gilbert did not stick with this house
long in production. The front mounting hole of the
whistle comes too close to the front wall of the house on
the porch. In fact on the new pictures, the whistle
would be partially on the porch, without sliding the
house way forward. These latest pictures have me
excited! Seeing the window overlapping the roof vent at the
end of the house seals it for me! What do you
think? Chuck
Message 67
From: frilen2
Date: Fri Jun 1, 2001 7:05 am
Subject: PV 1701More Information
Just for the record Plasticville marketed the PV
1701 New England Ranch House at various times with
different item numbers. (And we thought AF's numbering
system could be confusing) Mike Cedro's Plastic
Village Gazette priceguide (page 12) lists this house as
MH-2, 1701, 1808, 1912, 1986 (Scenic Classic?), and
5701 (bagged?) Wall colors are either White or Tan.
Roof colors are Red, Gray, Turquoise, Brown, Black, or
Dark Gray. Window trim is Brown, Turquoise, Red, green
Blue, Yellow or Cream. The price range (depending on
condition and colors) goes from $12 to as high as $95 for a
mint boxed Tan Walls Brown roof Brown trim model.
Happy hunting...Karl
Message 66
From: frilen2
Date: Fri Jun 1, 2001 6:46 am
Subject: Re: PV #1701
OK Chuck The pictures you requested are
posted. That's the PV 1701 I purchased. It's not
kitbashed only partially assembled for the photos. I taped
in the one small end wall piece to fill out the
right hand wall. As pointed out in a previous message
there is a fit problem at the right rear corner. Once
the front columns are removed this may allow the
building to shift forward a bit. Hope that
helps...Comments? Also the back wall of the 1701 is the same as you
had pictured for the other Ranch House you bought. We
need to figure out the best spot to cut to kitbash.
Enjoy...Karl
Message 65
From: myflyertrains
Date: Thu May 31, 2001 9:33 pm
Subject: Re: PV #1701
Could someone possibly post a picture of the 1701 house sitting on the All
Aboard panel? I have no idea when I going to be able to get the one I bought on
eBay. Thanks, Chuck
Message 64
From: david_garber2000
Date: Thu May 31, 2001 3:33 pm
Subject: Re: PV #1701
I posted a message about the 1701 9:30 edt today,
it must have gotten lost. I will re list if it is
lost. In reply to this message. I do not doubt that the
picture of the L house and pv house that we have are the
same family. It is just that the 1701 that I have will
not properly fit on the Whistle Panel but the
colonial house will. I question if the 26122 came as is
pictured or came with the colonial as described in the
write up. Dave Garber
Message 63
From: myflyertrains
Date: Thu May 31, 2001 8:16 am
Subject: Re: PV #1701
Karl, If you look closely at the my
composite picture, you will see the holes below the windows
on the porch of the L shaped house where I assume
the porch floor plugs in. This is apparent in both
the your Plasticville 1701 house and the Gilbert L
house photos. Does anyone here still doubt that
the mysterious L shaped house was in fact
Plasticville?
Message 62
From: fkopetz2000
Date: Wed May 30, 2001 4:55 pm
Subject: Re: All Aboard Consist Variations
I have seen some interesting variations,
too. I currently have a Pioneer 600 set that came with
the Erie CJ engine, Shell tank car, Bethlehem Steel
gondola, and red common AFL caboose. As a child I
had a Champion 800 set that came almost exactly as
pictured on the 800 set box. It had the PRR 21107
Atlantic, the Hooker chemical tank, Monon gondola, Santa Fe
hopper, and yellow and silver "Radio Equipped" AFL
caboose. I am hoping to buy as set like that this summer,
preferably in the box. Regards, and hope this helps
in cataloguing AA set variations, F. P.
Kopetz
Message 61
From: belairchevy
Date: Wed May 30, 2001 3:13 pm
Subject: Re: Snow Panel pictures added
Chuck......The hedges are Dept. 56
Village Flexible Sisal Hedge (Set of 3). I cut them to desired
length with diagonal cutters as they come in approx. one
foot lengths. The "Christmas Store" I got the stuff
from had other items that looked like they would work
with the panels. Lots of pine trees and things from
autumn to use with the Dept 56 Halloween series. There
is also a set of small pine trees that light up that
are just the right size but have wires running
between them. Have not figured that one out yet. I found
some Noch and Woodland Scenic trees at the hobby shop
that would adapt nicely to the regular
panels......Brad
Message 60
From: myflyertrains
Date: Tue May 29, 2001 9:38 pm
Subject: Plasticville 1912-200 house vs 1701...
Take a look at this auction I won today. It is
another version of the Plasticville house, this one a
1912-200. It looks about the same s the 1701, except it has
a garage molded into the back wall at about the
spot of the wall that would not exist in L shaped All
Aboard house.
http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1600498027&r=0\&t=0&showTutorial=0&ed=991187353&indexURL=0&rd=1
Message 59
From: myflyertrains
Date: Tue May 29, 2001 9:34 pm
Subject: Re: Snow Panel pictures added
Brad, Pretty neat! What are the hedges that you have in place of the
picket fences? They look really good! Chuck...
Message 58
From: frilen2
Date: Mon May 28, 2001 9:19 pm
Subject: Re: Snow Panel pictures added
ADVERTISEMENT
Hi Brad The new snow panel pictures are
great...the Christmas trees are a neat addition and really
showcase what can be done to update All Aboard sets with
more modern materials without changing the original
panels. I really like the look of the modified street
lights. They add to the overall effect. They appear
closer to an earlier steam era than the original light
poles represent. Neat Work...Karl
Message 57
From: belairchevy
Date: Sun May 27, 2001 4:43 pm
Subject: Snow Panel pictures added
Hi all! Just added two pictures of Department 56
snow covered trees and hedge modified for use on my
Winter Wonderland Set. These trees are a little larger
than the originals but look much better. All I did to
modify them was remove the ceramic base, put masking
tape around the wire at the bottom to form a trunk
that would fit the holes in the panels, and then paint
the trunk brown. Pretty easy project. Let me know what
you think. .(be nice) ..Brad
Message 56
From: frilen2
Date: Fri May 25, 2001 4:32 pm
Subject: Re: PV #1701
Hi Brad There is a Dick Rishelam from Greenbay
Wisconsin that is into American Flyer. I bought some really
great set boxes from him thru Ebay...I've sent him an
email regarding the Whistle Panel house. Let's see if
that lead turns up something new. Thank you...Karl
Message 55
From: myflyertrains
Date: Fri May 25, 2001 10:38 am
Subject: In Search of the Holy Grail of AB houses
Karl, I hope someone responds with another
picture. I keep looking all over eBay at plastic houses. I
have long believed that if you can't buy it on eBay,
that it doesn't exist! And as I have said, in this
case, I am not sure it does exist.
Later, Chuck
Message 54
From: belairchevy
Date: Fri May 25, 2001 9:40 am
Subject: Re: PV #1701
Chuck, I really believe the "L" house does exist
but it's even harder to find than the snow panels.
The guy that sold the Pioneer 600 on ebay last summer
that had one went by the name of RISHELAM. Purchased
several items from him and talked to him on the phone. I
have no doubt that was what was in this set although I
did not see it. You know it took me a little over 5
years to get a set of snow panels with no accessories.
The "L" house will turn up eventually. By the way I'm
working on adapting snow covered trees from Dept. 56 to my
snow panels. Will post some pictures when I get it
done.
Message 53
From: frilen2
Date: Fri May 25, 2001 2:24 am
Subject: Re: PV #1701
Hi Chuck First of all good luck with your ebay
seller, hope it's just a temporary problem... Second a
pix of the real thing would be great. I think a post
to S-Trains is in order, as well as a plug for this
club-site...Karl
Message 52
From: myflyertrains
Date: Thu May 24, 2001 9:52 pm
Subject: Re: PV #1701
Well, the first problem with me kitbashing a
Plasticville house, is I have to get the house. I can not get
the person who I won the 1701 house from on eBay to
answer my emails. It has been 3 days
now. Regarding a picture of the back side of the L house, how do
you propose we get that. I am really starting to
wonder if the L house was ever actually in production,
or just something that was done up for the catalog
photos. No one can produce one, or even a photo of one,
other than the scans of the 65 catalog. I know Brad
said he saw one in an eBay auction last year, but that
could have been a Plasticville one as well. I would
just like to hear from someone who has actually seen
this piece with their own eyes, and hopefully get a
recent photo of the piece.
Message 51
From: frilen2
Date: Thu May 24, 2001 4:19 pm
Subject: Re: PV #1701
Hi Chuck Your right...now we need the picture
of the back side of the "L" house. Then your
kitbashed project will be relatively simple....and we can
stop playing Sherlock Holmes or should that be
spelled..."S"herlock Homes...