Basic Things You Should Know About Model Trains

Model Trains has become a leisure pursuit by many for years. It is a good way to engage your time and polish your artistic talent.  There is so much involved in this hobby other than just collecting locomotive. It also entails building sceneries and enriching your skill on scales and gauges. Gauge refers to the distance between the rails. Models of certain scale run on standard-gauge track.

Discover Model Trains

Manufacturers have the goal of creating accurate and realistic model trains. The first model trains were powered by wind-up clockwork, or steam engines, with the first electric model trains appearing in the late 19th century.

The German manufacturer Marklin produced detailed trains as well as signals, stations, houses, and other scenery and destinations. Other German companies made ride-on-top live steam trains.

In 1906, Joshua Cowen invented Lionel trains, which soon became to dominate the American toy train market. More recently, LGB popularized garden trains in the United States.

Toy trains look less realistic than model trains, but often appeal to collectors. The first toy trains were made of cast =iron or were pull toys. In the early 20th century, Lionel started making toy trains for standard gauge and O gauge. Other companies, such as American Flyer, Ives, and Marx made similar trains.

The interactive aspect of trains make toy trains perfect for young children. Some adults’ first memory of a toy was that of a Lionel train. Children between the ages of 4 and 6 may be introduced to wooden train sets that spark the imagination. Children 8 years of age and older may be introduced to S scale electric trains, HO scale electric trains, or G scale electric trains under the guidance of an adult. Make sure that you carefully read all safety instructions that come with any train set before allowing children of any age to use it.

Four Most Common Scales

• Z scale (1:220) model railroad trains: Z scale trains make a good choice for anyone with limited space. These trains are not only tiny but highly detailed.    
• N scale (1:160) model railroad trains: N scale is a popular scale and the second smallest after Z scale. N scale trains are perfect for hobbyists who want to run long trains or keep the focus on the scenery. The price of N equipment is slightly higher than HO scale. Micro-Trains, or MTL, is a well-known brand that makes scale trains.    
• HO scale (1:87) model railroad trains: HO scale trains, one of the most popular scales with modelers, come in countless types of trains and have = large selection of scenery available as well. HO trains are generally highly detailed and a good value. An HO layout requires a moderate amount of space.    
• S scale (1:64) model railroad trains: S scale trains—the scale of American Flyer trains—also =ave a strong following among narrow-gauge model railroaders. This larger scale makes the train dominate any set. S scale does not have the massive following of HO or N scale.    
• O scale (1:48) model railroad trains: O scale trains are very popular toy =rains. Lionel continues to make trains for =his scale. O scale trains are easily handled by children. MTH makes tinplate lines of model trains in O and standard gauges.    
• G scale (1:22.5) model railroad trains: G scale trains are for indoor use, but =re especially suited for garden trains. L.G.B. made the scale popular in the United States and makes detailed, sturdy trains that stand up to =he elements. Other manufacturers in this scale include Bachmann and Aristo-Craft.

Why Choose Baume Watch

I should know why classic and modern touches are undeniably serious when searching for an extraordinary time piece. Time is definitely a valuable element in each life, irrespective of what changes we may come across. So , one accessory that I would never do without is a great Baume watch to finish my getup and lifestyle. Amidst all the wide selection of watch makers, these sorts of time pieces have definitely gone beyond the common and traditional watch trend. Why should you have a Baume watch?
Yet with the advent of this amazing watch in my life, I know I would see watches in a completely new point of view and light. Wherever I may go, I’m sure that I am always in style and class. Baume watches are in wide range of models and collection that might suit and re-define each way of living and preference. From the most classic to the up to date and modern style, all these watches are surely assured with high quality and superb performance and function. Built with extraordinary materials and metal compounds, its features and specs are assurance of time precision and undying designs of tradition and modern way of life. If you wish to have investments that would make your enterprise worthwhile all, then there’s no doubt that you ought to have these unique and outstanding time pieces. I need you all to experience what I’ve experienced myself. Irrespective of where you go and what you do, comfort and style are simply and literally in your hands.

Badges That Won The West — Deadwood Marshal’S Badge

The saga of lawless Deadwood began, appropriately enough, with an illegal settlement inside territory that had been promised by treaty to Native Americans. Once word got out that gold had been discovered in the Black Hills in 1874, the army was unable to stem the tide of would-be miners pouring into the Territory, and the population of Deadwood exploded practically overnight.  By 1876, a million dollars in gold had been mined from the surrounding Black Hills.

Deadwood was located in a canyon called Deadwood Gulch for the many dead trees along the canyon walls that towered above it.   The saga of lawless Deadwood began, appropriately enough, with an illegal settlement inside territory that had been promised by treaty to Native Americans.  But once word got out that gold had been discovered in the Black Hills in 1874, the army was unable to stem the tide of would-be miners pouring into the Territory, and the population of Deadwood exploded practically overnight.  By 1876, a million dollars in gold had been mined from the surrounding Black Hills.

During that same year, Deadwood would gain two of its best-known citizens–James Butler “Wild Bill” Hickcock, and Calamity Jane.  They, along with many other colorful characters walked the (often) lawless streets of Deadwood in its early days.  Hickock, a flamboyant character who carried two ivory-handled Colt Navy revolvers conspicuously mounted in butt-forward holsters, was already legendary for his skill with said Colt pistols. General George Custer, among others, said that Hickock was the fastest draw and best shot he’d ever seen.  It was often said that he could draw and fire–unerringly hitting what he aimed at–faster than most men could even think about doing so.  Part of his reputation was likely exaggerated, given the technical limitations of the revolvers of the day, but there has been ample testimony from numerous witnesses that he was both quick and deadly with a gun.

Having been fired from his job as marshal of Abilene, Kansas following his accidental shooting of a deputy marshal during a tense showdown with a mob of rowdy drunks, Hickock had appeared for a time in “Scouts of the Plains”, the latest theatrical production by his old friend and fellow army scout, Buffalo Bill Cody.  But Hickock was much less talented at play-acting than he was at gunplay, and his theatrical career was mercifully short.

In 1876 he took a job–alongside Calamity Jane–as an outrider on a wagon train bearing a fresh shipment of prostitutes bound for Deadwood. Upon arriving in the lawless mining camp, he settled in to pursue his hobby of drinking and playing poker. Rumors were circulating that he was being considered for the job of town marshal, though this is doubtful, since by the time of his arrival in Deadwood his eyesight was failing. Just a month after his arrival in Deadwood–on August 2, 1876–Wild Bill, finding other chairs already taken, unwisely took a seat in a poker game with his back to the door. It was a fatal mistake. He was shot in the back of the head by Jack “Broken Nose” McCall, who would eventually hang for the murder.

Martha Jane Cannary–“Calamity Jane”–also came to be well known in Deadwood for her keen marksmanship–and for her propensity for dressing in men’s clothes, her appetite for hard liquor, ability to tell outrageous lies and her extremely colorful vocabulary.   She had been, by turns, a nurse, cook, prostitute, gambler, prolific drinker and an Army scout. She was also greatly enamoured of Wild Bill. When she died in 1903 of pneumonia brought on by heavy drinking, she was buried beside him at her request, on a hill overlooking Deadwood, in Mount Moriah Cemetery. 

As for the town’s lesser-known citizens, most of the miners were peaceable enough, but like most frontier mining camps, Deadwood attracted its share of shady characters, soiled doves and saloons–a volatile combination that was sure to trigger violence. The fledgling town averaged at least a murder a day in its first year. But the richest gold strike in the Black Hills had been found in Deadwood Gulch, so the town continued to grow at a furious pace, despite its unsavory reputation.

By 1877, Deadwood was evolving from a lawless mining camp into an organized community. Tents and shanties gave way to wooden buildings. The town elected a government, including a sheriff–Seth Bullock, a former hardware merchant–to enforce the law and keep order.  After a fire came close to destroying the downtown business district in 1879, an ordinance was passed decreeing that buildings had to be built of brick and stone. By 1889, the population of Dakota Territory–swelled by incoming settlers–was large enough for statehood, and the territory was admitted to the Union as the states of North and South Dakota.

During the early 1900s, Seth Bullock became Superintendant of the Black Hills Forest Preserve.  He had become a personal friend of Teddy Roosevelt, having ridden with the Rough Riders in the Spanish American War. In 1905 Bullock was appointed U.S. Marshal for the state of South Dakota.

Vintage Album Collection

A lot of people these days are slowly getting into different hobbies. And one of the most common of all hobbies involve collections. People collect a lot of different things these days, and gauge the value of their collected items depending on the number of years they have survived as well as other characteristics that may hold value. One of the most common collections found nowadays, especially with people who are attuned to all things vintage, are vintage albums.
There are many different types of vintage albums that people look for and collect these days. Probably the most common are vintage vinyl albums. Vinyl albums hold a certain amount of value to those who deeply appreciate music, and a lot of these items are actually quite valuable in the collectible world. Many past artists that have defined their generations are the ones that usually demand higher prices. There are also those people who collect vintage photo albums. Vintage photo albums have a different appeal to collectors, as most of them used to be very personal items for other people. Vintage photo albums are collected for the value of the album itself and the collectible value of the old antique photos that are sometimes included in the albums themselves.
Vintage Album is a web site that is dedicated to giving its visitors all the information that they need regarding vintage album collecting. Anybody can get all the details that they need regarding vintage vinyl albums, vintage photo albums, including tips on where to find them and what to look for in a collectible.
For more information and tips On Vintage Album Collection visit, http://vintagealbum.com

The Ballpoint Almost Died

I reached for it one morning last week as I always do–there it was between my cup of desperately needed fix of morning coffee and my stapler. There it waited for me to assign it a task to begin my day–my ballpoint pen. As always, there’s a check or some other document waiting to be signed and sent on its way. Sometimes it’s needed for a very pointed personal note directed at one of my colleagues. Let’s face it, some tasks can’t be handled by a computer or Blackberry.
On that particular day, I gave this useful instrument some thought, although I must admit I’m not one who takes these instruments for granted. After all, on occasion I do collect some of the old ones from the 1950’s whenever I come across them in an antique shop. Normally they’re forlorn, grouped together in a plastic freezer bag, collecting dust on a vendor’s counter, but they can be treasures.
Some can actually tell you where they come from because, just like today, they were given out to promote companies. It’s fun to come across those that are imprinted with company logos and information about companies from various parts of the country so long ago. One can assume that some of these companies no longer exist.
It always amusing to read some of the imprinted telephone numbers with those old exchanges like BR for Broadway, or DI for Dickens, that were used in the old days before things got more crowded and hectic, requiring the ten digit numbers we have today.
While I was mulling over some of the old ballpoints in my collection, I decided that on the upcoming weekend, I would take a trip and see my old friend Dave, an antique dealer, who sells his wares out of a stall he rents from a small antique shop in southern Pennsylvania.
Dave collects a variety of old items in his stall and is a repository of knowledge I like to tap into sometimes. He also has a parrot that has a habit of repeating whatever Dave says. I guess it can be helpful if you didn’t quite catch what Dave said the first time around, and the instant repeat is available, but sometimes it’s downright annoying.
Fortunately on the day I visited Dave, the parrot was busy feeding on a special diet of pellets and seeds Dave makes for him, so I was spared the instant repeats.
I asked Dave if he knew anything about the history of ballpoint pens. He didn’t disappoint me.
According to Dave, an American leather tanner named John Loud patented a design for a marking pen that had a roller ball system in it that he used for marking hides. Unfortunately he used a complex three ball system and the ink was a problem, heavily affected by the temperature. It was either too thin and leaked profusely on John causing him to utter nasty utterances, or it was too thick and wouldn’t come out at all, also causing the same result. This slight problem prevented it from being produced and, like a vampire at sunrise, the idea fell dormant for a while–make that about 47 years or so.
The idea suddenly awakened in 1935 when a Hungarian journalist named Ladislas Biro had an epiphany as he noticed how his newspaper ink dried so quickly after being deposited on the paper. Fed up with how fountain pens leaked and could rip through newspaper print when he wrote on it, he enlisted the help of his brother Georg who happened to be a chemist, in developing an ink that could be used in a working ballpoint pen.
Working with his brother, a working ballpoint pen was developed. Because of World War II, both fled to Argentina where they set up a manufacturing plant but the pens still had problems—they would only work when held straight up, and even then, they left globs of ink on the paper. It was back to the lab for an improvement. This time a rough ball was used at the end that used capillary action to attract the ink to the ball, rather than depending on gravity.
The new pen attracted the attention of a British government representative who happened to be in Argentina. He thought it would be ideal for World War II pilots when flying at high altitudes where fountain pens would leak, and where pilots had to write at strange angles. The Biros brothers’ pens, took to the skies, so to speak, in the British Air Force.
At the end of the war, The Eberhard Faber Company teamed up with the Eversharp Company and bought the rights to produce the pens for the American market but they were a bit slow in bringing the pen to market as someone else stole their thunder. That was one Mr. Milton Reynolds, an enterprising salesman who saw an excellent opportunity to bring it to the American market after he saw the pen in Argentina.
Since there were no American patents for the for the Biros’s design and most of the other patents had expired, and being as enterprising a salesman as he was, he ignored the rights Eberhard-Eversharp had and just plain copied the design. Then as The International Pen Company, with a few hundred employees, he began producing the pen. Teaming up with Gimbel’s Department store and a great PR campaign, the pen successfully debuted in October 1945 at $12.50 a copy.
Two months later the Miles-Martin Pen Company introduced the British public to the ballpoint pen. Other companies soon entered the market as competition ensued with heavy advertising saturated with slogans, and price wars.
Unfortunately, although greatly improved over the Loud model, most ballpoint pens still leaked, smeared their inks, skipped and were generally unreliable, By 1951, the former king of writing instruments—the fountain pen—regained its crown as people lost interest in the unreliable ballpoint and the novelty wore off.
In order for the pen to make a comeback, someone would have to make some improvements—and as the early fifties rolled on someone did—several actually.
Patrick J. Frawley, A high school dropout who became an enterprising entrepreneur took over a defunct manufacturer of ballpoint parts and a new ink formula from an unemployed chemist, and started his own company to manufacture a leak proof ballpoint pen. This was the first retractable and leak proof ballpoint pen, which he later named the ‘Papermate’ pen.
During the same period, a Frenchman named Marcel Bich, who was heavily involved in the manufacture of pen cases and penholders, believed that the ballpoint pen was an excellent innovation that had a future, once it was improved a bit. He set about to get the rights from the Biros brothers and then closeted himself for several years studying all the pens he could get his hands on.
His studious efforts led to the development of a clear barreled, not smearing, reliable and inexpensive pen which sold for 19 cents. In naming it, he dropped the ‘h’ from his name and came up with what we all know today as the Bic pen. Like the ‘Papermate’ pen in the U.S. it was a success overseas, grabbing 70% of the market there by the late fifties. Later after acquiring the Waterman Pen Company, the Bic made it to the U.S. market where it became a popular and inexpensive pen in a short period.
The early fifties saw the Parker Pen Company, a manufacturer of excellent fountain pens, make a successful jump into the ballpoint pen arena with the production of their Parker Jotter pen. The Jotter, a stylish looking pen was a smooth writing reliable instrument with a large ink capacity and came in various point sizes.
Dave turned away from me momentarily as the bird finished the pellets and appeared to be seriously thinking about repeating Dave’s last statement to me. The thoughts dissipated as Dave poured some more pellets into the cage and continued.
Dave turned back to me and stated that the ballpoint pen flourished after its comeback in the early fifties and was definitely here to stay now, but as far as he was concerned, he had a fondness for fountain pens. He said they had a certain character that the useful ballpoints could never approach. I agreed with him as I thanked him for the info and he turned back toward the cage as I walked away.
As I made my way passed the other stalls and toward the door I surmised that the ballpoint pe
n sure didn’t have the character of a fine fountain pen but that didn’t take away from the enjoyment of searching for the old ones at flea markets and antique shops and adding them to my collection.
Just as I got to the door I could have sworn I heard the bird say: “Writes the first time, every time.” Then again, maybe it was Dave.