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UPDATED 8/4/19 with restoration pictures.
I am a huge Lionel Train aficionado and have been working on my current layout on and off for the past 24 years. This last year I've been at it almost on a daily basis and am determined to get it done by this Christmas season and throw a big train/holiday party.
25 years ago someone gave me a "pre-war" tin-plate Lionel #127 Station that I had previously not wanted to use on the layout because it was in such bad condition. This morning I decided to restore it an use it. I spent an hour at Home Depot finding the correct color paints and proceeded to carefully disassemble the tin-plate building after returning home. It is held together by metal tabs that are bent after being inserted into slots (an old tried and true method from the old days). So after disassembly I bring all my tools and Angle Grinder with wire wheel attached outside and preceded to strip off all the flaking paint. While doing the very last piece I had to strip, (a small window) the wire wheel caught the piece and flung it somewhere. I was wearing a face shield and could not determine where the piece flew and I was combing the lawn for the missing 2"X3" thin piece of sheet metal. My wife, daughter and her boyfriend were in the pool and so they got out and helped me look as well. We spent one hour looking all over the back yard and finally we gave up!
I figured I'd give it one more look in the morning as it was getting darker out - but remembered that I had to go up on the roof to reattach a piece of aluminum trim that blew loose during a sever wind & rain storm we had last month. Since it had been so hot l I kept putting that off for a cooler day. Since it had cooled off and the sun was setting I climbed up on the roof with a hammer and a few nails to do so. I walk over to nail the piece of aluminum back up and guess what I found right there - yup - the silly little Lionel tin-plate window that went sailing! What are the odds of that!!??
Anyway, I was very happy I found it, happy my aluminum trim is secure again and happy that within a few days I'll have the 90 year old accessory on my layout. I was pretty amused by this evenings events!
BTW here is a picture of the building before taking it apart. The paint was flaking off every time it was touched and it looked really bad! Since it isn't worth much I decided to give it a new home rather than to live its life as "the ugly duckling".
I am a huge Lionel Train aficionado and have been working on my current layout on and off for the past 24 years. This last year I've been at it almost on a daily basis and am determined to get it done by this Christmas season and throw a big train/holiday party.
25 years ago someone gave me a "pre-war" tin-plate Lionel #127 Station that I had previously not wanted to use on the layout because it was in such bad condition. This morning I decided to restore it an use it. I spent an hour at Home Depot finding the correct color paints and proceeded to carefully disassemble the tin-plate building after returning home. It is held together by metal tabs that are bent after being inserted into slots (an old tried and true method from the old days). So after disassembly I bring all my tools and Angle Grinder with wire wheel attached outside and preceded to strip off all the flaking paint. While doing the very last piece I had to strip, (a small window) the wire wheel caught the piece and flung it somewhere. I was wearing a face shield and could not determine where the piece flew and I was combing the lawn for the missing 2"X3" thin piece of sheet metal. My wife, daughter and her boyfriend were in the pool and so they got out and helped me look as well. We spent one hour looking all over the back yard and finally we gave up!
I figured I'd give it one more look in the morning as it was getting darker out - but remembered that I had to go up on the roof to reattach a piece of aluminum trim that blew loose during a sever wind & rain storm we had last month. Since it had been so hot l I kept putting that off for a cooler day. Since it had cooled off and the sun was setting I climbed up on the roof with a hammer and a few nails to do so. I walk over to nail the piece of aluminum back up and guess what I found right there - yup - the silly little Lionel tin-plate window that went sailing! What are the odds of that!!??
Anyway, I was very happy I found it, happy my aluminum trim is secure again and happy that within a few days I'll have the 90 year old accessory on my layout. I was pretty amused by this evenings events!
BTW here is a picture of the building before taking it apart. The paint was flaking off every time it was touched and it looked really bad! Since it isn't worth much I decided to give it a new home rather than to live its life as "the ugly duckling".
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