Lone Star - 000

[Malc]

Lone Star never produced Ready to Run kettles only push along ones.

They did one steam loco in the Treble 0 series, an American Baldwin 0-8-0. They used an elastic band to transfer from the motor to the axle. There was a guy at the Buttery show last year with a largish layout. We had a long chat about Lone Star. He was a bit of a collector/enthusiast.

[ntpntpntp]

Lone Star never produced Ready to Run kettles only push along ones.

I had a number of the push-a-long Lone Star trains from the 1960's (bought from Woolworths) but somewhere I have a listing of the Treble-O-Lectric stock which includes a motorised Indiana Harbor Belt 0-8-0. I think the tender was powered rather than the locomotive though.

Yep, got one of the 0-8-0 tender locos in my cabinet.  They turn up quite regularly on ebay.




Funnily enough I remember having some of the non-powered stuff from Woolies as a kid, including the loco part of the old 0-8-0 with red plastic wheels - I don't think they ever did the tender in the un-powered range.  Probably still got the metal body around somewhere.

[Bealman]

So when a 000 Lone Star electric loco turns up on EBay, does it work, or  do we need Dr Al?

Just curious! 

[violets49]

Haha! Very droll. The Treble-O-ectric range may have been crude but it was effective. I believe the rubber bands are difficult, if not well nigh impossible to obtain but you could say the same about minitrix spares these days. Remember in the fifties there were certain US HO manufactureres that actually used the same drive setup (Athearn, I think) It gave a very smooth but remarkably effective drive. May not have been too accurate but it was fun! 

[railsquid]

So when a 000 Lone Star electric loco turns up on EBay, does it work, or  do we need Dr Al?

Just curious! 

The one I bought worked (to my surprise), I suspect the elastic bands were replaced at some point.

[ntpntpntp]

There are ebay sellers offering suitable replacement drive bands from modern durable materials, and internet articles with tips on how to make your own replacements.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/5x-neoprene-sleeves-10mm-for-lone-star-train-treble-o-lectric-rubber-drive-band-/142423524264?hash=item21291a83a8:g:A9UAAMXQkHJRF5jk

[ntpntpntp]

Drifting slightly off-topic, but I also have a fondness for the early Minitrix SchiebeTrix ("Push-Trix") models.  These were made between 1959 and '64 (when their first motorised N gauge models came in), and to a slightly smaller scale - 1:180 ish I think?

The boxed set is a reproduction set (marking 40 years of Minitrix and issued in 1999), but the others are all originals which I picked up in an antique shop several years ago.

[xm607]

For drive bands I use replacement Hornby Dublo traction tyres or Hornby class 50 tyres from fleebay.
Steve.