Yes… here on Brass HO Trains we see that even musicians like Model Trains. The musicians who had been interested in model trains include Bruce Springsteen, Claude Bolling, Roger Miller, Phil Collins, etc. Roger Daltrey, the lead singer of Who is known to have been building an extensive European HO layout in his loft. John Entwistle, also performs for Who and is an adherent collector of HO models. Merle Haggard, the country singer had been an active HO modeller, he recorded an album titled “My love affair with Trains”. Tommy Hunter has a layout built in his basement while Elton John, the rock star has a garden railroad.

Vaughn Monroe, the singer, trumpeter, leader of the Vaughn Monroe Orchestra has yet another addition to his titles as a railroad modeller. He used to relax by tinkering with his model trains and build his own HO scale locomotives. He missed his trains so much that he wished he could carry a small layout during his trips. Johnny Cash, the country music singer and song writer is very fond of Lionel model trains and Frank Sinatra has an extensive Lionel layout in his home. Gil Melle, the Jazz saxophonist was a frequent contributor to Rail Model Craftsman.

Mel Torme was so passionate about his model trains that he preferred his trains to his wife and divorced her. Almost 80% of his collection was vintage lionel or tin-plate and the collection was in near-pristine condition. Neil Young, the rock star, was a part owner of Lionel trains and had a trailer consisting of Lionel layout, which he carried with him in his tours. Rod Stewart, the famous rock star, was rich and bought many brass models for his collection. He was known to have two layouts, one in LA, where the collection of the Pennsy is built and one at his home, Epping, with English East Coast line in British Railways days.

There are many more such famous personalities and others who have been into the collection of Brass HO trains and trains of other models.

Bachmann Trains Rail King Ready-To-Run HO Scale Train Set

Brass HO Trains

In this post on Brass HO Trains we look at celebrities who like model trains. As George Bernard Shaw said, “We don’t stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing.” Model cars have always been a fancy for the young and the old alike. One thing about the hobby is that the modeller can do anything with whatever he or she has in the collection and keep the number same or add more models to it. With a whole lot of suppliers and importers, the collectors can make the display a detailed version, playful or just display whatever is available. The Brass HO trains have been the most popular and expensive hobby, but the other scales like O, N, G, etc have also been given importance.

There have been a lot of people who are interested in the railroad and model trains and the list also includes the various celebrities who have been into the hobby. Actors like Yul Brynner, Whoopi Goldberg, David Hasselhoff, Mandy Patinkin, Donald Sutherland, etc have known to be passionate about the hobby. Patrick Stewart was quoted as saying he is a big-time railway buff. Joe Regalbuto, the famous actor of “Murphy Brown” had his garden railroad featured in “Garden Railways” magazine. Micheal Gross, the actor of “Family Ties” is a passionate train fan and a railway historian, photographer and modeller. He always preferred train journeys to flying. James Doohan of Star Trek was seen in a TV Guide issue working on the brake cylinder of a coach in the L.A. area railroaders club; he also had a huge collection of model trains at home. The actor of “Different Strokes” is interested in Lionel trains, and does them as realistically as possible. The famous Walt Disney has a live steam and various other models and interest in model trains.

The famous television personalities like anchors of reality shows and newscasters have also been interested in model trains. Tom Brokow had been concentrating on Brass HO trains. Roseanne Barr, Jay Leno, Sally Jesse Raphael, Tom Snyder, Arthur Godfrey, etc. have been known to have great railroad collections. Jim Scancarelli, the cartoonist of the famed “Gasoline Alley” had his photos featured in Walthers catalog.

Various musicians like Roger Miller, Johnny Cash, Phil Collins, Roger Daltrey, etc have also shown interest in the model railroading hobby. The race car drivers who were interested in the model railroad include Danny Sullivan, Richard Patrese,  and Sam Posey. Micheal Jordan, the famous basketball player is rumoured to be a model railroader. Ed Dougherty, the pro golfer is fond of Lionel models and houses his collection in  a two-storey building behind his home. Joe DiMaggio and Roy Campanella are baseball players who like to collect Lionel model trains.

Brass HO Trains

MTS imports, Inc. has been a dealer of Brass HO trains for a long time now. It also has O scale Brass model trains and a few other non-brass model trains. The online store has a homepage that lists the upcoming models of HO brass model trains, apart from the currently available models. One can browse through the various models along with their photos to find out the right one to add to their collection. After deciding, the order or reservation form can be used to place an order, where the information on warranties and train shows are also included.

Among the currently available in the model HO trains, the Ferry truck Car with removable Trailers, Line car, Baldy Elevated cars, Bench Open Trolley, Center Entrance City Cars, Forney Locomotive and the Rail Diesel Cars available along with other models. The upcoming Brass HO trains include the San Diego SD-100 Light Rail Vehicle, BMT Bluebird articulated subway car, New York central series car, Pacific Electric Steeple cab, Liquid Chlorine Tank Car and the CTA 3200 series Morrison-Knudson Rapid Transit car are open for reservations.

A detailed listing of the HO scale models, O scale products and the Non-brass models are presented in a separate page of the website. All products are presented with their features like paint characteristics or colour schemes, number of cars or trucks, numbering or lettering details, powering features and so on. The pricing is mentioned in a separate column for each. Other information about warranty, reservation policy and ordering/shipping information, etc are all mentioned in a separate page.

Apart from the Brass HO trains and the brass O scale products, the non-brass HO and O scale products are listed along with the features and photos. These include model trains and subway car kits. The subway kits have one piece carbody and are available in custom assembly and painting versions.

Brass HO Trains

Uncle Dave’s is a website that trades all kinds of Brass HO trains. Here one can find the latest additions of the company that are new productions and older models as they are authorized dealer for major importers of HO brass model trains. One can also reserve for future brass releases. Most important of all, they value your collection and buy the consignment from the collectors. Apart from HO model trains, they also stock and deal with buying and selling O, N, S and Large scales of model trains and train sets and geared logging locomotives from all scales. All models are handcrafted in brass and are fully assembled sets.

Several models are available that are finished in natural brass. The HO brass model trains are available in various models. The website contains information about the older models and also new releases. One can reserve the upcoming models online to make sure they get the train set for their collection. Apart from the train sets, many types of railroad structures, caboose, and diesel models are available. Some of the HO model trains include unpainted tank locomotive wood cab, can motor types that run on narrow gauge. The unpainted locomotive Brooklyn elevated railway, the HO steam engines are among the other engines available. Some of the coaches are also found here that are 48- or 56- seat coaches. Accessories like single track with 2 wood walkways and side rails, Brill 10 bench open trolley, Ex-troop kitchen car, ride control trucks, converted freight service with roof walk and end ladders, etc have gained popularity among people who collect the model trains.

The beautiful brass bridges for the Brass HO trains are the latest attraction. They are available in various colours such as steel gray, silver, black, oxide red and natural brass. The dimensions of the 60 foot HO scale bridge are 20 cm long, 2.8 cm wide and 2.6 cm high. The 80 foot HO scale bridge has dimensions of 28.6 cm long, 2.8 cm wide and 2.6 cm high. The Truss bridges are also available in Uncle Dave’s collection.

At Uncle Dave’s the brass collections are valued and bought by them. Cash is paid for individual pieces or any size collection. The retail price can be set by the collector and the set is displayed on the website, so that other collectors can get them, and if the model is not sold within 30 days, Uncle Dave’s buy the items.

The current new items of the Brass HO trains and other scales include Dynamometer car, Northern Pacific Fishbelly wood reefer and Gas Electric motor car, etc. Among the latest engines, the OMI union Pacific engine series. Southern Pacific class tender, Forney NY elevated and the PSC Southern Pacific series from the various manufacturers are imported and displayed.

Brass HO Trains

In this post Brass HO Trains talks about the Atlas Model Trains Company. The Atlas Model Railroad Company, was founded by Stephan Schaffan Sr., an immigrant from Czechoslovakia, in 1924, as a general machine shop in New Jersey.His son Steve Jr. was interested in building model airplanes and was friendly with a local hobby shop owner. With a drive to venture into new avenues of earning money, Steve Jr. took up the challenge of improving the model track parts when the owner suggested it.

Model trains were famous in those days, but the railroads and other accessories were not available. Steve Jr. created a “switch kit” that was an instant hit. This lead to the invention of stapling of rail to fiber track, rail joiner, pre-assembled turnouts and flexible track. The range of accessories encouraged the hobby of model railroading and Steve Jr. realized that he could make it a business. While the factory was built in 1947, Atlas Tool Company Inc. was officially incorporated as a New Jersey company.

The most popular products from Atlas are Super-Flex track, Snap-Switches, Custom-line Turnouts and more and was known for its reliability and durability. The product range has expanded since then covering almost every aspect of HO and N scale model railroading. There are about 40 freight car types in more than 550 paint schemes in the N scale and HO train sets are available in over 25 different freight car types in more than 265 paint schemes; not to mention the ever expanding future range of products. The N scale locomotives and HO locomotives are well known for their prototypical detailing, printing, reliability, excellent throttle response and also smooth running. The fantastic range of electrical components available along with clear and precise instructions also attract more people towards this hobby. An array of layout instruction books complete the requirements of the train collection hobby.

The new range of accessories for Brass HO train sets include Market place products like fruit stands, display rock and signs; stylish diner areas with interior tables, benches, window glazing; car wash construction with open bay office area, air filling station, etc; drive-through bank with drive-through lanes and ATM; Substation and Transformer. The train set products include HO track Cleaning Car, HO Ford Fairmont Sedan, HO Trainman sets, HO 40’ standard-height container and HO die-cast vehicles, all with new paint schemes.

The N scale products have also expanded into new models like N 20,700 Gallon Tank Car, N Trainman Cupola Caboose, Trainman sets, 50’ Single Door box car, N GP series of locomotives, 3560 covered Hopper and many others, again with new paint and number schemes.

The enthusiasm and high standard of Steve Schaffan is now about 50 years old, but has never come down. Atlas is still the leader in innovation and technology in model railroad industry with the train sets that come along with the accessories, and continue to produce quality, precision products that are durable, reliable and keep the model railroad collector coming for more.

Brass HO Trains

Derailment is a common problem that occurs in all the working model trains, including the Brass HO trains. The key is to identify the problem and the finding out how to fix it. The problems can be identified based on the performance of the train.

If the derailment is occurring at a particular place of the layout, there can be various reasons for this to happen. One of the cars might not have been placed perfectly on the track. There may be a switch at that place which is out of its boundary or popping up the track to cause the derailment. Any scenery or remodeling done at the particular spot may have caused some changes in the track.

If a particular car keeps derailing, then the wheels and the couplers need to be checked. The height of the coupler, magnetic part of the coupler that can be bent at a bad-angle, etc may cause the derailment. The couplers have to be lubricated using a little puff of powedered graphite Teflon. Usually, they do not need any lubrication unless the sideframes make noise. Oil is not recommended for HO brass model trains.

Dirt can build up on the wheels of rolling stock of Brass HO trains, or the tread part. The wheelsets have to be in gauge and centered on the axles. It is best checked while buying the piece. If they go out of gauge, they can usually be adjusted by twisting the wheel along the axle till they are in the right alignment. This has to be done very carefully though.

Sometimes the car in the front or behind the derailing car would be the culprit. If the car has not been put in correctly, then it can cause derailment of the next one.

The rail joints need to be aligned carefully and properly fitted to the next one. Bumps can be found that would result from something under the roadbed or track, or insecure nailing of the track. Using a filer to smooth the top and inside corner at the joints can be done if required.

Sometimes the freight cars can weigh less and fail to perform accurately. The weight of the car body has to be minimum possible and they need to be centered and secured to avoid sliding out of position. The mounting of the truck on the car needs to be done in a way such that they swivel freely. If there is stiffness, the wheel flanges into the railheads and disturbance occurs.

These little things, if taken care of immediately after they are identified, will go a long way in making your prized collection of Brass HO trains a thing to envy. A few minutes of adjustments that are made, even in front of the visitors, can lessen the number of problems that occur in future.

Brass HO Trains

In this article Brass HO Trains talks about the history of HO Model Trains and how they can be traced back to the period soon after World War II. The Japanese craftsmen were producing exact replicas of the trains using high quality brass. The Americans who were stationed in Japan noticed these and got their favorite train models made using photographs. These model trains were accurate to the scale and were completely hand-made.

These brass trains were made in the HO scale, i.e., 1:87 the size of the real trains. The OO trains, which were double the size of these HO trains, were more popular in United Kingdom, where they were developed in response to the economic pressures of the depression.  Though HO trains were invented in the 1930s, they gained popularity by the year 1950s, when the interest in model railroad as toys was taken over by hobbies of collecting realistic items. Also, the brass O scale trains were found to take up too much space. Importers like Max Gray, Westside Model Company did the job of getting the Japanese manufactured trains to the American market.

One advantage of using brass was that it is non-magnetic and thus enable the motors to run smoothly. The crafting and sculpturing is also more easy in brass. Most of the models were hand-made and hand-soldered. The brass models were bought by people because they can operate them and make them run on the tracks and scenery that are constructed using similar scales, rather than just displaying them on display cases. It required a lot of effort on the part of the worker. As the demand grew, the HO brass model trains started becoming more expensive.The models that were once $50 to $100 now come in at $10,000, not to mention those that are sold in auctions at about $30,000.

Original versions of the brass trains were not painted. The grills, wheels and other accent parts were however, nickel-plated. As the demands of the market grew, some trains were painted in graphite and black to make them look realistic. Sometimes, water stains and rust marks were added here and there to make it look all the more original.

Gradually, the interests were also setting in to get collections from particular manufacturer that made the Brass HO trains. So, the collectibles were based on the road or train company name that they are collecting.

The manufacture of the train models continued in Japan until the 1970s, after which they were made in South Korea. The new manufacturers had a lot to improve, which they did, until the modern day Brass HO trains are now being made and collected as a hobby and interest. A collection of the brass trains would not bring in much money as such and people import them only out of interest, to be appreciated and enjoyed by his fellow collectors.

Read more at Brass HO Trains

When a person has an opportunity to start a collection, the first thing they usually do is try to discover a great resource that will provide them all the information they will need to start their selection.   Once they have achieved a high level of knowledge or at least an understanding of where to start they will begin to look into how to start their collection.  

This often incorporates finding kits or starting pieces to help lay the foundation for the direction you hope to take your collection.   For a model train collector this often starts with deciding whether they want to collect antique trains, OO scale trains or HO brass model trains.

For a train collector the idea of collecting antique trains is a great venture if you are looking for a high valued collection.   This pursuit can often be considered boring since your antique models are often stored in cases for preservation, limiting any interactive feature to your collecting pursuit.   The OO scale trains represent one of the oldest forms of functional train collection possibilities.  

This form of collection can be associated with the individuals who enjoy building scale model landscaping and have entire rooms or basements dedicated to this pursuit.   While the interactive options of OO scale trains are attractive, they take a tremendous amount of space in a home as a result of their size.

The issue of size is often a leading reason that model train enthusiasts look towards HO brass model trains.   HO brass model trains are named HO for often being half the size of the traditional OO scale trains.   The half size available with HO brass model trains allows a collector to collect the same style and quality model trains as the OO scale train while greatly reducing the demand on space.  

In addition, with an HO brass model trains collection you can take advantage of being able to place more accessories and accents on your built HO brass model trains environment since the reduced size does not limit your design opportunities.

When you are looking to start your HO brass model trains collection there are many great brands that you can purchase to customize your collection.   The leading brands found with HO brass model trains are Broadway limited HO trains and Marklin HO trains.   With Broadway limited HO trains and Marklin HO trains you can invest in a quality product that offers all the same details and functionality as the more traditional OO scale train models.  

In order to discover more on the opportunities related to Broadway limited HO trains and Marklin HO trains along with a premier source of information to aid you in your HO brass model trains collection visit www.brasshotrains.com

Welcome to Brass HO Trains,

HO Scale is a type of model train.  It is a reference to the size of the model in comparison to the actual object that’s being modelled.  This ratio is 1:87.  So for any item found on the real train the model train’s item will be 87 times smaller. So if your train is 87 feet long then the model is 1 foot in length. The HO scale is the most popular and thus the easiest to find parts. As an example here’s a list of the more popular items and brands in this range: Athearn HO trains,  Bachmann HO trains,  Locomotives HO,  Broadway Limited HO trains, Marklin HO trains, Lionel HO trains and electric trains.

Join us on this site to explore all the toys in this space