Search the Community

I have 3 Aristocraft U25B Chessie System engines that I'm helping someone sell. - Very clean/excellent condition. - Appear to have light run time - No sound / control - Kadee couplers installed $215 each + shipping

Will start this thread to post and share the latest Aristocraft sales available. As new sales are available in the future, post them here. 4/1/2013: (PCC Trolley sale) http://www.aristocraft.com/PCC-Trolleys-Aristo-Craft-G-Gauge-Model-Trains_c_12.html

Very sorry to report the bad news: Polk’s Will Close Its Doors 12-31-13 October 1st, 2013 Since 1935, we have provided service and innovation to the Hobby industry. In this latest downturn, we cut back staff to the minimum required to survive. Then the government battle over the debt ceiling drove the consumer market down even further. We’ve managed to stay in business, but the continued depression for the consumer has caused us to fall into debt that is unsustainable. We have put several million dollars into product development over recent years, but the need for customers to cut back on non-essentials has caused this investment to be lacking in returns. We have seen leisure activities like golf courses plunge in popularity, as funds for such recreation have dried up. It seems to be the same for hobby time investments. Our products are no longer inexpensive as they were in the 1930s-era Depression. The cost of manufacturing along with minimum production runs and long lead times has caused a lack of ability to continue as a sustainable entity. It’s no longer a business! It has been a pleasure to help our creative consumer base to enjoy their hobby and we have no regrets in doing so. Our business grew every year until the 2008 as the recession caused a shrinking of the mindset to stay active in our large-scale model train arena. We know that smaller scales have remained viable, but the higher cost of Large Scale trains and the space required to run them have not maintained their share of the market. Our airplane R/C portion of our business was lost when our patented frequency changer was lost to the 2.4Ghz portion of the marketplace, with no frequency compounds needed any longer. For 80 years, the Polk family has made a fair living in the Hobby industry. I can’t help but remember the scores of co-workers that have helped make this organization as special as it was. Thanks to them all, but notably: Gil Rose, B.M. Song, J.K. Kim, Sam Kimm, Tom Flynn, Cliff Crane, Charlie Binder, Marvin Binder, John and Sherry Shievdayal, Aixa Lebron, Joe Bamberger, David Newell, Walter Matuch, John Mikesh, Navin Shievdayal, Marguerite Hubert (Rose), Michael J. Vickey, Jonathan Polk, Scott Polk, Fred Polk, Irwin Polk, Nathan Polk, Maryann Polk Bob Calandra, George Adams, Michael Hauptmann and so many others, it would take a book to list them all. While I can’t list all the hundreds that were part of the team, they remain in my heart and mind. Our humble thanks to our loyal customers. Our apologies for not being able to keep this almost 80-year-old business going. It’s a heartbreaker for us all. All the best, The Polk Family Polk's Hobby 698 S. 21st St. Irvington New Jersey 07111 United States

One issue I encountered on my layout for some time was the periodic issue of rolling stock (freight and passenger) wheels occasionally hitting the frog point and sometimes derailing when entering the mainline from the side of the switch. After watching the cars go through the switches and doing some testing I determined that the wheels were being allowed to move too far over when going through the frog allowing the wheel's flange to catch, sometimes ride up on and others derailing on the frog. The cause of this was the flange rail guide on the other side (other rail) for that path wasn't over far enough (closer to the other rail) to actually touch the passing wheel and thus guide the wheel/truck through the frog properly. As you can see in the first photo, the flange guides are already as close to rail as possible as the bottom of the rails are touching. Here is the original flange guide configuration: What I found necessary was to remove the flange guides and grind down the lower base of the flange guide rail with a bench grinder to allow the top rail of the flange to be moved close enough to the outer rail to actually have an impact. As a part of this I gave the flange guide a slight bend and ground down the top edge of each end to provide a little more gradual transition. On the bottom of the switch, you may need to open up the retaining screw hole in the tie so you can slide the rail over. Here is the final result: To determine the desired position, I took measurements of the back to back distance between the inside of the wheels of my diff mfg engines & rolling stock and picked a test car that was representative of the group and did testing. (particularly I used a car that was giving me a problem) The key was to move the flange out just enough so the rolling stock that was giving me the problem was properly guided through without causing binding with it or any other cars. This actually was fairly easy and found it to not be that big a problem to do. If you set it up so it just takes care of what you need for a specific car, you shouldn't have issues with the rest of the fleet... there will be enough play to allow slight variations in other engines and cars so that it works fine. Since the modification I've been perfectly happy and have had no problems. Love my affordable Stainless Steel #6 switches Hope someone finds this useful. Raymond

Copy of the Aristocraft Insider for March-April 2013: (NS Heritage paint scheme info) Link to the PDF: http://www.aristocraftforum.com/insiders/2013/INSIDER_MAR_APRIL_2013.pdf

How many of you guys have an Aristo 2-8-0 Consolidation? I'm curious if anyone that has one can post some pictures (maybe video) and share their thoughts on it. I know I saw one in Mark's video from one of his open houses but wasn't sure if someone had some vid of just it. Raymond