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Doodlebug

 
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Old Coyote



Joined: 28 Jan 2018
Posts: 249
Location: High Point, NC

PostPosted: Fri Jun 21, 2019 2:17 pm    Post subject: Doodlebug Reply with quote

My father built "O Gauge" model trains and ran them on a layout that took up an entire 3-car garage and looped out into the back yard. I never got the train "bug", but I was fascinated watching him work with wood, metal, and plastic while building his collection.

My father died of a heart attack in 1976, and some of his collection has followed me around for over 40 years. I recently found one of the prizes of his collection, a partially destroyed Santa Fe motor car which he built originally in 1940. After studying the remains to this unique vehicle, I set out to rebuild this 79 year of piece of history. My intention was to just clean it up and fix as much of the damage as I could, leaving as much of his original build as possible.

The motorized passenger cars were unique little vehicles called "Doodlebugs". They plied the rural, low volume lines where large trains would be totally unprofitable. The unit I fixed represents a Santa Fe Doodlebug which I remember running the rails in the Texas Panhandle and New Mexico in the early 1950's when I was a child.

Below are three pictures of what I started with, and four of my completed project.















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Henryjint



Joined: 28 Jan 2018
Posts: 1957
Location: NY State's Hudson Valley

PostPosted: Fri Jun 21, 2019 3:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Nice job! I still enjoy my O gauge trains, now running them with my grandkids.
You made dad proud with your rebuild!!!
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sentsat71



Joined: 03 Feb 2018
Posts: 1237
Location: Fenton, IA

PostPosted: Sat Jun 22, 2019 7:38 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

WOW!!
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Firefly



Joined: 28 Jan 2018
Posts: 808
Location: New Jersey

PostPosted: Sun Jun 23, 2019 8:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

This is great. I have some '30s era Lionels that were my mom's I need to clean up and restore...
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Henryjint



Joined: 28 Jan 2018
Posts: 1957
Location: NY State's Hudson Valley

PostPosted: Tue Jun 25, 2019 2:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

If anybody is interested the upcoming August issue of Trains has an article all about Doodlebugs and similar types.
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randy ayers
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Joined: 28 Jan 2018
Posts: 209
Location: Mills River, NC

PostPosted: Fri Jun 28, 2019 12:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

WOOOOOW!!!
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Modeling Planes and Space, then Drag Racing, then NASCAR were my favorites over the years and lately back to planes and space!
WIP Skylab... as I see it if it had all gone as planned!
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