Hi SMT, I stumbled across your channel and boy am I glad I did…. I’ve been binge watching your video clips…I live in Bradenton Fla and am a retired Amtrak Conductor on the Northeast Corridor, and my Dad was born in Barre Vt, and his parents lived in the same house in Barre Vt since 1935. The railroad bug bit me when I was younger and took the Amtrak Montrealer to Montpelier Jct. Vt and well that’s all she wrote. After High School, applied to Amtrak and got hired as a train attendant on board the Auto Train and after 5 years, became a Conductor, on the corridor… I wanted to tell you that I went to Zitniks Trains because I had watched your video clip and while you were there a guy walked in and I said I know you, your the gentleman from a you tube video that a young man from Canada did… he said I am.. I can’t remember his name but I’m sure you know who I’m talking about very nice guy… Keep up the GREAT job, your very talented and knowledgeable and entertaining, and have a lot of great information to share. I have subscribed and rang the bell!! One of your many adoring fans, Bob Campbell Bradenton Florida

shady??? these are real ppl! Ebay is actually my go to place to get model trains apart from stores. you can usually tell how sketchy it is and you can easily message the seller to find out about the legitimacy. I've sold some stuff on ebay as well.

I have a Bachmann Daylight as well as a MTH American Freedom Train 4449 and both run real well! I bought the daylight 4-6 years ago and run well to this day! Thanks SMT for you AWSOME channel!

The "And we got a runner!" Always make me smile

that blue Santa Fe looked custom-done, and HOLY MOLY, was that a high quality custom

Hi, I just happened on one of your vids a couple days ago and have been watching them ever since. I don't have any trains, but I have traveled on quite a few in my younger days - to name a few the El Capitan, the L&N Pan American, the SP Sunset Limited and several others - those days are gone forever. The only model train I ever had was one of those Aerotrains, back in 1952 - I burned out the transformer because I left it on so the train would be idling like the real locos - I was only 6, so I had no clue. My favorite trains were always passenger trains pulled by EMDs (don't know which are Fs and which are Es that well, tho ) and Alco PAs. I live in Southern Indiana, directly across from Louisville, KY & within sight of the K&I RR bridge which is owned by Norfolk Southern & also used by CSX; the NS tracks run right past my front door - maybe 20 metres about a dozen trains every day - the CSX are only visible when the trees are bare - they run to my left, going north. When I was burning up that transformer, I would visit my aunt; she had a back porch view of the L&N route - the C&O also used it for the George Washington for a nickel a spike - she had a hardware store down stairs with a sandbox in the back - I'd sneak out of that to go across the street and watch the trains, there were still some kettles running in those days, too. My father was a Railway Express clerk and I got to ride with him once from Cleveland to Buffalo and back in an REA car - not sure if it was the Nickel Plate or the Erie. I get a lot of pleasure watching you and all the stuff you can do with your locos and you remind me a bit of my grandson - not sure where you live - he's in Fergus. I enjoy watching you open all the great stuff people send you! Keep on posting!

I saw a great northern 2-6-6-2 on there that I bought, so I'm guessing you made this video before I bought it lol

The real trick to buying locomotives off of eBay is knowing the quality of your manufacturers (some are very good, some not so much) and carefully reading the item description.

I used to have a UP center cab switcher like that years ago. I've been looking for another one. That Proto Conrail looks sweet. I really like that Proto Rio Grande; it sounds very smooth.

Quite a mix there, cheap low end AHM, a Proto 2000 SW1200, a Tyco chrome engine and maybe another Proto SD9.

It's not that they are shady, motr of the fact that you may never get them or get a box with a brick in it The #1 problem with American ebay sellers is they have things listed cheap but jack up the shipping to stupid levels.

12:25 The handrails are the hardest thing to preserve.

I have a giant number of 0 gauge Lionel and Marx I'll be selling soon on ebay. Time to downsize seeing I'm 73. I'm glad to see young folks still like toy trains. Thanks for the video.

I had one of those Centercab switchers made by AHM back in the early 70's when I was a young lad. Mine had the silver and orange with the GE logo on it that came in a set one year for Christmas.

Both the Rio Grande SD7 and Conrail SW9/1200 were both part of the LifeLike Proto2000 line, the line that essentially introduced 'high detail'(and indeed was far beyond the rest of the pack) plastic locos to the hobby; shortly later the Proto1000 line was introduced to the market.The external differences is the immediate obvious characteristic that identifies one from the other: 2000 has mostly applied and more crisp detail, 1000 detail is mostly moulded on. Internally there are differences as well, primarily in the different variety of motors proper to the two lines. The SD7 has been fitted with KD couplers indicating it near certainly has been used on a layout, and a fair amount probably given its 'tired' look(handling, etc.).

4 definite runners and one in need of a little SMT TLC. Correct on the Aerotrain. Coaches basically made in the same way as buses as a cost saving measure by GM unfortunately from what I've heard they rode more like a truck or a city bus. Rock Island had one in intercity service the named the Jet Rocket and was quickly relegated to suburban commuter service and joined by the other Aerotrains when the other railroads that took a chance on them ( PRR,NYC and UP IIRC) traded them back to EMD and the Rock Island got them on the cheap.

I actually got a Life-Like proto 2000 SW-8 the other day and it has turned out to be one of my favorite locomotives. It’s an excellent runner!

Nice collection. It's a matter of how much fun did you have for your money!

The old Mainline locos sold by Palitoy have the same sleeve on axle problem. I think Bachmnan came out of that mind, so explains a lot

4:00 The original disneyland train was modelled after the aerotrain. But they had to save money so they kitbashed with some old pickups.

for the Union Pacific Switcher, I'm predicting there's a worm drive on a loose axle that can move forwards and backwards slightly, and in forward, it's being pulled forward, and in reverse, it's pressing back into something

Cool lot SMT, glad to see they're all runners! Incidentally, the Santa Fe blue and silver paint job is a prototype scheme, albeit a rare one but there are videos that show them just before and after the Amtrak takeover of passenger service, although I think that scheme was only applied to a handful of the roads F units so it may not be correct for the Alco you have. Also if decide to get replacement handrails for the Conrail unit, you might try Walthers parts and service since they have all of the former Life-Like tooling.

When I had ho I had a few proto 2000 locomotives.i never had a problem with them. They are dcc ready. Wish I could get them in n scale

Great little lot. I have a few of the proto's and quite pleased with them.

Harrison, if you're ever in Arizona (US) for some random reason, search up "Obie's Trains" . It's an old hobby shop in Apache Junction and has a titanic load of O scale to N scale trains.

Looks Cool! I like the High Nose Diesel Train!

I have several Life Like proto 2000 locomotives I bought between 1999 and 2002, and even though they were brand new, never used, every one of those pressure fit center axle gears on every locomotive had to be replaced. Never out of the box, never ran, yet just in storage those axles cracked.

I have the D&GR Sd-9 and it is a beautiful locomotive but the shell does like to pop sometimes other than that it’s a fantastic model and when it runs she runs

That Proto 2000 Rio Grande unit is an SD7. Those are nice looking even by today’s standards and are great runners. The Proto six-axle units do not suffer from the split gear issue, but they sometimes have power problems with the axles, I believe you worked on an E9 in a recent video that suffered from the axle problem. Nice locomotives though…

Five out of six runners? Damn!!! That's a pretty good average!!! Nice lot, Harrison!

I got some brand new F3 B unit off of Ebay for about 80 dollars, and it had a decoder in it, and it's probably the strongest unit on my layout

2:42 speaking of Chicago&NorthWestern I was so lucky that I bought CNW SD60 and A SD40 on eBay. Those were the last ones left

I have some brass. Ill say this much, they are pullers! Back in the day, AHM wasnt really good stuff, 4 wheel drive, junk can motor, no flywheels, ran like crap, couldnt pull much. Gun range targets to me.

I had trouble with a power torque eventually I became obsessed with only replacing the the cover thing than examining the actual drive thing (only because it broke in 2 places)

From a decent mix you got quite a good deal. Also, I have seen some really shady deals where things were not as the picture showed

get 3d printed axle centers for those bachmann daylights and they are good to go so long as they have the square holes that is if they have the circular ones then quartering will still be a pain and it will likely slip anyway if the tender has the kunckle coupler box instead of the horn hook then it likely has the square holes

Santa Fe had red, yellow, and blue warbonnet schemes on its cab units. But that Lionel unit looked custom painted.

Piko Still Makes that Athearn Hustler, it even has a rubber band drive!

That was fun, we took bets to see how many would run I said all of them I won. Thanks. 🤗

Hello Harrison… I hope your day is going well….Thank YOU, son so much for your kind words and I’m so happy you liked my story… I shared the Vermont part because your in Canada 🇨🇦, and spent a lot of time in your Montreal… Fun City!!! 😜 So I didn’t know how else to share this with you, but it does go with you EBAY Clip….. I’ve started modeling O scale now that I have time on my hands since retiring…. Anyway, I bought a Amtrak Meteoliner set off of eBay , Brand New, never been on the track or out of the box…. Well it arrived today, I was so excited…. The very first car I took out of the box, the truck fell out and dangled by the wires… 😳…. That’s issue 1, Issue 2 the headlight and ditch lights on the engine went dark after about a 30 mins running….. ARE YOU KIDDING ME???? So angry and upset, too bad your not closer, but Florida is a distance away…. BRAND NEW NEVER OPERATED AMTRAK F4OPH and 3 cars… GRRRRR…. I guess I’m going to a hobby store tomorrow…. Or buy a plane ticket to Canada… 😂🤣 Bob Campbell Bradenton Florida… Email me ? If you like… Campbellvisa@gmail.com

A long awaited video

Wow great new video today .With lot's of detail.

Yayyy I was so excited to see this!!!!

Not bad 6 runners and a almost runner 👍

I have 4 1980's old Bachmann and 3/4 are completely broken.

I agree!! I got taken but a seller on an HO engine that “ran”. Well the motor ran but the frame was cracked and the engine did not run!!!!!

That rio grande sd40 high hood would be perfect with a dcc socket for my layout

I like the proto 2000 switcher locomotive it is a nice looking engine.

If you have free time you can search old trains and kids trains and you can find some things moms are selling when their kids grow up for fairly cheap. A little tlc and it works pretty well usually

I got a proto 2k from trains on ebay for 40 bucks a while back train came in perfect condition n runs great

ty,luv your shows

I love the fact seeing difference in CA dollars vs us dollars in prices is weird to see but still very cool lot you bought .

That lionel loco is an actual lionel loco, its based off of the O Scale Alcos released all throughout the 50s to 90s

Buying locomotives off of Ebay is definitely a roll of the dice. I have bought several that turned out to be good runners. I bought a Lionel steamer, however, that was overall in very good condition but had a broken drive gear at the middle axle and will never run unless I find a replacement axle at a train show or something.

That strange 0-4-0 with the loop coupler is an old ATT/Mantua locomotive

Can't wait to see this video

I think that FA-1 is an actual paint scheme, because I think some Santa Fe engines IRL had that paint scheme, I think it was called a Blue Bonnet paint scheme

Pick up a spirit of 70 similar to your silver streak.Has the power torque motor it runs, but it's noisy.What do you suggest

Yeah I had that problem with my buckman daylight and that little wafer motor was crap

In the end you can always do a scrapyard-diorama...

I had an O scale Santa fa like that blue one back in the early 2000s

Beginners should only buy the metal Mantua engines. The Shifter, Little Six, General, Mikado, and Pacific are the best!

What do you do with all the rolling stock you've gathered? Collection? Fix and flip? ...hoarding?

Five out of six ain’t bad! Thanks again

The big boy looks like it has been in the attic in a while loll

I experienced a few of these locos as a kid in the seventies. Interesting but bit sad. They were too jerky to switch with, lower gearing and some flywheels would have helped, but the manufacturers did not do that.

It wasn’t mentioned if you cleaned the wheels or not. I’d suggest doing that (rubbing alcohol on a tissue or q tip) before tearing them open. Sometimes a degreasing and clean rail contact is all they need. The Silver Streak acted like carbon build up on the treads.

Turned out to be a good lot. Really like that Conrail switcher

that rio grande loco is beautiful

Here Is a Video Idea, Modernizing a power tork. Put all wheel pickups a new drive system with can moter and additional detail.

It's not bad on the rolling stocks. I mean I got alot of them. Nowadays they jacked up the prices and I feel like it's not worth buying used rolling stock that cost to much. I finally got me Jupiter, yes its used. The smoke stack does fall off, but can be super glued. The 4 wheels does tend to fall off but will figure that part out. At least I'm happy for what I got. I also have Lionel SP4449 HO scale DC brand spanking new. You never know what good deals you might find.

Yeah I only buy atlas smooth running not a flaw I’ve been in it for over 50 years and I still love it❤️

Once in Duluth there was a Lionel of a train Union pacific passenger train

I got a model train from a train show and when I ran it on my layout It wouldn’t run. I took it to a model train expert and he said it was completely broken. Lesson learned, don’t be shady models!

Hey smt my daylight has the wire between the loco and tender. It broke. Should I sawtter the wire or take it to the shops. I have the dcc version

What’s ur thought on the Johnson wax tyco set

I wouldnt test your luck with the Silver Strek locomotive. I had one. I say had, because, I was running it one day and it all of a sudden stopped moving. I was just about to see what was wrong when I noticed that the motor was on fire and it was melting the body (it melted the ties on the track underneath it too). I rushed it to the sink and doused it in water and soap, but the damage was done. the body was melted in the middle and the motor casing was still hot for about 30 minutes after I soaked it. We let it sit for an hour to be safe and when it was all said and done, we threw it away. I wouldnt risk it if I were you.

LOL I just bought a Conrail switcher that looks almost exactly like this one

SMT - An interesting video popped up when I was on You Tube today. The video was titled, " MODEL RAILROAD, 1950's from Sterling Films " . The video is a film of a club layout that has O scale, " Outside Third Rail " track & rolling stock. I think you might find it interesting! The video is 8:17 in length.

3:07 yeah that bullet train looks cool 3:50 along with that turbo train

Lionel used to make a blue o gauge santa fe ive been wanting one i know they made a ho one to

Hi SMT i like these all ho scale trains I got the one ho scale train Union Pacific and also I like ho scale collection you have beacuse i like you 🧑🚂 👱❤️

Judging by that face this is going to be a very fun train video

Nice gaming chair

Many eBay sellers jack up the shipping. Need to watch that

I would have gotten that German 2-6-0 that you kept scrolling past.

$160 for a 1980s Bachmann engine apparently with no tender? What? If you're happy with what you got, then you did okay. I had one of those Conrail switchers and swapped the shell with something else.

The thumbnail photo is priceless

That was a good video

Buying HO scale locomotives in Ebay. I gonna buy N scale trains in Marketplace. Locomotives. Freight cars and passengers.

Ebay is good unless you dont live in the US or Canada and buy something on Ebay from someone who is in the US or Canada, then your package goes through the Ebay global shipping department where it is liable to get slashed carelessly

That conrail looks really sharp

Hey SMT I was wondering if you accept fanmail? I've got an old marx hudson that I feel would be in good hands with you. I even have a parts engine that I could send with it.

The small up and atsf switcher look like ge 44 toners

Hello i was wondering if you can help me fix my problem with my tyco Chattanooga tender driven train. The motor is a pancake motor and its drive rod is just spinning awfully or slipping in the little gear. Every time i use super glue it breaks the glue and starts slipping again. any way or advice you can give to help a old Tyco Chattanooga run again? If you need more information let me know

i finally saw one of my favourite locomotive in this video, a GG1-eletric locomotive

Ebay is just hilarious, always finding weird models with bizarre paint jobs

SMT I have a Santa Fe 8-wheeler but I got it and I have a Santa Fe sd or gp type that is not working and I don't know what to fix it.

Hey SMT! I have been around since your 500 subscriber mark! I remember watching your videos everyday and I tuned into your streams! I still love watching your videos as well.

Harrison.Thoughts???workin on a Athern/Lionel?? HO NY Navy Yard #51blue shunter. Band-drive.Never seen it.