EEVblog #700 - Indiana Jones HO Scale Model Train Set

[EEVblog]

Dave rescues this awesome one-of-a-kind Indiana Jones themed HO scale model train set from the dumpster!
Complete with Ark of the covenant, Petra, the well of souls, the truck chase, the raft ride, the swing bridge, the plane, the mine cart chase, and the big boulder.
All he's got to do is take it apart...

[Skimask]

Borderline ridiculously and utterly cool!
And, as you said, massively depressing at the same time.

[RobertoLG]

Man!!! that's so cool!!! congrats 

[nixfu]

dave, dave, dave, dave..... /shakes head



Ok the best part will be the story of HOW you scored it.

[Dr. Frank]

Dave, don't cut the rails, if you don't have spare parts..

I had a Märklin HO (and FALLER http://www.faller.de/App/WebObjects/XSeMIPS.woa/cms/page/pid.14.17.89/agid.1127/ecm.ag/H0-Programm.html model houses..) when I was MUCH younger.. SIGH.. and it was a pain to get these parts having contact... and no chance today to get these old metal chunks .. so be especially careful , preferably try to get 'em off safely out from the ground..

Good luck and a lot of time to get it goin'
Frank

[devanno]

Dodgy wiring is not unexpected under most model RRs.  It never ceases to amaze me how many model RRers know little or nothing of the electricity and wiring for the stuff that runs their models.  I've seen some of the worst rats' nests of wires under layouts.  I support a large model RR club near Chicago (Elmhurst, IL) and we've done a huge amount of work to clean up that kind of mess... after all, we estimate that under our club layout there is something like 70 miles of wire.    Heck, the 12VDC switching (dual - load sharing) power supplies for lighting are rated at 17A each.  Currently, (no pun intended, but it works) we're drawing only about 5A from that supply... set for the future. :-)

I fear that the hobby shop may have "over done it" on displays and such... people come in to gawk and play, but probably just didn't buy.  That kind of overhead drives shops to list prices, and list prices for hobby stuff doesn't "play well" in today's marketplace.  Sad to see these local shops go... we lost one of our favorites just last year.

[grahamparks]

Any chance of working the phrase "And there's the Ark of the Covenant, down in there" into all future videos?

[free_electron]

should rename it to a Daviana Jones. Change the bull whip for a soldering iron ... The nazi's can be replaced with thru-hole components.

My nickname in school was Enginana jones...

[mikeselectricstuff]

You should set it up on the stand next time you do Electronex, to really confuse the industry types!

[RobertoLG]

Dave, did you get that lightsaber too???

[Tinkerer]

I am betting that they didnt bother trying to sell some of that stuff. I am amazed at some of the junk they left. That entire scenic set took alot of work and to just leave it behind, I have to think they didnt bother looking for people to grab that stuff or it would have been gone alot more quickly or gone period.
I wish I had a chance to grab something like that. I really do hope you have a nice place to put it.
And as mentioned above, dont cut the tracks! They will just slide apart easy if you separate them from the surface they are on.
I actually have a HO scale train set myself. Not currently assembled though, but do have some very nice engines for it.

As for the amount of work, hundreds of hours if I had to guess but could be more based on technique used. You set your base out, you carve up the foam and mold any plaster, base coat the foam/plaster, possibly put a base layer of flock/sand/gravel down but definitly paint, put other layers down, various addtions like trees after that, put gravel, put your final coatings to make things stick etc etc, all done by hand. Just to give an idea of the sort of work that can go into this sort of thing. And you have to take into account the amount of time it takes paint and glue and such to dry - tack that on to the time required if you have several people working at once.

[boffin]

Dave no problem to cut the tracks, you can use a couple of little joiners, or even braize them back together.  The track itself is something called "Flextrack", and you need these joiners to put it back together http://www.micromark.com/Rail-Joiners-for-Code-83-Rail-Pkg-of-50,8552.html

[eripaha]

This is not the type of content im expecting from your blog. 

[EEVblog]

This is not the type of content im expecting from your blog. 

I'm sorry you were FORCED to watch it, NOT 

[miguelvp]

This is not the type of content im expecting from your blog. 

Let me guess, you watched the whole thing?

meh, I do expect off the cuff videos so yeah this one and the ones to follow get my 

[SL4P]

It's really sad to see a store like that go under - for whatever reason.

The owners obviously had incredible patience and passion for the hobby kingdom, and a desire to engage their customers - unlike most businesses of today that are purely after shareholder/stakeholder value (no reply email please).

OK, the owners chose not to chase the almighty dollar for their own reasons, but I hope they can retire comfortably, while the kids of the northwest get back to their XBoxes and Play Stations  --- only as long as they promise never to create anything of their own, never imagine a real toy, and commit to make heaps of in-game purchases with mum & dad's credit card.

Virtual Fun - Whoopee!  Come on kids, join the vegetables and poke at lollies on screen !!  Yipee!

[digital]

Dave please be gentle when you take it apart to take home,the rougher you are in dismantling the display the more work you will have to do later and that would be a shame Regards

[EEVblog]

Dave please be gentle when you take it apart to take home

You mean like this?

[mikeselectricstuff]

Surely instead of messing with joining track you could just put a new section in - I presume it's made of standard track pieces?

[EEVblog]

Surely instead of messing with joining track you could just put a new section in - I presume it's made of standard track pieces?

Just cutting them and butt-joining them is vastly easier, and a standard way model train sets that are designed to be moved are joined. e.g. the big layouts that people take to the model train shows.
Yes it's standard HO track, and yes I could replace it, but to do so requires the rip-up of all the glued down ballast over and around the tracks, that's real ugly and would require me to redo all that and try to match the colour and type etc. The tracks do not simply lift off.

[pickle9000]

How many hours in the removal?

Model electric trains are EE related, practically mandatory as far a I know.

[EEVblog]

How many hours in the removal?

Not much, spent more time dicking around and rummaging through other stuff than actually taking it apart.

[EEVblog]

Ok the best part will be the story of HOW you scored it.

They have been closed down for months, and I've been meaning to try and find out who the owner was and a contact number (no email on website!), to see what would happen to the sets, but then I'd forget.
But often when I go past I'd check to see if the sets were still there.
Was driving by with Sagan the other week and he wanted a look, so there he was face pressed up against the glass looking really sad at the train set he used to play. The new store owner (lighting shop) was inside and saw him and invited us in. He gave Sagan a few leftover toys, and I asked about the Indy set. He said the local model railway society wanted it but took my number just in case they didn't.
The other day, bingo, I get a call saying they didn't want it and it's mine!

The moral of the story:
- Be in the right place at the right time (Who was it that said 90% of success is simply turning up?)
- Don't be afraid to ask

[rollatorwieltje]

This train set + + the live camera feed...

[mswhin63]

Nice score, At least the tracks are still available so they can be replaced and it will be in a more accessible place to carry out more sensitive  repairs too