Large Scale Central

Old Aristo Catalogs

I was cleaning up the storage shed over the weekend and I came across a box with a few old Aristocraft Catalogs 1996, 1997, 2000-2001. It was kinda fun looking through them again, I hadnt seen them in many years. In the 1997 catalog, they have pictures from various layouts…I wonder if some of these people are still in the hobby. Paul Dieffel, Elaine Silets, Chuck Kirschner, John Cassidy, Gerald Wadrep, Don Sweet.It looks like most of the “Coming Soon” items did make it into production.

I know Don Sweet is still around. He’s my go-to guy for TX-RX and such. He runs

RCS of New England

RCS of New England

Hi Guys, I am still here. Bob, I still have that 1997 catalog. Pretty neat photo in the snow here in New Hampshire. My earliest catalog is from 1991 with 43 pages of trains and a back section for radio controlled planes and boats.

I looked up my first large scale purchase. February 2 , 1985. LGB inspection hand car bought at TrainWorld. $37.95 plus 3.95 for shipping. Then in February 1985 I was hooked on G Scale and bought my first LGB European locos from Charles RO and it never stopped. In March of 1987 I picked up the LGB 2018 Mogul. In 1991 you could buy Aristo Craft tankers for $25 and the NH FA was $123.

This was a fun time during the growth of G Scale.

Bob and Ken when did you start in G Scale?

Keep having fun running trains

Don Sweet said:

Bob and Ken when did you start in G Scale?

Keep having fun running trains

Let me see. I was working in King of Prussia at the time and the Blue Route (I-476) had just opened, so I took a drive down to Rt 3 and stopped in at Nicholas Smith Trains. That was about 1989, 1990, somewhere around there. Saw the Bachmann Big Hauler “Prairie Flyer” set for $125 and picked it up. 460, Gramps Tank car, F&CC box car and a shorty caboose. Still got’em, still run’em.

After that I was kind of a regular at NST… (https://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif)(https://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif)

It would be cool to get those all scanned and archive them where people could download them.

I’d host the PDF files if needed. I’ve got the history of the company on my site already.

Greg

Don Sweet said:

Bob and Ken when did you start in G Scale?

Keep having fun running trains

I bought a Big Hauler set in 1992 to run around the Christmas tree. I started buying more G scale in 1996 when the boss approved an outdoor layout…then, before I could get track on the ground, she decided it would be a good time to move to bigger digs. After the move, I put the trains away for several years and in 2015 I broke ground on my current small patio layout. I hope to expand and do phase 2 in the spring, but we’ll see…the office Finance and Budget hasnt signed off on it yet.

I was fortunate to have San Val about 15 minutes from home. I spent a lot of time and money there.

Greg, if you want to scan and post the catalogs, I would send them to you…I have no way of scanning them. Let me know.

Yep, I think it would be interesting to preserve this, and make it easily available to a bunch of people, supplying information to others is really what my site is all about.

Send me an email (my address in my signature) and I’ll arrange shipping with you, thanks!

Greg