Does anyone collect these, I have some and I have Ralstons' book but I still can't determine what they are. It 's probably the ones I have are so common they all look the same. Any secrets on how to identify?
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I had no idea there were such toys. Thanks for the post. When I googled "cast iron floor trains" loads of images appeared.
That may be of help to identify yours.
I could only think, what did the floors look like after these were played with over time?
I have some cast iron trains but I kinda gave up on them. They are notoriously hard to identify. Ives made some, and the real Ives ones are worth quite a lot of money; but it's all but impossible to tell which are Ives, and very easy to scam. There are no makers' marks.
Also, they are still being made - in China or where ever - and the new ones also look pretty much identical to the vintage ones, especially if someone has taken a little time to "weather" them. After a lot of research I decided that mine are probably modern copies and maybe worth about $1.50.
Yeah, the floors... but also your toes, or fingers... or your sibling's head! And these things are indestructible, it's not like lobbing one at your brother would hurt the train any!
I tend to agree with you in terms of identification. Mine are probably ,like yours, made in China or faked. I have never been lucky enough to warrant the real rare vintage anything. Now that we live in Fla they would make a good boat anchor.
