VERY nice tinplate set!! Near Immaculate! Love the transformer its light bulbs. Nice job with the basic history and the Dorfan connection.
I know that there's evidence supporting that early Dorfan trains sold domestically in the states were produced in Germany by Fandor. More less, Fandor supplied Dorfan while it was starting out, analogous to having "baby in a cradle" until it could walk on its own. Ha.
I also feel that Fandor may have supplied some other companies in the states? I know that Bing did. But I'm not totally sure.
Finally, Fandor trains, or at least trains using Fandor tooling, having the JKCO logo and a "made in Western Germany" were actually sold in the postwar period. These trains are a result of the geo-political situation at the time. The change from the Morgenthau Plan to the Marhsall Plan, roughly coinciding with the 1947 "Reverse Course" in Japan, changed the nature of post-WW2 reconstruction. Initially the Allied plans included heavily partitioning the country, total demilitarization, the disassembly or destruction of industries related to forming a base of military strength, etc... Due to a number of factors, this plan changed to reconstruction and rebuilding of Germany's industry and agricultural output. All that said, the Marshall Plan is the reason that you'll find postwar Fandor(and other German Mfgs. but they hadn't become "defunct" like Fandor) trains that say "Built in Western Germany,(insert U.S., French or British) Zone"
