1939 Alexander NYC World's Fair Pennsylvania S1

I love it!  As Bob Turner stated, you are now the Doorstop King!  All hale.  That is really quite the find.  Is there a story behind it?

I recently bought the Alexander GG1 run at the fair and the provenance is in tact.  Will post pics when I build the display.  

Great would like to see photos of your new prize ...is the body cast bronze or built up from sheet brass ? ...Two rail or outside 3rd ?    Thank you 

Cheers Carey 

It is bronze and outside 3rd.

Attached are photos of the unit, though it has been repainted since.  The question will be whether to take it back to the 1939 look, or leave it as is.  I'm leaning towards the latter.

Thank you for posting the photos ..is this the one recently out of FLA? ... Hard to pin it to the fair ... as the two big layouts were 2 rail ... PRR may have had a layout or display of their own ... but the PRR display photographed for television broadcast ...one of the first use of electronic broadcast   has an Alexander GG1 running off overhead wire .  Post war Alexander let the molds go to Baldwin in CT .... they offered them in Bronze and later aluminum, sold through Walthers ..47-52+ - ...then offered directly by Baldwin up to the early 60's .   So old to pin the exact date of the model down ... the solid strip is later as well as the large keystone on the side.       Neat piece ..if you open it up it would be great to see some photos of the motors etc ...thank you Cheers Carey    

Yes, this came via FL.  Send me a message via sales@narrowgaugemodeling.com and I can work with you on photographs.  

A writer from O Scale magazine doesn't think it is a fair engine either.  He said it would be chain driven.  Thoughts?

Ed's first castings had too much slope in the nose.  Yours looks like a more accurate version.  Most are cast aluminum, but here and there, owners of the patterns have done bronze versions.

There were a number of different patterns - I have three variants.  The last Alexander/Duddy bodies were the most accurate, in my opinion.  I do like the version with the whiskers cast in, although they get filled in before final paint and decal operations.

Bob, would you be able to discuss the engine with me offline?  My email is sales@narrowgaugemodeling.com

Carey Williams posted:

  At 35 1/2" long ..... it dwarfs anything near it .... being a ridged frame it was happy with my straights ... not the curves ... the S1 needs a big backyard in which to run. ...Originally equipped with two open frame motors ..about 25 years ago can motors were installed  ...along with a sound system ..last night the sound system has been removed .... I do not like my trains talking back to me ..thank you ...

 ...and a video of the engine pulling 5 MiniScale  passenger cars ( standard test if you are a man ..as they each weigh 5 pounds ).

Cheers Carey   

Awesome.  Just my opinion, but to me this is what "big" model trains should sound like when running: little or no sound, other than the rumble of the wheels on rails...

Mark in Oregon

I'm known to be a radical, but believe DCC is a detriment to the hobby and most sound on locos sucks.  There, I said it!!!

I agree with the the last post!  I like the sound of an O scale train rolling over its track system.  I guess it is what I have been used to for over 40 years.

Joe

NG - sure, but my knowledge of the history is sparse compared to Carey.

I did get to talk to Ed at his Yardley home - he was very hospitable.

NGMC posted:

I'm known to be a radical, but believe DCC is a detriment to the hobby

I'm curious why you don't like DCC.  It seems like it would promote more flexibility for multi-loco operation, and reduce the complexity of wiring...  Not arguing, just want to be better informed.  I agree that sound is a highly personal matter.

It's not that I don't like DCC, but the overall damage it is doing to the hobby is significant.  I own Narrow Gauge Modeling Co. which is quite large and we have a great number of customers globally, so what I say is from the experience with customers and modelers which is extensive. 
1). DCC is great, but for the few with a high technical acumen.  There does not go a day or two where I see a modeler in near agony trying to figure it out.  This no doubt leads a number to give up and quit when all they wanted to do is run trains;
2)   I head up Sales Engineering for my company and have about two dozen designs/inventions (power distribution) credited to me.  In my professional world, it is a design that is not fault hardened and lends itself to failures.  To many points of failure specifically;
3). A major issue is the expense.  About 50% of the hobby is on a fixed income.  It is expensive to deploy and more expensive to purchase overpriced motive power and subsequently maintain.  People have this crammed down their throats by the train manufacturers desperate to make numbers and I think modelers are being scared off before they start or shortly thereafter.
4). Most of the sound units sound like toys, not like engines.  I've gone to open house layouts and walked out because of the noise.  I take pictures weekly and the layouts get seen by thousands; last week's was 12K.  These layouts never saw the light of day.  I go by the engineering rule less is more; and
5). People are not building enterprise sized layouts anymore and a large percentage who start never finish.  What I am seeing are shelf layouts that fit in a bedroom or modules.  There is some DCC, but dead rail is coming up fast.  The goal is to run train not look at parts and boxes.
JMHO

I have been predicting that!  Sooner or not much later, Lionel or MTH will produce a battery/rc train set, and "goodbye center rail!"

Opinion.

Hello all ... as a collector of vintage O scale (pre 1955) the only sound I  like is the hum/ growl of the engine ...and the clicky clank of the cars .  Fortunately for modern O scale manufactures I'm not the average O scale buyer ...   as they would not survive on my tastes.....but everyone is different ...if you like to run a train with your phone and hear the engineer order a pizza when he pulls in the station great ... there is room on the big layout of life for everyone.  

My favorite "train" sound experience ...was at York in the Purple? hall ...the sound of a huge steam engine struggling up a grade was reverberating against the walls and  shaking the floor ......when I realized all this cacophony of sound was being generated by a N gauge engine and a huge speaker ..... I burst out laughing ...  

If you like "old school " sounds ... here is a link to a modified Lionel 763  pulling Walthers cars ... with Walthers trucks and steel wheels ( plastic wheels ...as if ) all circa 1939 ...  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBB7c1tqYVs

Cheers Carey 

Hello all ... as the post began about Ed Alexander ....here are two photos of Ed .....1939 ....and much later when he was Yardley .......does anyone know what happened to Ed's collection of his O scale ? 

Cheers Carey 

Just an observation and opinion.  Outside third rail, unless it's a traction type layout, is more distracting, in my eyes than the center third rail we grew up with.  The little arms sticking out of the side of locomotives is visible, unlike the roller pick-ups on Lionel and others.

Carey Williams posted:

1. Hello all ... as a collector of vintage O scale (pre 1955) the only sound I  like is the hum/ growl of the engine ...and the clicky clank of the cars .  Fortunately for modern O scale manufactures I'm not the average O scale buyer ...   as they would not survive on my tastes.....but everyone is different ...if you like to run a train with your phone and hear the engineer order a pizza when he pulls in the station great ... there is room on the big layout of life for everyone.  

2. If you like "old school " sounds ... here is a link to a modified Lionel 763  pulling Walthers cars ... with Walthers trucks and steel wheels ( plastic wheels ...as if ) all circa 1939 ...  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBB7c1tqYVs

 

Cheers Carey 

1: Agreed. Thanks for sharing your awesome collection with us lesser mortals. 

2: Fantastic!    The slight "buzzing" sound you hear about 15 seconds into the video: would that be from the E-unit?

Mark in Oregon

Also opinion:

I think outside third doesn't look unrealistic.  I find the shoes unobjectionable.  I personally think a center rail, large flanges, and large couplers totally kill even the best scale equipment in the best scenery . . .

I do 2-rail because it is not all that difficult and a bit more realistic.  I do 17/64 because I hate the look of the broad gauge head on.  Others cannot see the difference.

We all have our differences.

Hello Mark ..thank you for your kind words .....no e unit .... engine was modified for straight DC use ... so unit cut out and a manual reverse installed.....lever to operated is the whistle.... 

buzz sound is the grind of the little motor ....Lionel used a tiny motor  in the Hudsons  ..compared to real motors found in O scale   KD 3,4's ....     My guess would be in the tinplate world if you pulled 3-5 (tinplate) cars ...you are doing good .... with the tight turns ..just be happy if the engine can pull the train through the curves .... 

Scale world .. pulling 20-30 freights or a long string of passenger cars ..you need the bigger motor .. 

As the video shows ..the stock Lionel motor will pull a very heavy train ... but the audio of the train as it passes    lets you know the motor is working to do it ...

Cheers Carey 

When looking at these O scale or any other train type of the period, you have to appreciate them for what they are to include their beauty and flaws, which are still beauty some.  As an engineer, I find the third rail absolutely fascinating as it was the method of the time to address conductivity.  And if I may and as I always do, remember these were crafted in minds and then on paper.  Brilliant, simply briliant.