Buy/Make Anything Cool Lately (Tinplate Version)

The Bat-Train is under construction!  I started this project in 2014, after visiting a friend, who took me to the Sirus collection.  My friend had recently made one of these engines and I purchased some parts from George Sirus' daughter to make this engine.  Unfortunately, they did not have all of the parts and it took me several years to find the hand rails for the pony trucks and also nice cow catchers.  The cow catchers are actually chromed plated MTH Mayflower parts and the hand rails were random parts that popped up on ebay.  After getting all of the parts, I realized I did not have the skills or knowledge to assemble it, so a friend is completing the project for me.  I specified gloss black paint, hence the "Bat Train" moniker.

The engine cab is an American Flyer St. Paul (4635 / 4685 ilk) on a Presidential Special frame.  Special mounting brackets had to be made to attach the engine shell to the frame, as the St. Paul cabs connect at the 4 corners and the President Special cabs connect at the center on each side.

Although the cow catchers look very red in this photo, they look better once assembled.

NWL

I love it. Very ingenuous the way you created it out of existing parts.  I love original trains, but I also love creative projects like yours.  A true orginal

Prewar American Flyer 4-4-2 432 & 433A passenger tender from 1939. I got this engine\tender combo recently and replaced the trailing truck and bracket assembly. She runs pretty good but you can see a sliver of light on top of the boiler when she's running.

Really nice looking locomotive.

PD

Walking through a local small antique store with my son and see a couple of prewar Marx tinplate cars and a postwar plastic crane.  I noticed on car was an 8 wheel one way coupler gondola so I grabbed that real quick at $6 and then noticed the little colorful car behind and lifted it up for a gander.... Turned out to be this Hoge 750 circus Lion car.  It's not perfect but it is real nice for me and the cranks are still present and connected to the axles. Took this pic standing in the store with it lol.  While I am keenly aware of Hoge in general, I was not aware of the Circus set, but of course knew the instant I layed eyes on it that it was coming home with me! My son thought it was funny as my only comment was This is worth a few bucks lol and I'm not sitting it back down lmao. If only the rest of the cars and loco had been sitting there at the same prices lol Oh well, you take what you can get when it presents its self!

So this item was billed as having come from a company in Pennsylvania that made cast iron toys.  The seller claims to have purchased a box of stencils that came from this company.  I recall reading that American Flyer had a company in Pennsylvania make their cast iron boilers/parts for them.  If so, they certainly would have needed this.

NWL

Can it be true? Looks like we’ve got too many trains and cars for the Wide Gauge/Standard Gauge Basement Layout. Thinking about creating a small rail yard in an unused space near the center platforms.

Lionel 226E from a local estate sale:

Filthy, top-to-bottom, a thorough cleaning planned. A few cosmetic issues to repair (broken marker light, missing whistle casting), and a previous owner put postwar trucks/coupler on the tender (plan to restore to original prewar configuration).

PD

Track got put together and screwed down to plywood of the upper and lower front center platforms by The VintageHubby. I finally stained the back left fill-in platform. The blue water area runs along the Salt Lake Bridge. Varnishing on this piece to happen later. Forgive the poor lighting pic.

More visual progress on the proposed rail yard for the Basement Layout. Very recently received a USA Track order, pulling some of the straights for this area. Fill pieces of plywood will need to be cut and added.

Here is my latest from the fine folks at Stout Auction. It is an original Lionel Standard 385E engine and tender. This is an earlier version. Now I have to find the terra cotta earlier version of the 1766, 1767 and 1768 passenger cars.     

Congrats...that's a lovely thing.

Some good tin litho I’ve recently acquired!

the Marx #200 rapid transit trolley, as well as the tin watch tower with green roof(Japanese mfg.)

found a nice bulb to put in- the battery connection still works! Unfortunately, the  wind up mechanism has some difficulties. Not in the best shape, but nice enough for me

tbis one dropped into my lap! Bing OO tabs too RR pieces….

included were the 2 pieces of track, loco and Coach shown below

Bing logo on the back

Yhis one needs some work on that wind up mechanism, too.

Switching gears real quick- this small Charles Rossignol station stop

Picked up this random wind up in a job lot- works great. Postwar, W. German. My guesses were Distler, Faller, Kibri or Bub.

also added the Lionel Je. 1681- works wonderfully!!!

Pulling the “Ives” tender

Dug this 816 out of my grandparents' basement a few years back. It had been wrapped in some plastic held together with tape. Over time the plastic wrap gave way and a bit of the tape adhered to the car. I'm not one for repainting stuff much anymore, but I'm wondering if this is deserving of a repaint, a touch-up, or just a clean-n-polish:

Stewin' on it...

PD

@pd posted:

Dug this 816 out of my grandparents' basement a few years back. It had been wrapped in some plastic held together with tape. Over time the plastic wrap gave way and a bit of the tape adhered to the car. I'm not one for repainting stuff much anymore, but I'm wondering if this is deserving of a repaint, a touch-up, or just a clean-n-polish:

Stewin' on it...

PD

Since its a family heirloom I would recommend keeping it as is.  It really is in pretty good condition and there is nothing like possessing an all original car owned by your grandparents.   You are holding on to a lot of history there.  I have an 816 in comparable condition and I kept it as is even though I do not know it's history.

@pd --PD, it's hard to tell if the discoloration is just residue from the tape ...if it is try a Q-tip with just a small amount of Goo-Gone on it and see if that helps to remove the residue and be careful of the paint.

Tom

Found this Hoge 750 lion circus car a while back at a local antique store for a really good price....  Too bad they only had the one car lol!

Restored the roof of a prewar 48W whistling station using Microsoft word to create a pattern.  The button on the side is screwed into a permanent "on" position; the station is controlled by a push button on the layout fascia.  Whistle runs well.

More repro lithography.  Overlay sides and ends for a 1679 boxcar, creating a "1679-700" Santa Fe boxcar.

A "1679-900" New York Central boxcar.  Imitation lithographed side and end overlays.

@cbq9911a posted:

A "1679-900" New York Central boxcar.  Imitation lithographed side and end overlays.

Looks good.  What is it printed on, and what do you use for a top coat?

The sides are printed on matte photo paper.  No top coat (it'll smear the ink).

A few Forney Standard Gauge cars from a show today in Altoona, PA.  A little surface rust on the wheels but otherwise in pretty nice shape.

-Tom

I am trying to add more benches to the interiors of my train stations.
I started out with a decorative metal sheet.

All I need to do is fold the metal into benches.

Amazon had 1:30 people 100 figures for $19.99.

After these dry they will be added to my stations.

Scott Smith

@scott.smith posted:

I am trying to add more benches to the interiors of my train stations.
I started out with a decorative metal sheet.

All I need to do is fold the metal into benches.

Amazon had 1:30 people 100 figures for $19.99.

After these dry they will be added to my stations.

Scott Smith

Great idea!

So my price guide say the 513 comes in a cream color, but my box for my 513 says yellow, anyway here is my 513 I got in today. I also got in a 442 diner, I was under the impression it was standard gauge size and it's actually O27 size. I have already rewired it, and have a replacement hedge coming in.

@OKHIKER posted:

Since its a family heirloom I would recommend keeping it as is.  It really is in pretty good condition and there is nothing like possessing an all original car owned by your grandparents.   You are holding on to a lot of history there.  I have an 816 in comparable condition and I kept it as is even though I do not know it's history.

Yeah, I'm leaning toward just a cleaning and polish.

Here's my uncle's Flyer 3326...this is going to need way more than a polish .

Swollen wheels, locked-up motor, a fair pit of corrosion...might just crumble to bits when disassembly begins.

PD

Cobbled together a standard gauge diner.

I restored my father's 259E years ago into an approximation of gunmetal gray.  The tender is off of a Sears special 264E.  This engine runs well and can pull 7 - 8 cars.

@cbq9911a posted:

A "1679-900" New York Central boxcar.  Imitation lithographed side and end overlays.

I'm liking that, makes me want to take another shot at an old project I was never satisfied with. Scanned some Bing beer reefer sides, than photoshopped them into a larger side and used on a slightly larger Lionel 1719 tinplate boxcar.  I just did it with normal paper more to see how it would look, but yours make me want to revisit the project as I think they would look pretty good if redone with similar photo paper.  Does it matter what type of printer you use?

I'm using an Epson inkjet printer to print the sides.

Here are a couple I like to call Tin/woodplate with maybe a couple of woodplate reefers behind them....  The Athearn boxcars are definitely postwar as Irv didn't start makin them untill1944 or 45 and really the same could be said for the All Nation wood reefers.... But I love the way they look on the prewar trucks.  The three Athearn boxcars were found build up with the prewar trucks and man I wasn't about to disturb them lol.

Stock All Nation Blatz just to show a better side view of the Blatz than the second one on tinplate trucks below.

All Nation DICX wood reefer, same thing just on late prewar TT trucks.  I think part of the reason I like the prewar trucks on old wood reefers is that they look like FOX trucks lol.

I bought a 402E along with 418, 419, & 490 passenger cars, Was told they where repaint but original lettering was faded, well the lettering is fading but these are not repaints, the engine needs a complete overhaul but does work ( found that out today. ) as it is in pieces lol. anyway I had previously I ordered a 402. that arrived today. so here is a pic of it, and one of the passengers. Yes my room it a total mess.

They ae beauties, Bill.

Great find.

Cool Diner, NJCJOE.

Here is the one I built, and how I built it from, basically, trash: Building a Standard Gauge Diner (warrenvillerailroad.com)

@Lionelski posted:

Cool Diner, NJCJOE.

Here is the one I built, and how I built it from, basically, trash: Building a Standard Gauge Diner (warrenvillerailroad.com)

Nice looking Diner, I want to do the same thing, I have 2 329's & a 341 coming in which are begging for a restoration job. They have no wheels or journals ( they have been basically strip of parts. ) I want to use one for a diner, who knows what I will do with the other two. I use full strength Zep Heavy-Duty Citrus Degreaser. I soak over night as you do. I see you used a observation car, I was thinking the same thing and make a table and chairs to put two people out there eating.

Coming soon to a layout in York.   I got asked to prep a display for a layout section,  and I only had a couple days to make it work.   

I think this sub will like it.

I just found two original prewar 1767 and 1768 Lionel passenger cars for my 385E Locomotive. Still need to find a #1766 Pullman car to complete the set!

Greetings from York!  It is Wednesday today, the last day of the bandit meets.  I was walking through the Wyndham Gardens parking lot and stopped to chat with some friends and one of them asked me about a box of prewar track that they had under their table.  He wanted to know if it was American Flyer.  I looked at it and said it was and that it dated to the middle to late teens and was made after 1914, because it took 8 curves to make a circle and pre-1914 track only took 6 curves to make a circle.  My friend had been teasing me (playfully) about buying up all of the early American Flyer prewar before I got to it, since Monday. 

I moved on from his table to a second friend who was set up adjacent to him, and talked with the second guy and moved to a third person's table, while still talking to the second guy.  I showed him an interesting variation that was not in good condition and then looked at this boxed set (this is approximately how it was displayed).

As I looked over the set, which appears to date to the early 1920s, I was not very interested in it, until I noted the track.  Intermixed in the box was some pre-1914 track.  I carefully moved the box around to check out the end label, which is this

I instantly recognized the end printed markings as a c. 1910 set box.  At that point, I asked the 3rd guy what he could do on the price.  He lowered it by $20 and I counted out the money.  All this time, the second guy could not figure out why I was buying the set.  After paying for it, I explained that it was a 1910 era set box with pre-1914 track.  Note that the set box has a readable 3 just above and to the left of the F in Flyer.  Set #3 in the 1910 catalog is listed as having a engine, 328 tender, and 3 Three Window Chicago cars.

The box top is not in super shape, but it still is visible as to what it is.

One the incorrect set and track was removed from the box, I was left with this

There are 4 curves and 2 straights, as well as 2 ties that are un-attached, which is good as one of the curves is missing a tie.  The crossover (not pictured in the above photo) may also be from Set #3, but I don't have the details of what track came with Set #3.  Will have to look that up when I get home.

After buying the set I had to walk over to the first guy and show him the pre-1914 track... and gloat a bit, since it had been sitting under his nose since Tuesday and he missed it entirely.

NWL

Posted is a goody snagged during last York. I managed to acquire a rather tough to find American Flyer Wide Gauge No. 4008 from 1927 with a red ladder on either end (FYI, the box car is flanked by a No. 4006 hopper and an even tougher to find blue No. 4010 tank car).

Bob