Buy/Make Anything Cool Lately (Tinplate Version)

@Dennis Holler posted:

<snip>  This would be the 1939 spur gear motor version with the RDC reverse (sort of like Lionel's Magic Electrol).  It triggers using the Lionel whistle control if you don't have the proper Flyer RDC controller button.  It is a little interesting that the tender is a chugger which they did not start making until 1941 so either it's a put together loco and tender or the accepted timeline is  suspect. <snip>

The chugger tenders were offered for separate sale in 1941, so the mating of an older spur gear version of the Northern with the newer tender is easy to imagine. I have a complete No. 4024 set (OBs) with a No. 554 and the three die cast Tuscan heavyweights. The pulling power of the Gilbert prewar Northern is truly amazing.

Have fun!

Bob

This is kind of funny.  I do have a 001 Hudson in great  shape already, but I also have a spare boiler and bare chassis.. well just because...  Anyway, I was  surfing like I tend to do and the old keen eye caught something in these pictures and I was able to win this little pile for about $18...  I don't see any pest at least not in the pictures of the listing.  I'm not sure if this is a two rail or a three railer missing the center pickup.  Would the two rail ones have also had the reverse unit?  Will still have a few parts to track down, but this should about wrap up a second 00 Hudson sans tender lol

An early Valentine's Day present … a new-to-me 435 Lionel power station now graces the downtown area of my layout. Thanks to my wife.

Here's hoping a long search is over. Nothing exotic, but for some reason a single arm A.R. Fergusson semaphore has been tough to find. This showed up last night as a buy it now, listed as Ives/Flyer. Won't know for sure till it gets here. I've "bought" a few that turned out to be 2 arm ones with a missing arm. Seeing this, if it's real, there is a definite difference in height.

Steve

I didn't make this...someone long, long ago made it. It's a Standard Gage crossing made using a wooden base and rails scavenged from some old tubular track. Really neat the way they notched, folded and soldered the corners to make the 90* bends. Small screws on top of the track flange hold the track to the base. They even ran some type of jumper within the wood to carry power through the center "+" section. Likely made out of necessity by someone who needed a compact (7") crossing for their layout or by someone who couldn't afford to buy one from the catalog. I always enjoy seeing stuff like this.

@Dennis Holler posted:

I have another prewar Flyer Northern on the way. Tender is a little rough, but should be able to get it back running again with some side frames and a pilot. Looking forward to getting this one as it as nice solid numbers on it unlike my other 806.  This would be the 1939 spur gear motor version with the RDC reverse (sort of like Lionel's Magic Electrol).  It triggers using the Lionel whistle control if you don't have the proper Flyer RDC controller button.  It is a little interesting that the tender is a chugger which they did not start making until 1941 so either it's a put together loco and tender or the accepted timeline is  suspect.

I've got a love/hate relationship with those prewar Flyer 3/16ths O gauge locomotives - my first exposure to them was rebuilding a small fleet of them for a train  museum. I loved the look, especially the UP 4-8-4 and long tender - I quickly discovered the dirty secret of the prewar Flyer pieces. I chose a 4-8-4, started to back out a screw and suddenly a chunk of the casting came off with the screw in place - grrrr, the dreaded Dorfan's Disease (zinc pest) reared its ugly head - this would be where the hate part ot the equation came into play. The shell disintegrated - I ended up with a chassis which I got running, all the non-cast detail pieces and luckily a boiler front; the tender shell had crazing and crumbling, all the steps had snapped off, and the chassis was warped from front to back L got all the trim pieces, a drawbar and unbelievably a pair of tender trucks with minimal bowing of the  sideframes. Each piece was a crapshoot- some were solid, others looked solid but turned to zinc crumbles - never a dull moment working on those Flyer locomotives.

I didn't buy it but I spotted this interesting item in a recent auction lot. It was presented as a "Dorfan O Gage Helix" and sold for just under $1,000. That seems an awfully long unsupported section at the top.. must have been exciting !   Does anybody have a catalog picture of this ?

I’ve been busy working on cleaning a motor that was, well, to put it lightly, dirty. Needless to say the motor had most likely not been cleaned in a long while, most likely years. I used q tips, a toothbrush, oil, toothpick‘s, and a paint brush to clean the motor up. It will still need some work as it needs a new pickup plate and new wiring, but I’d say it’s quite the turn around:

before:

after:

                                                Trainfam

@TrainFam posted:

I’ve been busy working on cleaning a motor that was, well, to put it lightly, dirty.

                                             

Nice job. Is there a solvent , like mineral spirits or naphtha , where it would be safe to soak the entire assembly ?

.

@G-Man24 posted:

Nice job. Is there a solvent , like mineral spirits or naphtha , where it would be safe to soak the entire assembly ?

.

Hi @G-Man24

I am not aware of any solvents that this type of assembly would be safe to totally soak in. I’ve always taken the whole thing apart to clean the motor as some parts (such as the commutator and it’s windings and rings) react differently to solvents, and can be damaged easily. Maybe there is a solvent that could work, but I am not aware of it. Interesting idea.

                                                     Trainfam

@G-Man24 posted:

I didn't buy it but I spotted this interesting item in a recent auction lot. It was presented as a "Dorfan O Gage Helix" and sold for just under $1,000. That seems an awfully long unsupported section at the top.. must have been exciting !   Does anybody have a catalog picture of this ?

I don't believe that is a Dorfan item.  I have seen those helixes advertised, but I do not recall who made them.  I do recall that they were not made by one of the train manufacturers.  I believe they were sold in both O and Standard gauges.

NWL

@Nation Wide Lines posted:

I don't believe that is a Dorfan item.  I have seen those helixes advertised, but I do not recall who made them.  I do recall that they were not made by one of the train manufacturers.  I believe they were sold in both O and Standard gauges.

NWL

Interesting now that I did some searching it definitely looks like there were other manufacturers of those helix setups. However I did find a photo of another example with identical support bracing and it has a very detailed description to go with it ( if it's to be believed.)   I'm not a Dorfan collector so I can't even give an educated guess.

DESCRIPTION

Here's my latest, an Edaville RR train in Standard gauge. Now I know standard gauge is far from what Edaville was but some time ago I made an Edaville boxcar from a junk 114. I couldn't have just one car so I put together a small train. A green 33 ( as I recall Edaville had a small center cab and I think it was even green) my 114 boxcar, a 116 ballast hopper, and a reworked 117 caboose.  Overall it makes a nice little train.

25 years ago I acquired a white Ives Limited Vestibule Express  Yale car in super condition.I've always been interested in completing the 3 car set and yesterday I was the winner of  the #60 mail/express car in prettyin pretty good shape though not as pristine as Yale. Beggars can't be choosey.  Now, all I have to do is find the early White Harvard 8 wheeler with tab and slot couplers.Here are two photos.  When Nr 60 arrives I'll take some shots of the two cars being pulled by an Ives Nr 17. It will be my version of the famous New York and New England White Train.

Lew Schneider

This Marklin schlafwagen was delivered to the passenger car shops at Ophir recently. Now all I need are the correct personenwagen, speisewagen and an appropriate engine to go with it and I'll have another passenger train.

The Amazing American Flyer No. 5 1/2 Clockwork Locomotive

  Not too long ago I won a bid for an American Flyer clockwork set.  I was almost certain the pictured set and possibly its set box weren't - that is to say I didn't think the set was an actual issued set and I didn't think the set box corresponded to the illustrated contents.  The reason I was interested in making the purchase was because I had parts of other American Flyer sets in need of the pictured items to make them complete.

  When everything arrived my suspicions were confirmed - the set box was for set #16 ca. 1918-1920, the two passenger cars were from about the same period but had nothing to do with a Set #16 nor with the engine they came with. The engine was a Greenberg Type IX with no brake which made it a No.1. The tender put the engine/tender combination in the 1920-1921 time frame.  This, coupled with the count of straight and curved track that was part of the purchase suggested the engine, tender, and track were most likely from Set #1 ca 1920-21.

  The only thing missing was the No.1103 passenger car...fortunately I just happened to have an orphan looking for membership in a set so I put everything together (the 1921 catalog cut is a modification of an earlier catalog illustration. By 1920 the #1103 just had "American Flyer" on the letter board) .

  The Type IX engine can be found just with cast "A.F." letters under the cab window or with the cast letter and number combinations of  "A.F. 10" or "A.F. 11". Over the years I've seen all three types.  The Greenberg book states," It would make sense that American Flyer would use "A.F. 10" for No. 1 and "A.F. 11" for No. 2, but in true American Flyer fashion both numbers show up on both locomotives."

  Once I got everything cleaned up I took a closer look at my No.1 and found something curious...

  Instead of a 10 - which would be the accepted code for a No. 1 the cast letter/number combination under the cab is "A.F. 1".  Needless to say, I was a bit surprised.  When I checked the other side I found...

which is in keeping with the Greenberg quote. So, since, 1+10 = 11 and 11/2 = 5.5 it is obvious what we have here is an American Flyer No.5 1/2.

  Seriously, what is interesting is this casting would suggest for some short period after the introduction of the Type IX engine Flyer did turn out No. 1 engines with a #1 cast under the cab window on both sides...now all I have to do is find one.

  As for the why of this engine I'm sure it is just the standard Flyer practice of using up old inventory. I have several Flyer items which are the result of this parsimonious manufacturing methodology.

A hand-crafted "remake" of a prewar composite Elastolin castle and tunnel, with a number of artistic liberties taken:

Hats off to my friend Howard (sawdust43) for the inspiration and motivation, not to mention a few supplies.

Now, what to do with it.

On to the next.

PD

@pd posted:

A hand-crafted "remake" of a prewar composite Elastolin castle and tunnel, with a number of artistic liberties taken:

Hats off to my friend Howard (sawdust43) for the inspiration and motivation, not to mention a few supplies.

Now, what to do with it.

On to the next.

PD

Okay, that's one of the coolest things I have ever seen. Tell us more.

@pd posted:

A hand-crafted "remake" of a prewar composite Elastolin castle and tunnel, with a number of artistic liberties taken:

Hats off to my friend Howard (sawdust43) for the inspiration and motivation, not to mention a few supplies.

Now, what to do with it.

On to the next.

PD

I had an original similar to it, but sold it a few years ago.

Steve

Elastolin had an extensive line of toy forts/castles it developed during the interwar period which they produced up until 1941 or 1942, than resumed production following the war. The prewar toys were manufactured of a fibrous composite material; after the war Elastolin moved to an extruded/formed plastic. During the 1950s, the range was expanded to include HO or OO scale versions.

Here's an example of a composite Elastolin castle toy which included a tunnel (not all versions had tunnels running through the base):

We used this version as the basis for a remake. It's missing a few bits, but provides a good sense of what the components and structural scale is. The Elastolin version is basically the base with a number of components that are arranged to form the castle. We built our interpretation in two sections: (1) the tunnel base and (2) the castle structure on a separate base.

Construction of the base and tunnel was pretty straightforward using traditional model railroad techniques. We used papier-mâché to cover it, not plaster-cloth, as we thought this was something often used by the various toy manufacturers for such things during the prewar period. I hadn't done any papier-mâché since high school and had forgotten a number of its characteristics, one being its tendency to shrink as it dried. This resulted in the underlying ribs becoming visible in a few places, but no worries. The papier-mâché comprised torn up paper grocery bags and diluted white glue.

Nearly all of the materials used for construction, with the exception of the drawbridge hinge, a small bit of chain (leftover from a Christmas "garden" project), and a couple bottles of acrylic craft paint, were either scraps from the workshop or bits found for free. Cereal boxes, USPS shipping boxes, single-faced corrugated from liquor store signage/displays, and a few scraps of O-scale brick-paper were all used. Here's a montage of construction at various stages:

The dimensions are approximately 16 inches end-to-end, and roughly 18 inches tall. I intentionally compressed the design a bit while making it taller and a bit closer to O-scale. I freely admit to making a number of design gaffes along the way resulting in "Oh, that's why they did that" moments.

I can't stress enough, Howard (sawdust43) blazed the trail on this with a version of his own. He included a number of features in his that I omitted, including some very professionally designed and installed LED lighting. I can't say I would have ever attempted this without seeing his first, together with the words of encouragement and the hints he provided along the way. Perhaps the best result was I got a new friend out of the process.

That's about it. Should make a nice backdrop for a few European clockworks I have. Hopefully I won't inadvertently put my foot through the side of it before then.

PD

PD: What a great castle and tunnel for the layout. Thanks for your construction notes as well. Not sure I would ever attempt such a project but it’s fun to know how it was done. Hey what about that engine exiting the tunnel. My guess was either the Lionel “Harry Poter” engine or a Hornsby LMS tank.

Thanks for posting

Don

@Mark S. posted:

This nice Marx Commodore Vanderbilt locomotive followed me home from the local train shop today. It runs great, of course.

Even if it didn't run it would be an attractive art deco display piece

Mark,

I love that short video of your layout and the Marx run-by, plus the track ballasting. Do you have any more photos of your layout you can post? I am always looking for inspiration!

Thanks!

John

Thanks Don...fun project.

The loco is a prewar Marklin 970.

PD

Here is my latest acquisition the large 0/1 Gauge Kibri 48-20 signal bridge. What a monster -- 44 cm long. Fortunately I still had a bit of room on my layout.  But I think it's the end for any further large structures.  Enjoy the photos.  Lew Schneider

@John Smatlak posted:

Russian-made "Moskobel" O gauge diesel locomotive of the 1950's. Quite an interesting piece, and a real brute, weighing in at 6 pounds, 2 oz. Luckily there is a good amount of info on the internet about these, starting with the TCA page:  http://www.tcawestern.org/moskobel.htm (note also the links down at the bottom of that page). After a clean and lube, it runs, although some additional tweaking is needed to get all the wheels to sit squarely on the track (the way the couplers protrude through their slots is giving the idler trucks a bit of "lift" that they don't need), and to take out a little bit of a lean to one side. A short video clip is included, enjoy!

And is that a Ralstoy Allied semi in the last picture?

@Forty Rod posted:

And is that a Ralstoy Allied semi in the last picture?

That is a Grimland  (crazy name for a toy company eh?) Allied van, with the incorrect tractor. Great colors!

Thanks, PD, for the additional info and photos. I had sort of forgotten about paper mache as well. It was used for a lot of tunnels, pre-plastic, and is easy to do and would look right at home on a tinplate layout. Great job!

Thanks, Will, it was a lot of fun while cooped up in the house. I was thinking that the base, with a few modifications, could make a great stand for a small (four-foot or less) artificial Christmas tree.

PD

Ralstoy came out of Nebraska and had a lot of really nice metal tractor-trailer rigs (and possibly tractor and trailers sold separately) for awhile.  Their later stuff looks like painted wood block, nbut is still usable way back.  I'm always on the look out for the early rigs, but will take what I can find.

This is the first I have heard of Ralstoy.  Are the trucks and cars pretty close to O gauge?  Where can I find more information?

Northwoods Flyer

@Greg J. Turinetti I also hadn't heard of them, so I did a search on Ebay and found a lot. Like Forty Rod said, mostly trucks and in the 1950s or 60s.  Details and windows printed on.  Those are pretty reasonable. Seem like they would work with O scale. The few early pieces were pricy.

@Greg J. Turinetti posted:

This is the first I have heard of Ralstoy.  Are the trucks and cars pretty close to O gauge?  Where can I find more information?

Northwoods Flyer

I'm guessing that they are bit small for O gauge, more like S.  The details aren't much to shout about, but they are great for back on the layout a ways or if ....like me.....you are running O-27 Marx toy trains, they will work.  I'm not above running very detailed stuff alongside  something that has a shape sort of like the real thing, and I really like Marx lithograpy and some other painted on details.

I received my restored display and conversation AF piece. It looks great and smells like fresh paint. Ha. I’m prewar focused right now. Mostly unrestored. I have no permanent layout and this is a temporary layout to play with all of this crazy in the interim. Lionel JLC GG1 and a PRSL passenger car in the background.

Wow, that is nice!

PD

I’m pretty excited about a (hopefully) nice prewar Std Lionel No. 8e with the original box in olive green. I purchased it over the weekend. It might arrive before the weekend. Or not. Shipping lately has been problematic. I’ll share some photos when it arrives.

Why wait. Here is what I hope arrives. Fingers crossed!

Wow!  "Comrade Smatlak" what a great toy loco from the Soviet era.  As the "wall began to come down and relationships with the US began to warm, I was privileged to be part of an "official delegation" to the USSR.  We rode from Leningrad to Moscow on a train pulled by an engine very similar to yours (only green with red trim).  Unfortunately for a railfan, railroads were considered "defense systems" and photographs were not allowed.

I was going over some of the items in my collection and I found this guy siting on my shelf, looking rather lonely.  So just for fun I got him out and took some pictures.  Don't be fooled by his red color, although the 114 in his same year did come in red, he was originally orange as is shown on the underside....some young man in the day wanted a red car and Dad or Grandad accommodated that with (old fashioned heavy enamel) paint.  Anyway here he is, just for fun.

Unfortunately the couplers are missing and so is the brakewheel. However,  the trucks are original, are properly (iaw Greenbergs nomenclature) 100 Series Type 5 trucks and he has both his sliding doors.  This car was made between 1915 and 1917.

The neatest thing about this fellow is his underside.  First it shows that the original color of the car was orange ( which is OK as car came in orange from the factory in same years), but the next part is the neat historical part.  The bottom is embossed and (again IAW Greenbergs text on Standard Gauge) Lionel abandoned embossing about 1916.  More importantly it is embossed " Lionel Manufacturing Company" which is a pretty solid dating characteristic.  According to Ron Hollander in "All Aboard", Lionel Mfg Co became the Lionel Corporation on 22 July 1918.  So this clearly sets this fellow at being made sometime from 1915 -1916.

What made this fellow so special to me was that he was a "host" gift to me from a friend of mine from NASA who came to our house for dinner in the 90's.  So here is a toy train, from the earliest days of aviation (both Wright bros were still alive and active in 1917) given to me by an engineer then working on human space travel.  COOL!

Best wishes

Don

A few Mccoy items received Sunday. A Diner, and a TCA TROLLEY. Love them both

Joe Gozzo

New to the stable. MTH Ives 3243R.

Steve

Don, I've always been partial to the Moskabel station

@Robert S. Butler posted:

Don, I've always been partial to the Moskabel station

I passed on one of those at York about 3 years ago because it was missing the sign.  Asking price was about $100 IIRC.  Still kicking myself.

Robert:  WOW! Your posts really amaze me. What a find. OBTW the actual Moscow station was quite something much like US major terminals in the peak of the passenger era and (at least when I was there in 1983) extremely busy. Did you know that the connecting underground subway stations featured crystal chandeliers!!

Don

Don,  Thanks for the compliment.

   Shortly after the cold war thaw one of the sellers at York set up a table with everything Moskabel for sale.  He said he had made connections with someone in Russia who had access to all of the set parts that had not been assembled into sets and were sitting in some warehouse.  I looked over what he had and asked if he had a complete set for sale.  He said he didn't but, except for the original set box,  it would be easy enough to assemble one right there right now...so we did and I came home with a lighter wallet and a heavier car.

Joe,

Is that McCoy Diner you have, the TCA convention version from Seattle?  If so, my wife also has one which she won at the Seattle TCA convention.  Each table at the Banquet had a special McCoy Diner as the major table prize.

We had met the McCoys and toured their “factory” earlier in the convention.  Sherry was quite taken with both the McCoy family and their neat line of trains.  Sherry always made it a point to catch up with Margaret for a chat at  future conventions.  

We both love the look and feel of tinplate and Standard gauge, but I am a lifelong American Flyer S gauger, and we never had enough room to pursue a second, even larger collecting gauge.  Even so, she has never let me forget the that the piece is HER Diner.  

To this day, our entire Standard Gauge collection consists of her Diner and a McCoy convention boxcar that Margaret donated and Sherry “won” in a silent auction at a subsequent toy train convention.

Cheers!

Alan

@Robert S. Butler posted:

Don, I've always been partial to the Moskabel station

The stations translation is "Pioneer".

It's an unlikely marriage but hey, who's perfect. The Bing tower originally came with an airplane on a fulcrum arrangement and vice versa, the Marx zeppelin as well. Having neither piece(s) to complete the items, figured I'd make something whimsical. It came out ok IMO and didn't hurt the tower. The zeppelin was coming apart anyway (one of the reasons I chose it) so soldered a small brass tube so it could swivel on the tower mast. Not quite sure how passengers will disembark but that's left to the imagination 😁

Nice @John H. Shetler!

This beautiful American Flyer Broadway Limited set from 1927 arrived a few days ago.  I don't believe the motor has ever been taken apart since it was initially assembled in 1927.  All 4 tabs holding the body to the frame are present, the original wheels are present with no zinc pest, and the wiring looks to be original.  Unfortunately, it does not run, so I am going to have to service it with new springs, brushes, and any wiring that may need replacement. 

It is a step-up from the set that was in my collection.

NWL

NWL:  What a fabulous set!!  I have some similar coaches / baggage but of course without the "Broadway Limited" logo just car numbers and no matching engine.  Hope you get it running, maybe make a little video to to share what it looks like in motion when you get it going.

Best Regards

Don

@Robert S. Butler posted:

This Marklin schlafwagen was delivered to the passenger car shops at Ophir recently. Now all I need are the correct personenwagen, speisewagen and an appropriate engine to go with it and I'll have another passenger train.

I know a family who found the corosponding set in the attic. Two of these coaches and a 1020 R for only 1200 who are looking for a new owner. whats your email?

@Don McErlean posted:

NWL:  What a fabulous set!!  I have some similar coaches / baggage but of course without the "Broadway Limited" logo just car numbers and no matching engine.  Hope you get it running, maybe make a little video to to share what it looks like in motion when you get it going.

Best Regards

Don

Don,

I also have the variation without the Broadway Limited on the cars .  Oddly, my set without the Broadway Limited lettering came in a setbox that was labeled Empire Express.  Not sure if the cars without the Broadway Limited were a special for Penney's/Empire Express sets or not.  Note the baggage car with the set below is lettered in the upper left corner and the correct baggage car for the Broadway Limited set is unlettered in the upper left corner.  Again, not sure as to the reasoning for the variation.

NWL

NWL  ... American Flyer strikes again !!   I will check my cars and send some pictures to see if we can compare.  Since I just have the cars and no set, its questionable if they were ever a "set" but I will send my data along anyway for your comparison.

Still...beautiful set.  I  bet that the young person who relieved that set in 1927 thought that Santa was the best dude in the world!! I got my first set 20 years after him, at age 3, in 1947.

Don

Berkshire - what's the old saying - when it rains it pours.  I'm actually in the process of negotiating for the remainder of this set so I'll pass but thanks for thinking of me.

I’ve had the red LCT Presidential loco for a while. Now have the cars. Where did I put the engine?

Steve

I get a little forgetful too. Lol. That is sure one pretty layout. I like the look. Nicely done!

NWL :  to continue our discussion of your Broadway Limited set, I gathered up my similar cars and have pictured them below.  My "set" (so the observation car tail sign) says..."Flyer Limited".  Here are the cars I have.

First the 1205 Baggage.  Reads "American Railway Express" at top left and "United States Mail / Railway Post Office" on two lines at lower right.  No train name at all and neither does it say American Flyer anywhere.

Here are the 1306 Pullman and 1207 Observation car. IAW the reference material I have , both date to the same time period of 1925-1927.  They say "American Flyer Lines" over the windows . They have lights so are illuminated with power pickup on the trucks.

Here is the tail sign on the observation car, reading "Flyer Limited".  I do not have an engine and although my memory is not certain on this point, I doubt that I obtained them all at once.  Likely I acquired the coach and obs car at one point and then added the baggage car.  All are "train show" finds (Remember those ).  So I cannot validate that these ever were components of the same set.

Best Regards

Don

@Don McErlean posted:

NWL :  to continue our discussion of your Broadway Limited set, I gathered up my similar cars and have pictured them below.  My "set" (so the observation car tail sign) says..."Flyer Limited".  Here are the cars I have.

First the 1205 Baggage.  Reads "American Railway Express" at top left and "United States Mail / Railway Post Office" on two lines at lower right.  No train name at all and neither does it say American Flyer anywhere.

Here are the 1306 Pullman and 1207 Observation car. IAW the reference material I have , both date to the same time period of 1925-1927.  They say "American Flyer Lines" over the windows . They have lights so are illuminated with power pickup on the trucks.

Here is the tail sign on the observation car, reading "Flyer Limited".  I do not have an engine and although my memory is not certain on this point, I doubt that I obtained them all at once.  Likely I acquired the coach and obs car at one point and then added the baggage car.  All are "train show" finds (Remember those ).  So I cannot validate that these ever were components of the same set.

Best Regards

Don

Don,

Those cars are not the Broadway Limited cars.  The Broadway Limited cars pictured in my 2 posts, both are lettered Pennsylvania above the windows, one set with Broadway Limited below the windows and one set without lettering below the windows.  My cars are also more of a maroon/brown color than yours, which are red. 

The time frame of your cars is likely 1925-1926 and your cars likely came with either a black 1218 engine or a black painted 3011 or 3012 engine.

Those cars would have came as a set, even if you did not acquire them as a set.

NWL

NWL:  Thank you for the response.  Now I know what engine to look for to make up my "set".  Your set (sets) are beautiful what a great find.

Respectfully,  Don

When you buy your train equipment piecemeal you can come up with all kinds of interesting "sets" -

I believe this set is circa 1926

Cars from the Prairie State set: (Cataloged with a clock work steamer)

Here is my version of the Broadway Limited Set

I am still looking for a set of cars like NWL's set with PENNSYLVANIA above the windows a darker (black?) roof and no "Broadway Limited" below the windows.

Enjoying the World's Greatest Hobby

Northwoods Flyer

Greg:  Wow, I agree you can have lots of sets.  It looks like my red "set" that I pictured in my response to NWL has the same cars as the one your labeled as "circa 1926" but I don't have a loco.  I also have a similar set to your orange "Seattle" car set , but I am missing the observation car that you pictured.  You mentioned that it came with a clockwork steam loco and here is the set below as I found it with a type 11 clockwork loco but missing the top of the box so I can't confirm that it didn't come with the observation.

Pre-war flyer O'gauge is really fun figuring out what came with what.

Don

Don, I don't think you set is missing anything.  I'm almost certain you set is the poor relation to set #16 - good old #15 of footnote fame.

Catalog cut for 1925

I have a slightly earlier boxed version of #15 with cars with square ends and square corner roofs.  According to Greenberg the cars you have in your set would be correct for a #15 set from the 1924-25 time frame.  By the way - the engine has #16 cast under the cab and is listed as #28 in the catalog cut.

Set #15 ca 1923-24

WOW!!  Robert, thank you for posting the data and the correct engine number. 1924-25 so I can now date it more properly.  I thought that I might have simply had a set that somehow "lost" its observation car in its near century of life.  I am much more happy to know that it was just a "poor relation" to set #16 and was in fact as offered for sale originally (even if it was a footnote) .

Don

Tootsietoy refurb:

Somethin' from nothin'...

PD

I have something fun coming from Czechoslovakia.  I can't wait to play and show off......

@jhz563 posted:

I have something fun coming from Czechoslovakia.  I can't wait to play and show off......

New from Merkur?

jhz563...Not Fair!  The suspense is too much...

Don

Ets 143.  Fresh from Czechoslovakia,  brand new and right to my door!

I will probably do a separate post about this,  but really happy with it so far.

Love ETS!!!

Bob

jhz563: What a beautiful engine and a "duplex" to boot !  I noted the sign ..."Alderbohn" under the cab.  Since bohn is basically railroad in German and "Alder" means wood (or birch wood) I wondered if this meant this was a lumber industry locomotive, sure looks like a lumber hauler to me.  Anyway its really nice what a great acquisition.  Tell us more about the manufacturer if you will, how did you decide to purchase this piece?

Don

Realized I never posted a picture of my ETS loco. The box car behind it has working marker lights. Might have to buy some extra cars once I got a layout built. Also, before I forget: Pardon the mess! In the process of tearing down old drywall and getting ready to replace it with new drywall. Hope to start construction of a layout soon.

I think you can still get these engines from ETS. You can find it under '198' on the ETS trains website.

@Don McErlean posted:

jhz563: What a beautiful engine and a "duplex" to boot !  I noted the sign ..."Alderbohn" under the cab.  Since bohn is basically railroad in German and "Alder" means wood (or birch wood) I wondered if this meant this was a lumber industry locomotive, sure looks like a lumber hauler to me.  Anyway its really nice what a great acquisition.  Tell us more about the manufacturer if you will, how did you decide to purchase this piece?

Don

I made a separate post about this engine.  I hope you all like it.

I'm afraid this isn't nearly as impressive as jhz563's ETS but it is the end of a long search for a small item over in my neck of the woods.

I've owned this 4 wheel Peerless since forever

...and since forever I've been trying to find an equally nice 4 wheel Bing Shell tank to go with it....well finally, two weeks ago I found one.

...now all I have to do is find the yellow version.

  One item worth noting - the spacing of the domes - the Peerless does show up from time to time with dome spacing like the Shell but I've never seen a Shell in any condition with a dome spacing like the illustrated Peerless - my guess would be this is because there are lithoed rivets identifying the location of the domes on the Shell.

Robert :  Great find, I am somewhat of a tank car collector.  I have never seen the Bing Shell (red) tanker before.  Below I am sending a picture of my "Peerless" Bing tanker.  It appears that mine is less "green" than yours and is a darker shade, almost a grey / blue.  Could this be another variant or more likely just production variances.

Happy Saturday and great find.  Respectfully

Don

I'd just chalk it up to variation in production.  For example - here are two of the 8 wheel Peerless cars.

The first definitely has a yellowish cast to it whereas the second is a darker gray and the lettering is silver/white.

Agree Robert, thanks for responding.  Your second 8 wheel Peerless has a more similar color to my 4 wheel so I agree its most likely just a variation in production with a slight shift of the color.

Thanks again for the response

Don

Assuming the background blue is similar this may be nothing more that a color shift due to camera settings or light photographed under.

*Commercial photographer my whole working career

Southern Crescent 2 : Good point, thanks for the input. 

Don

That's a good point Southern Crescent. It has been a few years since I photographed the tank car on the left - the earlier posted picture is a scanned slide - so I hauled them both out - they are different.

Good photo.
I cant be right all the time.

Well I did. This mostly unrestored 8E is a real gem.

@Don McErlean & @Robert S. Butler

I have the yellow Bing BP.. in not very great cosmetic condition sadly , but hey , at least it exists still lol

Showing every one of its years

Now that is interesting Fatman.  I was referring to the Yellow version of the Shell car. Other than the red and yellow Shell tank cars the only other 4 wheel Bing tank I knew about was the blue and white Pratt's - I've never heard of, and until now have never seen a BP version - oh well, just one more thing to hunt for!

Here is my modest haul from the Renningers meet on Saturday. This should hold me for a while.  Catalogs, caboose and gondolas courtesy of @John H. Shetler.

Nothing rare or unusual, but these pieces will run on my Christmas layout. The gons will carry Christmas trees as well as candy and small presents, which should delight the granddaughter. I have had no luck with finding some of the prewar signals I wanted, so I went ahead and bought a few 153s, which are "technically" prewar. I am debating altering these, just for the fun of it. Maybe a new color base and a white disk where the black hood is now- just to make something more period, toylike and unique. Not sure yet.

The big find was the searchlight car. After visiting the entire show with no luck, I found three at the last two tables. This was the best and for some reason the least expensive of the three- about 1/2 the price of a typical piece in worse shape on Ebay. The paint is perfect and the rubber stamped lettering is intact and clear on both sides. All parts accounted for.

After a bit of internal debate, I decided to polish up the brass (as well as the couplers). I used Goddards cleaner for copper and brass and my fingers mostly. In the first photo I have cleaned one ring only. The rest of the photos and video show the car after polishing. I am happy- the idea is to add more light and sparkle to the layout.

The short video has a little Fats Waller sound track.

@Robert S. Butler posted:

I'm afraid this isn't nearly as impressive as jhz563's ETS but it is the end of a long search for a small item over in my neck of the woods.

I've owned this 4 wheel Peerless since forever

...and since forever I've been trying to find an equally nice 4 wheel Bing Shell tank to go with it....well finally, two weeks ago I found one.

...now all I have to do is find the yellow version.

  One item worth noting - the spacing of the domes - the Peerless does show up from time to time with dome spacing like the Shell but I've never seen a Shell in any condition with a dome spacing like the illustrated Peerless - my guess would be this is because there are lithoed rivets identifying the location of the domes on the Shell.

I have the Peerless car, but it came as part of a Hafner set. Hafner did not have their own freight cars so the bought Bing cars.

Steve

Been about a year since I’ve added a Robert’s Line piece to the roster.

Steve

@Fatman & @Robert S. Butler  :  OK I may have mistakenly caused some confusion.  When I mentioned the Green BP car I was referring to the PionerExpressen cars that Fatman had posted along with the Whittlock locomotive.  Anyway here is the green BP PionerExpressen tank car.

Don

@Don McErlean posted:

Robert :  Great find, I am somewhat of a tank car collector.  I have never seen the Bing Shell (red) tanker before.  Below I am sending a picture of my "Peerless" Bing tanker.  It appears that mine is less "green" than yours and is a darker shade, almost a grey / blue.  Could this be another variant or more likely just production variances.

Happy Saturday and great find.  Respectfully

Don

Don,

Bing had made much colour variations.

For example 3 of my UK milk cars. I have 8 of them and all are a bit different.

Arne

Thanks Arnie good to know and your example makes it clear that production variances did occur.

Best wishes

Don

@Arne posted:

Don,

Bing had made much colour variations.

For example 3 of my UK milk cars. I have 8 of them and all are a bit different.

Arne

Arne, nice to see you posting. I have missed your expertise. Any idea who made this streetlight??

Hey all- it’s been a minute!

@Don McErlean nice Peerless tank car! You too, @Robert S. Butler and congrats on that red shell tank car!

@STeve “Papa” Eastman i totally forgot that bit about Hafner and Bing- it was so long ago I heard it but I never verified it as being true.

@Will nice street lamp! BTW, were you at Renninger’s this past weekend? If so, did you have a table set up? I feel like I mighta stopped by but am just realizing it now ha

Haven’t bought any tin in quite awhile- fell back into it last week into the weekend. It started when these arrived on Friday( @Fatman I think you might appreciate these)

Was on ebay and saw an auction for two “prewar” Ferris Electric Trains. I’d never heard of them- but some quick research revealing they were an Australian company, had original boxes, and appeared in good shape- plus the $15 BIN- and they had me.

Ferris nameplate

are in even better condition then the photos showed online.  I just thought they were really neat

then came Renninger’s- nothing too big but did get some cool stuff:

The “boring” things first- reference guides! They’ve already proven useful.

Two new Marx cars. C&S yellow Reefer is dinged up but that’s fine. The 246 Montclair is my first Marx train with the silver litho on the frame and Joy Line couplers

QUestions regarding the Joy Line couplers(pic below). I know the one on the right is what a Joy line coupler looked like, I’ve never seen the kind on the left? Also, while I know the couplers are supposed to enter/exit the “pocket” on body, is this how the bottom of these cars should look?

2.5 years since  mistakenly getting a Lionel Lines 1691 in a set of three 1690 series maroon coaches. Not that I’ve been searching, but FINALLY have the matching Observation.... Albeit with a brown roof ha

One JEP passenger car sans wheels and a JeP lumber car. Don’t know what I’m going to do with them yet but the log car is a big boy for O.

Last- what I believe is a Bing NYC Lines Passenger car that came with a set- at least according to one completed auction. Additional verification is welcome!   as well as my first Standard gauge car! I thought it was an MTH tinplate traditions/Lionel Corporation but must’ve misunderstood b/c I can’t find any MTH red std. gauge  and I

Also-my first Standard gauge car! I thought it was an MTH tinplate traditions/Lionel Corporation but must’ve misheard “restored” for “repro” b/c I can’t find any MTH red std. gauge Lionel Lines #36. I don’t know prewar, 70s/80s repro, or modern std. gauge- I’ve tried searches- can anyone confirm that it was never reproduced by Williams, Lionel Classics or MTH?

That’s it...for now. Enjoy! It’s good to be back around tin!!!

Wow excellent buy on the Ferris ! ( and uber uber cheap! ) @StevefromPA

Although I am sure you know , if you have had time to do any research on them yet , that the Ferris are def POST-war ... as the company started up in the post war prosperity to bring toys to us Aussie kids as imports were rather scarce and costly at the time

A brief synopsis on Ferris can be found along with reference to your particular wagon here

https://collection.maas.museum/object/44997

and other Ferris items here  ferris

As you will see the companies "main" business was making groovy radios and "portable" sound 

@StevefromPA posted:

@Will nice street lamp! BTW, were you at Renninger’s this past weekend? If so, did you have a table set up? I feel like I mighta stopped by but am just realizing it now ha

Hi Steve, yes I was, but I didn't have a table. I hung out at John Shetler's table though. I posted my finds from Renningers a few posts up on this page.

That's a nice collection of stuff you scored. I think @Fatman (48 Club-Tinplate Chapter:Aussie Division) is wishing he could have teleported there. I thought the show was pretty good for tinplate. Eventually I ran out of money. Good thing I didn't bring more.

@StevefromPA posted:

Last- what I believe is a Bing NYC Lines Passenger car that came with a set- at least according to one completed auction.

Steve,

the NYC Pullman is not Bing, was made by Kraus Fandor in the 20s.

Arne

Not a train,  but my wife just came back from the store with this.

@Fatman thanks- and yup I knew they weren’t prewar. Thank you for the links, I checked binns road and they had a some good pics from a catalog. After seeing the most recent auctions for each of these cars is Aussie dollars from 2012(when the AUD was greater than the American dollar while I was in Brisbane and then flipped back- as I know all too well being late to exchange) I realized I got a steal. Not that the $ matters. Just really cool to have these unique, fantastic condition trains from the country I can’t wait to revisit one day

@Will posted:

Hi Steve, yes I was, but I didn't have a table. I hung out at John Shetler's table though. I posted my finds from Renningers a few posts up on this page.

That's a nice collection of stuff you scored. I think @Fatman (48 Club-Tinplate Chapter:Aussie Division) is wishing he could have teleported there. I thought the show was pretty good for tinplate. Eventually I ran out of money. Good thing I didn't bring more.

Just curious are there any more members in the Aussie division? I am think of 2 or 3 max! Sadly, of course, the parallels between young Australia and the development of the US that I learned studying at UQ where incredibly interesting.

and yes, I thought the show was overflowing with tinplate at decent prices. Was John out back away from the pavilions? Towards the actual Renninger’s building, There were some very great sellers- a gentleman who loved his American Bing and next to him a gentleman, a bit stout in size with a beard, who I wish I would’ve bought his ROW well car. The former is where Got this Hornby pedestrian bridge, which I forgot to post, for $5.

@StevefromPA posted:

Just curious are there any more members in the Aussie division? I am think of 2 or 3 max! Sadly, of course, the parallels between young Australia and the development of the US that I learned studying at UQ where incredibly interesting.

and yes, I thought the show was overflowing with tinplate at decent prices. Was John out back away from the pavilions? Towards the actual Renninger’s building, There were some very great sellers- a gentleman who loved his American Bing and next to him a gentleman, a bit stout in size with a beard, who I wish I would’ve bought his ROW well car. The former is where Got this Hornby pedestrian bridge, which I forgot to post, for $5.

Wow, you did find some deals. Don't know of any other Aussie Tinplate guys on here. Years ago in my first OGR Forum stint, there was a Lionel collector from New Zealand, whom I visited on a trip there in 2005. I have to unearth his name and see if he is still around.

John was in the pavilion furthest from Renningers building- far right, near side,  as you walked toward it. Booth 255 I think. He had two tables- all pre-war Lionel O pretty much.

The Aussie Tinplate Chapter is pretty exclusive .... LOL!!!

<--- here is a photo of all our members waving taken at the Easter Party

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted here, but I do have a new addition to my tinplate o gauge. Here it is, an Ives 3200 which is from about 1915 to 1916. When I saw the little guy he was missing the pickup roller and one of the wheels was in need of adjustment. The seller stated that the motor worked but was in need of work due to the previously mentioned issues. Thankfully I won and the locomotive arrived safe and sound. At first I was afraid that the wheels would be a pain to get put back on right. But thankfully Ives had the state of mind to use wheels that would screw in to the axle and then were secured in place by a hexagon head nut. So thankfully neither a vice or wheel puller were needed, Woohoo! Anyhow I soon was able to re-adjust the wheel and get them back into functioning order. Next I ordered a pickup plate and now the locomotive runs like a champ. Take a look:

                                                Trainfam