I humbly acknowledge that I don't have the restoration skills of a Don Kelly or those like him. This Hafner set was given to me by a customer of my daughter Angela. It is the Hafner Overland Flyer set circa 1933. This set sold for a grand total of $3.00 and came with a figure eight of track in those depression years. Some light cleaning, lube and a slight tune up and she runs as well as she did 88 years ago...
@Craignor posted:These two wandered into my collection this week…
You get those at the Cabin Fever Auction? I bid on the PFE work caboose. And a number of other things, was just up yesterday to pick it all up.
Jim
Jim,
Yes, I won the work caboose and dump car seen above from the Cabin Fever auction. And in the first MTH auction at Cabin Fever I got the black 400e also seen in my video above, and a flat car with lumber. All four items I won were received in new or like new condition and in good working order. I got them all at a good discount to what I see currently on EBay and elsewhere. I picked them all up in person.
I was impressed with Cabin Fever’s online auction format, and the ease of scheduling a day and time online to pick them up.
Cabin Fever was a good experience.
Best,
@gandydancer1950 posted:I humbly acknowledge that I don't have the restoration skills of a Don Kelly or those like him. This Hafner set was given to me by a customer of my daughter Angela. It is the Hafner Overland Flyer set circa 1933. This set sold for a grand total of $3.00 and came with a figure eight of track in those depression years. Some light cleaning, lube and a slight tune up and she runs as well as she did 88 years ago...
A nice little set for sure, Gandy. The fact that it has survived some ninety years is tribute to those who made it and those that owned and cared for it. I like to think that some kid enjoyed having this, given by parents or grandparents using funds drawn from a tight supply during difficult times.
The low-end sets are some of the most difficult to find in nice shape. They just weren't made to last decades. Someone treasured it and took care of it, as will you.
PD
Posted this on another Forum list, but maybe you guys in this list will enjoy the monster Marklin 2523 tunnel. Wrong castle tower, but stay tuned for the replacement en route. Lew
6 wheel 33 and 2 short hoppers painted
Found a 226E at an antique store in NY on the way home from business trip. Have not had a chance to clean it and go through it yet as I just got home last night and will be heading back out next week I think. But it will be a decent loco. Got it for 20% off that tag price. Not a great deal and I did not really need it... but you know....
Fuselage transporter clears the Bridge .. Barely..https://youtu.be/2efeYqseD2w
@Dennis Holler: Wow what a find! that loco was made between 1938-1941, one of the few I see in these threads that is older than me! LOL! Great find and in fabulous condition for being some 80 years old.
Don
@Dennis Holler posted:Found a 226E at an antique store in NY on the way home from business trip. Have not had a chance to clean it and go through it yet as I just got home last night and will be heading back out next week I think. But it will be a decent loco. Got it for 10% off that tag price. Not a great deal and I did not really need it... but you know....
Dennis,
Nice purchase. Thanks for sharing. It would be interesting if it runs before any thorough cleaning--that would be a bonus, right there.
Tom
A short quick test of a new addition. Electronics all work as they should.
Steve
Combined the bits from a Flyer 1118 and 3018 to produce a refurbished 3018:
The tank color is a bit off, but still a bit better than it was.
PD
Here is something for the "Made" category. I made this for my in progress Halloween layout from a 145. I already made one from a 45N tho, so I may put this one on the bay.
Happy Halloween!!!
Beardog49–Great work. Halloween seems so far away but I know it will be just around the corner. What loco and cars do you use for your display?
Don
Don, work in progress. Have one melted marx 900 and a couple of orange cars. The scenery is priority now.
@Dennis Holler posted:Found a 226E at an antique store in NY on the way home from business trip. Have not had a chance to clean it and go through it yet as I just got home last night and will be heading back out next week I think. But it will be a decent loco. Got it for 10% off that tag price. Not a great deal and I did not really need it... but you know....
I don't think you did bad on that price at all
Reviving 1930s Lionel 238 Streamlined Torpedo Locomotive and Tender
I have owed a Lionel 238, Loewy’s 1936 designed, torpedo streamlined body and old style metal coal tender for several years, origin unknown. It needed a motor and I found an old Marx four wheel one from a Marx 999 that seemed to work and fit. The Marx motor did not have the mount and two front wheels like the 999 does.
I have looked into adding a pair of wheels on the front and on the rear to make a 2-4-2 but could not come up with a something that would work but believe if I can find as mount and set of wheels from a 999 they would work. They can be added later so for now I am going with a 0-4-0, which will run with no derailments of front or rear wheels.
I painted the engine and tender with flat darkesh gray spray primer and then covered all with clear glossy paint. A small metal strip was labeled with L I O N E L letters and sprayed with clear. This was installed were the original engine had a strip labeled Pennsylvania. I decaled the engine and tender as Pennsylvania and used the side strip to show Lionel as the manufacturer not the fictitious Lionel Lines as Lionel had done. The decals were sprayed with clear glossy paint to seal them on.
This is my tinplate train, with Marx tin plate cars, being pulled with the new to me Lionel 0-4-0 Torpedo stream lined steam locomotive. This is an easy pull with the low powered Marx 999 style motor in the Torpedo.
This was a fun project and is my first Torpedo Locomotive. I now have a late 1930s streamlined torpedo loco and tender.
Charlie
Starting with 'Buy Anything Cool Lately", I believe I hit on something really neat. I found a store with a bunch of tin, Standard gauge and O gauge, mostly old stuff but some new. I run prewar and post war with 031 curves, so I stuck with O gauge. I have always liked the bright colors, but held back because they were so large...But then I discovered prewar Oh Two Seven Lionel tin! Perfect size for me and I love it. I started buying tin recently because I think they will be great around the Christmas tree and I hit bargain prices. Here are a few shots - the O27 sits in front of the much two large red passenger cars. Notice my bonus item, which the wife hates (ah ha!). So much more - wish you were all local to me
@Choo Choo Charlie What a nice job customizing the 236 torpedo shell with the Marx motor. These Marx 4 wheel motors are really great for that sort of operation. I have 3 Hornby type 1 tank engines from the 1950's that were converted from clockwork to electric with the installation of the same motor...they run great.
@Chuck242 : I noted that most of your tinplate cars are the "600" series, the printed liveries like your 655 box car are later versions than the ones with the add on number plates, but the cars are mostly the same. The couplers changed several times during the period of their production, but most of them are compatible with each other. These cars were produced from 1935 to 1942 when the war stopped toy production. I also run them and enjoy them. Your big 712 passenger cars came in red (like yours) , orange (Lionel Lines, NYC, and IC) and 2 tone blue . The IC orange and 2-tone blue are a king's ransom, I have the NYC orange and they were modest in price. These were typically pulled with large electric outline locomotives, like the 256 which is as large as the standard gauge #8 and was Lionel's only 2 motor O gauge locomotive until the 1948 F-3's came out. Yours look in really nice condition and are really good looking. Here is my 256 and orange 712's just for your reference.
Chuck, beautiful lantern by the way and the stamped ATSF is a real bonus. Welcome to the wild and wonderful world of tinplate.
Best wishes
Don
I posted this one in the tinplate photo thread earier , but seeing as tho Chuck brought up Lamps 
A LNER Interior signal lamp I scored recently ... this is the unit pre-electrification which was lit and placed into the signal which then shone thru coloured glass on the signal arm to indicate track state ...
( I wonder if @Chuck242 's wife would like this one lol )
Wow @Fatman that is uber cool!! Thank you for sharing. I always find it fascinating when able to trace the history of something- in this case modern, electric RR signals that change color- back to a lit signal lamp which used glass to show the color. Exquisite and awesome pick-up, man.
Not the same thing, but at the last train show I went to, as my father and I were leaving, I noticed a gentleman with a large, wooden cube like object with a small mfg. plate on it, glass that took up at least on side, and upon closer inspection mini-drawers. Turns out, I might be getting the facts wrong but the general Just is correct, it was produced by Lionel during WW1 aNd used by the Navy. He explained it’s the earlier type because of this small drawer that opened in which they’d use whale fat to light it.
Posted this in my “help ID this loco” thread, but wanted to share it here too. I’m super backlogged in things I’ve been wanting to share with everyone so here’s a start of my most recent- about which I am SUPER EXCITED!! This is my first Prewar, European electrically powered loco- and it works!!New in the pics below- the Heinrich Fischer switch tower(got it a few weeks ago), Loco and tender
Got it off the auction site. Seller had it listed as “Bub NOT BING...” loco & Tender which has letters that didn’t look like KBN, CBN, and said England underneath. Ended up getting it cheap, I assume due to the lack of markings on the loco and mismatched Tender made by a different mfg. that clearly didn’t have the expected embossed lettering.
Anyway, thanks to rdigilio and Fatman, they identified the Loco and tender.
Loco is a late 20s Bub 2410LT Electric Locomotive and the Tender is a Hornby from 1922-1930ish.
Loco creeps towards the turnout
Tebder And Loco 
I do have some questions- do the parts look original? Did Bub use a pick-up roller in the 1920’s? Also, it appears to have gauze brushes. Here’s a picture of the underside(pics of gears and brushplate are attached to this post)
Finally- a video of my first electrically powered European Loco running a Small consist of: Hornby tender, Bub 1217 PRR Coach, And Bing 529 Observation
Sorry for the long post but as I said- so darn happy!! Any help is appreciated regarding the questions. Keep the tin coming!
Steve
Hi Folks,
Some of you may remember that about three months ago, I posted a question asking what would be a good filler for tinplate gondolas and hoppers. I got lots of good answers, ranging from hard candy to aquarium gravel. I decided to go for the colored aquarium gravel and went to Walmart to get some in their Pets section.
I was going to buy a bag, but was very surprised at how heavy the gravel was. Too heavy for a long train of cars.
But, right next to it, I found these great "Aqua-Jewels. " They are made of plastic and really light. They only cost $1.98 per bag, and a bag only weighs 3.5 ounces.
Unfortunately, each bag contains a mix of colors, so I had to buy eight bags to sort them into single colors.
Here are what my Marx cars look like with a full train load.
Just thought I would pass this tip on.
Thanks,
Mannyrock
@Mannyrock: Great idea and looks cool. Thanks for the tip.
Don
@Fatman - that LNER Interior signal lamp is beautiful, a great complement to any train room, and right you are, my wife wouldn't care anymore for it than she does my ATSF 4-way.
Hi Tinplate fans...we seem to have fallen somewhat behind in posting, so I thought I would go ahead and post my latest addition. I purchased 10 Hornby Hatchette freight cars from a seller in France. Now I know these are NOT Hornby except perhaps in licensed name but being also a Lionel guy I am used to that idea (remember the various "companies" that have been producing Lionel trains since 1969 most especially the General Mills or the Mills Product Company or MPC). The value of these was just too tempting , real Hornby trains via e-bay are $50-75 per car plus postage and these were 10 car for 12 Euro's or about $15 for ALL 10...Wow $1.50 per car who could pass this up. They looked nearly new and when I received them they did indeed appear LN. Here are some pictures
As you can see, the cars are replica's of French Hornby freights, all made between 2002 -2004 and they were given as incentives when you bought a particular hobby magazine. Imagine, buy a magazine and get a replica Hornby tinplate 0 gauge car with your purchase. They made quite a line including at least 3 locomotives (all clockwork).
Anyway, real or replica, these will look good behind my Hornby locomotives going around the layout.
Regards
Don
Thanks guys. It had a dead short. Turned out it was the drum basically disentigrated and was shorting the fingers. So I have a drawer or original drums and I had to replace four hand rail stantions and had to deep clean it. It was super greasy oily sticky but runs super quiet now. Still need to finish the tender but she’s a winner.
Hi Dennis, nice looking engine and a great runner too, of course a drawer or original drums.... that is really helpfull.
I also have one and it is one of the greatest Lionel engine, a work of art and today's productions are not so high quality than pre war motors.
Hey Don, I have three passenger cars and one little steam loco that go with these. They were going on the block soon, let me
know if you have any interest
John
Nothing wrong with Hachette at all and they are great shelf queens or sometimes runners ! They certainly look the part but just be wary they are a real lightweight tin and can corrode pretty quickly once exposed so keep the paint polished and or protected if they are going to be handled a lot ... case in point is a fine example of a PLM that has been on ePay for quite a while ( which of course the seller has NOT advertised as Hachette, but you can see it is in the photos ) Just do a search for "Hornby PLM " and you will find it ... at first glance you think ... yep thats got wear consistent with age ... but its a LOT less age than you think lol !
The wheels are also oxidising ( and you can see the plastic gearing in the clockwork )
Also spots underneath, where no handling that would have occured, are spot corroding ..
I actually have a Hachette BB locomotive ( Shelf Queen lol ) and a few wagons
And a Hachette ETAT combo
That is my plm on epay, don't think I realized it was hachette.
John
@beardog49 posted:That is my plm on epay, don't think I realized it was hachette.
John
OOPS !!! LOL! 
Dont hit me John !
( Its written right there on the back where the tail hook exits lololol)
Hornby Fabrique Pour Hachette ... Hornby Made for Hachette ( hachette licensed the name for the series )
Fatman, thank you for you good advice and comments. I did get the Hatchette PO electric type loco from the same source although it was an earlier purchase. It works fine although it goes like the devil if you don't hitch it to a few cars...way too fast for my 0-31 curves but it does indeed work.
Regards Don
@Don McErlean those are very nice looking cars with a neat backstory being giveaaways when subscribingto a hobby magazine. I remember growing up(early 2000s) and you'd get an action figure with this one magazine. In recent times, and maybe its just the clubs/magazines to which I belong/subscribe, it that incentive received by subscribing has turned into "by subscribing you'll be able to purchase". Regardless, great stuff, Don, thanks for sharing. Those cars are sharp.
@Fatman thanks for the info on Hachette! Saw it recently while on vacation, couldn't quite place it....much appreciated!!
@Dennis Holler happy to see the loco is working!! Love that streak of light blue passenger cars making up your consist!!
I haven't bought anything in awhile but this week I bought a nice original 1930 Lionel Standard Gauge set #387 which has the 384 locomotive and the peacock green 332, 339 and 341 passenger cars. I l like the looks of this loco/car combination which is pictured in the 1930 catalog.
Here's a long post
First is a variety lot that I got back in July and have wanted to post because he unique cars that came with it. There were 6 cars in the lot(Hafner Black roof/frame Overland flyer not shown)...After that are some other July pickk-ups and early August buys. Got some German tin today but probably won't pst til tomorrow
Variety Lot
Ives 50 series Passener cars- "The Ives Railway Lines" No. 51 Newark(1913-1914). This guy was in the best shape of the bunch. Green frame and green roof
Two of my favorites(although I love them all ha) Hafner(?) CNW Overland Flyer and Lionel Disney Circus Dining car. The Hafner frame has wear but the body is in really good shape, the dining car's colors have faded a bit and I've cleaned it the best I could
American Flyer- I believe a Hummer Line "505 Pennsylvania Lines" and a GN RPO that lcks a number, thus I believe it was from a set. Also don't think the roof is original to the car
The Newly Acquired Ives Newark on the left with its predecessor(already had this one) Ives Pennsylvania Lines No. 51 Newark(1911-1912) on the right. Tough enough to see in person , but the frame on the older one appears to be gray while the newer one is green.
From later in July:
American Flyer 4-wheel LV gondola. As I was born in the LV, I really like this car. Also in good condition
Modern Marx "National Military RR Defense Units". I know it's part of a larger set- what appealed to me is the famous Marx windup tank on the other side. That and it's a slick lookin' car!
Marx Bogota- green Pullman
while with Marx( From earlier in August)
Pair of Marx 245 prewar Bogota Pullmans- On the left is a plain black frame with TS couplers, on the right SLF with Joyline couplers
The Bogota joins the Montclair- just need the observation!!
@StevefromPA posted:American Flyer- I believe a Hummer Line "505 Pennsylvania Lines" and a GN RPO that lcks a number, thus I believe it was from a set. Also don't think the roof is original to the car
Why do you think the roof is not original? Its red color? The key to its originality is that the roof is the same color as the door. The roof appears to be correct to me. It just happens to be a more unusual color. I have seen red, orange, and green doors on sets with these types of cars.
NWL
@Nation Wide Lines Usually those are tell tale signs, I agree. A bit fuzzy on the reason why I thought that- it was over 6 weeks ago that I got that lot and looked into it... the RPO lacked a number so google wasn’t helping. I resorted to my only Obrien’s Guide from 1991- which is outdated. It gave me a starting point that the car was part of Set, IIRC. I was able to search slightly more specifically and found 2 Prewar Flyer Great Northern sets:
1.) Consist of 4 wheel cars with green roofs and a green door on the RPO
2.) Consist of 8 wheel cars with red roofs and a red door on the RPO
While it’s a larger 4 wheel coach than some of the others I have from different Makers from that era, I don’t think itd fit on a Flyer 8 wheel frame. I do really love the prewar cars with Heralds like that, though, and I know you know your stuff about Prewar Flyer so if you have any info I’d appreciate it!
Here's a set that recently rolled into the O&O railroad complex. Until I saw the set for sale I didn't know Bing had sold a battery powered train set in the late 1920's early 1930's.
The set, from the reference is 11/540/0
The set
While everything matches the catalog picture I'm pretty sure the passenger car on the left is an earlier version. The catalog illustration does not show operating doors. The two wires coming from the locomotive are the connectors to insulated battery posts on the tender.
The tender is much larger than it would have been for a simple clockwork - obviously the size was driven by the size of the original batteries which, apparently were held in place by simple friction and covered with the coal pile.
The underside of the tender has an interesting on/off switch.
As for the track - it is standard clockwork track from the period.
I tried searching Google for the shape and size of the original batteries - no luck. Since I'm sure nothing will just drop in I plan to build a small AA battery holder out of plastic and work out a way to connect these batteries to the rest of the circuit.
@StevefromPA posted:@Nation Wide Lines Usually those are tell tale signs, I agree. A bit fuzzy on the reason why I thought that- it was over 6 weeks ago that I got that lot and looked into it... the RPO lacked a number so google wasn’t helping. I resorted to my only Obrien’s Guide from 1991- which is outdated. It gave me a starting point that the car was part of Set, IIRC. I was able to search slightly more specifically and found 2 Prewar Flyer Great Northern sets:
1.) Consist of 4 wheel cars with green roofs and a green door on the RPO
2.) Consist of 8 wheel cars with red roofs and a red door on the RPO
While it’s a larger 4 wheel coach than some of the others I have from different Makers from that era, I don’t think itd fit on a Flyer 8 wheel frame. I do really love the prewar cars with Heralds like that, though, and I know you know your stuff about Prewar Flyer so if you have any info I’d appreciate it!
That sized car came on both 4 and 8 wheel frames.
Here is the same car on an 8 wheel frame with orange roof and door
NWL
@Robert S. Butler posted:
The underside of the tender has an interesting on/off switch.
As for the track - it is standard clockwork track from the period.
I tried searching Google for the shape and size of the original batteries - no luck. Since I'm sure nothing will just drop in I plan to build a small AA battery holder out of plastic and work out a way to connect these batteries to the rest of the circuit.
Robert,
the matching batterie is 3LR12 4,5 Volts, you need 2 of them.
Arne
How long will that engine run on one set of batteries? I never knew about it either till someone posted about it on another forum. Very cool. Someone out there offers a battery holder that is the right shape, so you can use rechargeable AA batteries instead of eating up non rechargeable ones if you like to run it alot. I have fitted onboard battery power to a Bassett Lowke LMS Compound using four rechargable 2300mah Nimh AA batteries in a holder. AD
Thanks @Nation Wide Lines - I appreciate that confirmation. Guess I’m always expecting something to be “wrong” when I purchase a number of items like that
@Robert S. Butler I didn’t know Bing made battery operated trains in that era either!! Awesome pick-up!! I love how loosely(talk about an understatement) batteries were put in toys back then, even with some of the litho coming out of Japan in the 50s/60s.
I’m not sure which of the coaches is older but I just realized after your post that doors aren’t the best way to judge. Portion of Page 346, 1932 addendum to 1930 customer catalog
10/565/0
Some late Bing’s had opening doors. I always thought that more detail on a Bing car meant PRe-mid 20s till I just translated portions of that page.
side note: I love that book, it validated that the first Bing train car I ever bought(the one shown above) is legitimate and, according to the Spanish description- doesn’t have the raised roof as shown in the book’s picture but a “normal” roof like mine. There are a variants of that car from sets and a version without marking but still. What a great book
Arne, thanks for the info - guess I'll see about getting a couple of those batteries. 
@Robert S. Butler posted:The set
While everything matches the catalog picture I'm pretty sure the passenger car on the left is an earlier version. The catalog illustration does not show operating doors.
The left with opening doors is Bing 10/564 made 1929-1930
The right is Bing 10/5131 made 1930-1932
Arne
Ok, so with the overlap in passenger car production and a 1930 offer date for the set does this mean the set could have had a 2nd class car with working doors and a second 2nd class car without working doors? In other words, is there a reasonable chance the set is an "as sold" and not a set with a replaced car?
As I said in my other post, had some German tin to share. Forgot to add I have some prewar U.S. Motive Power I received last week as well:
Late Ives 1100 cast iron loco. Runs great! Only problem is that one of the rear wheels doesn’t spin when I run it(loose/not attached to axle)
Flyer 1097. Always wanted one of these boxcabs. it’s not in the greatest shape but the pic actually is worse than it really is.
Still has the patents sticker inside
I bought this knowing it had problems running when not on a test bench. FIced the electrical issues but look at the rear(left) drive wheel...
It’s expanded from the pest. Got out the calipers to measure each wheelset’s flange distance- the read wheels are 1.28” apart while the front are 1.23”. It’d run rather nicely if it wasn’t for this imbalance.
now to the German tin:
KBN 6”, 4 wheel PRR cars:
553 Express baggage(GREAT condition)
Two 1223 coaches(Also nice condition)
different than any Bub coaches I’ve ever bought. Couplers are unique- work with European market(vertical fishhook)couplers and US market T/S couplers
AND are a nice size- Bub 5.5” on left and Bing 6.5” on right. They don’t look bad with the Bing in a consist but outsize the 5.5 inchers
Finally, from the weekend- Bub 254 NYC coach and Bing Belvidere NYC Lines Steel sided Coach..
There should be another Bing steel sided NYC coach(Waukegan) but I’m afraid it may be lost in the mail
Thanks for clarifying @Arne sorry @Robert S. Butler , didn’t mean to lead you astray. Also- that’s a good question
Robert.
In 1930 the Bing 10/564 has been changed, from 1931-1932 the car had a other roof and the small windows on top was not cutted out.
It is possible Bing had used the older leftovers for the sets.
Arne
Robert I have the same Bing Loco
I have hooked it up to a single 18650 li-ion cell (4.2V max charge) and it barrels ... My plan for it eventually is to put in 2or3 18500 Li-ion batteries in parallel with a small inexpensive variable voltage buck converter to enable any speed range
( easy for me as I gave up smoking thru using e-cigarettes and have lots of batteries and chargers lol )
Hello everyone...must admit I am fascinated by the battery powered loco's from the 1930's or earlier. Stevefrom PA thank you for comment on my Hatchette cars, to me they are neat and look good although they are not original Hornby. OBTW I have the same 4 wheel baggage car (GN logo) with copper journals and green roof and door. I also have a 1097 and mine came with matching 1120 red/green 4 wheel coach and observation car.
What I have today is sort of an "Australian" adventure. Some time ago, I obtained a Hornby type 31 1st/2nd (or 3rd) livery coach from a seller in Australia. Hornby made 2 type 31 coaches, one 1st/2nd(or 3rd it isn't marked) and the other 2nd /brake but did not distinguish then by number in their nomenclature. Both are small 4 wheel coaches in the crimson and cream color scheme. So I was on the hunt for the one I didn't have, the 2nd/brake. I recently found it, guess where, in Australia! I recently got delivery and it is just great, almost new in the box. So here are my new Hornby type 31 coaches.
Here is the 2nd /brake coach, just received.
Here she is in an end view showing the lithography on the end plates.
Here are the two type 31's together, the 1st /2nd on the left and 2nd/brake on the right.
Here they are with my Type 51 locomotive. Really it should be a type 30 but I don't have one of those
Here is the fine box that the 2nd / brake came in and when I inspected the box I noticed an interesting thing. On one end the product identification etc is in English but on the other end it is in both French and German. Neat!
Best wishes
Don
Really nice pick up @Don McErlean 
Australia was a huge export market for the UK after the war so later Hornby is plentiful here compared to many other imported or indeed local marques ...I hope these Aussie sellers are looking after you or else I wil have to go 'round an' give 'em a bloody clip on the lughole for ya , <--- note when things get serious I even resort to typing in an Aussie accent
So yep for postwar Hornby Australia will be a prime market , however many sellers on ePay consider them gold !!!
Thanks Fatman, I appreciate the help and support. Yes, my dealings with the Aussie sellers so far have been excellent. This latest buy just blew me away, it was pictured of course but the condition when I got it exceeded the description. As I said in my post, the car looked brand new, indeed it looked like it had never been on the track and the box was clean and crisp. So I am very much pleased with your homeland.
How is the foot doing? Healing up I hope.
Don
A nice Flyer no. 301 passenger set from 1939:
Needs a thorough cleaning and lubrication.
PD
I also ran down some three-tie standard gauge track for the Lionel 101 I picked up recently:
So the next question is, how does one bend the track-pins to the correct angle for each section of track/bridge?
PD
Other than food, my only purchase at the TCA Convention last week.
Steve
@Don McErlean Doing good mate , been fitted with a special "Racing Boot " lol so getting around is more comfy Gash is healing nicely .. all going to plan so far .
No new trainage to report sadly 
I've been rapidly working on filling out a roughly 1921 era O gauge collection for an upcoming Christmas holiday display. So far I have a partial cross section of Lionel's train offerings minus the lowest end freight set as well as some of the mid level ones. I have a few other accessories I'd like to acquire eventually along with some originals to replace the MTH repro lamp posts (technically the 58 lamp posts are too new anyway) and crossing signal. There's also an Ives passenger set for something different.
The 156 locomotive and passenger cars arrived yesterday from a Stout Auction I won it in. Unfortunately a former owner did a fairly decent cosmetic restoration on the locomotive although it was mechanically "totaled" with a bad motor armature and very rough original wiring. The chassis will be getting sent to the Motor Doctor this week for motor work which should hopefully sort it out and make it run as nice as it looks.
Been selling a lot of my CMC but for some reason Erie boxcars keep coming in😜
Steve
@Steve "Papa" Eastman posted:
Other than food, my only purchase at the TCA Convention last week.
Steve
I love that telephone box Steve. I can even forgive its scale. I just did a quick check online and found that it started life as a tin of English toffees. Now I'll have to buy one!
Another small KBN windup, don't remember when I got it. It must have been during my "buy locos with no springs or valve gear." phase. Any additional would be helpful. Was the bar under the cylinder to operated something trackside.
John
Very well done!!!
Rich that looks terrific, fabulous job. I noted you said you used "TSP" for removing the paint. I know this may be a dumb question but I am not familiar with that product, could you post its full name? I have a set of Ogauge passenger cars that were originally "ogive" in 1925 and someone painted them green (date unknown). I can tell this because they only painted the outside and the original color is underneath and inside the cars. Long term I am thinking or returning them to their proper color.
Don
@Don McErlean Don thank you for your comments. TSP is Trisodium Phosphate, which is available from any big box store or local hardware store. I used about 1/2 to 3/4 cup of TSP with warm water to cover a shell in a plastic pail. The painted cars and even the brass railings went in for about 30 minutes. The paint basically fell off and didn’t need any aggressive scrubbing. I was very pleased with how this worked. In the past I had used dishwasher pods without very satisfactory results. Looking forward to seeing your cars transformation in the future.
Here is a new arrival. This is set 845 c. 1937, based on The W. Bingham Co. wholesale catalog from 1937. These Champion sets were not shown in the regular American Flyer catalogs, so one has to search many sources to find what should be in these sets.
The set came with its original box and sleeves for all items, except the tender. Note all of the sleeves are rubberstamped with the item numbers.
The box label, with correct number present
NWL
PS - after searching through the stacks, I found a sleeve for the tender. It is a great match to the set, as it is rubber stamped 122? with the last digit being unreadable, so it is plausible that it would be 1221, which would be correct for the tender.
@Rich Wiemann: Thanks for the "recipe" not sure when I might launch on this project but I will definitely follow your advice.
@Nation Wide Lines: That is really a beautiful set. I have one "Champion" set (or at least it came as a set-no box) but its a passenger set and the tender is very different, not nearly so elaborate. The engine seems similar however but the trim on yours looks more like my AF 301 engine, more elaborate than my Champion loco. What I really enjoyed however is that I have all the cars you pictured, but they were picked up at various times over the years as single car buys...and now I know they did come in some sets but uncatalogued and an approximate year 1937.
It really is amazing when you can find these things complete, even to the internal cardboard sleeves for the individual cars. GREAT FIND! Thanks for posting.
Don
How in the world does a beautiful set like this survive unblemished for 80+ years! A miracle.
Mannyrock
@Don McErlean posted:@Nation Wide Lines: That is really a beautiful set. I have one "Champion" set (or at least it came as a set-no box) but its a passenger set and the tender is very different, not nearly so elaborate. The engine seems similar however but the trim on yours looks more like my AF 301 engine, more elaborate than my Champion loco. What I really enjoyed however is that I have all the cars you pictured, but they were picked up at various times over the years as single car buys...and now I know they did come in some sets but uncatalogued and an approximate year 1937.
It really is amazing when you can find these things complete, even to the internal cardboard sleeves for the individual cars. GREAT FIND! Thanks for posting.
Don
Don,
The Champion sets with these type of freights were produced in 1936 and 1937. They were never included in the official Dealer Price Lists, but I have several pages of "Specials" c. 1936-1937 that show these sets. In revisiting these pages, I see my set 845 is included in the "Specials" information I have. As for the engine, I believe it uses the same cab as the Type XX / 401 locomotive. There is no rear truck, as the engine has the whistle unit in the cab.
This style of freight car is shown in both 4 and 8-wheel frame configurations and are also shown as coming with the sheet-metal Hiawatha engines.
As for information on these odd sets, I have browsed on ebay for years looking for wholesale catalog pages showing American Flyer and have found a lot of great information about uncataloged items.
The cardboard sleeves are somewhat difficult to find, as they are easily lost, torn, and discarded, much like original wrapping paper from earlier sets, so it is nice when one finds them.
NWL
@NWL I think you are correct. Your comment about the "whistle in the cab" sent me scrambling for my Type XX locomotive (much the worse for wear than yours and without the leading truck) to see the resemblance. This one has the whistle in the cab and has a similar amount of trim on the boiler but lacks (maybe its just missing) the cylindrical headlight extension on the boiler front and as I mentioned it has no leading truck. Interestingly mine shows no evidence of ever having such a truck but who knows. There is no question that this type XX resembles your engine more than the one that came with my Champion outfit. My type XX shown below.
Best wishes
Don
Don,
There are a number of variations of the low end locomotives. Post a picture of your engine and tender that came with your Champion outfit.
NWL
OK NWL, I will post my "Champion" engine and tender. Here it is... Don
@Don McErlean posted:OK NWL, I will post my "Champion" engine and tender. Here it is... Don
Don,
That is an earlier engine, it is a type XIX engine, which was offered between 1933 and 1935. I believe your engine is a 614 engine, which was offered in 1933-1934. Not sure the tender is correct, but it certainly could be.
NWL
NEL. Thanks for the new information. Appreciate your response and help.
Don
Oh I meant NWL not NFL sorry I didn’t think you were a football team. My “fat fingered “ mistake.
Don
Well here is a short post of an item that I think is cool although probably not either unique or very valuable. It is a #612 American Flyer Station with Crane. This was made between 1946-1951 and then available again in 1953-54. It's condition is good, all the controls on the crane work, even the string is intact . The station house itself is very good but it is missing the green window pane's on the inside and one "Mystic" sign. All of the doors on the other hand are in place and intact. The windows were sheet stock plastic pasted on the inside, hopefully someone on the forum makes a reproduction replacement. I sort of bought it on a lark, mostly because of the crane, and it was quite inexpensive ($22) So this was made when I was between 2 (1946) and 10 (1954) years of age...I got my first train in 1947 at age 3 (or maybe Dad did ) from Santa like many other boys and it was Lionel, but these accessories seem to work fine with either Lionel or AF (I have a #593 AF switch tower of the same vintage on my current 0 gauge layout).
Front view, showing the "ticket booth"
Rear view, showing the other freight door and the ramp down to the crane area. The large baggage door is intact but I just left it open.
Non crane end showing the "Mystic" sign
Crane end with better view of the crane. The "rope" or "cable" driving the crane from the control wheels is well aged, but intact, the hook is complete and all the control wheels work and are functional.
Here is the American Flyer trademark on the end of the platform.
Best wishes
Don
@Don McErlean posted:Well here is a short post of an item that I think is cool although probably not either unique or very valuable. It is a #612 American Flyer Station with Crane. This was made between 1946-1951 and then available again in 1953-54. It's condition is good, all the controls on the crane work, even the string is intact . The station house itself is very good but it is missing the green window pane's on the inside and one "Mystic" sign. All of the doors on the other hand are in place and intact. The windows were sheet stock plastic pasted on the inside, hopefully someone on the forum makes a reproduction replacement. I sort of bought it on a lark, mostly because of the crane, and it was quite inexpensive ($22) So this was made when I was between 2 (1946) and 10 (1954) years of age...I got my first train in 1947 at age 3 (or maybe Dad did
Front view, showing the "ticket booth"
...
That's a beautiful piece, and a lot of fun too.
And it was a steal for the price. Shouldn't be too difficult to figure something out for window glazing, especially since you're not restoring a rare collectible.
Thanks Mallard 4468. I agree, I am sure I can find something for the windows, even it its just a "frosted" plastic. The interior light fixture for the station is completely intact, even the bulb! My recollection is that these stations did not really give you a view "inside" so I think frosted would be as correct as I need to be. Thanks for you comment.
Don
@Rich Wiemann posted:For awhile my wife and I have been wanting a tinplate Christmas train. I only run conventional and couldn’t really justify, to myself or my wife, the recent pricing for either a MTH or LTI tinplate set. That only left me with one option, which was to make my own.
Wow, that looks so good. I have never done anything like this before but you have now given me inspiration to try and make my own Christmas train from some old, used trains. I just need to go to a train show to start looking! Thanks.
Ok, Don - you're half way there - now you need to add this to your freight siding that way you will have two cranes to do the needed work in and around the freight/station area.
As for your missing windows - you are correct, they were frosted and at one point someone made reproductions but I can't recall who it was.
Don,
Somebody either does or did make a reproduction of the windows for that station. I have seen reproduction window sets for the station before. I don't know what vendor would have them, but I would search for an American Flyer S gauge parts dealer and you should be able to find them.
NWL
I seem to remember frosted and divided into six or eight panes.
@Robert S. Butler posted:Ok, Don - you're half way there - now you need to add this to your freight siding that way you will have two cranes to do the needed work in and around the freight/station area.
As for your missing windows - you are correct, they were frosted and at one point someone made reproductions but I can't recall who it was.
I used frosted milk cartons to make windows.
Steve
My only purchase at Sunday’s club meet.
Steve
@Robert S. Butler posted:Ok, Don - you're half way there - now you need to add this to your freight siding that way you will have two cranes to do the needed work in and around the freight/station area.
As for your missing windows - you are correct, they were frosted and at one point someone made reproductions but I can't recall who it was.
And if you happen to find a spare crane you can create a larger freight depot like I did.
Northwoods Flyer
Greg
Finally got home to take a look at a set of 2613/4/5 pullmans that someone did a ratty home plating job on, well at least I think they did....s lol
So far all I did was to unwrap them and take a rag and some mothers wheel polish to one end of one roof which you can see. Looks like all that scruffy crap will polish off and they might look alright lol
@Don McErlean posted:Well here is a short post of an item that I think is cool although probably not either unique or very valuable. It is a #612 American Flyer Station with Crane. This was made between 1946-1951 and then available again in 1953-54. It's condition is good, all the controls on the crane work, even the string is intact . The station house itself is very good but it is missing the green window pane's on the inside and one "Mystic" sign. All of the doors on the other hand are in place and intact. The windows were sheet stock plastic pasted on the inside, hopefully someone on the forum makes a reproduction replacement. I sort of bought it on a lark, mostly because of the crane, and it was quite inexpensive ($22) So this was made when I was between 2 (1946) and 10 (1954) years of age...I got my first train in 1947 at age 3 (or maybe Dad did
Front view, showing the "ticket booth"
Rear view, showing the other freight door and the ramp down to the crane area. The large baggage door is intact but I just left it open.
Non crane end showing the "Mystic" sign
Crane end with better view of the crane. The "rope" or "cable" driving the crane from the control wheels is well aged, but intact, the hook is complete and all the control wheels work and are functional.
Here is the American Flyer trademark on the end of the platform.
Best wishes
Don
You can google mistic station window set. E-bay has a set for 12.99 + 1.50 shipping. I got a set from Port Liones Hobby years ago. I didn't see it listed now at PLH, but you could call Doug @888-708-0782.
Chris
@BenLMaggi posted:Wow, that looks so good. I have never done anything like this before but you have now given me inspiration to try and make my own Christmas train from some old, used trains. I just need to go to a train show to start looking! Thanks.
Thanks Ben and go for it. It’s not rocket science and just requires the ambition to make it happen.
Finally found a little Electric Passenger set that runs beautifully. Now I need a headlamp for it. One observation is that it takes very little power to run at what I would call an acceptable speed. A touch more and it is off like a rabbit! In an original beat up box, and with the #248 Orange engine with a 629 Pullman and the 630 Observation that have peacock inserts. I am looking for help with the headlamp, anybody have one to sell, or a favorite vendor? I have not cleaned them up yet, so not bad for their age.
Wow guys THANKS your comments and help on my need for "windows" for my AF station was really great. NWL, beardog49, Steve Papa Eastman thanks for your input on the window material and confirming my recollection that the windows were "frosted". Robert S. Butler and Greg J. Turinette...I agree guys I now "need" that earlier version of this station and Greg...an extra crane!. Dennis Holler I have seen a lot of restored 2613/14/15 cars but never plated ones. They are really unique and look super!. Caa - Thank you especially for remembering the source of the windows I will pursue that for sure.
Thanks again guys...
Don
Chuck242: IAW my reference material, the #248 with an orange body and peacock blue painted inserts dates from 1928-1929 and has a "cast" headlight. OBTW your cars, the 629 Pullman and 630 observation with orange body and peacock inserts, are also correct for 1928-29 and did come with the orange engine in "Outfit 292" (Lionel's term for a set) as your box shows.
What a great find! A beautiful set for certain.
Don
don, here is a photo I found of your station. The windows appear to be frosted with a 6 over 6 pattern. I found a couple
like this and this is how I seem to remember the original. It is the last item from my childhood layout I am still looking for(without the crane).
John
Thanks beardog49, now I know what I am looking for. My station house is the same as the station you posted but my baggage doors are brown, wood lithographed except for the one personnel door which is white like yours.
Don
Hi tinplate fans...I am posting some pictures here of a Lionel #800 boxcar that I did list on "Box Car Sunday" , however I wanted to discuss a small but perhaps interesting detail that I discovered on the car after study. Thought this thread being devoted solely to tinplate might have more interested members in what may seem as minutia.
Looking at the pictures.
Here is the interesting (and perhaps trivial) detail. In Greenbergs very complete book on Lionel O gauge from 1915-1928 he treats this boxcar in some detail. However he lists only two (2) variations on the rubber stamping (PRR) . The first from 1918, labeled configuration (F) he describes as having NO PERIODS in the stamping "PENN R R" . He then describes a configuration that he lists as (G) covering the period 1914-1925 ( yes it either overlaps or 1918 is a singular year, he does not say) which is stated to have THREE PERIODS , hence it would read "PENN.R.R." on both sides of the door. With a period after the N and after both R's. The Three Period configuration then continues until 1926 when this fellow was no longer available. The 1925-26 configuration had the item number #800 under the door vice on one end of the car as is shown below so clearly this car is pre 1925.
So - what's the big deal. Well my little car has TWO PERIODS and only on one side of the door. I thought at first this might just be an error in the stamping but both sides of the car are the same, the period after the "N" in PENN is missing in both places on the left and there are no periods at all on the right side of the door. While the picture does show this but believe me even investigation up close with a magnifying glass reveals the absence of any period either after the "N" on the left side and no periods at all on the right side.
OK I am a "trivia fan", what do you think, is this a factory error, one of, just a screw up of some technician...? I doubt the latter as the periods, however many there would be would be incorporated in the stamp. So this car was obviously stamped with a different stamp or a defective stamp. Anyway as a pre-war nut finding a configuration that might be undiscovered by as complete a source as Greenberg was kind of cool.
Side 2
End of car (one end only)
Comments are most welcome.
Don
nice catch, don
My latest Tinplate adventure starts out with the Ubiquitous Marx Commodore Vanderbilt Locomotive. Clearly not something from the High End of the Shelf... Looking a little sad here 
But what does one do with a loco like this? My layout is post war O27 and this won't even go around the track because the large diameter drive gear won't go through my switches. So I came up with the idea of converting it. I had a DC powered Lionel 1062 locomotive (another real high dollar item... LOL) that I took the motor from; then added some diodes so it could run on AC.
Here is a picture of the old on the left with the modified on the right. The conversion was rather easy. To the rearward facing slot on the motor chassis I needed to add a vertical shim to get the height correct, then a side to side shim to get the motor centered within the body. Then I had to tap the existing hole in the Lionel chassis with a 6-32 thread and drill a corresponding hole in the Marx Cross beam. I was even able to add the front trucks from the Lionel 1062 onto the unit!
Here is the locomotive polished up and ready for action on my layout
In March of 2020, I purchased a nice, original gunmetal gray 392E from a local estate auction. I have been searching since then for a matching set of Stephen Girard passenger cars with the correct, late nickel trim. Today, I received a nice set of original, matching nickel trim cars thanks to the fine folks at Stout Auctions in Indiana. I thought I got a great deal on these and they arrived better than I expected. These nickel trim cars seemed to be hard to find, but now my set is complete. I have always wanted a late Stephen Girard set and now I finally have one!
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