Buy/Make Anything Cool Lately (Tinplate Version)

My first thought was Flyer....but I'm not sure. I like it though.

WindupGuy posted:

Bought this passenger platform at a train show.  The seller thought it was homemade, but the posts are castings.  The two terminals on the end of the platform power a small light in the roof.  Any guesses as to its origin?

For some reason Thomas Industries is coming to mind but could not find it in my catalog.

Steve

For many years I've had my eye out for an original tender for the my Erector Hudson (which were originally sold in the 1930's both with and without a tender), and finally located a very nice one at a reasonable price. It came as part of a complete engine-tender-box of extra parts set. Although cosmetically the engine is not as nice as the one I had in my collection (some minor rust on the rods and other plated parts, the smokebox painted black and someone rather crudely painted "Union Pacific" on it), I was pleased to find that the drive elements for the engine were intact. The set box also contained the track, two of the Erector P58 low-voltage motors and also lengths of the "ladder" drive chain. The motor mounting brackets were not there, but this being Erector you can always build things from pieces. Several hours of fitting and tweaking later (including trying different lengths of chain), I got it running. The key to running it on its display track (which is wider than standard gauge by the way) are the pair of "LS" "jacks" that are included; these are basically standoffs that lift only the driving wheels just a bit off the rails. The middle set of drivers is geared off the driveshaft from the motor, the driving rods do the rest.

As seen in the photos, the Erector Hudson is massive; the engine and tender together are about 4 feet long. I put a Lionel "O" gauge 773 Hudson in the photos for scale. Enjoy.

John Smatlak posted:

 

John, that is really cool.  Congrats on finding that tender too.

beachhead2 posted:

John Smatlak posted:

 

John, that is really cool.  Congrats on finding that tender too.

I spy a Spanish Coelho de Sousa tram up on the shelf.....

I got my original Dorfan crane running!

It required rewiring the motor and lubrication and adjustment. 

I had to shim the motor because the base is warped. Temporarily I have used cardboard.

However, I broke a tooth on the hoist spool gear.

George

Jim O'C posted:

beachhead2 posted:

John Smatlak posted:

 

John, that is really cool.  Congrats on finding that tender too.

I spy a Spanish Coelho de Sousa tram up on the shelf.....

Good eye! I picked it up on Ebay last year.

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!

nice find Comrade.....

I just picked this up last weekend at Allentown, a Cohen 1912 Special. Runs great, looks great, awesome locomotive. It's only negative point is as one time a past owner drilled a hole in the roof for a pantograph. I need to fix that one day. Not being a master metal smith I would need to send it out or find a replacement roof.

I just purchased a 3 car set (restored) to go behind it, so I think it will look great under the tree this year

Very nice !

Well I think I have the hopper from the  mth 10-3010 tinplate Hudson set, but I honestly am not 100% sure.  I would love if someone could confirm for me, as I can’t find a clear picture of the set. Of course it didn’t come with a box☹️.

It is clearly stamped mth on the bottom and has the longer slide shoes of earlier tinplate traditions rolling stock.  It also has a nyc badge instead of mth or Lionel.   It’s in great shape.  Any help in making a positive id appreciated.

Have a good evening everybody,

The last cog in my large1938 freights with type X couplers.

Steve

I picked up this lovely beauty at the last show I went to. I also got the orange set for a steal and a bag of af prewar cars for 5 bucks.

I made some repairs to my Dorfan crane. I repaired the broken gear teeth on the spool gear and repaired the broken leg. I also created more permanent shims for the motor and painted them red.

JB Weld came to the rescue for both. The leg is solid now. 

The gear repair was fascinating. I researched how to do this. I am no machinist. I used a brass rod and drilled a hole for the two broken teeth. JB Weld was used to glue the rod into the hole. Then, JB Weld was used to form the gear teeth. A little Dremel machining was needed at the end to get the right fit and finish. Parts for this crane are hard to come by, so I had to be creative. She works great now!

George 

George S posted:

I made some repairs to my Dorfan crane. I repaired the broken gear teeth on the spool gear and repaired the broken leg. I also created more permanent shims for the motor and painted them red.

JB Weld came to the rescue for both. The leg is solid now. 

The gear repair was fascinating. I researched how to do this. I am no machinist. I used a brass rod and drilled a hole for the two broken teeth. JB Weld was used to glue the rod into the hole. Then, JB Weld was used to form the gear teeth. A little Dremel machining was needed at the end to get the right fit and finish. Parts for this crane are hard to come by, so I had to be creative. She works great now!

 

George 

George S....I am totally impressed with the crane and even more with your repairs.   Fendermain

A few weeks back I got a clockwork Bing electric outline shell / frame because it was cheap and neat looking. It had no wheels/drive and someone had added a headlight to the shell. Over the holiday I converted it into an electric-powered unit by combining it with an item from the junk box- a Lionel 150 chassis and motor. The two fit together quite nicely- no additional holes required, just some longer screws to reach from the shell to the Lionel frame. I tried it out this evening with a set of Dorfan passenger cars- some photos and a video attached. 

Since switching to tinplate trains I have been redoing the layout to reflect the "less than scale" nature of old toy trains. This included swapping out all the scale vehicles for old toys, and some homemade vehicles built to look like toys. Here is my latest. A new tow truck...

Brian Liesberg posted:

Very cool.