Buy/Make Anything Cool Lately (Tinplate Version)

That is it!  Thanks guys!

My newly arrived Gunthermann clockwork tram. It has flanged wheels that are gauge one, although presumably it is a floor toy. Based on the appearance of the "AW" in the logo, I presume it to be from the pre-1920 period (see this page on the Binns Road site: http://www.binnsroad.co.uk/railways/gunthermann/index.html). It is highly detailed, including bow trolley on the roof and sign holders into which the owner can insert paper signs of their choice. Note the mustached tram driver at the controls! Any further information on the history of it would be welcome.

had a little tome for some mock up

John Smatlak posted:

My newly arrived Gunthermann clockwork tram. It has flanged wheels that are gauge one, although presumably it is a floor toy. Based on the appearance of the "AW" in the logo, I presume it to be from the pre-1920 period (see this page on the Binns Road site: http://www.binnsroad.co.uk/railways/gunthermann/index.html). It is highly detailed, including bow trolley on the roof and sign holders into which the owner can insert paper signs of their choice. Note the mustached tram driver at the controls! Any further information on the history of it would be welcome.

Very nice pick-up @John Smatlak !! You’re right- the detail is awesome!

Some of my finds/pick-ups/deliveries over. The last week and 1/2 or 2 weeks:

Lionel #127 Station. Partially repainted but for the price andhow it looks- good get!

Just got this yesterday from across the pond via eBay. Hornby by Meccano building. Didn’t know what it was at first, just thought it looked really neat and the price was reasonable. Upon arrival I noticed 3 fire tanks litho’d in the side, thus, it has now taken the place of my plasticville fire Station on the Lehigh Valley RR portion of my layout.

Got this on eBay in a 3 piece lot labelled “prewar American Flyer”. Well, I recognized the crossing(below) as Ives and upon further research found this to be the Ives 201 station which someone took it upon themselves to insert a light bulb via the roof. That said, besides the 2 holes in the roof, the lithography on the sides and paint on the roof is in great shape. Was able to reconfigure the wiring so that the wires don’t come from the roof anymore but slyly go out the rear exit. Due to its size, 1/32 scale figures can match up well with it  hence the larger benches.

The only Flyer piece from the aforementioned lot. It’s the No. 90 “American Flyer R.R.” Currently being used as a checkpoint to my “international zone” under U.N. & U.S. jurisdiction.

On the left, the last part of the “prewar AF lot” an Ives 216 crossing gate. Already have one(on the right) that I picked up at the Allentown First Frost. Those one is in much better condition, aka more original condition. 

And can’t forget these! Corgi soldiers from Nick Smith. Diecast- 1/50 scale- fit nicely with MTH soldiers and K-Line/O-line repoductions SWAT figures & Soldiers

These arrived yesterday, with matching coaches. Both are Ives 3241s with a 184 buffet and 186 observation. The green one does run, but needs a new light bulb, as I believe it shattered during shipping. The red one, unfortunately, doesn't move. It buzzes loudly and at one point, started smoking. I have no idea what was going on, but once I saw smoke, I stopped trying to run it. Anyone have an idea why its not moving and smoking? Would this be an easy repair?

Lionel2056 posted:

These arrived yesterday, with matching coaches. Both are Ives 3241s with a 184 buffet and 186 observation. The green one does run, but needs a new light bulb, as I believe it shattered during shipping. The red one, unfortunately, doesn't move. It buzzes loudly and at one point, started smoking. I have no idea what was going on, but once I saw smoke, I stopped trying to run it. Anyone have an idea why its not moving and smoking? Would this be an easy repair?

 

Did you get them off of eBay, If so I also bid on them then stopped. Maybe just do the basics and check for broken wires/shorts and such. Lot of luck and keep us posted. Maybe start a new thread on your repairs 

RonH posted:

Lionel2056 posted:

These arrived yesterday, with matching coaches. Both are Ives 3241s with a 184 buffet and 186 observation. The green one does run, but needs a new light bulb, as I believe it shattered during shipping. The red one, unfortunately, doesn't move. It buzzes loudly and at one point, started smoking. I have no idea what was going on, but once I saw smoke, I stopped trying to run it. Anyone have an idea why its not moving and smoking? Would this be an easy repair?

 

Did you get them off of eBay, If so I also bid on them then stopped. Maybe just do the basics and check for broken wires/shorts and such. Lot of luck and keep us posted. Maybe start a new thread on your repairs 

Hi Ron,

yes I did get them off of eBay. However, they were listed as 'Buy it now', so I didn't have to bid. Also, thanks for the advice. I'll take a look at the wires again, and see if there's anything I can do.

Lionel2056 posted:

RonH posted:

Lionel2056 posted:

These arrived yesterday, with matching coaches. Both are Ives 3241s with a 184 buffet and 186 observation. The green one does run, but needs a new light bulb, as I believe it shattered during shipping. The red one, unfortunately, doesn't move. It buzzes loudly and at one point, started smoking. I have no idea what was going on, but once I saw smoke, I stopped trying to run it. Anyone have an idea why its not moving and smoking? Would this be an easy repair?

 

Did you get them off of eBay, If so I also bid on them then stopped. Maybe just do the basics and check for broken wires/shorts and such. Lot of luck and keep us posted. Maybe start a new thread on your repairs 

Hi Ron,

yes I did get them off of eBay. However, they were listed as 'Buy it now', so I didn't have to bid. Also, thanks for the advice. I'll take a look at the wires again, and see if there's anything I can do.

Usually a buzzing sound comes from an e-unit as the magnet is holding the post. Does it have an e-unit? If so, the e-unit may be stuck. The smoke usually comes from the motor being energized but not moving. I usually spray the motor liberally with CRC contact cleaner and let it drain off.  I spin the wheels and the motor during this process to loosen everything up. I wipe out any dirt I can get to. I clean the brush heads and armature plates with a pencil eraser. Then, I re-lubricate the motor and axels. I put light grease on the gears and a drop of light weight oil on the armature axel on both sides. If the e-unit is sticking, a similar process is required. Sometimes you need to remove the post from the magnetic coil to clean it thoroughly. Then it will require a few drops of light weight oil. While you are doing all of this, you should inspect the wires for rot and the wire connections. I had one that looked OK, but was shorting on the underside to the frame. Rot isn't always noticeable either. Move the wire and all the insulation crumbles away. They you need to re-wire one wire at a time.  I bought cloth wrapped wire to keep the engine as original as possible.

Good luck!

George

Lionel2056 posted:

These arrived yesterday, with matching coaches. Both are Ives 3241s with a 184 buffet and 186 observation. The green one does run, but needs a new light bulb, as I believe it shattered during shipping. The red one, unfortunately, doesn't move. It buzzes loudly and at one point, started smoking. I have no idea what was going on, but once I saw smoke, I stopped trying to run it. Anyone have an idea why its not moving and smoking? Would this be an easy repair?

Too hard to say if easy or hard with that little smidge of info. What exactly smokes is very relevent. Does it freewheel easily when pushed without power?  If not, start there with oiling and mechanical jiggling until it does or you know the mechanicals are stopping it (not WD -40 except to flush crap out, it's not a "true" oil. Bad rust, may take penetrate oil [liquid wrench, pb blaster, etc. keep this off windings, paint etc)... then flush and use motor oil. Visually check wires. From there a cheapie multi meter (ohm, volt at least) is a great help (and learning tool at the same time), a test light-even home made with a wire and 12-18v volt bulb beats nothing. Start a thread and you'll get better, more personalized help from folks.

  If it gets skipped over by (slim) chance, drop me an email at the address in my profile with a heads up. It's not rocket science, just something you aren't familiar with.        ....yet 😉.  The basics all pretty much the same for any open frame train motor. Nothing not learned in jr high electrical 101 class. You mostly only need the experts to wire things exactly as built (so easy there are multiple ways to wire things safely)...and that could be a last step.

I love those spoked wheels.

StevefromPA posted:

 

Just got this yesterday from across the pond via eBay. Hornby by Meccano building. Didn’t know what it was at first, just thought it looked really neat and the price was reasonable. Upon arrival I noticed 3 fire tanks litho’d in the side, thus, it has now taken the place of my plasticville fire Station on the Lehigh Valley RR portion of my layout.

 

This has been shown in this thread before: Hornby No 2 signal cabin

Regards

Fred

sncf231e posted:

StevefromPA posted:

 

Just got this yesterday from across the pond via eBay. Hornby by Meccano building. Didn’t know what it was at first, just thought it looked really neat and the price was reasonable. Upon arrival I noticed 3 fire tanks litho’d in the side, thus, it has now taken the place of my plasticville fire Station on the Lehigh Valley RR portion of my layout.

 

This has been shown in this thread before: Hornby No 2 signal cabin

Regards

Fred

Yours seems to be missing the external stairs on the left side.  Now here's a question: on the prototype, would the three buckets hanging on the wall in case of fire be filled with water? sand?

StevefromPA posted:

My favorite litho’d logo is from a 14780 Baggage car(looks just like this https://www.historytoy.com/bub...ge-car-green-gauge-0 ) except there’s only a 14780 on one side, on the other side there’s a logo that has a KB over the BW. See pic below:

The double logo was used only a short time. You can find them only on Bub cars, never on Bing cars. After buying a few tools from Bing, Bub has started this logo end of 1932, but about the copyright, it was banned  by a court in 1933.

Here a few other cars with them

Arne

O Gauge Guy posted:

sncf231e posted:

StevefromPA posted:

 

Just got this yesterday from across the pond via eBay. Hornby by Meccano building. Didn’t know what it was at first, just thought it looked really neat and the price was reasonable. Upon arrival I noticed 3 fire tanks litho’d in the side, thus, it has now taken the place of my plasticville fire Station on the Lehigh Valley RR portion of my layout.

 

This has been shown in this thread before: Hornby No 2 signal cabin

Regards

Fred

Yours seems to be missing the external stairs on the left side.  Now here's a question: on the prototype, would the three buckets hanging on the wall in case of fire be filled with water? sand?

The stairs ain't missing, this is a Hornby No1 Signal Cabin, and the stairs are just printed on the side. As for the buckets, probably dry sand, fire buckets for use with water were always hung upside down, empty, obviously, to prevent them rotting out. They'd always be next to a standpipe too.

Cheers, Mark

@bigmark75f  What is a standpipe? (I'm thinking I know this but I'm brain pharting; isomnia)

Is that how they "hung" upside down. 

It makes some sense being emptied of water. It's the hanging that has me baffled. I've not seen a bucket handle I could use to hang a bucket upside down due to pivot height above center of gravity and lips rolled to the outer.diameter vs i.d where a hook could catch if hung sideways.

  Hey,  water would penetrate the sand clear to the bottom if it rained heavy too.

   Then again firehouse maintenance is no joke and buckets not as numerous anymore..? 😁

  I installed a lot of those yellow exhaust tubes for removing vehicle fumes from stations during start up and motor temp. retention. I was in more firehouses for more hours a week than many of the individual firemen would be, except a few super devoted brass here and there.

I recently purchased a 4 car Blue Comet set & 5 car State Set for $800. I'll be keeping the Blue Comet set and the add on Maryland car from the state set and selling the other 4 cars. I now have all the State Cars and can make a full 14' long 6 car train! I'm excited to run it on the 4th.

Id post a pic of the Blue Comet set, but I don't have a locomotive for it currently. I think I'm going to find a black 392e at some point to pull it, I figure at Christmas time it'll look kinda like the Polar Express.

I couldn't resist picking up a No. 98 Coal House from Side Track.  They're still selling them for $75 (MSRP $179).

Brian Liesberg posted:

I recently purchased a 4 car Blue Comet set & 5 car State Set for $800. I'll be keeping the Blue Comet set and the add on Maryland car from the state set and selling the other 4 cars. I now have all the State Cars and can make a full 14' long 6 car train! I'm excited to run it on the 4th.

Id post a pic of the Blue Comet set, but I don't have a locomotive for it currently. I think I'm going to find a black 392e at some point to pull it, I figure at Christmas time it'll look kinda like the Polar Express.

Wow - great deal - under $100 per car for Lionel/MTH finest.

Steamer posted:

had a little tome for some mock up

 

Making a 4-8-4?  At one time there was a guy who made an adapter plate to add the fourth axle to the 6 wheel drive.