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I thought I would share a technique I am using to clean brass plates and brass journals. The brass identification plate on my new old switch tower was tarnished, rusty and hard to read. Sorry, I didn't take a closer picture of the before.

ACA0BCDE-9FBA-4E41-89E5-3F351CCB6BD1

I removed the plate and cleaned it. See how it turned out!

8B725176-D120-4387-B32D-60F2EBB91406

The "Lionel" was not even readable before. To clean this, I started with some old Tarnex I had around on a paper towel. This didn't do much on its own, but it is an important start. Then, I sprayed the plate with WD40 and used a Scotchbride pad to lightly work the dirt loose. The WD40 loosens the tarnish that the Tarnex activated. (I'm making this up. I have no idea why it works.) I don't use much pressure. I was afraid the black lettering would come off, but it is all still there. I alternate the steps until the plate is clean. Then I wipe it off an reinstall it. 

This works with nickel journals too, but for those I use fine steel wool.

George

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Last edited by George S
John Smatlak posted:
O Gauge Guy posted:
480px-Hornby_Signal_Cabin_No2_42,370_[MCat_1956)sncf231e posted:
O Gauge Guy posted:

This arrived yesterday to enhance the enjoyment of my weekend.  All of my pre-war tinplate is either Lionel or Marklin, and I’ve never been greatly excited by Hornby.  However here in Australia Hornby dominated the market, so there’s lots available.  I saw this signal box / switch tower and just had to have it!  It’s actually closer to a local prototype.

 

I managed to straighten a few corners that were bent.  It looks like the roof has been removed at some point as one of the tabs is not inserted into the slot.  Now I have to decide whether to risk removing the roof again to fix the loose chimney and clean the inside.

 

Guy

Since it does not have a hinged roof this looks not like a prewar version (No 2E Signal Cabin), but like a postwar version (No 2 Signal Cabin) which was made with this orange roof colour from 1955-57. It is a nice accessory anyway, but as you can see on my (green roofed) version it does not like the sun.

Regards

Fred

Thank you for this helpful information Fred.  Yes, the sun is doing some damage.  I've seen these with a red roof, a green roof and a blue roof - also an aqua-cyan roof, although maybe this one was faded.  From a 1935 and 1956 catalogue:

480px-Hornby_Signal_Cabin_No2_[1935_BHTMP)

480px-Hornby_Signal_Cabin_No2_42,370_[MCat_1956)

The holiday weekend provided some time to check another project off the list- adding a light to my Hornby Signal Cabin. Not sure if Hornby ever did this with this particular accessory, but the lever frame inside needed lighting! The socket and wire were secured in place with bits of hot glue, so it is easily reversible should a future owner of the piece not want to have it. For more details on the lever frame inside, see my post of 8/7/18: https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/...16#80551019625758116 Now I just need to find the tower operator figure to go inside!

Hornby Signal Cabin lightedHornby Signal Cabin lighted 3

Hornby Signal Cabin lighted 2

I recently acquired some of the correct type Hornby supports for the throw rods; these kept the rods in place parallel to the track. Note also the gent inside the tower.

Hornby signal cabin and lever frame with throw rods

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Last edited by John Smatlak
John Smatlak posted:
John Smatlak posted:
O Gauge Guy posted:
480px-Hornby_Signal_Cabin_No2_42,370_[MCat_1956)sncf231e posted:
O Gauge Guy posted:

This arrived yesterday to enhance the enjoyment of my weekend.  All of my pre-war tinplate is either Lionel or Marklin, and I’ve never been greatly excited by Hornby.  However here in Australia Hornby dominated the market, so there’s lots available.  I saw this signal box / switch tower and just had to have it!  It’s actually closer to a local prototype.

 

I managed to straighten a few corners that were bent.  It looks like the roof has been removed at some point as one of the tabs is not inserted into the slot.  Now I have to decide whether to risk removing the roof again to fix the loose chimney and clean the inside.

 

Guy

Since it does not have a hinged roof this looks not like a prewar version (No 2E Signal Cabin), but like a postwar version (No 2 Signal Cabin) which was made with this orange roof colour from 1955-57. It is a nice accessory anyway, but as you can see on my (green roofed) version it does not like the sun.

Regards

Fred

Thank you for this helpful information Fred.  Yes, the sun is doing some damage.  I've seen these with a red roof, a green roof and a blue roof - also an aqua-cyan roof, although maybe this one was faded.  From a 1935 and 1956 catalogue:

480px-Hornby_Signal_Cabin_No2_[1935_BHTMP)

480px-Hornby_Signal_Cabin_No2_42,370_[MCat_1956)

The holiday weekend provided some time to check another project off the list- adding a light to my Hornby Signal Cabin. Not sure if Hornby ever did this with this particular accessory, but the lever frame inside needed lighting! The socket and wire were secured in place with bits of hot glue, so it is easily reversible should a future owner of the piece not want to have it. For more details on the lever frame inside, see my post of 8/7/18: https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/...16#80551019625758116 Now I just need to find the tower operator figure to go inside!

Hornby Signal Cabin lightedHornby Signal Cabin lighted 3

Hornby Signal Cabin lighted 2

I recently acquired some of the correct type Hornby supports for the throw rods; these kept the rods in place parallel to the track. Note also the gent inside the tower.

Hornby signal cabin and lever frame with throw rods

That switch tower you put the light in is one of the coolest buildings I've seen.  Thanks for showing it off.  By the way , adding a light to it was a great idea. I too would have done the same.  illuminating the switch leavers  was a must .

6672871_1_lJagrick posted:

This is a paper clip tray Lionel put out/had made in the 1930's. They also made a paper weight depicting a 402 for the 25th anniversary (I have one of those as well). I have reproduced the Lionel streamliner as above from pewter and now will do the same with the airplane.

you can see how the 2 cast pegs on the airplane fit in the holes on the 7526672871_2_l

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Jagrick posted:
6672871_1_lJagrick posted:

This is a paper clip tray Lionel put out/had made in the 1930's. They also made a paper weight depicting a 402 for the 25th anniversary (I have one of those as well). I have reproduced the Lionel streamliner as above from pewter and now will do the same with the airplane.

you can see how the 2 cast pegs on the airplane fit in the holes on the 7526672871_2_l

Very cool! Had not seen this one before.

Jim Waterman posted:
John Smatlak posted:

I couldn't resist- it's actually a floor toy, but a great looking piece- such great colors and proportions! Made in Japan, not sure when but I'm guessing 50's or 60's.

Super Electric Locomotive 2Super Electric Locomotive

 

John - did you chuck a couple of Bild a Loco motors under this beast? Will it clear the Hellgate?

Jim

LOL I hadn't thought of converting it, but that would be pretty neat. And yes, it does clear the Hellgate Bridge. I shall have to keep my eyes open for a lesser quality one for conversion experimentation, this one is just too minty. A photo of the bottom is included below.

Floor toy in Hellgate Bridge

Floor toy underside

 

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Thanks for flipping it over. Its design doesnt make for an easy conversion as you might hope. Tight to wheels&gauge, connects to the shell via tabs and a step in front of the cab is there at the porch, for a start. I think it might be harder to go Build a loco than floating the porches prototypically. With the cab raised up an 1/8th" to clear the porch step things look promising though. A set of top and bottom bolster plates with pivot rivet sitting between cab and truck. ..reuse the tab and slot system on your pivot plates. 2rail carpet drive? Or even driveshafts, 2r to 3rflanges. Those side frames and faux wheels can hide a lot if you could get them swinging.

On the box lid there is a white makers mark. Could you get a better shot of it?  (I like logo aspect and scroll the old Japanese lists sometimes just to look at them.) 

I don't collect much tinplate but I've always wanted a wind-up train and found this AF set at the DuPage train show.  The seller said it was "The Rainbow" set but my (limited) research indicates that the tender and coaches are not correct, and it does not have an observation.  Either way it's cool enough for me.  It barely runs at all on the original track, and on my O54 circle under the tree I can only get it to go around 2 1/2 times on 4 1/2 turns.  Once it stops it still has 2 turns left on it.  I did apply a drop of oil to the wheels on the coaches which helped a lot.  I also picked up a station stop and water tower.     

Don

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Last edited by dmestan
dmestan posted:

I don't collect much tinplate but I've always wanted a wind-up train and found this AF set at the DuPage train show.  The seller said it was "The Rainbow" set but my (limited) research indicates that the tender and coaches are not correct, and it does not have an observation.  Either way it's cool enough for me.  It barely runs at all on the original track, and on my O54 circle under the tree I can only get it to go around 2 1/2 times on 4 1/2 turns.  Once it stops it still has 2 turns left on it.  I did apply a drop of oil to the wheels on the coaches which helped a lot.  I also picked up a station stop and water tower.     

Don

At York I picked up an 8 wheel rainbow set.

Steve

B685F2A6-D72C-44C5-8F4B-633A3B9B1D43

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Enjoying my recently arrived Bing for Bassett Lowke "George the Fifth" O gauge clockwork loco. It's quite a nice runner- makes two full laps around my O gauge circuit on a single wind. The tender looks great with it, but it appears to be from another engine as both the engine and tender have "pins" instead of one having a slot to hook them together. My other question was, what is the middle spring-loaded lever? The outer push/pull rods are forward/reverse (reversing lever) and stop/go (brake lever). Shortly after posting this I found a scan of an instruction sheet on the internet so I have edited the post; the answer apparently is that it is the Setting Lever (aka "Restarting Lever") intended to work together with a special track section to permit the loco to not only stop via trackside setting, but also to restart once the trackside lever is released. After seeing the sheet I realized I have one of these track sections, so I'll give it a try. 

Some photos and a brief video included below. The video includes one of my other clockwork pieces, an Orbor stationary power plant with bucket loader. Enjoy

Bassett Lowke George the Fifth clockwork locoBassett Lowke George the Fifth clockwork loco 2Bassett Lowke George the Fifth clockwork loco 3

Bassett Lowke instruction sheet cc

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Last edited by John Smatlak

The middle lever is to be used with a brake rail to stop and restart the train; see the description here:

https://www.classicogauge.net/....php?f=19&t=1260

Edit: After writing the post I saw you had found out already.

Your tender is a Basset Lowke (not by Bing) one; I assume it is from a Basset Lowke compound 4-4-0 (which might be a clockwork or electric one). Here is a picture and video with a correct tender:

Regards

Fred

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Last edited by sncf231e
sncf231e posted:

The middle lever is to be used with a brake rail to stop and restart the train; see the description here:

https://www.classicogauge.net/....php?f=19&t=1260

Edit: After writing the post I saw you had found out already.

Your tender is a Basset Lowke (not by Bing) one; I assume it is from a Basset Lowke compound 4-4-0 (which might be a clockwork or electric one). Here is a picture and video with a correct tender:

 

Regards

Fred

Fred- many thanks for the info on the tender and the levers. The linked site is great! Much appreciated.

John Smatlak posted:
Jim Waterman posted:
John Smatlak posted:

I couldn't resist- it's actually a floor toy, but a great looking piece- such great colors and proportions! Made in Japan, not sure when but I'm guessing 50's or 60's.

Super Electric Locomotive 2Super Electric Locomotive

 

John - did you chuck a couple of Bild a Loco motors under this beast? Will it clear the Hellgate?

Jim

LOL I hadn't thought of converting it, but that would be pretty neat. And yes, it does clear the Hellgate Bridge. I shall have to keep my eyes open for a lesser quality one for conversion experimentation, this one is just too minty. A photo of the bottom is included below.

Floor toy in Hellgate Bridge

Floor toy underside

 

Modern Toy Company from the logo, probably early 1960s

In the same vein- the mystery standard gauge subway car. It's a wind-up toy, which coincidentally does have flanged wheels with standard gauge spacing, but the trucks don't swivel, so it's basically a floor toy. It's certainly neat looking, and as an added bonus has lights (battery powered) both front and rear. See the photo of the logo (YM?)- I'm hoping someone will recognize the maker. This is definitely a candidate for conversion to operation!

Mystery subway car toy 2Mystery subway car toy 3Mystery subway car toy 4Mystery subway car toy 5Mystery subway car toy logo detailMystery subway car toy

 

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DMESTAN - your set is a Rainbow.  The 1927 version did not come with an observation.  As for an exact match with respect to car lithography - I wouldn't worry too much about that.  I've seen a number of boxed Rainbow sets over the years. Sometimes the litho treatment of the cars in the box match the catalog cut and sometimes they don't.

Catalog cut for 1927

1927_Rainbow_Set

 For example - the set below was boxed and the set label was "Rainbow".  The car frames were consistent with the 1927 time frame but except for the engine and the fact that one of the passenger cars is blue (wrong window configuration - according to the catalog) and the other does share the window treatment and the color orange with the other car you would have to squint pretty hard to convince yourself that the catalog and the box contents are the match.

1927_AF_Set_Rainbow_3

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Last edited by Robert S. Butler

Nothing as exotic as all this neat stuff but did buy a few things yesterday in West Virginia at a small shop full of "Good old Boys".  A guy had a Lionel logging set, box looked new but from the Michigan era, I think. Had a steam tank engine, a Forney with 3 dumping log cars & caboose. I wanted it but he wanted to sell more so I ended up getting two pretty nice Lionel 2034s. After I hit them with  CDC solvent they run good. Still have to clean them & lube. No sure what I will do with them. The Forney looks new, has smoke and a"whistle" plus traction tires-a first for me. I have some funky On3 freight cars with Lionel trucks on them and maybe an old passenger car on the rear as a caboose. I got a nice red caboose with the set. Went to a much bigger antique mall and bought two pre-war Lionel Standard gauge signals. One a semaphore. WE  ate a good meal at a Cracker Barrel anticipating a nap when we got home but that didn't happen. A water line by the oil furnace sprung a leak spraying water all over.  It is an oil-fired boiler and a hot water heating system. Called  plumber who came right away and it was fixed in 30 mins. Amazing. The young man knew what he was doing.

  Logging and Michigan was once like bread and butter. 

Not being defensive, but very much curious Jim; likely just a fluke of words that can be read various ways but... Is there anything wrong with items from Mich.?  (" it is what it is ", good or bad...just curious if it is bad for a reason.)

(I finally removed that tender from my 4x9.  Now it's running on a carpet central (thanks again )

And once Michigan was pretty much clear-cut, they went North and West.

I figured it was an origin ID, but had to ask. 

Gramps worked some of the remaining camps in the summers as a teen in Canada and Mich UP from 1926 till about 31 or 32 when he landed a full time steel mill job "down south" here in Detroit where he was schooled.

samdjr74 posted:

I bought this little guy as a Christmas present to me. It's one of two McCoy pieces I really want to get my hands on, the other is the Wapid Wabbit

Best part is, it runs great! Just needed a little lube

 

A very cool piece. I like the figures though I find them curiously "random". Like there is a story to go with it I don't know about... like what's the passenger got... milk and crackers? And whats up with the "lab coat"? ... A pharmacist and a guy with milk of magnesia? Nice whimsy, but the figures seem almost out of place to me.

I think a cowboy hat on the standing figure might have me thinking western trenchcoat, but I only see lab coat right now.  (not sayin' I'm not jealouse )

Adriatic posted:
samdjr74 posted:

I bought this little guy as a Christmas present to me. It's one of two McCoy pieces I really want to get my hands on, the other is the Wapid Wabbit

Best part is, it runs great! Just needed a little lube

 

A very cool piece. I like the figures though I find them curiously "random". Like there is a story to go with it I don't know about... like what's the passenger got... milk and crackers? And whats up with the "lab coat"? ... A pharmacist and a guy with milk of magnesia? Nice whimsy, but the figures seem almost out of place to me.

I think a cowboy hat on the standing figure might have me thinking western trenchcoat, but I only see lab coat right now.  (not sayin' I'm not jealouse )

I thought the figures were Bob McCoy and Bob Jr. I can't find any online reference to back me up right now. I think it is a western style, long overcoat, not a lab coat. The farming and western themes match some of the other McCoy train themes. The characters can certainly be described as whimsical!

George

George S posted:
Adriatic posted:
samdjr74 posted:

I bought this little guy as a Christmas present to me. It's one of two McCoy pieces I really want to get my hands on, the other is the Wapid Wabbit

Best part is, it runs great! Just needed a little lube

 

A very cool piece. I like the figures though I find them curiously "random". Like there is a story to go with it I don't know about... like what's the passenger got... milk and crackers? And whats up with the "lab coat"? ... A pharmacist and a guy with milk of magnesia? Nice whimsy, but the figures seem almost out of place to me.

I think a cowboy hat on the standing figure might have me thinking western trenchcoat, but I only see lab coat right now.  (not sayin' I'm not jealouse )

I thought the figures were Bob McCoy and Bob Jr. I can't find any online reference to back me up right now. I think it is a western style, long overcoat, not a lab coat. The farming and western themes match some of the other McCoy train themes. The characters can certainly be described as whimsical!

George

In the book From A Chicken Coop to Model Trains, it says the #45 hand cars were made from 1980 to 84, then again in 1987. The figures were all hand painted, so no two were exactly alike. No reference to the figures being patterned after anyone.

Steve

Steve "Papa" Eastman posted:
George S posted:
Adriatic posted:
samdjr74 posted:

I bought this little guy as a Christmas present to me. It's one of two McCoy pieces I really want to get my hands on, the other is the Wapid Wabbit

Best part is, it runs great! Just needed a little lube

 

A very cool piece. I like the figures though I find them curiously "random". Like there is a story to go with it I don't know about... like what's the passenger got... milk and crackers? And whats up with the "lab coat"? ... A pharmacist and a guy with milk of magnesia? Nice whimsy, but the figures seem almost out of place to me.

I think a cowboy hat on the standing figure might have me thinking western trenchcoat, but I only see lab coat right now.  (not sayin' I'm not jealouse )

I thought the figures were Bob McCoy and Bob Jr. I can't find any online reference to back me up right now. I think it is a western style, long overcoat, not a lab coat. The farming and western themes match some of the other McCoy train themes. The characters can certainly be described as whimsical!

George

In the book From A Chicken Coop to Model Trains, it says the #45 hand cars were made from 1980 to 84, then again in 1987. The figures were all hand painted, so no two were exactly alike. No reference to the figures being patterned after anyone.

Steve

Knew I could rely on you Steve! TCA Western says something similar. Not sure where I saw the reference to one of the figures being Bob McCoy.

George

Steve "Papa" Eastman posted:
George S posted:
Adriatic posted:
samdjr74 posted:

I bought this little guy as a Christmas present to me. It's one of two McCoy pieces I really want to get my hands on, the other is the Wapid Wabbit

Best part is, it runs great! Just needed a little lube

 

A very cool piece. I like the figures though I find them curiously "random". Like there is a story to go with it I don't know about... like what's the passenger got... milk and crackers? And whats up with the "lab coat"? ... A pharmacist and a guy with milk of magnesia? Nice whimsy, but the figures seem almost out of place to me.

I think a cowboy hat on the standing figure might have me thinking western trenchcoat, but I only see lab coat right now.  (not sayin' I'm not jealouse )

I thought the figures were Bob McCoy and Bob Jr. I can't find any online reference to back me up right now. I think it is a western style, long overcoat, not a lab coat. The farming and western themes match some of the other McCoy train themes. The characters can certainly be described as whimsical!

George

In the book From A Chicken Coop to Model Trains, it says the #45 hand cars were made from 1980 to 84, then again in 1987. The figures were all hand painted, so no two were exactly alike. No reference to the figures being patterned after anyone.

Steve

Steve,

Arno had several of these hand cars in his collection and you are absolutely correct, no two were painted the same.  As I recall, not all the figures were the same either.

Bob Nelson

Adriatic posted:
samdjr74 posted:

I bought this little guy as a Christmas present to me. It's one of two McCoy pieces I really want to get my hands on, the other is the Wapid Wabbit

Best part is, it runs great! Just needed a little lube

 

A very cool piece. I like the figures though I find them curiously "random". Like there is a story to go with it I don't know about... like what's the passenger got... milk and crackers? And whats up with the "lab coat"? ... A pharmacist and a guy with milk of magnesia? Nice whimsy, but the figures seem almost out of place to me.

I think a cowboy hat on the standing figure might have me thinking western trenchcoat, but I only see lab coat right now.  (not sayin' I'm not jealouse )

I get it, not very "train" related I guess for the two guys but they are fun to watch, the coat looks like an old west style coat but it has a purpose to cover the hinge in his hips. The passenger is drinking milk, eating a sandwich and has a banana in his lunch box. His head goes back and forth as it goes around the track. I'll try to get some better pictures this weekend

navy.seal posted:
Steve "Papa" Eastman posted:
George S posted:
Adriatic posted:
samdjr74 posted:

I bought this little guy as a Christmas present to me. It's one of two McCoy pieces I really want to get my hands on, the other is the Wapid Wabbit

Best part is, it runs great! Just needed a little lube

 

A very cool piece. I like the figures though I find them curiously "random". Like there is a story to go with it I don't know about... like what's the passenger got... milk and crackers? And whats up with the "lab coat"? ... A pharmacist and a guy with milk of magnesia? Nice whimsy, but the figures seem almost out of place to me.

I think a cowboy hat on the standing figure might have me thinking western trenchcoat, but I only see lab coat right now.  (not sayin' I'm not jealouse )

I thought the figures were Bob McCoy and Bob Jr. I can't find any online reference to back me up right now. I think it is a western style, long overcoat, not a lab coat. The farming and western themes match some of the other McCoy train themes. The characters can certainly be described as whimsical!

George

In the book From A Chicken Coop to Model Trains, it says the #45 hand cars were made from 1980 to 84, then again in 1987. The figures were all hand painted, so no two were exactly alike. No reference to the figures being patterned after anyone.

Steve

Steve,

Arno had several of these hand cars in his collection and you are absolutely correct, no two were painted the same.  As I recall, not all the figures were the same either.

Bob Nelson

Funny thing is years ago I was talking to Arno about them. He told me they were always a little "quirky". When I got this one the front wheels were seized up from rust and the motor smoked. A little lube fixed it but I can see it as somewhat fragile.

Last edited by samdjr74
Robert S. Butler posted:

DMESTAN - your set is a Rainbow.  The 1927 version did not come with an observation.  As for an exact match with respect to car lithography - I wouldn't worry too much about that.  I've seen a number of boxed Rainbow sets over the years. Sometimes the litho treatment of the cars in the box match the catalog cut and sometimes they don't.

Catalog cut for 1927

1927_Rainbow_Set

 For example - the set below was boxed and the set label was "Rainbow".  The car frames were consistent with the 1927 time frame but except for the engine and the fact that one of the passenger cars is blue (wrong window configuration - according to the catalog) and the other does share the window treatment and the color orange with the other car you would have to squint pretty hard to convince yourself that the catalog and the box contents are the match.

 

Thanks for the info Robert!

So do you think this is a 1927 set? 

Don

A recent acquisition of some fairly elaborate Bing O gauge tinplate to go with my Bing (for Bassett Lowke) George the Fifth 4-4-0 clockwork loco- three Pullman cars for the British market, fitted with flip-top roofs and dining car interiors. They are 12" long and I have two "Rosemary" and one "Plato". One of the "Rosemary" cars has a very interesting cloth curtain inside that the other two do not. Does anyone know if these curtains were original to the dining car interiors (perhaps someone made it themselves)?

I also recently acquired a copy of the 1972 book reprinting Bing's catalogs 1866-1933. From page 258 (1927 catalog), my new cars appear to be the 10/559/0 Speisewagen (Dining Car). Also on page 243 (1926 catalog) is the Bing "Mercury" Train, set 3710/02 being a George V 4-4-0 loco / tender and "two Pullman dining cars fitted with chairs and tables, each running on two dour-wheeled bogies, and with doors to open". Some images are attached from these catalogs. And by the way, this nice person put a scan of the Bing 1926 catalog online at: https://www.fulltable.com/vts/t/tcat/bing/a.htm

Comparing these cars to other photos of similar cars on the internet I note that they may originally have had passageway diaphragms that clipped into the hole above the train door. Also, some similar cars have spring-loaded buffers whereas these are plain. 

Any additional info would be welcome. I'll make a video of them running behind the loco and post that as well.

Bing O gauge PullmansBing O gauge Pullmans 2Bing O gauge Pullmans 3Bing O gauge Pullmans 4Bing O gauge Pullmans 5Bing O gauge Pullmans 6Bing O gauge Pullmans 7Bing O gauge Pullmans 8

Bing O gauge dining carsMercury train from 1926 catalog

Underside of "Plato":

Bing O gauge Pullmans 9

 

And here is the pic of a similar "Plato" Pullman, but with diaphragms and spring-loaded buffers:

Bing Plato with diaphragm and spring buffers

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Hi John, nice set of cars. To answer to some of your questions I will say at first that there is many variations around those cars. They may be founded with different type of couplers, die cast and brass but I have never seen spring loaded buffers, they are certainly non original, we must be careful with pieces coming from great Britain, many of them have been altered by modelers. Couplers may be drop link or automatic for the latest ones. Here some examples from my collection, sorry bad picture quality.

DCP02405voiture restaurant 1925

The curtains in you car are originals, I have the same thing in different models in o and I gauge. Bing have made some elaborate models with completely equipped sleeping cars with curtains and beds, they are often lost now. Here is another example on a smaller series of cars, end of BING production in 1930 and without markings as they where made for different countries so standard models.

DCP04532

DCP04531

BING has also offered diaphragms for their passenger cars, tey are similar to Marklin ones but I still have to find some.... Sometime they are available in Germany on the Bay.

Very best,  Daniel

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Daniel- many thanks for this info and the related photos. And interesting that you mentioned some late production Bing cars not having end markings, one of the two "Rosemary" cars is exactly that way- otherwise identical to the older one but no logo on the ends.  And regarding the passageway diaphragms, I do see them shown in a few illustrations of coupled cars in the Bing catalogs, for example here in 1927 (page 267 of the book). None of the individual car illustrations appear to show them. Thanks again

Bing Mitropa cars 1927

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  • Bing Mitropa cars 1927
FRENCHTRAINS posted:

Hi John, nice set of cars. To answer to some of your questions I will say at first that there is many variations around those cars. They may be founded with different type of couplers, die cast and brass but I have never seen spring loaded buffers, they are certainly non original, we must be careful with pieces coming from great Britain, many of them have been altered by modelers. Couplers may be drop link or automatic for the latest ones. Here some examples from my collection, sorry bad picture quality.

DCP02405

The curtains in you car are originals, I have the same thing in different models in o and I gauge. Bing have made some elaborate models with completely equipped sleeping cars with curtains and beds, they are often lost now. Here is another example on a smaller series of cars, end of BING production in 1930 and without markings as they where made for different countries so standard models.

 

 

BING has also offered diaphragms for their passenger cars, tey are similar to Marklin ones but I still have to find some.... Sometime they are available in Germany on the Bay.

Very best,  Daniel

And here's the next question- how do you get a wheel/axle set out of one of the Bing 1920's O gauge trucks? I'm used to being able to widen up the truck frame enough to slip one end of the axle out (either by some gentle bending or disassembly), but I've discovered you can't do that with these. I removed the side frame from the truck with some further loosening of the tabs (this one was already loose at the old solder joint between the bolster and the side frame), but the ends of the axle appear to be captive inside the little O gauge axle box on the side frames. Do they have a collar on the end of the axle?

I need to straighten one bent axle, hence my interest. Some photos attached, along with a video of the Bing clockwork train running with the other two coaches.

Bing truck disassembly 2Bing truck disassemblyBing clockwork train 2Bing clockwork train

 

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  • Bing truck disassembly 2
  • Bing truck disassembly
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  • Bing clockwork train
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IMG_3365

Hi. I’m the new guy.

I went down to a local thrift shop to buy a pair of pliers. For some reason I can’t really explain, I bought a caboose. I didn’t need a caboose because I didn’t have a train. A few weeks later, I found myself back at the shop buying a flatcar that I had not noticed before. Then I went on eBay to get a reproduction lumber load so that the flatcar stakes wouldn’t flop around. They were flopping around. While I was already there, on eBay, it didn’t seem unreasonable to get a locomotive and some track. I went back to the thrift shop for the tranformer and now they’re going ‘round and ‘round. I now have a complete train set, everything I need. Except... I compulsively just bought a little depot, for that passenger car that’s probably still at the thrift store. THEN, I’ll be done, right? I mean, I can stop any time I want. Right? I still need a pair of pliers.

 

76FF5539-2B4B-453D-A500-138BA8989FBF

 

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Last edited by Philipp
John Smatlak posted:
FRENCHTRAINS posted:

 

 

And here's the next question- how do you get a wheel/axle set out of one of the Bing 1920's O gauge trucks? I'm used to being able to widen up the truck frame enough to slip one end of the axle out (either by some gentle bending or disassembly), but I've discovered you can't do that with these. I removed the side frame from the truck with some further loosening of the tabs (this one was already loose at the old solder joint between the bolster and the side frame), but the ends of the axle appear to be captive inside the little O gauge axle box on the side frames. Do they have a collar on the end of the axle?

I need to straighten one bent axle, hence my interest. Some photos attached, along with a video of the Bing clockwork train running with the other two coaches.

 

Nice video John, your cars are perfect  with the 440.  Restoring Bing cars of that series is sometime painful...  I have also had some difficulties and it seems that the bogies where not intended to be removed.

I have in the spare part section an extra bogie with the cover axle lost and here is the solution, a round collar at the end of the axle, you are right. Easy to remove when the cover is not on the bogie but at first you will need to move the two tabs, top and under, of the main frame bogie. look at the pictures it's maybe better to understand.

Good luck with your fixing.    Daniel

20190106_10425920190106_10431620190106_104326

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Philipp posted:

Hi. I’m the new guy.

I went down to a local thrift shop to buy a pair of pliers. For some reason I can’t really explain, I bought a caboose. I didn’t need a caboose because I didn’t have a train. A few weeks later, I found myself back at the shop buying a flatcar that I had not noticed before. Then I went on eBay to get a reproduction lumber load so that the flatcar stakes wouldn’t flop around. They were flopping around. While I was already there, on eBay, it didn’t seem unreasonable to get a locomotive and some track. I went back to the thrift shop for the tranformer and now they’re going ‘round and ‘round. I now have a complete train set, everything I need. Except... I compulsively just bought a little depot, for that passenger car that’s probably still at the thrift store. THEN, I’ll be done, right? I mean, I can stop any time I want. Right? I still need a pair of pliers.

 

 

A common situation.... just need to buy another car and after another...... then don't miss to buy your pliers they are very useful when you have some restoration to do....

There is not yet a medical treatment known, sorry for you.   Daniel

Philipp posted:
Adriatic posted:

    I can't wait to see what follows him home when Phillip finds out they make pairs of track pliers 

Wait... what? Do I need track pliers too?

No, you can get by with other pliers and tools. Just focus on buying more track and trains for now.

I still don’t own track pliers. I use my needle nose, cutting and regular pliers depending on what track repair I am doing. It’s worked so far. 

George

George S posted:
Philipp posted:
Adriatic posted:

    I can't wait to see what follows him home when Phillip finds out they make pairs of track pliers 

Wait... what? Do I need track pliers too?

No, you can get by with other pliers and tools. Just focus on buying more track and trains for now.

I still don’t own track pliers. I use my needle nose, cutting and regular pliers depending on what track repair I am doing. It’s worked so far. 

George

No, you don't necessarily NEED them; "a golden hammer"

I use blunted top cutters, etc. just as often.

  You could spend a lot on the "right" tools if you choose to, and some jobs do require them, but many thousands of folks "make due" daily as well.

John Smatlak posted:
......the next question- how do you get a wheel/axle set out of one of the Bing 1920's O gauge trucks? I'm used to being able to widen up the truck frame enough to slip one end of the axle out (either by some gentle bending or disassembly), but I've discovered you can't do that with these. I removed the side frame from the truck with some further loosening of the tabs (this one was already loose at the old solder joint between the bolster and the side frame), but the ends of the axle appear to be captive inside the little O gauge axle box on the side frames. Do they have a collar on the end of the axle?

I need to straighten one bent axle, hence my interest. Some photos attached, along with a video of the Bing clockwork train running with the other two coaches.

Bing truck disassembly 2Bing truck disassembly

 

You might want to anneal the axle box tabs with a soldering iron to prevent a snapped tab while bending.

Last edited by Adriatic
Adriatic posted:
John Smatlak posted:
......the next question- how do you get a wheel/axle set out of one of the Bing 1920's O gauge trucks? I'm used to being able to widen up the truck frame enough to slip one end of the axle out (either by some gentle bending or disassembly), but I've discovered you can't do that with these. I removed the side frame from the truck with some further loosening of the tabs (this one was already loose at the old solder joint between the bolster and the side frame), but the ends of the axle appear to be captive inside the little O gauge axle box on the side frames. Do they have a collar on the end of the axle?

I need to straighten one bent axle, hence my interest. Some photos attached, along with a video of the Bing clockwork train running with the other two coaches.

 

 

You might want to anneal the axle box tabs with a soldering iron to prevent a snapped tab while bending.

This is very good advice. I never broke a tab when doing this. It seems to make the metal "younger" and more pliable.

George

Arne posted:

The Bing diaphragms are attached at the top and bottom, they are complete different to Marklin.

ueberg02ueberg03ueberg04

Arne

Arne- very nice, thank you for sending these photos. That really "makes" the set, I'll have to find one of these! Were these different from those offered by Hornby? Some photos from the internet of what is described as one from Hornby, as well as some reproductions (I do not have any). Thanks again.

Reproduction-corridor-connections-for-Hornby-No2-PullmanReproduction-corridor-connections-for-Hornby-No2-Pullman-_57 [1)Reproduction-corridor-connections-for-Hornby-No2-Pullman-_57s-l1600 [26)

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  • s-l1600 (26)
MMmPhilipp posted:

Hi. I’m the new guy.

I went down to a local thrift shop to buy a pair of pliers. For some reason I can’t really explain, I bought a caboose. I didn’t need a caboose because I didn’t have a train. A few weeks later, I found myself back at the shop buying a flatcar that I had not noticed before. Then I went on eBay to get a reproduction lumber load so that the flatcar stakes wouldn’t flop around. They were flopping around. While I was already there, on eBay, it didn’t seem unreasonable to get a locomotive and some track. I went back to the thrift shop for the tranformer and now they’re going ‘round and ‘round. I now have a complete train set, everything I need. Except... I compulsively just bought a little depot, for that passenger car that’s probably still at the thrift store. THEN, I’ll be done, right? I mean, I can stop any time I want. Right? I still need a pair of pliers.

 

76FF5539-2B4B-453D-A500-138BA8989FBF

 

Yeah, you definitely need a pair of pliers for working one the trains 😎

FRENCHTRAINS posted:
John Smatlak posted:
FRENCHTRAINS posted:

 

 

And here's the next question- how do you get a wheel/axle set out of one of the Bing 1920's O gauge trucks? I'm used to being able to widen up the truck frame enough to slip one end of the axle out (either by some gentle bending or disassembly), but I've discovered you can't do that with these. I removed the side frame from the truck with some further loosening of the tabs (this one was already loose at the old solder joint between the bolster and the side frame), but the ends of the axle appear to be captive inside the little O gauge axle box on the side frames. Do they have a collar on the end of the axle?

I need to straighten one bent axle, hence my interest. Some photos attached, along with a video of the Bing clockwork train running with the other two coaches.

 

Nice video John, your cars are perfect  with the 440.  Restoring Bing cars of that series is sometime painful...  I have also had some difficulties and it seems that the bogies where not intended to be removed.

I have in the spare part section an extra bogie with the cover axle lost and here is the solution, a round collar at the end of the axle, you are right. Easy to remove when the cover is not on the bogie but at first you will need to move the two tabs, top and under, of the main frame bogie. look at the pictures it's maybe better to understand.

Good luck with your fixing.    Daniel

20190106_10425920190106_10431620190106_104326

Daniel- thank you for the reply. I would agree- it appears the wheel/axle sets were not meant to be removed. One axle did remove itself while I was working on it and I found it had a slightly different axle end than in your photos, this one appears to have a groove cut into it and that snaps into a corresponding opening inside the axle box, although perhaps it is just very worn. I was however able to straighten the bent axle with some pliers once I had the extra length exposed by removing the side frame from the bolster (of course it was the other axle, not the one that fell clear of the frame). That was more than enough fun for me, so I have now attempted to put it all back together with some epoxy to try and keep the bolster/side frame connection together. We'll see how that works. Thanks again!

Bing truck disassembly axle loose 

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1211181907I got the Pullman from the thrift shop. They were having a sale, spend $10, get $5 off something else, so the light tower was free. Who doesn't like free?

The observation car and depot came in the mail today. The depot is about the size of one of those parking lot coffee huts you see everywhere anymore.

The crossbuck came from my roommate. We will call her 'the enabler.' It must be about 20-25 feet tall.

I kind of like that everything is in less than pristine condition.0107191846

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Last edited by Philipp
Steve "Papa" Eastman posted:
Trainlover160 posted:
Adriatic posted:
George S posted:

Bought some Paya replica automobiles that are a good fit for Standard gauge.

D180D19D-2B1B-4097-B21A-D86C588C3EC0B6EECB79-0E60-4888-8816-6D32865F6F56George 

Micky needs a crowd of children... Why? Because he.. likes-um!

Is the Mickey Pridelines?

Joe Gozzo

It’s a TCA piece, probably made by Pride Lines.

Steve

It commemorates the 1995 TCA National Convention that was held in Seattle. It was listed as Pride Lines when I bought it. There is a similar Donald Duck that I may try to find.

George

A while back I picked up an O gauge Flyer Hudson loco (1680/4680-1681 Type XII) with a sheet metal "flat top" fluted-roof (Type XI) tender. I just found a set of the 6-axle streamliner cars (in chrome) Ca. 1938-39 to go with it. I've always liked these cars, but have noticed they're hard to find in good condition. This particular set is a little played with, but overall has a quite satisfactory appearance. The celluloid window inserts (with the blue window shade stripe) are happily still in good shape, which is a really nice feature.

Looking at examples of this set owned by other collectors, and photos on the internet, the Hudson I have apparently does not have the correct tender for the sets with the chrome cars. The Greenberg American Flyer Prewar O gauge book, page 210 discusses "sets with chrome cars"- the No. 20 and 321 sets in which these chrome cars were paired with the Hudson came with the Type XII tender, which has a coal bunker and 6-axle trucks. The 6-axle trucks make sense as they match the cars, although a tender with the flat top roof (instead of the coal bunker) would match the profile of the passenger cars. I'm still digesting the info on page 72 re: the tenders. More info would be welcome.

Still need to get the headlight working on the Hudson, but in any case this set has a mighty roar going around the layout, some photos and videos attached for your enjoyment.

Flyer streamliner set 2Flyer streamliner setFlyer streamliner obs car at stationFlyer streamliner set 3Flyer streamliner set 4

 

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Flyer Hudson streamliner IMG_3581
Flyer Hudson streamliner IMG_3580

Did a little bit of "dealing" yesterday. Traded my two Lionel 2034s, that I paid $20 for,to a antique dealer for a 2025e that needed a little help. Cleaned & lubed her and she ran but the smoke unit is gummed up. The rear truck is missing so right now it is a 2-6-0. Had to make & put a drawbar, too. Runs nice. I have another 2025 with the aluminum stack.

Double dipping with another thread a bit here but I’ll go into more detail and show some more pieces 

Bing Southern Railways present to myselfimage

Fleichmann postwar 405070 with 1970s Britain’s deTail Scots Guard. Soldiers underneath, unsure of nationality but they look cool as do the porters(even if they’re not tin lol!) found the 2 wind up cars up in Pop’s attic on Christmasimage

My pop made this Gulf Oil tower for my dad in the 70s. I’d previously been using the green platform as a landing pad and then I found the Gulf tin on Christmas when exploring Pop’s atticimage

 

disxlaimer: layout under construction 

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I’m have a few Modern Marx prototypes-shop samples. Marx was very good about identifying these. I have passed on a few due to no markings or tag. Our forum friend Robert Butler has tons. Here are a few of my recent arrivals. 

Steve

I love this one. Royal Canadian, I don’t think it was ever produced.

Royal CP 1Royal CP 2Royal CP 3

Marx Trains would begin fit checking as parts were being made, often using original Marx parts while waiting for their parts to be made. This was a learning opportunity for them to verify fit as their parts became available. This one is a fully functioning Modern Marx loco, but it has original Marx side plates.

CP Shop Sample 1CP Shop Sample 2CP Shop Sample 3

Not sure about this one. The boiler is obviously a 8401 Marlines Loco, but the side boards are from the very hard to find gray PRR 8271. No factory markings or tag, so no 100% sure this is a factory piece. Due to the uncertainty, I've passed on a few others with no markings, but this one caught my fancy so I bought it anyway.

PRR-Marlines 1PRR-Marlines 2

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StevefromPA posted:

Double dipping with another thread a bit here but I’ll go into more detail and show some more pieces 

Bing Southern Railways present to myselfimage

Fleichmann postwar 405070 with 1970s Britain’s deTail Scots Guard. Soldiers underneath, unsure of nationality but they look cool as do the porters(even if they’re not tin lol!) found the 2 wind up cars up in Pop’s attic on Christmasimage

My pop made this Gulf Oil tower for my dad in the 70s. I’d previously been using the green platform as a landing pad and then I found the Gulf tin on Christmas when exploring Pop’s atticimage

 

disxlaimer: layout under construction 

Neat stuff. The soldiers are awesome and fit right in. Some of those can be pretty valuable. 

George

Ok, the box has been opened. The set I received is the 10251 C on top. I got the M in 2006 and the S in 2008. Been a long search for the C. These were the first boxed sets produced by Marx Trains, done in 1995.  The Rock Island set is commonly called the White Set. The difference is the special white hopper, only available in these sets. M is Monon, S is SOO and C is C&O. The WP boxcars came in four road numbers and were used randomly.

My experience is the M is the most common, followed by the S and the C being the rarest. Only a total of about 200 sets were made.

Steve

 

BD6AB220-0A0A-4A24-B998-0D0F04855E7EEDB408EF-09FA-4010-B34E-7926443E2511

BAF6AB64-604A-45D7-A9F9-CFD0236A1A3597089CCD-DF6C-4EB0-9588-D8F3A41A2C396970C1B0-ED2D-49D1-AB39-F2F1E5BA09E06038CF46-58C8-471D-9A7C-AA0D5DB0E364,C9230590-509D-43D3-82DC-7B304FCCE8CF

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John Smatlak posted:

A while back I picked up an O gauge Flyer Hudson loco (1680/4680-1681 Type XII) with a sheet metal "flat top" fluted-roof (Type XI) tender. I just found a set of the 6-axle streamliner cars (in chrome) Ca. 1938-39 to go with it. I've always liked these cars, but have noticed they're hard to find in good condition. This particular set is a little played with, but overall has a quite satisfactory appearance. The celluloid window inserts (with the blue window shade stripe) are happily still in good shape, which is a really nice feature.

Looking at examples of this set owned by other collectors, and photos on the internet, the Hudson I have apparently does not have the correct tender for the sets with the chrome cars. The Greenberg American Flyer Prewar O gauge book, page 210 discusses "sets with chrome cars"- the No. 20 and 321 sets in which these chrome cars were paired with the Hudson came with the Type XII tender, which has a coal bunker and 6-axle trucks. The 6-axle trucks make sense as they match the cars, although a tender with the flat top roof (instead of the coal bunker) would match the profile of the passenger cars. I'm still digesting the info on page 72 re: the tenders. More info would be welcome.

AF Celluloid tends to stay better than Lionel.  Thankfully! Greenberg book is correct. The ribbed top tenders were 1936-1937 and the Die cast tenders with the Chrome cars came out in 1938 (4 car set) and 1939 (3 Car set). The ribbed top came with the green cars with black 4 wheel trucks and belly pans. Note that the stripe on the tender is similar to the green cars...

 

After my doctor’s appt today I stopped at a local antique mall. Went there with the intention on picking up some toy soldiers and at least checking for any new trains one of the stands might have when I stumbled upon this...73FC0CB7-0CA6-430A-96C7-7CF96B6C45998AA166E2-B654-4FF7-B83F-0BEC9AD7B4F3A09089DB-9611-48A6-A550-AED160415A7D

tag also said “loco runs and light works”. So I got my first Ives train! 3250 loco. At the price, even if it didn’t run, I couldn’t pass it up. 

Gave it a little TLC before putting it on the track and removing the body- and it runs! Makes it around the track fine the motor is really growls and creates a bit too much o-zone smell. Upon removing the body,The inside was incredibly dusty(all the coils had a thick coating of dust), I used some compressed air, toothpick, and q-tips- but it’s still making that noise and smell. I don’t plan on running it a whole lot since almost no restoration has been done(besides a new bulb), the wheels are cracking and it’s 94 years old with original parts it still works. The wheels aren’t the problem, so maybe when I’m feeling better I’ll take it apart and remove all the crap that’s probably causing the smell. Nonetheless, incredibly happy with this find.

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@Steamer thank you! Tons of antique shops in my area, this one is more of a “marketplace” that has a bunch of stalls and the vendors either specialize in one or two areas or have a hodgepodge. Regardless, when I saw that just sitting there(after spending a lot of time looking at prewar flyer electric outlines the last 2 days), my jaw dropped.

After reading up more on the forum and looking at the original 1925 manual, gave the new stamped metal can some oil and viola! No more sparks or rumbling, runs great. I think the heavy stamped metal noise threw me off a bit(concussion has messed with my eyes and hearing). Will post some pictures and/or a video later

Last edited by StevefromPA

An ode to pre and early postwar tinplate, and their couplers- “why can’t we be friends”

Featuring:

Ives Railway Lines 3250

American Flyer Lines “American Railway Express” 1205

American Flyer Lines 3000

Bing Southern Railway Freight car

Bing Deutsche Reichsbahn Baggage Car 10/565

Lionel Lines Passenger Car 1690

Fleischmann 45070

Marx Northern Pacific Hopper 554

Marx New York Central Caboose 20102

 

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2C1844EB-B655-4F12-BD4B-487A923DC8EA

I recently found a very nice early Ives 190 tank car (standard gauge). Lots of hand assembly work went into these, note all the railings, ladders and hand grabs, the suspended air tank underneath and the intricate ratchet brake wheel.  A few photos on the layout, and also together with two 190 examples owned by Hollis Cotton. The video shows the three cars together on Hollis's standard gauge layout. Enjoy.

Ives 190 Texas Oil tank car [late and early)Ives 190 Texas Oil tank car [early)Ives 190 tank cars 2Ives 190 tank cars 3Ives 190 tank cars 4Ives 190 tank cars

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  • Ives 190 tank cars
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IMG_3619

I bought a 80s vintage Right of Way Industries brass B&O wagon top boxcar a while back . Someone had tried to mount a late 90s sound of steam system in it but the old lionel boxcar frame did not fit and I wanted to install the modular Railsounds 4 boards in a tender anyway. So my brass ROW wagontop did not have a frame or trucks.  I have dozens of the old 70s vintage Atlas O scale freight cars and I decided to rob the frame off one. It was slightly to wide so I took a sanding block and took a couple thousands of each side till it was a snug enough fit that it would hold itself in place.  I had some foot stirrups so I drilled through the new frame into a mounting plate the original floor was screwed to and used the screw holding the stirrups on to hold the floor on also. Anyway this is how it turned out. 102_6371

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Last edited by JohnActon

Hello,

A few days ago, I got a large train station, which the seller had completely disassembled. There were also various tabs broken off.

bescheuert

First, the missing tabs were replaced. More than 20.

brim-s4-01

After the first assembly. It lacked two small walls, on which the central roof rests. In addition, in the back wall of the central building was a large sawn-out hole.

brim-s4-02

With the help of images from a book by Michael D. Foster (British Toy Trains Volume 3 Brimtoy), the missing parts were traced.

These were then laminated to sheet metal.

brim-s4-03

Adjusting the wall elements. The various damaged areas are from former Hornby stickers, which were still partially present as leftovers. Under the glue, the paint had gotten rusty spots.

brim-s4-04brim-s4-05

And done. This is the Brimtoy S4 station, built in 1927-31. He is considered one of the largest metal railway stations ever built in the UK, with a length of 66 cm (26 1/2 inch), he is really huge.

The only missing part is a signal, which belongs to the right of the building.

The whole model was assembled at Brimtoy from existing models, the buildings on the left and right are the big signal houses with modified front printing. The middle building is a small station, which was as single available too, this corresponds in size to the Brimtoy goods shed, which is a copy of the Bing freight shed.

 

brim-s4-06brim-s4-07brim-s4-08brim-s4-09brim-s4-10brim-s4-11brim-s4-12

Here in the size comparison with a station 60/61 from Bing.

brim-s4-13

 

Greetings

Arne

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An interesting and very colorful tin floor train, made by Elenee Toys. It has a pull-rod spring mechanism and is lettered as "The Comet". Here are a few photos of it posed with a Hafner clockwork UP streamliner. From searching for Elenee on the internet, I see that they also made another version of this in an "American Freedom Train" version in 1947. Also, check out this page on the Binns Road site showing one that someone added Lionel trucks to so that they could run it on track: http://www.binnsroad.co.uk/railways/elenee/index.html

Elenee Toys Comet Streamliner 2Elenee Toys Comet Streamliner 3Elenee Toys Comet Streamliner

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Last edited by John Smatlak

0F3B204C-3862-4599-BB11-938C6B1C9B8C18601912-E183-417E-BDCE-6B4ED7F3C30DMy flea market find today.

I bought all in a lot and appears to be as it was how many years ago. The A.F. Hudson actually tried to move and the headlight did light.

Beleive the standard gauge gon is A.F. and the tank is 1911 Ives vintage.

I know the two engines/tender and two freight cars are American Flyer,but am I correct on the standard gauge gon and tank ?

Added these two bottom pictures of the two manual switches. I’ve never noticed the center rail pin made like that. Any idea on year of the A.F. switches ?

79025E1D-288A-4356-B93D-246D800A1A1A28699CFC-BC16-4E18-A082-06A8D71DF28ADC3AFD46-626F-48EA-BCCD-85916AB2078B079A7479-4E83-47E9-9E40-26FF2510E75554BB669E-1393-4249-AF56-7A045922DFC6FE2F9772-9007-431C-A619-3F63E45787BC

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Last edited by mackb4

Last Sunday I went to the Greenberg’s Model Train Show at the Meadowlands Exposition Center in NJ.

I went for the two days and on the first I found this Lionel Prewar 150 under a table and was able to purchase it for $20.00.
The Train needs some TLC like new paint (As it was repainted) and new wiring as there are bare wires and shows as a short. These motors are very robust and should work fine.

Price was right and will rep[lace the pickup rollers with a repro that comes in parts and will accept the original badge, new repro couplers, new repro head light, new repro bell.

Not sure of the paint scheme but since it was a repaint I will strip it and may do a Lionel scheme paint job. Frame will be blue shell will be orange with a blue roof, blue window trim, blue doors on the sides and ends with orange wheels and orange cow catcher. Shell will be re stamped with the NY Central and 150 as was the original.

I would not call this a restore project but a Fantasy Engine Project

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A unique structure for my layout, a General Electric cardboard building that was made as a store display piece. Speaking to antique lighting collector Marv Byers at the Toy Show I learned that GE had a whole series of these buildings for store display. You would put a light bulb inside and it that illuminated features like the sign through the pin holes in the cardboard. Pity these weren't available in tinplate! Also included is a shot of another one I saw (but did not buy) at the Glendale Toy Show. I found mine like new (still flat) on Ebay. 

Edison Mazda Lamps cardboard building 2Edison Mazda Lamps cardboard building 3Edison Mazda Lamps cardboard buildingGE Mazda Lamps cardboard building at toy show

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John Smatlak posted:

A unique structure for my layout, a General Electric cardboard building that was made as a store display piece. Speaking to antique lighting collector Marv Byers at the Toy Show I learned that GE had a whole series of these buildings for store display. You would put a light bulb inside and it that illuminated features like the sign through the pin holes in the cardboard. Pity these weren't available in tinplate! Also included is a shot of another one I saw (but did not buy) at the Glendale Toy Show. I found mine like new (still flat) on Ebay. 

Edison Mazda Lamps cardboard building

John, 

I noticed this in a video of your layout last week and had to look it up. Thanks for sharing the details. The pinhole effect is cool. The graphics look like tin lithograph. It fits in nicely. I saw the other building in a Google image search too. I hadn’t really heard of GE Mazda, so it was interesting nostalgia research. I agree it would be nice to have in tin.

Here’s another version, and I think I found at least one other version of the house.

601EF9CC-2758-4A35-9398-A16205F2C7BF

George

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Last edited by George S

My first candle-powered accessory! A Bing signal box (switch tower) with candle holder inside for lighting (and smoke). Really like the colors and litho on this one. I've hunted for it in the Bing catalog book but can't quite find one that's an exact match, although there were clearly a number of variations.

Alongside is my Hafner UP clockwork streamliner. I cleaned/oiled it and ran it for the first time in many years. It easily makes two circuits around my O gauge loop. I also tried to get the headlight working (battery powered), but so far no luck. I cleaned all the contacts and the bulb checks out fine, but no light when it's all put together. A video of the streamliner zipping by the tower is included below. Enjoy.

Bing tower 2Bing tower 3Bing tower 4Bing tower

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Arne posted:

Hello John,

your signal box has the GBN diamond sign, this was made before 1919.  Here pictures from the 1912 UK catalog.

This is similar to yours, but with signal

20190214_094525

This is yours, the catalog picture shows a other roof but was made with the same roof like the model with signal.

20190214_094508

Arne

 

Arne- many thanks, and excellent point about the change in logo. Looking through the Bing catalog reprint book it was also interesting to note that the candle illumination lasted until at least 1928- noting this similar structure in the catalog of that year.

Bing 1928 catalog page

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Steamer posted:

that is beautiful George! Shame you can see all the interior detail all the time. Almost would want to do a clear side on it.

Actually, this one does have clear windows as opposed to the Hornby. The Hornby has no interior detail and does not have real windows. I didn't get a great picture due to some reflection, but you can definitely look through the windows on the Darstaed to see the neat graphics inside. When I get it on the layout and get it lit up, I'll get some more pictures of that.

If I ever want to hide the interior detail from the outside, it would be relatively easy to add a tinted film to the inside.

George

Last edited by George S
Steve "Papa" Eastman posted:
George S posted:

What did I buy here?  I really have no idea. I thought it would look cool on my next layout.

s-l1600 [1)

George

****, came in second again.

Steve

Sorry Steve. I wasn't sure I would see one again. 

Now I know it is a building based on Bilt-E-Z sets from 1924 by Chicago Scott Mfg Co. There are a few original sets on the Bay. Not sure how many you would need to buy to build this.

George

Last edited by George S
George S posted:
Steve "Papa" Eastman posted:
George S posted:

What did I buy here?  I really have no idea. I thought it would look cool on my next layout.

s-l1600 [1)

George

****, came in second again.

Steve

Sorry Steve. I wasn't sure I would see one again. 

Now I know it is a building based on Bilt-E-Z sets from 1924 by Chicago Scott Mfg Co. There are a few original sets on the Bay. Not sure how many you would need to buy to build this.

George

Modern Marx sold some small sets with identical parts. I have a couple of them. No originals though.

Steve

Steve "Papa" Eastman posted:
George S posted:
Steve "Papa" Eastman posted:
George S posted:

What did I buy here?  I really have no idea. I thought it would look cool on my next layout.

s-l1600 [1)

George

****, came in second again.

Steve

Sorry Steve. I wasn't sure I would see one again. 

Now I know it is a building based on Bilt-E-Z sets from 1924 by Chicago Scott Mfg Co. There are a few original sets on the Bay. Not sure how many you would need to buy to build this.

George

Modern Marx sold some small sets with identical parts. I have a couple of them. No originals though.

Steve

you would need 4 "OO" Bilt-Ez sets or maybe one "B" set to make a structure that large, I think maybe one or two of the Modern Marx sets.

waynew posted:

George:  That is great looking set. Haven't seen that colour before.  Is this new?   I have a small set from the 30's and I think it really fits in well with my other tin and sheet steel buildings.  Thanks for posting.  Waynew

I don't even have it yet. I won it in an auction. It's not new and it has no box. I agree on the colors. Those were not listed as one of the four original colors. I'm pretty sure this was painted. The seller took good pictures of all sides. The back has some grey metal pieces. The cornices seem to have a grain in the paint like they were hand painted.

I'm not sure that it will stay named Lionel on my layout. That part is printed on paper and I suspect it was the owner's creation. I won't discard it. I just might want a different name on the building.

George

I am still working on some Marklin gauge One trains and as I enjoy tinkering with old electric systems I just finished a set of electro magnetic switches with their command control box.   The control box is a transformer using 110 v or 220 v to send a 30 v impulsion to the electro magnet of the switches.  The lanterns on the switches are lighted and indicate the way the train is going to take, typically German. Now all is tested and can be used safely and it is always a great pleasure to use original models.

 

.IMG_8791IMG_8792IMG_8794

Daniel

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This is my DooHickey. Grandma always called something she wasn't sure of a DooHickey, and since I'm not sure if it qualifies as a Doodlebug, I'll go with that. I spotted this at one of our antique malls, on sale for $12. 

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Missing the P/U, I fabbed one

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A look in the junk bin and a couple 1682 bodies were there. 

 

 

 

 

The other side was covered in surface rust. So a clean up and a trip to the paint shop.

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PTDC0003PTDC0010

A few detail parts from the junk bin.

PTDC0012

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Last edited by Steamer

I wanted a windup and a Bing and got the opportunity to get both. 

626C6E94-8669-4DA7-9291-76FDED142812F40ACE84-2AF5-4333-93B3-4CFEB73827BA

These are among the best condition, prewar trains I ever acquired. There is virtually no rust or scratches. There may be one little touch up spot on the bottom of the tender. The litho looks great. The box is coming apart, but it has all its flaps. It even came with the track and the section that stops the train.

George

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Speaking of Bing, I remembered I posted these somewhere else on the forum but I haven't posted them here.

My happy little junk pile, all for 110 Bucks
Can't wait for it to arrive

Edit: I realize the thread also include tinplate things that we've made, so I guess I should include this
IMG_20190308_081847 [1)
Poor mans tinplate, hehe.
I decided to challenge myself, to see if I would be able to make a train outa junk.
I've been working on it the past three days, with some pretty good progress coming out of the past two.
Working on wiring up the lighting today, shouldn't be too hard

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Last edited by Berkshire
George S posted:

I wanted a windup and a Bing and got the opportunity to get both. 

626C6E94-8669-4DA7-9291-76FDED142812F40ACE84-2AF5-4333-93B3-4CFEB73827BA

These are among the best condition, prewar trains I ever acquired. There is virtually no rust or scratches. There may be one little touch up spot on the bottom of the tender. The litho looks great. The box is coming apart, but it has all its flaps. It even came with the track and the section that stops the train.

George

fantastic acquisition, George. looks like it was stored in a safe deposit box.

Jim O'C posted:
George S posted:

I wanted a windup and a Bing and got the opportunity to get both. 

626C6E94-8669-4DA7-9291-76FDED142812F40ACE84-2AF5-4333-93B3-4CFEB73827BA

These are among the best condition, prewar trains I ever acquired. There is virtually no rust or scratches. There may be one little touch up spot on the bottom of the tender. The litho looks great. The box is coming apart, but it has all its flaps. It even came with the track and the section that stops the train.

George

fantastic acquisition, George. looks like it was stored in a safe deposit box.

Thank you Jim! Any idea about the wheels on the engine? The number of spokes seem like a lot for this set. I would think this is a low-end set, but the wheels appear to be more elaborate than what you would find on low-end sets. If I didn't know anything about Bing and just looked at condition, I would think this was a set from the 60's, but Bing went out of business in the 30's.

George

A new O gauge arrival- a Zeuke FD50 streamlined 4-6-0 (or 2' C in Europe), made in East Germany. Several interesting features- it's made largely of Bakelite, including the wheels. It was designed to operate on 3-rail track with the outside rails isolated from each other, which was used to implement reversing. To make it operational on ordinary 3-rail track I isolated one of the two outside rail pickups (after checking which one would result in forward operation). It runs fine, although it does not like the gaps in some of the Lionel switches on my O gauge loop. It's a nice looking train. Zeuke also made TT gauge trains, check out this website for more info on the O gauge products (follow the links at the top to browse through the Zeuke / Liebmann product line, all kinds of interesting stuff there): 

http://www.spur-null.de/triebfahrzeuge/z_fd50_2c.html

Zeuke FD150 streamline loco 0Zeuke FD150 streamline loco 2Zeuke FD150 streamline loco 3Zeuke FD150 streamline loco 4Zeuke FD150 streamline loco 5Zeuke FD150 streamline loco 6Zeuke FD150 streamline loco

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Last edited by John Smatlak
John Smatlak posted:

A new O gauge arrival- a Zeuke FD50 streamlined 4-6-0 (or 2' C in Europe), made in East Germany. Several interesting features- it's made largely of Bakelite, including the wheels. It was designed to operate on 3-rail track with the outside rails isolated from each other, which was used to implement reversing. To make it operational on ordinary 3-rail track I isolated one of the two outside rail pickups (after checking which one would result in forward operation). It runs fine, although it does not like the gaps in some of the Lionel switches on my O gauge loop. It's a nice looking train; check out this website for more info (follow the links at the top to browse through the Zeuke / Liebmann product line, all kinds of interesting stuff there):  http://www.spur-null.de/triebf...euge/z_fd50_1c1.html. Zeuke also made TT gauge trains.

Zeuke FD150 streamline loco 2

Fascinating! I was wondering how it would get track power with bakelite wheels. Now I see the sliding pickup shoes on the underside. Is it hanging up on the switches or losing power? I'm not sure why it would lose power since there are two sets of pickup shoes that seem adequately spaced. Maybe it's the outside shoe on the frog side rail since you isolated the opposite side?

George

George S posted:
John Smatlak posted:

A new O gauge arrival- a Zeuke FD50 streamlined 4-6-0 (or 2' C in Europe), made in East Germany. Several interesting features- it's made largely of Bakelite, including the wheels. It was designed to operate on 3-rail track with the outside rails isolated from each other, which was used to implement reversing. To make it operational on ordinary 3-rail track I isolated one of the two outside rail pickups (after checking which one would result in forward operation). It runs fine, although it does not like the gaps in some of the Lionel switches on my O gauge loop. It's a nice looking train; check out this website for more info (follow the links at the top to browse through the Zeuke / Liebmann product line, all kinds of interesting stuff there):  http://www.spur-null.de/triebf...euge/z_fd50_1c1.html. Zeuke also made TT gauge trains.

Zeuke FD150 streamline loco 2

Fascinating! I was wondering how it would get track power with bakelite wheels. Now I see the sliding pickup shoes on the underside. Is it hanging up on the switches or losing power? I'm not sure why it would lose power since there are two sets of pickup shoes that seem adequately spaced. Maybe it's the outside shoe on the frog side rail since you isolated the opposite side?

George

It loses power going through the curved part of the Lionel 022 switch. Since it's only picking up power between the center pickup and one outside pickup, it stalls on the insulated section intended for anti-derailing. The springs under those pickup shoes are also a little weak and sometimes the shoe sticks in an up position. I will also add jumpers inside so that the outside pickup shoes are common, that should resolve the problem.

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