Tail End Tuesday

@Sitka posted:

Have a great Tuesday all , looks like Bill on the bike and Dallas having a cold beer on that crummy God speed all!

Thanks Mark.

@Don McErlean posted:

Bill great train. Love those “Beeps” amazing load even for 3 of them  

Best wishes all my Tuesday friends  Traveling today don’t know if I will be able to post  any pictures  Happy holidays to you all and all your families  

Best wishes

Don

Thanks, Don, Happy Holidays to you, too. The BEEPs were running on just under 7V in the video. They'll pull (push) a 25-car consist around my layout at 45 scale mph at just under 9V, which I don't exceed with "rectifying" locos. And all three have the supposedly "bad" boards. Like Charlie Brown's little Christmas tree, all they need is a little love...

Thanks Bill. Love those “Beeps”.  RMT had a great product wish they were still in production.

Happy Holidays

Don

Wow, it’s Tuesday, so here’s some end of the trains and things for your review, Happy New Year Everyone

Have a good TET all, little late.

Well here it is Wed morning and so I am about 24 hrs late to T.E.T. but I thought I might post anyway.  Here is the Lionel 1688 locomotive from 1936-1942. pulling the Lionel 2672 caboose from 1941-1942.

Best wishes and Happy New Year

Don

Some tail end action from Pennsy passenger trains sitting at the station have a good TET

The rear of a Seaboard Coastline express train hustling through the snowy, northern weather on its way to sunny Miami, Florida.

The Jersey Central's Blue Comet and the PRR's Nellie Bly meet at the Great Northeastern Railway's suburban station, Terryville to load more passengers vacationing in Atlantic City on the Southern New Jersey seashore.

Just another reason to show off my weaver new haven Bradley car.

Rear of the Christmas present.

Make it a good TET everyone.

HOE HOE HOE see ya all in 362 days!!!

Well, the family traveled back to Texas yesterday from our family Christmas gathering in Georgia.  If ever I yearned for a comfortable, plush Pullman berth it was yesterday.  Crammed into an Aluminum tube, due home at 0930 arrived at 1600, jammed into a seat more suitable for one of Santa's elves, enjoying a lunch of a prepackaged biscuit and a can of soda.  Oh my what we the traveling public have given up!!

Oh well, to celebrate that long ago Pullman experience, here is a tail end of some "Oldies" for you.  These are 1934, Marx short wheelbase Pullmans with the silver lithographed frame.  Named Bogota and Montclair and still equipped with Joy line couplers these cars represent the earliest of the Marx 6" 4 wheel line that would extend eventually (in many variations) until the end of Marx in 1980- quite a run for cars that when I was a lad you could buy at Woolworth's for 25 cents.  So here to celebrate 2023 is a "tail end" from 1934 or just about 90 years ago.

Here they are, in a train pulled by one of Marx's earliest Commodore Vanderbilt locomotives from the same era.

OBTW in case you might doubt the reliability built into toys by Mr. Marx, this little train after nearly 90 years with just a bit of oil on the drive gears of the loco and on the journals on the cars, runs like a top around my layout.

Happy New Year everyone!

Don

The boy's from the Paradise freight yard waving "HI" at ya' all on the tail end of a #1102 SW8. Happy TeT and 2023!

@trumptrain posted:

HOE HOE HOE see ya all in 362 days!!!

The perfect TET for this time of year Patrick.

@Dennis Holler posted:

Tinplate AND chrome plate! Nice!

Collected these from trains run at our club, except for the 1:1 C&O caboose:

A couple TailEnd Tuesday cabooses making a run and a railroad man in blue keeping an eye on the R.R. Property have a good week all.

Well hello T.E.T. fans - Sitka that layout is really looking good, great pictures.  Today I have something somewhat unusual, it's a Marx caboose ---- or maybe it isn't???  First its for the Arkansas RR, which does not appear in any Marx reference book I have.  Next although the mold is identical in most aspects to a typical lightweight Marx 4 wheel plastic caboose, it does not say "Marx" anywhere on the mold.  Now Mr. Marx was not shy, i have not encountered a Marx product of any sort that does not say Marx on the item somewhere.  Even more interesting, this mold has the circular raised areas ahead of the side windows fore and aft but they are blank, not imprinted with the Marx logo.  So here is the "Marx" (maybe) Arkansas RR caboose.

Note in both views you can see the circular area where a Marx logo would normally appear but its just plain. As best I can tell when comparing it to my other Marx lightweight plastic 4 wheel cabooses, the mold is identical.

Well Happy Tail End Tuesday everyone!

Best wishes for a great week.

Don

@Don McErlean posted:

Well hello T.E.T. fans - Sitka that layout is really looking good, great pictures.  Today I have something somewhat unusual, it's a Marx caboose ---- or maybe it isn't???  First its for the Arkansas RR, which does not appear in any Marx reference book I have.  Next although the mold is identical in most aspects to a typical lightweight Marx 4 wheel plastic caboose, it does not say "Marx" anywhere on the mold.  Now Mr. Marx was not shy, i have not encountered a Marx product of any sort that does not say Marx on the item somewhere.  Even more interesting, this mold has the circular raised areas ahead of the side windows fore and aft but they are blank, not imprinted with the Marx logo.  So here is the "Marx" (maybe) Arkansas RR caboose.

Note in both views you can see the circular area where a Marx logo would normally appear but its just plain. As best I can tell when comparing it to my other Marx lightweight plastic 4 wheel cabooses, the mold is identical.

Well Happy Tail End Tuesday everyone!

Best wishes for a great week.

Don

It’s Plastimarx from Mexico.

Steve

Good evening friends on the OGR Forum, Tail End Tuesday’s roll around faster and faster, and there’s some beautiful ends of trains today. Happy Railroading Everyone

Happy tail end  Tuesday! A before and after of my 2046w!

@Steve "Papa" Eastman_-  Thanks Steve, that's what I love about the forum the knowledge of the members.  You know its still interesting that it does not say, "made in Mexico" anywhere on the car.  It would seem this does not comply with US import laws but maybe these trains were just intended for the local Mexican market and not imported.  Anyway, thank you for the input the knowledge makes it more fun.

@Donnie Kennedy - Great work Donnie, the lights look super.

@leapinlarry - Neat caboose's...and a neat orange switcher, is that "ISS" livery?  Really good looking Larry.

Don

WE MUST BE HAVING FUN........because TIME IS FLYING BY to another TET  .       

A UP tail for this evening .     

Have a peaceful night all.

Here's my rear for this fine Tuesday.

@Dallas Joseph posted:

WE MUST BE HAVING FUN........because TIME IS FLYING BY to another TET  .       

A UP tail for this evening .     

Have a peaceful night all.

Nice night shot good looking diesel!

@Don McErlean posted:

Well hello T.E.T. fans - Sitka that layout is really looking good, great pictures.  Today I have something somewhat unusual, it's a Marx caboose ---- or maybe it isn't???  First its for the Arkansas RR, which does not appear in any Marx reference book I have.  Next although the mold is identical in most aspects to a typical lightweight Marx 4 wheel plastic caboose, it does not say "Marx" anywhere on the mold.  Now Mr. Marx was not shy, i have not encountered a Marx product of any sort that does not say Marx on the item somewhere.  Even more interesting, this mold has the circular raised areas ahead of the side windows fore and aft but they are blank, not imprinted with the Marx logo.  So here is the "Marx" (maybe) Arkansas RR caboose.

Note in both views you can see the circular area where a Marx logo would normally appear but its just plain. As best I can tell when comparing it to my other Marx lightweight plastic 4 wheel cabooses, the mold is identical.

Well Happy Tail End Tuesday everyone!

Best wishes for a great week.

Don

Thanks Don was fun remodeling and adding the foam sheets, HAGD Mark

@Sitka posted:

Nice night shot good looking diesel!

Well thank you very much Mark.

Plastimarx was mentioned in a posting above. Here's some info about them.

Plastimarx: Marx's Mexican subsidiary - The Silicon Underground (dfarq.homeip.net)https://dfarq.homeip.net/plast...-mexican-subsidiary/

@Arthur P. Bloom posted:

Plastimarx was mentioned in a posting above. Here's some info about them.

Plastimarx: Marx's Mexican subsidiary - The Silicon Underground (dfarq.homeip.net)https://dfarq.homeip.net/plast...-mexican-subsidiary/

Dave has a lot of interesting stuff on his site.

Steve

@leapinlarry posted:

Good evening friends on the OGR Forum, Tail End Tuesday’s roll around faster and faster, and there’s some beautiful ends of trains today. Happy Railroading Everyone

    @leapinlarry,  I like that Fairless Works switcher, who's is that ?

Rich in SD

@trestleking, the switcher is a USS Safety First Lionel model. Happy Railroading Everyone

@Steve "Papa" Eastman, @Arthur P. Bloom - thank you both very much for bringing Dave Farquher's web site on Plastimarx toys to my attention.  You were both right, the information on that site about the end days of Marx and his ability to set up subsidiary companies in foreign lands is fascinating.  Just as an aside, I had the Rock Island battery set described by Dave at the end of the article.  The family was away from home that Christmas and I bought it  just to have a train around the Christmas tree.  I kept it for awhile but eventually sold it at my wife's antique booth for perhaps $5.  My recollection however is that although a cheap set, it functioned as advertised.

Great discussion everyone, I always learn new things when we have contributions from members.

Don

@Sitka posted:

A couple TailEnd Tuesday cabooses making a run and a railroad man in blue keeping an eye on the R.R. Property have a good week all.

Oh, really? Let me get my bike...

Kicking off this week's TeT with a Toy Trucker Bucyrus steam shovel (ca. 1910) tail end:

And here's the rest of it:

An interesting model embodying a significant technological development that made the Panama Canal possible. Of course, the real things got REALLY beat up but kept on working at risk of life and limb to their crews. Here's a video of them in action:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2S3w1h_Pd_8

I can't really pull this model on the layout due to the chain-drive detail, but it is 1:48 scale. TeT!

@Bill Swatos posted:

Kicking off this week's TeT with a Toy Trucker Bucyrus steam shovel (ca. 1910) tail end:  And here's the rest of it:

An interesting model embodying a significant technological development that made the Panama Canal possible. Of course, the real things got REALLY beat up but kept on working at risk of life and limb to their crews. Here's a video of them in action:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2S3w1h_Pd_8

I can't really pull this model on the layout due to the chain-drive detail, but it is 1:48 scale. TeT!

Great kick off for this TET  Bill. 

A great looking model too.  You have to have this on a rail somewhere doing an excavation .

I don't know if it will depreciate the value but this would make one heck of a great weathering project .

Thanks for sharing.

@Bill Swatos- That is an amazing model.  The video was neat as well showing the incredible job done by those machines in the creation of the Panama Canal.

Well here it is Tail End Tuesday and I thought I might take advantage of my own post in Boxcar Sunday, when I talked about the strategy of Lionel during the Depression and their use of lithography and the cars originally marketed as Ives after Lionel bought that company.  I mentioned in that discussion of the boxcars that for the largest of these cars, the 9 1/2" Ives cars, Lionel made not only a boxcar but a gondola and a caboose.  So in honor of T.E.T. here is the Lionel (Ives) 9 1/2" series caboose.

The Lionel Lithographed Caboose, offered 1935-1940 in this version (Orange / Ni journals) also available in a light red version with a maroon roof - same time period. This car with a slight change to the trucks was also available 1941-42 but these did not return after the war.

Happy Tuesday everyone

Don

A good TET morning all.

MTHPREMIERGENSETSHOWINGOFFTHEREAR.   If you can read that , hopefully everyone can SEE ( finally ) ALL of the newly installed LED brightness .

Here's my rears for this fine Tuesday!  It's all about the B&O!

Have a good TET all

K-Line 72' cars on the layout at our old club location in Waynesville - A Publixs sit here now

At the NCTM a year ago in Spencer NC

It's Tail End Tuesday, I almost missed it again. Here's 3 tail ends, SP SW8 1102, , WP GS-64 485, and SP Daylight GS-2 4415.

Close up of 4415's behind! What rump! ;-)

TET, rear view of a British Marx passenger set with corridor coaches.

Steve

@Sitka posted:

Have a good TET all

I wonder if I can keep up with this train...

@Dallas Joseph posted:

Great kick off for this TET  Bill. 

A great looking model too.  You have to have this on a rail somewhere doing an excavation .

I don't know if it will depreciate the value but this would make one heck of a great weathering project .

Thanks for sharing.

Thanks, Dallas! I think it would look great weathered too, but I just don't have the skill needed to do it. And I've seen quite a few great weathering jobs here on the forum.

Have a good TET ALL!

@Bill Swatos posted:

I wonder if I can keep up with this train...

Since I repainted that bike I know the chain was broke

Here's my rear for this fine Tuesday!

TET, a couple of custom rail bus twins, one is O, the other is STD Gauge. Not sure who made them.

Steve

@trumptrain posted:

Here's my rear for this fine Tuesday!

I think this is the best photo you have ever taken !

Really like it.

Tail End Tuesday. Here’s a Pickering caboose at the end of a log train.

@Sitka posted:

Since I repainted that bike I know the chain was broke

I've had that happen many times. Long walk home...

Wow, I almost missed this really great thread tonight but while looking at the likes, I came back to the forum. There’s a lot of interesting pictures here. Happy Railroading Everyone

Have a great TET…🚂😉

@Ron H posted:

I think this is the best photo you have ever taken !

Really like it.

Thanks Ron!!

A collection of photos from the club:

Well, I don't have anything dramatic for today but I thought it might be fun to dramatize the "Lionel vs American Flyer" conflict that raged all through my boyhood (40's and 50's) - I started high school in 1958.  I decided to use the one car that at the time was on EVERY Freight train...the caboose!  In the golden era of toy trains, neither Lionel or Flyer would sell a freight train without a caboose.  I decided to use some from my collection and I picked sort of "run of the mill" cars as these are the ones that had the greatest population in the customer base.  So here is a simple comparison of the LIonel LInes # 6017 SP type caboose and the American Flyer #24603 center cupola caboose.

1. Both were made and offered in the 1950's.  The Lionel from 1951-1961. The Flyer is labeled "Blt 6-51" however it has automatic knuckle couplers which would most likely date it 1953 or later.

2. Neither came with window inserts or illumination

3 The Lionel has only 1 automatic coupler the Flyer has 2

4. The Lionel has maroon paint and the Flyer is a more traditional red with the color in the casting

5. Both have add on end railings as just about the only additional detail beyond the casting.

6. Both are labeled with their manufacturer as the "railroad" they come from.

Here is the maroon (painted) Lionel #6017

Here is the American Flyer 24603 red cast caboose.  Note that it does say Blt 6-51 however this example has two automatic knuckle couplers, which would date it post 1953.  Flyer first installed knuckle couplers in 1952 but only on their top end trains, by 1953 it was being installed on much more of the full line. This car was hardly Flyer's top caboose so I assume it would not have qualified for knuckle's in 1952.

Note the two pictures above illustrate the weakness of presenting photographic comparisons.  In pictures virtually everything is the same size.  To show the size comparison of "0" vs "S" gauge, the picture below pictures them both on the same track (obviously the Flyer caboose is balanced on the rail as best I could make it fit).

So there you are, two classic (and relatively common) Tail End cars from the two major manufacturers of the day.  Both good solid products reflecting the individual companies product choices.

Yes I know that its Wednesday...yesterday was driving rain,doctor's appointments, and sick teen's so my post is late.  Hope that is ok with you all and you enjoy the above.

Best Wishes

Don

Have a good TeT all! PW Lionel 2457 from 1945/47 Pennsy N5 in red, The Brown is a nicer looking Caboose God Speed All!

Well what do you know, last week I was a day late and today I seem to be early (just following Sitka!)  We are practically closed down here in Central Texas, winter rain, ice, and freezing temperatures have shut schools and offices.  The highway near our house is blocked off by the police as being too slippery to use ( I passed by on a side road and saw numerous cars all over the place, looked like a demolition derby).  So here I sit, trapped at home, with nothing to do but post trains ( OH WELL)

So starting on my "tail ends" today, here is the Lionel, Southern RR wood sheathed caboose, #17601 from 1988.  Posing with one of my 2 beautiful Raritan River Rail Road box cars ( thanks to Tom Market!)

Here is an "oldie" for sure, the Lionel LInes # 6357 from 1948-1953.  Like the real railroads, the Leonardtown and Savannah never parts with any rolling stock that is still useful   ! Its on the section of the main, bordering the main highway from Small Town to the city and trailing a Lionel #81202 Santa Fe tanker from 2014-2015.

Well best wishes for a great week everyone.  They have already closed the schools here tomorrow as well so I guess its stay at home for  now.

Don

@Sitka , I used to have one of those beautiful red cabooses, and it’s a beauty, and  your layout looks great to, thanks for leading us off today, @Don McErlean, better late than never, (that’s in the past)  and Yes, the two rail - three rail war was a fun one, I remember the America Flyer fellows knocking the realism of Lionel’s third rail…. Oh well, we all had fun with those post war trains. Happy Railroading Everyone

@leapinlarry posted:

@Sitka , I used to have one of those beautiful red cabooses, and it’s a beauty, and  your layout looks great to, thanks for leading us off today, @Don McErlean, better late than never, (that’s in the past)  and Yes, the two rail - three rail war was a fun one, I remember the America Flyer fellows knocking the realism of Lionel’s third rail…. Oh well, we all had fun with those post war trains. Happy Railroading Everyone

Thanks Larry still looking for the brown caboose. Top of the line layout you have!! Mark

@leapinlarry posted:

Boy Larry.......... a little smoke sure makes you look really young.

Here's my rears for this fine Tuesday!

@Dallas Joseph, thank you for the kind words, especially about smoke making this old man looking younger, that’s really Will2026, Captain William Porath running his first run VisionLine 4014 Big Boy around the layout with the smoke on high, it was lots of fun, and lots of smoke…. @trumptrain, your scene with the men at work unloading the pick up truck looks so real, and @Don McErlean, wow, I understand about your weather, it’s here in middle Tennessee now, and possibly the wind blew the newspaper out of your nice Lionel News Stands fellows hand? Just a little humor, and that’s a beautiful red caboose, stay warm, I appreciate all of the likes and kind words, Happy Railroading Everyone

HAPPY  TET  all.

A tail from the V- Express Steam Train.   ( still can't find traction tires for it.   )     ( 1:32 scale )

Judy bought this for me 2 years ago from Amazon .

  After 538 pieces of laser cut tiny plywood ( no glue needed ) it was finished.  It was operational in forward and reverse as well as operating clam shell firebox doors , cab roof vents , cab doors ,  engineer step down and fold up  ladder, opening tender coal door and levered opening sides of tender.                   My kit was made on 1 / 30 / 2019 . ( she also bought me a Hurdy Gurdy kit that you can also play.........she didn't recognize " ODE TO JOY " when I played it. )

Made by U Gears (  Ukrainian Gears LLC )in Kyiv Region ,Ukraine .   You tube has videos of  operation and on the construction.     The company has many different kits.   ( not for the all thumbs crowd )   

Happy Tail End Tuesday!

@Dallas Joseph posted:

HAPPY  TET  all.

A tail from the V- Express Steam Train.   ( still can't find traction tires for it.   )     ( 1:32 scale )

Judy bought this for me 2 years ago from Amazon .

  After 538 pieces of laser cut tiny plywood ( no glue needed ) it was finished.  It was operational in forward and reverse as well as operating clam shell firebox doors , cab roof vents , cab doors ,  engineer step down and fold up  ladder, opening tender coal door and levered opening sides of tender.                   My kit was made on 1 / 30 / 2019 . ( she also bought me a Hurdy Gurdy kit that you can also play.........she didn't recognize " ODE TO JOY " when I played it. )

Made by U Gears (  Ukrainian Gears LLC )in Kyiv Region ,Ukraine .   You tube has videos of  operation and on the construction.     The company has many different kits.   ( not for the all thumbs crowd )   

Pretty sharp Dallas WTG!

MTH unlettered caboose for all those engines that don't have a matching caboose.

MELGAR

Have a Great TeT all! Tail end of a satellite Compliments of the U.S. Army, God Speed all! God Bless America!

Here's my rears for this fine Tuesday!

Bringing up the rear.

Happy TeT. Here's the Godfather checking out the tail end of his '41 Lincoln to see if he has enough room to take home some cannoli. "Leave the gun, take the cannoli."

Well hello everyone, its T.E.T. again and tonight in Central Texas after 2 days of sun and balmy temperatures its cold and raining like mad...which is OK as our reservoir lake is down 17 feet from normal and they are talking about severe water restrictions, so maybe this will help.

Today I have a favorite of mine.  You know that Marx, like most manufacturers favored Sear's Robuck and Co, a huge customer, by providing them with trains that not only were different from the consumer catalog but in the case of Sears...came in a special livery carrying the Sears label..."Allstate".

So here is the #2225 Allstate Bay Window caboose from 1958.  It was also offered in 1959 but the color was blue.

Happy Tuesday everyone

Don

A pair of Menards Blue Bonnet F units followed by a Lionel caboose.

Steve

@Steve "Papa" Eastman posted:

A pair of Menards Blue Bonnet F units followed by a Lionel caboose.

Steve

The blue cab lighting is really neat! It must look great in the dark!

Wow, there’s so many great pictures showing our beautiful back sides of our beautiful trains. When you think about it, front ends are fun, but we much watch our backs…@Steve Papa Eastman, I like that beautiful blue Sante Fe caboose, cool snd your layout is very unique to, a beautiful Hellgate bridge…So, I’m a day late, a dollar short, but here’s my Tale end for review. Happy Railroading Everyone

@bobfett posted:

Happy TeT. Here's the Godfather checking out the tail end of his '41 Lincoln to see if he has enough room to take home some cannoli. "Leave the gun, take the cannoli."

A really convincing looking scene Bob .

@Don McErlean posted:

Well hello everyone, its T.E.T. again and tonight in Central Texas after 2 days of sun and balmy temperatures its cold and raining like mad...which is OK as our reservoir lake is down 17 feet from normal and they are talking about severe water restrictions, so maybe this will help.

Today I have a favorite of mine.  You know that Marx, like most manufacturers favored Sear's Robuck and Co, a huge customer, by providing them with trains that not only were different from the consumer catalog but in the case of Sears...came in a special livery carrying the Sears label..."Allstate".

So here is the #2225 Allstate Bay Window caboose from 1958.  It was also offered in 1959 but the color was blue.

Happy Tuesday everyone

Don

Geeez Don.......one of these days you are going to have to share all of your inventory with photos with us.

Every time I see one of your unique pieces I have to wonder how you have amssed such a large collection.

Dallas, thank you...Glad you enjoyed the picture.  I amassed my rather varied collection by having both sons and a grandson who liked trains, so we went to a lot of train shows / antique shows/ collectable shows and I never forgot to look "under" the tables.  I had a wife who loved antique oak furniture (we had a business refinishing same for awhile) so we "dragged" ourselves to a lot of flea markets ... and I always was on the lookout for trains .  

Best wishes and thank you again for your comments

Don

@Don McErlean posted:

Dallas, thank you...Glad you enjoyed the picture.  I amassed my rather varied collection by having both sons and a grandson who liked trains, so we went to a lot of train shows / antique shows/ collectable shows and I never forgot to look "under" the tables.  I had a wife who loved antique oak furniture (we had a business refinishing same for awhile) so we "dragged" ourselves to a lot of flea markets ... and I always was on the lookout for trains .  

Best wishes and thank you again for your comments

Don

You are welcome Don......and thank you for sharing your methods of gathering.

@Dallas Joseph posted:

A really convincing looking scene Bob .

Thank you, Dallas.

Bob

Have a great TET all Couple TailEnd's going into the mountain.

@Sitka posted:

Have a great TET all Couple TailEnd's going into the mountain.

Great looking scenes Mark.

The warm color tones in the lighting really make these scenes very inviting. Nice.       God speed.

Passenger trains approaching station on THE SOUTH FORK RAILROAD.

This is across the parking lot from the Brotherhood office at Cwm Llwyd:

@Don McErlean, well, I’m sure you are with your wife and please know that you all are in our prayers for her health, please place a picture of a rare caboose when you have a free moment, you always come up with an oldie but a goodie, @W&W, Craig, your observation cars are gorgeous, also you have a beautiful layout, Wow., @Sitka,those are beautiful cabooses in a uniquely cool tunnel and your train room is amazing, Cool, Today is Valentine’s Day so Happy Valentine’s Day to You All. Happy Railroading Everyone

TET, Flyer H0 Hudson and a Mantua  B&O Pacific.

Steve

All metal caboose and figure bought at a train show many years ago and tail end of a custom cab forward.

.

Tail end of Hudsone running hard!

@leapinlarry - Larry thank you for your thoughts and prayers for my wife.  Unfortunately she is still in the hospital fighting (she is a fighter) this latest escalation of her cancer.  The doctors have some tricks to try and hopefully she may be home soon.  But since its T.E.T even though its nearly 2300 hrs I thought I would try and post something on one of my favorite threads...I am not sure how "rare" it is, and with Marx I always say "scarce" as he made so many trains perhaps "rare" is too much to describe most of his offerings.  However, in the spirit of "Tail Ends" this one is at least "old" dating from the very beginnings of Marx trains- dating from 1937-1938 not long after Marx assumed control of the Girard Model works and brought out his first designs for what became the 6" line of 4 wheel metal lithographed cars that would actually stay in the Marx line up till the end in the 1970's.

Here is the Marx #556 caboose with the red/cream frame and square ends...this dates this gal to the 1937-38 time period.

Here is the non-railing end which also contains the only coupler (tab / slot at this early time).  Note the "punched out" portholes on either side of the door and the punched out door window.  In later years these would be replaced by lithographed openings which could be made at a much lower cost than puchout's

Here is the all important platform end ... Again to save cost, why put a coupler on the back side of something that is going to be at the back of the train? ...so no rear coupler.  My example here has a bit of damage at the rear corner of the roof, which I generously refer to as "patina" !!

Thanks everyone for keeping my wife in your thoughts and prayers. We appreciate all who can add her to your prayer chain. her name is Sally.

All the best

Don

A day late, however, here are my rears for the day after Tail End Tuesday ... perhaps " Rear End Wednesday?" lol !

@Don McErlean, I knew you would chime in, Yes, you all are on a large prayer list and thank you for the kind words. Our wives are very important to us and our family, just let her know to keep fighting the fight, we will do our part. That red tinplate caboose is beautiful, Marx makes a memorable product, thanks for posting. I’m on the left, Don is on the right, we met at the TCA National Convention in Nashville last July 2022. He’s a very kind gentleman and was the life of the party… Happy Railroading Everyone

@Don McErlean posted:

@leapinlarry - Larry thank you for your thoughts and prayers for my wife.  Unfortunately she is still in the hospital fighting (she is a fighter) this latest escalation of her cancer.  The doctors have some tricks to try and hopefully she may be home soon. 

Thanks everyone for keeping my wife in your thoughts and prayers. We appreciate all who can add her to your prayer chain. her name is Sally.

All the best

Don

Praying that Sally be given strength and healing Don.

Praying that you and the family stay strong and steadfast in your trials .  God speed Don.

Thank you Dallas really appreciated

Don

@Don McErlean posted:

@leapinlarry - Larry thank you for your thoughts and prayers for my wife.  Unfortunately she is still in the hospital fighting (she is a fighter) this latest escalation of her cancer.  The doctors have some tricks to try and hopefully she may be home soon.

Here is the Marx #556 caboose with the red/cream frame and square ends...this dates this gal to the 1937-38 time period.

Thanks everyone for keeping my wife in your thoughts and prayers. We appreciate all who can add her to your prayer chain. her name is Sally.

All the best

Don

@Don McErlean

Don,

You and Sally are in my thoughts.

It takes a true model railroader to fully appreciate the artwork of the 1930s. Humble but beautiful.

Best wishes to you and Sally.

MELGAR

Almost all of my model trains are of modern vintage, but I also have a few Lionel items that were "Made in USA." This is Lionel 64273 with a build date of November 1953.

MELGAR

Thank you Melgar for your thoughts and wishes. The Lionel “porthole “ caboose is a PW classic. Great pictures thanks for posting. Best wishes

Don

Have a good TET all! couple PW Lionel caboose on some coal hoppers and a freight run. God Speed All!

Here's my rears for this fine Tuesday!   Looking in the rear view mirror today at the Ma & Pa, a wonderful shoreline fallen flag.   

Have a good TET all on a snowy upstate NY day. Support your Troops!

The end of the last one!

Ron

A Tail End of a Repainted C & O MPC Caboose, to Lehigh Valley, God Bless America!

@Sitka posted:

A Tai; End of a Repainted C & O MPC Caboose, to Lehigh Valley, God Bless America!

Excellent work Mark. 🎨👍

Here's something of mine on the layout these past few days. My set of Weaver Morning Hiawatha cars.

Here's my rear for this fine Tuesday!

This is an amazing thread and always entertaining, yes I’m on the tail end….. Happy Railroading Everyone

Wishing to join those "elite few" whom are fashionably late for T E T, I post the following:

And I asked myself, "how am I going to achieve this?"

Tonight, I think I metaphorically pulled the rabbit out of the hat:

Some fine day in the future I will finish this project and post the results.

All photos, my own.

@Rob Leese posted:

Wishing to join those "elite few" whom are fashionably late for T E T, I post the following:

And I asked myself, "how am I going to achieve this?"

Tonight, I think I metaphorically pulled the rabbit out of the hat:

Some fine day in the future I will finish this project and post the results.

All photos, my own.

Hi Rob, the interior of your observation car model looks mighty familiar, is it a K-Line? I have a K-Line Aluminum 15" California Zephyr with the same interior that I painted and carpeted. I also replaced the incandescent lights with LED's. You have a great start on a fun project! Enjoy!

Have a good TET all! PW Lionel 6457 from 49-52 Buy a Vet a Beer!

@Sitka - Great PW beauty , the 6457 is a treasure. I have 1 and it’s just a great example of Lionel’s work to build fabulous trains in the PW period.
best wishes to everyone of our TET group.
Don McErlean

Here are my PW cabooses that need dusting LOL on my shelves in my office:

@Don McErlean posted:

@Sitka - Great PW beauty , the 6457 is a treasure. I have 1 and it’s just a great example of Lionel’s work to build fabulous trains in the PW period.
best wishes to everyone of our TET group.
Don McErlean

Sure is Don to bad they made changes to so many of the PW Trains, Hope the wife is doing fine God Speed! Mark

FW&D Silver Streak. First found on the DENVER ZEPHYR and later, the TEXAS ZEPHYR.

@Sitka-Mark thank you for the well wishes for my wife. Situation is stable at this time.  Thanks again. Don

An N5b doing its job in late 1949.

Here’s mine for today a old Lionel/ MPC Santa Fe.

Here's a few Milwaukee Road Beaver Tails and a Skytop.

2 tail ends: detailed plane jane C&NW woodside

RK Conrail work caboose from their CR work train. This caboose was also offered in NYC and NP livery

For my TET U.S. Army security train with a beefed up tail end. HAGD TET fans!

@Mark V. Spadaro posted:

2 tail ends: detailed plane jane C&NW woodside

RK Conrail work caboose from their CR work train. This caboose was also offered in NYC and NP livery

"  PLAIN JANE  C&NW  "  Mark ???  Sorry , I missed that .

BOTH NICE  CABEESE 

@Sitka posted:

For my TET U.S. Army security train with a beefed up tail end. HAGD TET fans!

Haven't seen a TE like this before.  NICE.

  Love the photos on this forum.   Never could see the amazing variety in model RR equipment in my small circle.

( Are those twin 50cals or twin 20mms ? )