Tinplate photos 📸 and videos 📽

Merry Christmas to all the fine tinplaters of the O Gauge Community ... thank you all for another year of fun , knowledge, and banter ... Through all the trials and tribulations that 2020 has brought us the spirit and generosity and comraderie has been simply AWESOME !

The many erudite, passionate and generous collectors on this forum make this a very special place for the sharing of knowledge of these fascinating trains.

Hope everyone here had a happy and a safe Christmas with their family.

In the " one can never have too much fun " box ... I just scored TWO Bassett Lowke (?)-6-(?) clockwork mechanisms locally in Aus !!!

Now after years of seeing the occasional Bassett Lowke bodies for sale on ePay and me tapping my fingers thinking "OK When am I ever likely to find a mech for them ?" and letting them go ..watch the drought begin where nary a one is listed for the next 12 months !!!

Unsure of running condition however they were at least listed as " working " , whether that translates to working well could be another matter , but we shall see when they get here ... I think other collectors were a bit put off on the first one because it had the wheels removed , but from the photos it looks like all the goodies are there to put them back on .. the second one got a bit more auction love as it at least looked complete , but with both mechanisms coming to me for an average of $40AUD each (about 30USD/16GBP/25Euro )  I could not walk away ... thats probably less than the wheels value in reality

If nothing else they lend themselves to powering "Something" one day ?

Mech #1

Wheels and hardware for #1

And Mech #2

What else we can share? :-)

A complete original train set made by CR for Charles Rossignol in France, I think it dates from around 1940.  The streamlined engine is typical from that period and was a symbol of modernism.  The trains made by CR are very specials, they are made of thick tin, very colorful and mainly toy collectors have a specific appeal for them.  They are less sought after by train collectors as despite being O gauge they are a little small and their running ability is not the best, despite having more interest in bigger pieces from Lionel, Jep, Hornby and many others I have always kept this one maybe as finding an original boxed model is fine, finally I will restore this one and test it next weekend, it is specified having an automatic reverse and needs a wheel axle on the passenger car, also missing the corridor between tender and car but all of this is an easy fix.

And some accessories also from CR

Daniel

Nice CR set, Daniel. Fatman, good snag on those clockwork motors. Something will come along and you will be able to use them. A few years ago I acquired a Standard gauge basket case Boucher 2500 Pacific and tender (1923-34.) The  locomotive was missing some critical parts: no cab roof, one side firebox and wheel shroud missing, missing valve gear, incorrect pilot and trailing trucks, and more. It had much rust and paint loss. Luckily the motor and gears and other internals were in good shape. It's been a long journey to bring this one back, but there is light at the end of the tunnel. Here are a few photos showing the condition as received. This locomotive has some interesting details that I have not seen on other Boucher 2500's. Note the handrail, made of steel not brass, that arches over the boiler front, and the screw-on glass lens for the headlamp, both are features that i am unfamiliar with on 2500s. I'll post some "after" photos when I get it mostly finished.

Monsieur French Train, I find your CR Train Lux  Eclair to be  tres-elegant! I am in great appreciation of the artwork on the original box as well , Formidable! Hope you get her running! The accessories look remarkable!

merci!
Bonne Anne en toute security.

Pierre (Leroof)

A late version, perhaps the final version, of the Lionel 2677 gondola:

Blackened wheels and journals, automatic couplers, with a few craft store wooden barrels for fun.

PD

@Leroof posted:

Monsieur French Train, I find your CR Train Lux  Eclair to be  tres-elegant! I am in great appreciation of the artwork on the original box as well , Formidable! Hope you get her running! The accessories look remarkable!

merci!
Bonne Anne en toute security.

Pierre (Leroof)

Thank you Mister Leroof, the bos is art deco at its best.

Pierre, tous mes meilleurs voeux, Daniel

@Jim Kelly-Evans posted:

Nice CR set, Daniel. Fatman, good snag on those clockwork motors. Something will come along and you will be able to use them. A few years ago I acquired a Standard gauge basket case Boucher 2500 Pacific and tender (1923-34.) The  locomotive was missing some critical parts: no cab roof, one side firebox and wheel shroud missing, missing valve gear, incorrect pilot and trailing trucks, and more. It had much rust and paint loss. Luckily the motor and gears and other internals were in good shape. It's been a long journey to bring this one back, but there is light at the end of the tunnel. Here are a few photos showing the condition as received. This locomotive has some interesting details that I have not seen on other Boucher 2500's. Note the handrail, made of steel not brass, that arches over the boiler front, and the screw-on glass lens for the headlamp, both are features that i am unfamiliar with on 2500s. I'll post some "after" photos when I get it mostly finished.

Hello Jim, what a very nice model, a great restoration project and I am sure you are doing something great in fixing and making a great restoration of that wonderful Boucher. If only i could find one in France...

All my best wishes for the new year, Daniel

Fatman - good luck with finding engines to go with those motors, your luck seems especially good  so I expect to see pictures any day now!  Daniel - the CR set is beautiful.  finding it in the box is really special, thank you for posting.

Don

FEF

Steve

Another McCoy FEF

Steve

Another unusual STD Gauge piece, this time from Robert’s Lines. It’s a faux track sweeper. The brush roller on the front is not stiff enough to do anything, but a great MOW loco.

Steve

Happy New Year Tinplate fans!  pd - great litho tinplate gondola, I also like the Lionel litho trains, thanks for posting, there is not very much data in the references on these trains although the LCCA magazine carried a good series of articles on them over the last 2 years.  Steve...what great McCoy and Roberts lines pieces, I remember when those were just new on the market and had such great potential.  They are super pieces and I understand they run well also..

My offering today, is much more humble, although I admit to being excited when I acquired it with a bit of luck.  It was an e-bay auction, with the final bid due at 0500 in Texas.  So I bid what I thought was a fair bid but did not expect to win and went to bed.  When I woke up at 0800 the next day I was surprised to find I had won!  Its an American Flyer, prewar #90 Freight Station.  I immediately went to Robert S. Butler's series of posts on these stations back on 4/7/2020 and identified the lithography as the version of the #90 available from 1918 to 1923.  It has a few dents and scratches but hey its somewhere around a century old!!  Robert thank you for your series of postings, other data on these stations just does not seem to exist outside of the catalogs (which I do not have).

So here it is currently just resting on the Leonardtown and Savannah, looking for its permanent home.  I expect it will get displayed with some of my other small AF stations after I get back home and re-arrange some other stuff.

Best wishes everyone

Don

@Don McErlean posted:

Happy New Year Tinplate fans!  pd - great litho tinplate gondola, I also like the Lionel litho trains, thanks for posting, there is not very much data in the references on these trains although the LCCA magazine carried a good series of articles on them over the last 2 years.  Steve...what great McCoy and Roberts lines pieces, I remember when those were just new on the market and had such great potential.  They are super pieces and I understand they run well also..

My offering today, is much more humble, although I admit to being excited when I acquired it with a bit of luck.  It was an e-bay auction, with the final bid due at 0500 in Texas.  So I bid what I thought was a fair bid but did not expect to win and went to bed.  When I woke up at 0800 the next day I was surprised to find I had won!  Its an American Flyer, prewar #90 Freight Station.  I immediately went to Robert S. Butler's series of posts on these stations back on 4/7/2020 and identified the lithography as the version of the #90 available from 1918 to 1923.  It has a few dents and scratches but hey its somewhere around a century old!!  Robert thank you for your series of postings, other data on these stations just does not seem to exist outside of the catalogs (which I do not have).

So here it is currently just resting on the Leonardtown and Savannah, looking for its permanent home.  I expect it will get displayed with some of my other small AF stations after I get back home and re-arrange some other stuff.

Best wishes everyone

Don

Divesting of a lot of stuff. Most the stuff I have posted pictures of the last few days are set for new homes. Still more to go. Hate to move them, but they do no one any good in a box under the layout.

Steve

These are the freight cars I acquired in 2020, most of them I bought on EBay before the “MTH may be closing  announcement”, before prices shot up. I was aware that the odds of MTH making any new tinplate were slim, so I thought, I better buy what I like now. I also bought a black 400e with PS3 from the first MTH auction at Cabin Fever.

I am very happy with my purchases, these kind of round out my freight fleet. Can’t wait till I can participate in public train shows again and run my stuff for the people.

I was lucky to find this clean old tin cookie container!
I like the little bell attached announcing fresh bakery goods!

@Leroof posted:

I was lucky to find this clean old tin cookie container!
I like the little bell attached announcing fresh bakery goods!

Sweeeeett  LOL

@Leroof posted:

I was lucky to find this clean old tin cookie container!
I like the little bell attached announcing fresh bakery goods!

I’ve got one also. Your colors are a bit nicer I think.

Steve

@Leroof that a really nice cookie tin!  I have a whole bunch of Harry London cookie tins we use on both the regular layout and under the tree

Today,  we have a Beautiful Mth PRR 260e and train visiting the FCC ( Filing Cabinet Central)

@Leroof posted:

I was lucky to find this clean old tin cookie container!
I like the little bell attached announcing fresh bakery goods!

What a great item.  A layout tabletop made to recreate that beautiful wooden floor would have "the" European panache as in the Marklin video.

Scott Smith

Fendermain! I thought the same thing! I will eventually set up a Christmas layout with this little prize of a cookie jar and assorted early tin on wooden floors via an early euro panache, indeed! Thanks. Come to this realization,  As I missed Christmas train layout opportunity this year, I will set it up on my birthday next week and send some photos.             I may have a day or two off then.

Steve,  you have one too! Is it on your layout?  I feel like I have been quite fortunate with this beauty.

JHZ, great Harry London tins collection you have. I Like your MTH 260 E! Chunky beast!

Safe path for 2021 folks.

Another quiet week from Casa Fatmanos .... but I did score a Karl Bub NS 1100 series (Dutch Railways) clockwork loco from my Dutchy mate ! ... a little bit ruff n ready , but a cutie nonetheless

Locally I picked up a heap of ephemera from the Victorian Model Railway Society ... a homemade compendium of their 1938-9 club magazine, The Coupling ... a few hundred pages of history

Bing Gauge 1 hospital car with plenty of customers.

Hi Tinplate fans, today I am going to be a bit redundant.  I recently acquired a loco that I first saw in Fatman's post of some months ago and I just fell in love with the colorful livery.  It is a Brimtoy "Britannia" clockwork loco, this one with the "Lion and Wheel" tender, dating it from (about) 1956.  I know that Arnie also showed this same loco in the other (green) livery but his is the first I have seen that way.  Incredibly it just appeared on e-bay one afternoon and the chase was on!!  This one was sourced in the US so it may comes from another US collector.  Anyway there was  not too much competition so I was able to close the deal.

Anyway, here is my "Britannia"

Happy Tinplate Sunday everyone!!

Don

Whoo Hoo! Welcome @Don McErlean to the "Cute but not terribly functional club! " LOL!

A fine example too ! As you pointed out the Red Britannia is a lot more common than the Green Variant , but they are out there .

I might use this opportunity for a bit of Brimtoy necromancy on the thread and post some of the wonderful Brimtoy I obtained from the Michael Foster auction of examples used in his marvellous books on British Trains

A "Cock of the North" rake in both passenger and freight !

And a 35a set in two variants ... One thing I loved about Brimtoy is they made differing versions to suit different pockets ... the front rake in this photo was a simple push train with no mechanism at all and the upper rake is a floor train version powered by clockwork for kiddies who didnt have track or as a cost effective toy if parents wanted to not have to pay for track

All in excellent condition and the actual models appearing in his books .. honoured to have them

OK .. On Fire now !!!

Just had a "win" on a leetle bit of "Rocking Horse Poo"  Everyone knows Erector and Meccano , but in the late teens and 20's Frank Hornby in the UK  had a bit of competition from W. Butcher and Sons of Blackheath, London who created the Primus Engineering Construction sets , and also made a Gauge 1 clockwork locomotive set !

Now before anyone gets excited ( lol ) .. I DIDN'T get the above ! ... these are serious Rocking Horse Poo rare like I said ... but I did manage to score the clockwork MOTOR for one !

I take my wins where I can get them , and although I suspect I will never ever see a loco kit at a price anywhere near that I could afford .. hey , at least I have a motor for it LOL!!!

( again its the HISTORY of stuff like this that gets my juices flowing   )

http://www.binnsroad.co.uk/railways/primus/index.html

Not so cheap even when new ... about 4-5 days of a working mans wage in 1920's UK  ... if you got this under the Christmas tree you did well!

Farman: thanks for the data on Brimtoy. Fosters book is my source as well it is a fabulous series. The Primus data as well. Gilbert offered a locomotive as part of its “Erector” series of sets but like you the only one I have seen available was on E-bay for a kings ransom!!

Good hunting

Don

Yesterday I finished a long term project. I started it 16 years ago and then forgot. It is a large signal bridge by Karl Bub, No. 734 / 5E, built from around 1910 - 1924. The model had diverged in several places and was also bent. So it was completely dismantled and rebuilt.

It is painted in the original color scheme by Karl Bub. This is actually wrong, the lower arms should be yellow and black for an English signal.

But it could also be seen in the catalog, here a picture from the 1910 catalog by Ullmann & Engelmann.

Arne

Arne,

   That came out great! You should be very happy with it.

Tom

@Arne posted:

Yesterday I finished a long term project. I started it 16 years ago and then forgot. It is a large signal bridge by Karl Bub, No. 734 / 5E, built from around 1910 - 1924. The model had diverged in several places and was also bent. So it was completely dismantled and rebuilt.

It is painted in the original color scheme by Karl Bub. This is actually wrong, the lower arms should be yellow and black for an English signal.

But it could also be seen in the catalog, here a picture from the 1910 catalog by Ullmann & Engelmann.

Arne

Fabulous Arne

@Arne posted:

Yesterday I finished a long term project. I started it 16 years ago and then forgot. It is a large signal bridge by Karl Bub, No. 734 / 5E, built from around 1910 - 1924. The model had diverged in several places and was also bent. So it was completely dismantled and rebuilt.

Beautiful work!!

McCoy Black Diamond RR set. The red pipe car was not part of the set.

Steve

Spectacular, Arne.

@Fatman posted:

OK .. On Fire now !!!

Just had a "win" on a leetle bit of "Rocking Horse Poo"  Everyone knows Erector and Meccano , but in the late teens and 20's Frank Hornby in the UK  had a bit of competition from W. Butcher and Sons of Blackheath, London who created the Primus Engineering Construction sets , and also made a Gauge 1 clockwork locomotive set !

Now before anyone gets excited ( lol ) .. I DIDN'T get the above ! ... these are serious Rocking Horse Poo rare like I said ... but I did manage to score the clockwork MOTOR for one !

I take my wins where I can get them , and although I suspect I will never ever see a loco kit at a price anywhere near that I could afford .. hey , at least I have a motor for it LOL!!!

( again its the HISTORY of stuff like this that gets my juices flowing   )

http://www.binnsroad.co.uk/railways/primus/index.html

Not so cheap even when new ... about 4-5 days of a working mans wage in 1920's UK  ... if you got this under the Christmas tree you did well!

You had me excited there. Well, congrats on your find.

Fantastic restoration @Arne 

Some superb tinsmithing talent there !

@Will  well I DID tell you not to get too excited LOL! ... Rest assured if I ever find the loco you will hear the whoop! from here all the way in the USA !

Tail End Tuesday

Steve