Here's a photo of a mini-diorama on one of my SG shelves. It is a farm scene centered on a Threshing machine being driven by belt fromt he JD Model D on the right as a dealer delivery truck prepares to drop off a Waterloo boy Model N. Various Barclay/Maniol (?) figs engage in the work, such as forking wheat onto the chute of the machine, harvesting crops, sharpening the scythe, churning butter, and scaring crows 
I have two other such scenes on the shelf that I will post later.
@palallin posted:
Here's a photo of a mini-diorama on one of my SG shelves. It is a farm scene centered on a Threshing machine being driven by belt fromt he JD Model D on the right as a dealer delivery truck prepares to drop off a Waterloo boy Model N. Various Barclay/Maniol (?) figs engage in the work, such as forking wheat onto the chute of the machine, harvesting crops, sharpening the scythe, churning butter, and scaring crows
I have two other such scenes on the shelf that I will post later.
From what I can see , your figures are from the Manoil Happy Farm Series . I’m not sure about this number but I think there were 14 +- different figures. By the way , that’s a cool looking diorama.
Thanks for that info, JohnnieWalker!
Morning jhz563:
The 3 rail track on most of my layout is solid brass, in the same profile as regular railroad track ("Bull-head"). Bucherer Buco (a Swiss company) produced their own 2 rail track (starting in 1947) for their clockwork trains, and it was made of aluminium held on timber "sleepers"(ties) with a patented rail spike to replicate the rail spikes used in real railroads .
When they introduced their electric range of locomotives in 1949, they changed over to brass for their 3 rail track (better conductivity), but kept the aluminium track going, as well as introducing a nickel steel 3 rail version of the track. I have all three types of track in my spare parts boxes, but prefer the brass rails over the other two versions. I use the aluminium track in my freight yards where the wagons just sit there un-powered. Buco made all sorts of different track pieces, and in four radius - 75cm (0 30), 122cm (0 48), 146cm (0 53), and 180cm (0 72).
You could also buy the rail components individually from Buco, and construct your own track using lengths of brass rail, the special rail spikes, and timber sleepers. You needed special tools to insert the rail spikes into the pre-drilled sleepers, and the chisel to punch the rail spikes down onto the bottom flange of the rails to hold them tight to the sleepers. I have all of this special equipment, and during the Covid-19 lock-down here in Australia last year, I spent my time manufacturing new track pieces to suit the up and coming extension to my layout.
All of the rail "spare parts" were available from a dealer in Switzerland up to just recently, when I purchased the last of their remaining new old stock left over from the 1950's, when the Bucherer Buco company went into liquidation.
Their points (switches) and crossovers are also beautifully made, and I have no trouble with any of my modern MTH Railking and Lionel loco's ever derailing going through them. The switches are fitted with either a hand throw or an electro-magnetic motor that is remotely controlled from beautiful little switch boxes that Buco also manufactured. They were ahead of their time for the late 1940's and early 1950's.
The timber wagons you mentioned could be purchased from Buco with either a load of sawn timber, or just empty. The timber beam and uprights swivel on a make believe turntable, which allows the two small wagons (Dolly's) to negotiate tight turns. The length of the load could be adjusted using the spaced holes in the draw-bar that connects the two little "Dolly" wagons.
I am in the process of restoring three (3) of these timber log wagons that have seen a hard life, they were repainted in terrible colours, and had the wrong axles and tinplate wheels on them. I had all the spare parts in stock to bring them back to their original condition. Here are some photos during the restoration process.
The new paint job and new/original tinplate wheels and turned steel axles are fitted, ready for me to install the timber loads, and lock them down with the fine chains.
Hope you enjoyed my "little tutorial".......I am a bit of a Buco fanatic.
The Buco fraternity in Switzerland believe I have the largest collection of Buco tinplate trains outside of Switzerland......in the words of Forrest Gump......."I don't know about that!!!"
Peter.....Buco Australia
@Buco posted:
Those wooden buildings are neat as are the wood sleepers . The track bumpers look like they are also made of wood. Are they Buco ?
Here's tonight's post: the Fire Department. The fire house is the Hallmark Kiddie Car accessory. The engine is 1/32; I don't know the maker as it came without the out box. Again, the figs are Barclay/Manoil. The bungalows are both repops from the '70s, I believe.
Peter buco: those buildings are terrific. Nice collection. Thanks for posting.
Hi everyone...I was fascinated by the post to Peter (Buco) of this wooden structures. Peter I have a question. Several months ago I acquired a wooden passenger platform that looks very similar to the one you posed on 3/2/2021 although smaller. The materials are similar. When I posted this previously, no one was able to help me ID the maker and I was wondering if you thought it could be Buco. I will attach some pictures below. As you can see from the names of the stations,this platform has some Dutch origins but it contains no maker's mark or even a country of origin mark. Anyway, was wondering if you thought it might be Buco. It like your stations is all wood.
The first loco offered by LR in France was this type. It is a simple 440 with a three axles tender which is sometime referred to a freelance model but it matches a 440 loco of the "ouest" railways but the tender is more toy like. Anyway it is a toy and not a scale model, quality is typical from LR, brass painted body and well engineered motor with steel wheels, a totally different conception of the competitors of the time which where Hornby and JEP.
For those who are interested in the history of LR trains take a look at the TCA website here and you will have a nice survey of the production. http://www.tcawestern.org/lr.htm
This loco dates from the beginning of LR in 1928 and has been produced during approximately five years and is not common to find.
Have a nice weekend, Daniel
Time for another mini-diorama: this time, it's the Pleasantville RR Terminal (must be a terminal: can't go any farther because of the wall!).
The piece is dirty--won't come off with water, and I am unsure whether to try soap--and partly repainted around the roof, and the base is a little warped, but I got it real reasonable. Obviously a mix of figure scales (did somebody just use a four-letter word here??). Some of them think it's cold while others think it's warm. The little Model As are 1/32. I like the look of the C-6 bulb in the lightpost.
Next time, we turn to some trains!
Hi G-Man24:
Yes you are correct......the buffers are also made of solid wood, with a ply base. The buffers are spring-loaded so when the loco hits them, they have a little give. The wooden body is covered with runny plaster which is applied with a stiff brush, to give that "stippled" appearance.
The circular signal on top of the buffer is made of metal, and is pushed into a hole in the top of the block. This signal disc is the part that is always missing when you buy them second-hand, but fortunately I deal with a hobby shop in Switzerland that keeps plenty of them in their spare parts bin. I now also keep a couple in my spare parts as well.
Peter......Buco Australia.
Hey Don:
Close but no cigar!!!!!!
Sorry your island platform is not from the Bucherer (Buco) production in the late 40's or 50's, nor is it from the successors to Buco who continued to manufacture Buco tinplate right up to today.
Your station platform is very smart and does follow the lines of the Buco platform with the "butterfly" roof, but the destination signs set it apart from anything Buco.
Sorry I cannot be of more help in identifying your little treasure from days gone bye.
Peter.......Buco Australia.
Hi @Don McErlean Funny you should be posting that as just recently in my correspondence with the infamous Dutchboy! we have talked a little about the prevalence of Dutch manufacturers making trackside accessories in wood , much like those you show ... He recently has some pieces for sale by the firm's Simplex and Figura .. and they are of the ilk you show
The Station he thinks is by Figura in the DDR ... and the other pieces Simplex ( dutch )
Apparently these were retailed in the Netherlands by the Vroom & Dreesmann department stores .
If you like I can email him copies of your station and have him confirm that , but hopefully thats a couple of leads for you to chase down 
Even today Simplex still makes many wooden toys for kids
Todays offering by me is a not so commonly seen example of Hornby that I just acquired ...
The Pullman Coach No.0 in its "Mitropa" derivative ... It's seldom you see really nice ones of these as the lithography of the "Gold " foil under the top coat for the lettering was pretty non resistant to rusting and corrosion ... From C1930/31 the same period as the UK made "American" type Pullmans carried on from parts and tooling from the ill-fated Hornby expansion into the USA in 1927 and killed by the Great Depression in the US . They made a US range with several cars named after presidents , and the Continental version was the Mitropa
As documented by Hornby themselves in the following clipping
However this particular one was made in the UK as evidenced by the Liverpool mark
Palallin - A bit of warm water, a bar of Ivory soap, and a soft cloth works wonders on old tinplate. No scrubbing, just some gentle rubbing/wiping will clear away most if not all accumulated dirt, then a thorough dry afterwards. I’ve done this with the fragile paintwork on postwar AF S-gauge as well with good results. Be wary of any of the spray-bottle cleansers, as I have found that some of those will soften the paint.
PD
Hey Fatman, was there any commonality in couplers between European manufacturers during the prewar era? Those on the Pullman in the Hornby clipping look like the ones on my prewar Bing set, but the ones on the “continental” version are different. Just wondering...
PD
Heya @pd Most manufacturers had their own styles , most of the lower end toys were simple tab and slot types , but when you got to the more realistic versions it wasnt uncommon for each manufacturer to have their own take on things ... some like the Bing as you noted were very similar to Hornby drop-link and sets that were made for the UK market were "kinda" compatible , but generally they loved to make things as hard as possible for blokes like me that collect so many different marques
As you can see even Hornby had two distinct types of couplers in its history , with earlier ones in Drop-link format and later ones with the "automatic" versions like you see on the Mitropa above
So you do tend to try and get locomotoves and rolling stock from the same manufacturer and period to get a running rake happening , and on more than one carriage in my collection will you find different couplers on each end to allow cobbling marques together that owners had done way back in the dim dark past 
In fact with the Mitropa above you can see the box illustration has drop-link couplers, and the item itself instead has auto ones ... This shows it was made in 1931 when Hornby introduced the Automatic couplers to the world , as you can see they are factory fitted
So in short to run different Marques and/or from different eras , you have to be ok with "wiring " them together on occasion , or instead keeping marque to marque ...
edit ...a great way to look at different types comes courtesy of Fred and his excellent e-books .. there you can see many makers and their couplings over the various publications
I am sure he wont mind if I link him in here
And if ever I feel the need to crush and process some grains trackside on a layout one day .. I just now picked up a roller mill by J.L. Hess that was designed to be powered by his Dynamobils I have talked about in this thread
Hook it up to the dynamobil with a spring band drive , and it spins the rollers round and round to crush all in its way .. muhuhuhuhaaawwwww
@Fatman posted:And if ever I feel the need to crush and process some grains trackside on a layout one day .. I just now picked up a roller mill by J.L. Hess that was designed to be powered by his Dynamobils I have talked about in this thread
Hook it up to the dynamobil with a spring band drive , and it spins the rollers round and round to crush all in its way .. muhuhuhuhaaawwwww
If it were larger, I can envision James Bond being put in harm's way, with one of the super villains at the controls. Or maybe Nell (from Dudley Dooright) with Snidely Wiplash doing his evil.
Hello Peter Buco: you mentioned that there are Buco successors to this day. Are they still making these trains in Buco scale, so to speak, and who are these companies and where can they be found? Very interesting. Thanks.
This week I worked on my tinplate churches; adding stained glass windows.
The club is allowing me to expand out another couple of feet. I hope this will allow me to run my Lionel Hiawatha on the lower level.
Scott Smith
Peter (Buco) : Thanks for your response on my wooden station platform - I appreciate the help even just to eliminate a manufacturer.
Fatman - thank you so much for your information on Figura in the DDR and Simplex firms, I will certainly try to research those firms to see if I can find anything similar. Although the station stop you pictured and labeled as by Figura certainly is as close as anything has come so far. You mentioned forwarding the pictures on to a friend who may have more data ... PLEASE DO!! This has become my mystery station and I continue to try and find out who made it. I bought it for sentimental reasons, as my wife and I are planning a trip to Netherlands (eventually, it has been cancelled and rescheduled by the tour company because of COVID now 3 times) and I traveled in that country several times while working for the Air Force. OH Yes, the Hornby coach "Mitropa" is super...and the rock grinder is really interesting although I wonder how "MOM" felt about letting junior play with something that could damage his fingers! (LOL)
Best Wishes
Don
Tonight we shift to a somewhat lower quality shot of the SG train I have put together since Christmas. It looks a little better at a distance than up close, but no piece is less than C6 (the caboose I think is a repaint, but I am not sure). I had to replace the headlights on the engine, and I still need to finish the wiring. I even have it displayed on Flyer track.
During my previous flirtation with SG years ago, I had Lionel and IVES, but no Flyer. In fact, I have never owned a Flyer piece in my life until I started putting together this little set. I have developed a real appreciate for Flyer WG, and I hope to get at least one of all the freight cars (if I can find a tank car that goes for less than one of my paychecks!) and also a representative passenger train. As much as I would like to have a Brass Piper or other big steamer, that's probably not in the cards. I really like the New Haven-style motor.
@palallin posted:Tonight we shift to a somewhat lower quality shot of the SG train I have put together since Christmas. It looks a little better at a distance than up close, but no piece is less than C6 (the caboose I think is a repaint, but I am not sure). I had to replace the headlights on the engine, and I still need to finish the wiring. I even have it displayed on Flyer track.
During my previous flirtation with SG years ago, I had Lionel and IVES, but no Flyer. In fact, I have never owned a Flyer piece in my life until I started putting together this little set. I have developed a real appreciate for Flyer WG, and I hope to get at least one of all the freight cars (if I can find a tank car that goes for less than one of my paychecks!) and also a representative passenger train. As much as I would like to have a Brass Piper or other big steamer, that's probably not in the cards. I really like the New Haven-style motor.
Nice! I have almost an identical set running on my layout.
NWL
@Nation Wide Lines posted:Nice! I have almost an identical set running on my layout.
NWL
You're right! Did you get it as a set or piece it together as I did?
@palallin posted:You're right! Did you get it as a set or piece it together as I did?
I bought mine as a set, but mine is the uncataloged JC Penney special Nation Wide Lines set, with all of the cars and the engine labeled with Nation Wide Lines plates.
NWL
@Nation Wide Lines posted:I bought mine as a set, but mine is the uncataloged JC Penney special Nation Wide Lines set, with all of the cars and the engine labeled with Nation Wide Lines plates.
NWL
Wow! That is really interesting!
Hence your forum moniker?
@palallin posted:Wow! That is really interesting!
Hence your forum moniker?
That set and the wall of Nation Wide Lines
NWL
NWL: IMPRESSIVE! :-)
@Tinplate Art posted:NWL: IMPRESSIVE! :-)
+1!!
Morning waynew:
Sorry for the tardy reply, but life got in the way yesterday.
The history of the Buco model trains from its start in 1947 up to today makes for fascinating reading.
I have attached a link to the latest company (Buco Spur O GmbH) to continue on the Swiss tinplate tradition. https://buco-gmbh.ch/ This website also has a section of the Buco history and goes into a lot of detail about the different manufacturers who tried to keep the legend alive.
The guys (and one gal) that make-up the latest company are all devotees of the original Buco product, and have acquired all of the old machines and presses that were used in the original production. I have a very good relationship with them, and have purchased many of their "new generation" products and special releases over the past 10 years.
They still manufacture the tinplate wagons and passenger carriages in the original style, but with more modern rail names on the litho printing. They have also recommenced building the original "301" and "304" electric locomotives, and these can be made in different colours (brown and red), as well as the original green colour.
I commissioned them to build me a new 304 and a 301 in red, as this colour is very rare. Here are a couple of photos of the new red loco's on my layout. In both instances I have install an ETS (Czech tinplate train company) printed circuit board to convert the AC from my transformers into DC, to run the new Maxon can motors Buco now install, instead of the old open-framed wound stator field coils and armatures.
The Maxon can motor is very powerful, but only comes in DC, so I install the ETS circuit boards. This overcomes the voltage problem, and also allows me to change the loco's direction (and the lights at each end) through a micro switch on the circuit board. There is a small over-voltage button on the Buco transformer's face which can provide a momentary pulse/spike of 24V to operate the change-of direction. The ETS circuit boards fit perfectly inside the loco bodies, and the new generation loco's then perform just like the old ones, and can be fully controlled from my original Buco AC transformer.
New red coloured 304 loco (longer body 2-4-2) on the station line, and the new red coloured 301 loco (shorter body 0-4-0) on the outer loop. An original green coloured 304 is parked on the siding between the two lines. Lots of original green coloured 301 loco's parked at the end of the station.
Brand new "301" loco built for me by Buco Spur O GmbH toward the end of last year.
I ordered mine with the "sprung" pantographs, so I can differentiate between the new generation loco's and my older original Buco loco's that have fixed panto's. This way I know that I have to bring the loco to a complete stop before using the over-voltage button to change their direction. The ETS circuit boards don't like to get the over-voltage spike while the loco in still travelling!!!!
ETS circuit board in position, and all the new wiring to change the headlight direction to match the loco's direction.
Once again, another big tutorial from this Buco tinplate fanatic!!!! Sorry.
Peter.....Buco Australia.
Peter: THANK YOU for sharing your genuine passion for, and knowledge of, the Buco brand! :-)
Peter @Buco Never be apologising for sharing your love of all things Buco and edjumakating us
@Don McErlean I have had a lengthy reply and some photos from the infamous Dutchboy!
Rather than me paraphrasing the rather lengthy reply I will drop some relevant snippets from it for your consideration ( Emphasis is mine ) and excuse any misspelling etc as English is not his native language , and Dutchboy!'s english is 500% better than my Dutch !
"
These wooden Railway assecoiries are hard to pinpoint. Because sometimes the manufactor stamped its brand on it but often also the shop that sold it. Or the owner. Stamps can fade or cleaned of as well.
Anyway, I have one that looks close to it and it is stamped “Figura”. See picture.
It mentions “Station” on a piece of paper, which is the Dutch or English word for … station. (so it is not German Bahnhof or French Gare)
I have found out (on a site about Dutch dollhouses for all sake!) that Figura was (just like Simplex) a company that started producing wooden toys (such as this station, signals, vehicles, doll house furnitures and other stuff) just after WW2. The company was in fact located in Amsterdam during the 1950’s.
In fact, the author of the website had contacted the offspring of the founders and there is some nice information on the use of stamps on wooden toys and about the company Figura on it at: https://pwcollections.nl/dollhouses/red_furniture.php
The page shows a bottom of a dollhouse fireplace at the left, stamped “Figura”. This stamp is exactly the same as on my station (see pictures attached). So, as it is information from the off family of the founder I guess this is pretty trustable.
An other option for the sation could be Simplex. As the lettering on the boards is similar to the lettering on signs I have (see picture). I have mentioned this company before. This was a company that also produced wooden signals, signs, garages, cars, educational toys etc for the Dutch market. Mostly it had a little round sticker on the bottom instead of a stamp.
Simplex seized ( ceased ) the production of toys after a few years and focused entirely on production wooden jig-saw puzzles, that were mostly round in shape as they used the round plywood cut-outs that were leftovers from the loudspeakers cases production at Philips electronics factory in Eindhoven.
Actually Simplex was sold I believe druring the 80’s and production under the brandname is now in… China (where else??).
But my first guess for the station would be Figura.
I can imagine some will say it is a BUCO station. BUCO made similar items (and I thought Kibri also) but the BUCO stations had square poles instead of round ones and the platforms were often longer. Colors were different too, less brighter than the Utrecht station. And of course BUCO did not produce for Dutch market.
He included a couple of photos of the paper stamps and the inkings on the bases of the items I will include for you here
So you can see its very easy for these items over time to lose their identification .. sunlight and play would quickly fade the ink and rub off the paper
And just to prove how crazy and mixed up the world of collecting can be ... Thanks to @Don McErlean and Dutchboy! with this info exchange happening , part of an earlier mail to him from me touched on U.S.A. made Hornby O Gauge which resulted in him sending me a shedload of links for American-style Hornby ...
Now in Colleczione Fatmanos I already have a full set of both the freight and passenger variants made up of mainly UK produced items when the tooling went back to the UK in late 1929 ( after Hornby really producing in the US for pretty much only one full year 1927-8 before the October 29 crash sealed their fate )
I also have a couple of full "Made in the USA" passenger and frieght wagons ...
However naturally Hornby already had some Litho and or stock from the U.S. that also went back to the UK and I am presuming they used this up before re-jigging the litho to be basically the same but with Meccano Liverpool added in for years of production after 1930 ... The American Outlines are not common, but nor are they "rare" because quite a few were made in the UK .
UK produced American outline caboose , ....Pic stolen off invaluable on the web as my stock photos of the ones in my collection dont show it clearly ..
Under the NYC you see the gold boxlitho with "Hornby series , Manuf'd by Meccano L'pool" on the other side will be a plain "Hornby Series"
But the ORIGINAL U.S.A. ones will have " Hornby Lines Made in the U.S.A" high on each caboose end and a "Hornby Lines " and "Made In the U.S.A. " on the bottom sides FLANKING the NYC and 2528 litho printing.
Well on one of the links Dutchboy! sent me was one in Italy of all places , and the seller did not post to Australia , but DID have very cheap Speediezon postage to Paesi Bassi ( Netherlands) ... and guess what .. it is horrible , and crusty , missing a coupling , and generally not great, which lead to its 15 Euro price tag for sure , but it is indeed a USA produced caboose , that on return to England had the "Made in USA " overpainted by Hornby themselves ... making it the rarest possible combo of all ... Needless to say a quick email and thank Gawd Dutchboy! has a new born who gets him up early on weekends .. because I sent him the money while he was asleep and as soon as he woke he got my message on his phone and he bought it for me LOLOLOL!!!
Are there nicer ones out there ? I am sure there are .. but find me one lol ... til then there is this one to illustrate the history of the great Hornby failure "Coming to America ! "
( Now thats a movie Eddie Murphy should make !)
Edit BTW if ANYONE has a USA Hornby 2527 locomotive they no longer covet in any shape whatsoever this would be a great time to let it come and live with me Dont shoot me for asking lol !
@Fatman posted:UK produced American outline caboose , ....Pic stolen off invaluable on the web as my stock photos of the ones in my collection dont show it clearly ..
That's a neat looking coupler on that car with that locking bale or "hoop".
.
Fatman and Unnamed Dutch fellow : THANK YOU for your effort and information on my wooden "Dutch" station stop. There is no way I could have found out so much in so short a time. Fatman thank you for posting and taking the time to discuss it in this thread. Please pass on to your Dutch friend my thanks as well. OBTW Wife and I travel to Amsterdam this Oct, tell him I owe him a beer for his efforts and he can collect when we hit town (LOL).
Don
@G-Man24 They are the standard Hornby Automatic couplers fitted to tinplate from 1931 on .. simple and effective!
@Don McErlean Not a problem and happy to help! In a bit of coincidence Dutchboy! happens to live and work at one of the destinations on your station .. Eindhoven ! Your thanks have been passed on
OK now to WTF has Fatman found today ???
Well while its not a manufacturer unknown to me, it is however my FIRST locomotive in the collection from that Manufacturer ... and they say you never forget your first ...
From the small firm of Betal in the UK comes this rather wonderful toy-like locomotive...
This marvellous little fellow is really the red-headed step child of the Toy Train family ... He started out life being made for British Bub by a firm called Dunham and White in the UK but were marked "KB british made" Its thought that Dunham and White originally made the tooling for British Bub , but as Dunham White kept the tooling there is a good bet the Bub's didnt pay their bills ! ... and then British Bub kinda fell on its arse ... so Dunham and White retailed them under its own Branding for a year or so before WWII . Of course when war broke out it was all hands on deck and no time for red-headed step childs ...Dunham and White sold the tooling to Betal after the war and Betal produced a number of variations of sets for a while ... but noticibly there were no identifying logos at all .. just British Made ... It's thought a number of smaller manufacturers in the UK did not brand their low end stuff and the giant retailer Woolworths demanded that toys supplied to them be done so without industry branding ...
So this poor little loco was kicked to the kerb and unloved by at least three companies before being vanquished to the world of tin train obscurity ... But hey .. even a red-headed stepchild deserves some lovin
OK, because I've come to learn that "Clockwork guys have a spring in their step", I dedicate this post to you Fatman!!!!
You all know by now I'm a dyed in the wool 3 rail electric Buco tinplate rail fan, but I must remember their humble beginnings back in 1947 when all that Bucherer Buco made were 2 rail clockwork locomotives, and a very small selection of tinplate 2 axle passenger carriages and freight wagons.
Not wishing to omit these poorer cousins from my collection, I have, over the years, obtained (some would say "stole") three (3) such examples of the clockwork variety. Now for everyone's viewing pleasure, I introduce my three neglected "212" clockwork loco's, and the sets that occupied the bright red cartons with the picture of a real Swiss train on the box.
The Buco clockwork train box set
The Buco label identifying what type of train set was in the box...in this case it is a P (passenger train) 212 (clockwork locomotive) /22 (2 passenger carriages # 8688, 8 sections of curved aluminium rail track, and 4 lengths of straight aluminium track). All track pieces came with a patented stainless steel joiner clamps to prevent the track from coming apart when in use.
The obligatory Buco key to arm these little devils.
The three (3) different types of passenger train sets that were available/listed in their 1952 catalog. I will show you the set pictured at the top, but I have all of the other passenger and mail carriages listed with the other sets.
Here is the goods train that came in the above set - G (goods train) 212 (clockwork loco) /2 (2 short high-side gondolas # 8660, 8 sections of curved aluminium 2 rail track, and 2 lengths of straight aluminium track). This part of the catalog (the 1952 catalog is the only one that had an English translation, the others were always just in German and French) gives some insight to the numbers attached to the different loco's.
This page of the catalog explains the different gearing of the 212 clockwork loco. It has a low and high forward speed, a neutral position (to wind the key), and a low and high reverse speed, depending on how far you pulled the direction rod out. I get the "2-1-2" sequence, and how they used this system to number the clockwork loco, but I am stuffed if I know how they came up with the 301, 304, and right at the end of the production, the 314 numbers for the electric motor range. Another one of the mysteries of life!!!
My P212/12 train set - 1 clockwork loco and 2 short passenger carriages.
The 212 clockwork loco also provides the tinplate body and roof/pantographs for the 301 electric loco. The electric loco got working headlights (bulbs instead of chrome discs), chrome handrails to all four doors, and clear plastic strips fitted inside the body for window/windscreen glass. The direction rod is located at the rear on the electric loco, but is positioned at the front of the clockwork loco in all of their photos, probably to make it easier to activate the direction rod.
One of the short wheelbase 3rd class tinplate carriages that came in the set - carriage catalog No. 8671.
A peek inside my second clockwork loco, with the roof removed.
A peek from under the loco (albeit a little dark - sorry) of the drive gear, and how it only powers one axle, unlike the electric version that powers both axles.
This is the third clockwork loco train set I have - G 212/2 - with each of the colours (green and brown) the high-side gondola wagons were made in. These wagons are from the very first production in 1947/48 and have the "Type 1" couplers - they are becoming rare and collector items now. The drop link is very pro-typical and thin, and it is awkward to engage over the hook of the joining wagon.
The original thin "Type 1" drop-link coupler
The "Type 2" drop-link coupler that was fitted to the loco's and wagons/passenger carriages beginning around 1950. This coupler was easier to engage over the adjoining hook, and was also compatible with the Marklin (German) coupling used on their "O" gauge 3 rail trains. The Buco "hook" would slide into the Marklin coupling in the same way as the Marklin coupler did, so Buco and Marklin wagons and carriages could be used together in a consist.
Well, that's the second tutorial you lot have had to sit through, and I apologize yet again.
Footnote: Just to spice things up, I sometimes add a clockwork loco to the end of a freight consist, or double-head it with an electric loco. I just put the clockwork loco in "neutral" and it gets towed around giving the impression it is helping to push/pull the long freight train. Welcome to my fantasies!!!
Peter.....Buco Australia.
Sunday's Run
Tuesday's Run
Scott Smith
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