Tinplate photos 📸 and videos 📽

Never heard of Ferguson...tell me more.

PD

@Dennis Holler posted:

You could  but I woul dbet that might clean up decently well as well.  Then again, if you already have that set maybe not that big a deal.  I must admit, I seem to have evolved from restoring about anything with damage to almost limiting full restoration to those with no paint left or that someone else tried to repaint long ago lol.... Again, there are no wrong answers!

I rarely restore/refurbish anything anymore, but this 253 has two issues; (1) some dents and paint loss, but more significantly (2) the ends of the body are both detached with broken tabs. I’m thinking some judicious soldering is the best solution, and that will destroy more paint. I envision a repaint of the cab only, clean/polish everything else. The pick-up will need replacement too...I’ve never done that job before.

PD

I have the same set that originally belonged to my wife's grandfather.  My original plan was a complete restoration.  I replaced the engines wheels and got it running again.

However, at that point I realized that even with a complete restoration, it would never come out as good as I would want it. There are too many rust spots, dings and bends. So at this point it sits on my shelf with its original character.  Someday I may change my mind.

Looks good, Joe; hopefully it’ll find some run-time on the new layout.

If this one was in better shape, a no-brainer. Just a wash and polish always preferred. We’ll see how this turns out.

@NJCJOE- Good looking set Joe (for its age and useage).  I for one like keeping the old ones original if possible.

Best Wishes

Don

Still working out a few kinks on my 514R Standard Gauge Refrigerator Car .  Took the guts out of an old O gauge milk car and retrofitted them into my extra 514R . I’m liking the idea of automated standard gauge .  And again I ask myself why so many projects ?

If you're a purist, look away; otherwise, here's the stripped cab of the Lionel 253:

Still a bit more smudges of paint to remove, but not much. Most of the dark blotches are tarnish on the tin plating. I gotta make sure all of the paint's gone in the areas to be soldered (where the tabs are broken on the cab ends). I got most of the worst bends and dents straightened up. Last step before solder is a thorough wash using some strong soap, perhaps with a bit of steel-wool.

PD

In the Bing UK catalog 1912 there is a drawing that has always fascinated me, goods wagons with tarpaulins.

After the revision of various cars, this has now been recreated.

Arne

@Arne- Arne, your craftsmanship is just superb.  What a wonderful display.  Thank you for posting.

Best Wishes

Don

A interesting piece from my collection.

A tunnel made by Karl Bub. Made around 1910 / 1911.

Marked with KB

Was sold by Carette ( catalog 1911). Drawing is reduced but is the same size like the Bub tunnel.

  And was part of a train set from American Flyer ( catalog 1910)

Arne

Long time big drought !

But I was a naughty little fat fellow today ... and scored another Inertia Motor for the collection

Another Wilhelm Kraus Centrimotor but this is the pared down raw bones budget model with everything out on show and could never be sold today .. Kids would be losing fingers left and right

It came with a couple of grinding wheels too .. so that was a lovely bonus ... Still in Germany , but looking forward to its arrival !

I hadn't seen a "Naked" solo  version before they were sold with the large Ferris wheel toy , made by WK  , so I can only assume it was a super budget version , hence rubber stamping rather than litho and from earlier production period wise ?

It is much more simplified in operation and construction compared to the others I already have ... made in 1933-34 going by the catalogue I found here https://www.hesstintoys.com/dyna5.html  <-- great site for the top makers of Inertia motors in Germany before the war

@NJCJOE posted:

I have the same set that originally belonged to my wife's grandfather.  My original plan was a complete restoration.  I replaced the engines wheels and got it running again.

However, at that point I realized that even with a complete restoration, it would never come out as good as I would want it. There are too many rust spots, dings and bends. So at this point it sits on my shelf with its original character.  Someday I may change my mind.

Great photos and I hope you never do the rebuild, the dings and paint missing tell a story and carry the history of the train.

The foibles of epay !!!

Seller of the Krauss above decided he didnt charge enough for postage ... so emailed me upping it, saying he made a mistake and the amount was only for European postage  .. I asked him to invoice me for the extra ( a whole 4 Euros)  and he cancelled the purchase while I was emailing him back to tell him he could also send it to my mate in the Netherlands for the postage already paid !

Says he will relist it .. but I dunno

Methinks he was just p****d he only got the opening bid for them ...

People! the world would be great without them

OK round 2 .. lets see if it happens this time LOL

Fatman: I had a similar experience on 2 fronts.  Both times I put in the minimum starting bid, fully expecting it to go up but surprisingly it did not rise and I was declared the "winner" by E-Bay.  In one case the seller did the same thing with the shipping, claiming that he had not charged enough even though I included the amount listed in the charge and he hence cancelled the buy. In a more recent case, the seller simply did not ship the item and I had to go to the E-Bay folks for a refund (which I got).  Its not common I think for this to happen but apparently it does.  Sorry you had the same experience.

Don

How did it go Fatman?

Were you able to finally score the Krauss?

I constantly have mixed feeling about fleabay!!!!

Hope it works out in your favor.

Peter....Buco Australia

We are in the wait and see portion of the ebay shyte show

Actually I am probably being a little hard on the fellow as he seems to mean well ... I think when he originally listed he intended to enable it for European shipping , and it listed as worldwide but only included the 14Euro shipping for Europe, so he panicked a little and realised he was going to be out of pocket sending it to me, and because the auction had ended he could not alter the shipping charge ... so he cancelled and refunded while we were in the process of negotiating ( after I had already paid the full epay invoice )

Then he relisted as a buy it now for the same price and let me know it was there ... so I bought it again and it STILL had Europe postage costs LOL !!!

So we have agreed on him dumping the ePay shipping label and he is sending it to Dutchboy in The Netherlands via DHL  LOL!!!

He has given us a tracking number so it should work out .. maybe ..  Fun and Games to brighten a gloomy winters day

Good to hear Fatman.....fingers crossed for you!!!

Peter....Buco Australia

Well I found something that is a bit unusual even for me, this item has no manufacturer's name on it so its history is a bit of a mystery.  Its a little lithographed tinplate freight station and if I am correct it has quite a history for such a humble item.

First, from Greenberg's guide to Early American Trains, Chapter on Hafner trains, I saw a picture of this station building and it was credited to made by Bing for Hafner.  Ca 1920's .  Clearly the same building but the lithography showed a tile or shingle roof and the outline of a small crane to the right of the door.

Second, the reference states that along about 1929-1930 Hafner, perhaps driven by the number of business failures during the initiation of the Great Depression, decides to make its own accessories.  The next time this gal shows up it is in the late 1930's-1940's, and the building is the same but the lithography is blue / red on a light background.  The crane is gone replaced by a lithographed window.  This accessory, I am assuming in the same form, is now made by Hafner and used and available through Hafner trains into  its acquisition by All Metal Products (Wyandotte Toys) in the early 1950's.  I have an example of this version in my collection.

Wyandotte which had continued to produce trains (at first just Hafner left over stock, then their own designs) was forced into bankruptcy in 1956 and unable to recover.  Marx buys up all the residual tools and dies of the company (which obviously still consists of some amount of Hafner tooling) and ships them to Mexico supposedly to prevent a US competitor and where they are produced by their Mexican affiliate.

Now comes the speculative part, this station which is obviously the same basic structure as the prior ones going back to the original Bing, seems to be offered in the same form but with new lithography and colors. It is this last step that I have no confirmation of and I am just speculating based on the similarity of the basic building.   So here it is...the Bing/Hafner/Wyandotte/Marx freight station:

The ends of the building are the least similar to prior versions which had lithographed designs of windows and brick trim vice these just blank walls.

Best Wishes

Don

@Don McErlean posted:

First, from Greenberg's guide to Early American Trains, Chapter on Hafner trains, I saw a picture of this station building and it was credited to made by Bing for Hafner.  Ca 1920's .  Clearly the same building but the lithography showed a tile or shingle roof and the outline of a small crane to the right of the door.

Best Wishes

Don

Don,

this was not made by Bing especially for Hafner. Hafner had sold some regular Bing items. The Hafner No 621 freight station from the 20s is Bing No 10/644 (older Bing No. 10115).

The later Hafner freight station from the 30s had copied only the shape.

There are some differences between Bing and Hafner from the 30s

Bing

roof 5 tabs and slots

tabs outside

short side 2 tabs and slots

different door

The Bing freight station was copied some times. For example Bing in the middle and 2 freight stations made by Brimtoy.

Similar too, the freight station made by Karl Bub.

Arne

Thank you Arnie, the information you posted is really great and certainly gives me more than I could get on my own.  I now understand that the Bing station that Hafner sold was not exclusive to Hafner, that I did not know.  I knew the original Hafner or perhaps better said, " provided by " Hafner station came from Bing but was completely unaware that it was a Bing "standard catalog" item that Hafner simply provided as available for their trains.  I also found out that for a  number of the early years Bing also made the Hafner freight cars.

In checking with my little station, you are correct in that the tabs are different and placed differently.  There are only 4 (vice 5) roof tabs and only one tab on each end (vice 2) of the base.  What I find most interesting is that Bing then Brimtoy and Bub all copied the "crane" picture to the rt of the door, whereas Hafner in their copies of the station eliminated the crane and substituted an extra window. Since the crane is an obvious addition to a freight station one wonders why they took it out.   In all cases the lithography of the Bing, Brimtoy, Bub and even the later Hafner station is more elaborate than the one I posted above, which does not even have a lithographed design on the ends.  

Thank you again Arnie for taking the time to post this data.  I really appreciate your help.

Best Wishes

Well it looks like this week is my week for "Tinplate".  Today I received this "Little Choo Choo" tinplate train from Distler that I won on an auction on E-bay.  I was the only bidder and took the "prize" for $9.99, considering that all the other Distler trains I saw on the internet ranged from $125 -300 I think this was a good price, although the set is clearly on the "toy" side.

Johann Distler began making toys in Nuremberg in 1895 and the company went through similar history of other toy makers in Germany.  In the 1930's the original owners of the company were forced out by the Nazi's due to  Jewish ownership.  Then the factory was 85% destroyed by WWII bombing but they started making toys again right after the war in 1945.  From '45 to '49 their toys would be marked "made in the U.S.zone" but after "49 were marked (as this set is) "made in Western Germany"

  It is 0 gauge and IAW the Western Division TCA website, Distler switched from 0 to H0 gauge trains ca 1957.  So this little guy would likely to have been made between '49 and '57. I have seen similar Distler sets that have been dated 1952 so the 1950's seems like the most likely period of production.

Here is the set in the box, which has suffered some moisture damage and tearing on one corner.  Luckily the moisture did not penetrate to the trains and there is little to no rust present on either trains or track.

Here is a close up of the engine, the fixed key for the clockwork motor is on the other side.

Two pictures of the little train in the vicinity of my new Marx freight station.  By the way, despite not being close to any prototype in scale, the little train is 0 gauge for sure as I measured it.  The curve diameter appears to be about 18" ( 0-18 in "Lionel speak").

Well hope everyone has a good weekend.  Best Wishes

Don

Nice little set Don !!!

After a very quiet year so far in the collecting department , a friend of mine from Queensland insisted I grab some stuff off him (lol)

Actually he sold me a Technofix 289 shunting train set ( in the less common NOVA red version) and threw in a lot of freebies

These are also produced in a green Litho but most commonly in blue

And the track where all the magic happens

Threw in the following as freebies ( he's good fellow indeed ) ...a couple of junk pieces but the others are interesting bits and bobs !

But it was all just bait to reel me in for the big boy ( LOL!)

A tidy little Pre-war Hornby 4-4-4 O gauge loco with what I call " Age Appropriate Wear " 

Not minty by any means but a good runner apparently ... So naturally it had to come to Papa!

The crest on the bunker area dates it to C1927-8

Nice "pick-up" Fatman!!!

Us Queenslanders have all the good gear!!!!

Tell me, how did you fare with the "Ebay shyte show"????

Peter....Buco Australia

@Buco, Heya Peter !

All good on the fiasco and the items are happily in Dutchboy's hands, where he naturally had to have a play and declared it " Very nice, indeed she runs well!"

They are currently resident in the " Simon Box" ... where he puts all my goodies until they become big enuff to ship in one hit

@Fatman posted:

Threw in the following as freebies ( he's good fellow indeed ) ...a couple of junk pieces but the others are interesting bits and bobs !

The tunnel is no junk. Not easy to find, made by Ottmar Beckh in the 60s.

Arne

Fatman, love the Technofix. Being a New Yorker I grew up with the Coney Island set, one of my favorite toys. Sorry no posts for a while but in the process of moving into our new home. I hope to start posting photos again in October.

Miketg

@Miketg- Best of Luck in your new home!  Wife and I moved 12 times over 41 years, That's the Defense Dept for ya!!

@Fatman - Great "extra's " for sure.  I too have the Alps NYC Tank engine...here is a picture of mine- But Fatman!  It isn't clockwork!!  1 D battery in the boiler is the power source.

Best Wishes that thanks for the comment on my new Distler set

Don

@Arne thanks for the identification on the tunnels , I don't have the goodies yet as they are in the post , so I was holding off investigating as that is the only photos I have to work off... I am thinking that the bridge , crossing and signal are likely HWN or similar , again from the 60's?

@Don McErlean always lovely to see what you find mate ! The NYC loco I know all too well as I have the complete boxed set ... this was a take it or leave it freebie deal lol , so no prisoners were left behind

@Miketg , I HATE moving lol... wishing you all the luck ! and while I am here , thanks to you, Don, Arne and everybody who keeps this thread ticking over ...I might be a bit sentimental but this thread is one of my favourite places on the web , a spot where within reason anyone can post anything they want to share without the "overlords" getting noses out of joint ... these places are getting harder and harder to find !

I really like Technofix and have several sets , including the rollercoaster, which was called the Coney Island set in the USA

Coal Mine loader...

Alpine Express....

More common Blue Shunting Train set

I could fill a page just with all of them lol!!! Not to mention the likes of Distler, Marx , Tippco, GEM, Unique Arts etc who produced many different track based set ups that I have found ( hoarded)  over the years ...

My hardest one to complete was actually a Technofix .. a pre-war rangierbahn made in 1938 ... locos are not too hard to find , but getting the original track pieces took me years! I finally found two full sets of rails in Spain of all places . ( And naturally after spending 5 years looking for them , within 2 weeks another set of tracks showed up which I also bought lol ) I am guessing once these sets got jumbled up over the years , no-one ever knew what the tracks were for and they got junked in the majority of cases?

Love various car sets too ...

Distler pre-war

Enough Fatman .. enough !!!! LOL

Anyway hope you enjoyed the distraction

Nothing new for me so just two Basset-Lowke trains running on carpet central,   the Duke of York is the electric model with two 1921 series Bing passenger cars and the 440 Prince Charles is running with blood and custard passenger cars, last offering from Basset-Lowke in 1952-53

Have a nice weekend,   Daniel

@Fatman posted:

...

...

I really like Technofix and have several sets , including the rollercoaster, which was called the Coney Island set in the USA

Coal Mine loader...

Alpine Express....

More common Blue Shunting Train set

I could fill a page just with all of them lol!!! Not to mention the likes of Distler, Marx , Tippco, GEM, Unique Arts etc who produced many different track based set ups that I have found ( hoarded)  over the years ...

My hardest one to complete was actually a Technofix .. a pre-war rangierbahn made in 1938 ... locos are not too hard to find , but getting the original track pieces took me years! I finally found two full sets of rails in Spain of all places . ( And naturally after spending 5 years looking for them , within 2 weeks another set of tracks showed up which I also bought lol ) I am guessing once these sets got jumbled up over the years , no-one ever knew what the tracks were for and they got junked in the majority of cases?

Love various car sets too ...

Distler pre-war

Enough Fatman .. enough !!!! LOL

Anyway hope you enjoyed the distraction

Thanks for posting pics of so many different kinds of shunting trains and related items.  Awhile back, you helped me to find a set (I didn't even know what to search for), and until now I had no idea how many variations exist on this theme.  Maybe I was better off not knowing...

@Fatman - WOW!  That is really a super collection of action toys, I really loved the lithography of the Technofix sets, especially the Alpine Express and the Coal Mine loader...such color and design!!  Thanks for posting.

@Frenchtrains - beautiful Basset- Lowke trains Daniel, It is hard to believe that these were available in the early 50's.  For US kids, the world of trains in those years was Lionel, Marx, American Flyer and that was that!  My train years started at Christmas 1947 when I got a set pulled by the new Lionel PRR Steam Turbine although at 3 I am not sure I really knew what it was supposed to be...but by 1952 at 8 I would certainly have appreciated those trains you posted.

Well since Fatman "broke the ice" on some tinplate clockwork toys, here is one of mine for a hot Sunday morning:

This is marked with a logo of a globe circled by a broad band at the equator lettered JW.  The name of the company I believe is also lettered around the edge of the globe but its too small, even with a magnifier, for these 79 year old eyes to read, so at this point I do not know what JW stands for.  I can read however that it was "Made in Germany"

Well that's it for me today

Best Wishes

Don

@Don McErlean posted:

This is marked with a logo of a globe circled by a broad band at the equator lettered JW.  The name of the company I believe is also lettered around the edge of the globe but its too small, even with a magnifier, for these 79 year old eyes to read, so at this point I do not know what JW stands for.  I can read however that it was "Made in Germany"

Well that's it for me today

Best Wishes

Don

Don,

the logo says "JW Nurnberger Blechspielzeug"

JW is Josef Wagner

History of the Josef Wagner tin toy production

Living history: The last German tin toy factory is located in Emskirchen and is run as a family business by Josef Wagner. Josef Wagner uses original tools from the former tin toy manufacturers Tipp & Co., Blomer und Schuler and NBZ to produce wonderful tin toys. The quality is outstanding and the tin models are a feast for the eyes. The company has been making models since 1969, the tool was purchased in the 1950s and 60s.

Arne

@Arne - THANK YOU for the information (and for reading the text I could not!  )  I agree with you, this tin toy is of very high quality and the lithography is indeed (as you said) ... " a feast for the eyes".   It is also great fun with super motion.

Best Wishes

Don

Hola Amigos ! ( I thought since I am south of the border I should greet you appropriately lol .. WAAAAAY south of the border)

Anyhoo time for a bit of a catchup I reckon

First up a cute little penny train from Japan ( maker uncertain, but probably pre-war by the lithography)

Matchbox for size comparison .. about 1" gauge

Some French Hornby Wine wagons .. two different marking versions

And a nice early UK Hornby Milk Traffic Van ( with some bonus milk cans )

Nut & Bolt construction

Annnd just because it was there .. a little French un-motored Joyax push train ... rusty but still a bit of fun

Hope everyone is well and is adding to the mess that we call "collecting" LOL!

Here are a couple of "wine"barrel cars of mine, these look like Hornby but they are Hatchette copies, relatively inexpensive and still fun to play with.

This is my "Milk Service" wagon, this is real Hornby and it came with only one Milk can.

I loved the "JOYAX" train, reminds me of the days when a child could play happily with all the sound and animation provided by their imagination not electronics.  (sort of my story).  The "penny toy" from Japan was also really neat, I wonder if the "1932" loco number could have been the year produced?  I have a Karl Bub, made in "western Germany" clockwork engine and tender on the way that cost $11, so we will see how that looks when it arrives.

Best Wishes

Don

@Fatman posted:

Hola Amigos ! ( I thought since I am south of the border I should greet you appropriately lol .. WAAAAAY south of the border)

Anyhoo time for a bit of a catchup I reckon

...

Some French Hornby Wine wagons .. two different marking versions

And a nice early UK Hornby Milk Traffic Van ( with some bonus milk cans )

Nut & Bolt construction

...

Those appear to be in fine shape - are you turning over a new leaf?

Unique Art Rock Island F3 diesels.  Two powered units that'll pull a long train of early K-Line freight cars or 8 Lionel aluminum passenger cars.  The passenger train draws 6.5 amps.

Marx 21 FT A-A, modified with a prewar coupler.  Tinplate diesels pulling a tinplate train.

LOL @Mallard4468   Although I am certainly not opposed to the rust and abuse from decades of play , sometimes, just sometimes , they let me play with nice things

When you want ALLLLL the trains ( lol) your collection runs from ...

to

and all stops in between

@Don McErlean  I thought the same thought , but in chatting with another collector they mentioned that "at the time Japan did not strictly prescribe to the Gregorian calendar so you maybe cant count on that" , however on investigation it appears Japan DID adopt the date format in 1873 .. so "maybe" ... 1932 "feels" right to me , but I cant find ( yet) any proof of when it is from .