Weekend tinplate photos/videos 1/26/18!

Thunderstorm!  The Broadway Limited Thunder and Lightning strips are taped to the top of passenger station and freight shed.  I cut a rectangular hole in the train table to lower the 155 freight shed. Otherwise it overpowered the station.u

I seem to have acquired a few Commodore Vanderbilts over time....

Dennis Holler posted:

I seem to have acquired a few Commodore Vanderbilts over time....

Well, at least you found room for most of them on the track...

George

Nice ballasted tinplate track, Dennis...looks sharp!

PD

Well George, "Most" of them...  you know, you get interested in something and the next thing you know they are coming out of your ears!

Thanks PD. I've always  been on the fence as to whether that ballast was a bit to large or not.  I got it off ebay a long while back and might just have enough to finish that outer loop.

Last weekend I found this 0 gauge BING clockwork 0-4-0 in very nice condition (I do not know whether "very nice" is a TCA allowed description 

This Bavarian type locomotive was made from 1915 until the end of BING production; this one is from about 1925 I assume. It is the "deluxe" version with not only coupling rods but also driving rods and cross head guides. The tender looks like a 3-axle one but has only (room for) two axles. It runs very smoothly.

Regards

Fred

Dennis Holler posted:

Thanks PD. I've always  been on the fence as to whether that ballast was a bit to large or not.  I got it off ebay a long while back and might just have enough to finish that outer loop.

The trains and track aren't scale so why should the ballast be?  You're looking for "the look" and I think you nailed it...

PD

Dennis Holler posted:

Well George, "Most" of them...  you know, you get interested in something and the next thing you know they are coming out of your ears!

 

Thanks PD. I've always  been on the fence as to whether that ballast was a bit to large or not.  I got it off ebay a long while back and might just have enough to finish that outer loop.

It looks about the same size as chicken grit. It seems about right for tubular track. It would be too large for Atlas and would be borderline for Ross (only because Ross ties tend to be a little larger than Atlas).

George

Here is a repeat offering this week from Ives.

This is the Blue Racer -  Set #420 from 1928.  Its a set from the Lionel, American Flyer, Ives transition era.  That brief period in the history of those three companies fascinates me.

I posted the cars a few weeks back with an American Flyer steam engine and and Ives tender that I have in the collection. 

Recently I found the correct engine.

This is Ives #3260, which is actually a Lionel #248 body in disguise.

The set only came with two cars:

a #133 Parlor Car

and a #134 Observation Car.

They are both a scaled back version of what they were when Ives was  manufacturing them as an independent company.

It feels like an accomplishment to have reunited the pieces of a set that is 90 years old.  And it runs.

Have a Great Tinplate Weekend

Northwoods Flyer

Greg

Last week Choo Choo Charlie posted a picture of his Marx train set from the 1950's and wanted to know if it counted as tinplate.  We all assured him that it definitely met the criteria.  Since Marx hasn't seen a lot of representation on the thread in recent weeks I thought everyone might like to see something a little out of the ordinary with respect to Marx trains.

The Ward's Famous Switch Train

   The set box is larger than what one normally sees with respect to Marx train boxes.  Its packed in a double stack form and, as you can see from the picture, when it was shipped Wards just put the shipping address (lower right corner) and "Fragile" stickers on the set box and sent it on its way.

   In addition to assembly instructions the contents also include all of the shipping/inspection notices from Wards.

  The diagram of the set indicates that, when assembled, it should look like the following:

  However, when the contents are removed and assembled what you have is this.

  This is somewhat of a puzzle since everything fits in the box, all of the cardboard/inserts are intact, and there simply isn't any way one could add another switch, bumper, or the "missing" pieces of straight track.  What is also interesting is that the box contains an overhead crane (you can see the top of the crane in the first picture) which is not indicated in the track diagram.

  A check of the paperwork turns up this interesting slip of paper

  which explains what happened - under the notice for changes it states "We sent this item as the time before Christmas is too short you might not be able to get a suitable substitute.  And there is the handwritten notation "Spec".  So, it would appear that Ward's sent this set as a compromise due to some kind of shortage.

  The Wards train set

....and the way one might hope the layout looked on Christmas day (to me, a train set without a station just isn't complete - I added the Marx Oak Park from my collection in order to appease my concern for completeness).

That is a great set and incredible the documentation has survived all this time.  Great stuff! I have a soft spot for the Marx 3000 CP sets with the 8 wheel auto coupler cars.  Only thing that could make that better is if they were the early red frame cars!  Beautiful set

Wow!  That is some nice stuff.  Thanks from me for sharing.  I like the stories behind the trains.

Some classic HORNBY locomotives , both French and British models, all from the thirties.

A LMS clockwork Royal Scott

A  LNER 6volts Flying Scotsman

A french PLM in 4 volts

A french NORD in 20 volts with smoke deflectors

Same body for all models but different tenders. 

Have a great tinplate weekend,   Daniel

FRED and DANIEL: LOVE that Bing and those Hornby's!  Exquisite! (NOT a TCA term - LOL!).

since I cant marry these milk cars,which are my all time favorite,i decided to just buy a bunch and redo them,,my 1st effort ,the 2nd one I just cleaned up its ok,i may touch up the trucks on the 1st one

Some more Marx to brighten up your Tinplate Friday. Dennis, you are not the only one with more than one Commodore. But as you can see, mine are a different flavor than yours...

Two items. Thought I had posted the first, but didn't come through.  To round out the Hornby Nord locomotives here is the final version with elephant ears the 3.1290.

Found this amazing reconstructed Lionel 238E at a Ft Myers train shop. Someone in the distant past had fitted the 238E shell to a 224E mechanism keeping the 224E pony and trailing trucks. It runs beautifully. Now I'm looking for a nice grey 265W tender.

Lew Schneider

The herd:

Dennis H,

   The real beauty is the Gun Metal Gray Steam Engine, is it a 249E or a 263E, what a beautiful Engine & Tender you have there in that picture!  I like the Commodore it's fine also.

PCRR/Dave

everyone needs more than one Commodore...

and newly arrived today Lionel 812 gondola. Haven't had time to do any cleaning yet. I did some mock up on my 810 Derick...gonna have to watch that big green boom on it' s first trip around the layout.....that may cause some carnage!

Dennis your ballast looks great.

A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned my experiments to modify a Marx windup motor so it would run further.  I now have Version #2 of the Marx Long Distance Windup Motor built and installed in a Marx #6000 shell.  It is capable of pulling a 3 car train around my little layout 15+ laps, or about 280 feet.  For comparison, a stock Marx windup will pull a similar train about 5-6 laps.  

Here is a boring video of it in action:

terry hudon posted:

since I cant marry these milk cars,which are my all time favorite,i decided to just buy a bunch and redo them,,my 1st effort ,the 2nd one I just cleaned up its ok,i may touch up the trucks on the 1st one

They are difficult to find in excellent condition because the decals become brittle and will flake off.  But when you do they make a great unit train.

They were cataloged for a number of years (as #3212 from 1936 through 1938 and as #412 from 1939 through 1940), so you can find them with different trucks,

and 3 different couplers.

How did you get the one to be silver without destroying the decal?

Enjoy the hunt,

Northwoods Flyer

Greg

the original decals were shot,,those are from train tender  ,I would have loved to see one in standard gauge,,,i would pass out

That is a really cool project James!    Great job!

Now, a standard gauge AF milk car would be the cat's meow! 

Dennis Holler posted:

...  you know, you get interested in something and the next thing you know they are coming out of your ears!

Yes, Dennis, I've seen that problem somewhere near me.

Tom 

Yes, Tom, I think you know exactly what I mean!!

MNCW posted:

Dennis Holler posted:

...  you know, you get interested in something and the next thing you know they are coming out of your ears!

Yes, Dennis, I've seen that problem somewhere near me.

Tom 

Your photo reminds me of the photos of the two steam engines abandoned in the woods in Maine.

Northwoods Flyer

Greg

Tinplate Art posted:

Now, a standard gauge AF milk car would be the cat's meow! 

I'll bet Steve Eastman is already building one....

terry hudon posted:

I would have loved to see one in standard gauge,,,i would pass out

I have seen one, custom made of course. I tried to buy it but it went for too much moolah...It was SUPER cool!

Chris.....terrific video of your layout. Thanks for sharing. Also, what brand of track do you use for your layout?

Jim

Pine Creek Railroad posted:

Dennis H,

   The real beauty is the Gun Metal Gray Steam Engine, is it a 249E or a 263E, what a beautiful Engine & Tender you have there in that picture!  I like the Commodore it's fine also.

PCRR/Dave

Thanks Dave, It's just your garden variety 249E with a 265W waffle top tender.    Honestly it took parts from three original engine's to put it together.  Had a great shell and crumbled frame and then found a great frame under a scratched up shell  I even lucked into a clean motor with original thin nickel rim drivers that runs like a watch.

beautiful locomotive Dennis

Here is what I was running today kevin 

I have a MTH Duchess Locomotive and I remember allot of people wanted the have Tin Plate Corridor Coaches to go behind this locomotive.  Darstaed has produced (4) series of Corridor Coaches that look awesome. The are LMS Period I, LMS Period II, BR (ex LMS I) & BR Maroon (ex LMS II). I have pictures of MTH Duchess with (10) BR (ex LMS I) & (4) LMS Period II Set C & Full Brake. 

Jim Z posted:

Thunderstorm!  The Broadway Limited Thunder and Lightning strips are taped to the top of passenger station and freight shed.  I cut a rectangular hole in the train table to lower the 155 freight shed. Otherwise it overpowered the station.u

 

 

 

 

love the Shasta ,and the legionsnaires set cars,i don't run my as offen as I should

got 812 all cleaned up and being moved to the yard.

this got me to thinking.....do you guys like nice and shiny, cheap (usually means a little on the rough side)  or? Maybe I spend too much time on the floor looking thru junk boxes, but I like stuff on the rough side. I picture Christmas Morning, and little Gomez Addams ripping open his presents, and doing what JL meant to be done with his trains. All the scratches, dings, etc shoe me that this train was enjoyed.My 812 cost a whole $11. The paint is dull, a tad bit of surface rust , but for 80 years old it looks great to me.I'm looking at 813 Cattle Cars , and they are mostly in the same price range, but I kinda like the rough looking car. And there is only a few dollars difference in the price.

It looks good Dave.  I go both ways sometimes...  seems to cause me some internal conflicts on occasion as well.  It is really neat to pick up something really nice on occasion.  For me, once I did that, it opened my eyes a bit. I've said it before, but I realized the price difference does not always have to be that much.  I paid less that $200 for the Red Comet set.  I still haven't cleaned it yet and it looks good anyway.  I was well on the way to spending more than that "restoring"  a set for myself.  Paid maybe $115 for a set that needed a cab, wheels and some trim as well as paint.  Cab = $30, Wheels =$40, trim = $15-20, so you can see that was at the same point as the nicer set.  So Dave, if you want a Red Comet to restore... I might just have one lying around

you have my attention sir......

now on the other hand, my 810, it will probably get a paint job. But on the other hand it looks like a Derrick that has done a lot of hard work over it's career.