Tinplate photos 📸 and videos 📽

Wow Fatman, what a treasure trove.  I say again that the engine is beautiful, no evidence of zinc pest that I could see and we all  know that can be a real problem on these older toys.  The catalog is amazing!  This manufacturer had an entire line including 14 structures and 3 different crossings amazing that so little has seemingly come to light - at least in the US.

Best wishes...thanks for posting

Don

Yes Don , along with Wittrock its very hard to find these things outside of Denmark , I presume because after the war ( WWII) many different manufacturers of other items took advantage of the post war boom to manufacture toys to bolster income , Knud Petersen who was an electrical engineer I believe? ,drove Pioner to being Denmark's leading O gauge marque. In 1951 alone according to one source I have found , he built over 5,000 locomotive sets !! ( and had 25 employees)

The very earliest sets had wood bodied locomotives , I have not been able to find even a picture of these yet ... The automatic couplers date from 1954 ... Sadly the importation of Marklin made a huge dent in his business in the mid to late 50's and he stopped making trains in 1964 or so , the family was also into the Juke Box Industry in the 1960's so that was what the business eventually became .

@Fatman - Thank you for the explanation and the information.  You know when you think about it, the 1960's were a disaster for the 0 gauge train makers, especially the "Toy" train companies.  Lionel, American Flyer, Marx, Hornby all went either bankrupt or out of business or at least out of the 0 gauge business.  All tried HO but only Hornby with Dublo made it.  I once read in one of my Hornby books that they estimated at the time they could make 2X as many trains at 1/2 the cost in Dublo as opposed to 0 gauge.  That's a 4X profit boost and in addition the demand was there.  I was guilty as well.  At age 12 or so, I convinced my Dad to sell our Lionel (we had a 1/2 basement full!) and buy HO.  Given Lionel was 10 cents on the dollar at that time (1955-56) and HO was still relatively expensive, the change over cost a lot of trains.

Well enough with memories, thanks again for taking the time to post and provide vital information.  I remain fascinated by the world's model/toy trains.

Best wishes

Don

As revealed on a few other sections of the forum , but because my true heart lies with this thread ...

Here is my latest find, A Controlled Clockwork Peckett Saddle-Tank 0-6-0 locomotive , in OO scale made in the early 1950's by none other than John van Riemsdijk , if you have followed my postings over the years you will know I have a special affinity for the models from this man. There was a time a few years ago where I thought I would never own one , but the intervening years have been very kind to me and my searches and bit by bit , one by one , they turn up and super surprisingly for me at a price point I can deal with ( because you all know I am a super cheap-arse! ) However on all of those occasions it came down to people who sell this stuff on ebay or similar , and have absolutely no clue nor make an attempt to research what they were selling , so I didn't feel bad , I am not taking a grieving widow for a ride ....

Way back when, when I thought I would never get one , I committed myself to finding out more about these "pinnacles" of clockwork evolution, I love them because they were a very interesting mans attempt to bring clockwork out of the dark ages, and modernise it into the post war boon era, a man who decided the usual manufacturers were just happy to sell the cheap toys, and thought that hobbyists deserved something better ... a man of "if you build it they will come" mentality .... Well sadly JvR didn't revolutionise the world of model railways, but he gave it a red hot go ( and made some amazing trains )

You could make a movie about this mans life , and his connections to our hobbies and society in general ,

I have a great copy of a letter he wrote to Michael D Foster that was published in his "British Toy Trains " volume4 , but I am loathe to publish it here as I have been rapped on the knuckles before and had posts deleted presumably for copyright  reasons , but if anyone wants a copy feel free to contact me ...

Oh And BUY his books LOL ! ( Hi Michael! )

Suffice to say tho that the letter in the book probably taught me more about him than YEARS of searching the web!

Anyway you probably want pictures?

So here they are ... this fellow was my White Whale ( I had heard mention of its existence but never saw a picture or ANY article on the web , indeed I purchased this one "on a Hunch" and his true identity was not revealed until after I had won it ... Sometimes you just have to back yourself , and sometimes it pays off

( Much thanks to Fred and Hans for confirming to me this loco IS a JvR )

Oh and BTW .. this little fellow ended up in Pennsylvania ! A long way from home ... I will never know how it got there , but now it gets to retire in Australia !

I have never seen a SaddleTank JvR  for sale .. ever , anywhere, and I had only seen one 00 tank loco , and just in a picture on the web ... I knew that flat tank 00 existed ( JvR disclosed in the letter he made about 500 of them and they were sold thru Bassett-Lowkes Shop, when the manager approached him to make him "a clockwork toy" as he had no stock he could sell after the war )  , but NOT this one , my White Whale ... it was a huge educated guess .

@Fatman posted:

As revealed on a few other sections of the forum , but because my true heart lies with this thread ...

Here is my latest find, A Controlled Clockwork Peckett Saddle-Tank 0-6-0 locomotive , made in the early 1950's by none other than John van Riemsdijk , if you have followed my postings over the years you will know I have a special affinity for the models from this man. There was a time a few years ago where I thought I would never own one , but the intervening years have been very kind to me and my searches and bit by bit , one by one , they turn up and super surprisingly for me at a price point I can deal with ( because you all know I am a super cheap-arse! ) However on all of those occasions it came down to people who sell this stuff on ebay or similar , and have absolutely no clue nor make an attempt to research what they were selling , so I didn't feel bad , I am not taking a grieving widow for a ride ....

Way back when, when I thought I would never get one , I committed myself to finding out more about these "pinnacles" of clockwork evolution, I love them because they were a very interesting mans attempt to bring clockwork out of the dark ages, and modernise it into the post war boon era, a man who decided the usual manufacturers were just happy to sell the cheap toys, and thought that hobbyists deserved something better ... a man of "if you build it they will come" mentality .... Well sadly JvR didn't revolutionise the world of model railways, but he gave it a red hot go ( and made some amazing trains )

You could make a movie about this mans life , and his connections to our hobbies and society in general ,

I have a great copy of a letter he wrote to Michael D Foster that was published in his "British Toy Trains " volume4 , but I am loathe to publish it here as I have been rapped on the knuckles before and had posts deleted presumably for copyright  reasons , but if anyone wants a copy feel free to contact me ...

Oh And BUY his books LOL ! ( Hi Michael! )

Suffice to say tho that the letter in the book probably taught me more about him than YEARS of searching the web!

Anyway you probably want pictures?

So here they are ... this fellow was my White Whale ( I had heard mention of its existence but never saw a picture or ANY article on the web , indeed I purchased this one "on a Hunch" and his true identity was not revealed until after I had won it ... Sometimes you just have to back yourself , and sometimes it pays off

( Much thanks to Fred and Hans for confirming to me this loco IS a JvR )

Oh and BTW .. this little fellow ended up in Pennsylvania ! A long way from home ... I will never know how it got there , but now it gets to retire in Australia !

I have never seen a SaddleTank JvR  for sale .. ever , anywhere, and I had only seen one 00 tank loco , and just in a picture on the web ... I knew that flat tank 00 existed ( JvR disclosed in the letter he made about 500 of them and they were sold thru Bassett-Lowkes Shop, when the manager approached him to make him "a clockwork toy" as he had no stock he could sell after the war )  , but NOT this one , my White Whale ... it was a huge educated guess .

The humble appearance makes one wonder how many other treasures are dismissed as being just junk.

And the flip side is the way some folks think every dirty old electric train is worth its weight in gold.

@Fatman -  Hey Mate, thanks for the tip on the great letter that John van Riemsdijk wrote to Michel Foster as published in Vol 4 of his series on British Toy Trains.  I immediately searched through that volume of Michael's book and found and read the letter.  It was a fascinating history of one of the great people in our hobby.  You know Mallard 4468 commented on your post wondering how many treasures are dismissed as "junk" especially as they have a bit of wear and tear on them...as if at 80 years old who doesn't have a bit of wear and tear.  I also find that I am fascinated by the "back story" if you will of the people, companies, and former owners behind these treasures and feel privileged when I can learn some things about them.

Time for a short story.  In the 1980's I was working for the US Air Force as a test engineer and my boss was an Air Force Lt. Colonel who was a very old man ... I think he might have been 50 (my goodness).  One day, knowing I collected trains, he told me his parents were moving out of their home and had discovered some trains and would I like to have them.  He told me they were American Flyer.  Well not having any real interest in "S" gauge I almost said no.  Then he added that the trains had belonged to his OLDER brother...wait a minute if he is 50 and he has an older brother these trains might be pre-war.  So they were, a few days later he presented me with a near perfect condition American Flyer Wide Gauge set called the "Pioneer".  Box cab electric, gondola and caboose.  Not only beautiful but in near perfect running condition.  To think I almost turned them down.  So Mallard 4468 you are right, by my own admission, I almost passed up something unique and beautiful because I thought it was the wrong scale!

Best Wishes

Don

Hello Simon, what a find..... you are a lucky guy with a solid knowledge and it makes the difference.

Congrats,  Daniel

Thanks Daniel! I don't know I deserve the solid knowledge banner, I often think I know "just enough to get me into trouble" LOL

@Don McErlean, I was rather fascinated that JvR pretty quickly dismissed his experiences in the war in that letter , but then again he was a man of those times , and they often didn't discuss much outside of "mates" but for the record the SOE he referred to and brushed away in that letter was the "Special Operations Executive"

https://www.nam.ac.uk/explore/SOE

And the part JvR played was the equivalent of "Q" in the James Bond films ... One of the "Boffins" who created gadgets for the operatives sent overseas, and his knowledge of the continent and its railways were fundamental in many operations, naturally little is known about what he DID invent , but the two public ones I have found in my searching is a clockwork operated "Moo Cow " horn , which was included in sabotage drops to SOE members overseas and members of the various Resistances... This horn was ingenious as it allowed supplies to be dropped at night into fields and woodland where upon landing , the device would randomly emit a plaintive cow "Mooooooooo" so even in total darkness the people on the ground could locate the drop , and if those people were ever questioned or stopped they were simply looking for their " lost cow" , another device was a Steam Powered radio set , so without relying on batteries or external power , the resistance could communicate freely , just by stoking the boiler with twigs and firing it up!

I think a telling tale would be that immediately AFTER the war JvR started his business, as both his Father and Brother could not find employment ( being Dutch nationals) and he had to support then , and  because he could not see a reliable source of clockwork detonators for use in practical demolitions and unexploded ordinance clearance , as most were flimsy and inaccurate,  he saw a gap in the market for a reliable mechanism for industry and this spawned divergence into reliable clockwork timers for ovens,industrial machinery , etc even blasted Parking Meters , which were wound up ingeniously by the dropping of the sixpence in the slot ... Which again in turn gave him finances to indulge his "hobby" ...trains !

Lots of respect for this man,  Spy Genius  ,  humanitarian industrialist , quality toy maker, then junior curator at the Science Museum London ,  and was then instrumental in the creation of the modern National Railway Museum at York ( UK)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Railway_Museum

Then as some will know , he "retired" early at around 60 and took off for Europe to settle in the South of France where he continued his friendship with Count Colluzzi who was in Switzerland and designed and collaborated on Fulgarex and ASTER products, some of the highest respected , desired, and detailed models in the business

A very large life , for a charming and "funny" man as he was known ....

His obituary from the national press

https://www.theguardian.com/th...7/john-van-riemsdijk

Oh BTW Fred has a great new e-book out on ASTER ...

Check it out for free @ http://sncf231e.nl/aster/

Its about the trains rather than the history of the company but stellar nonetheless !

Plus check out all his other books , again all free and for the love of the hobby and downloadable to all .. Top Fellow!

Fatman.....you never cease to amaze me with the length and breadth of your tinplate clockwork train knowledge. I am in awe!!! Thank you for enlightening me on a tinplate train subject I'd never heard of, and congratulations on finding an excellent example, and bringing it into the "Fatman Fold" down-under.

Peter.....Buco Australia

@Fatman-THANK YOU for the fascinating history of JVR. Amazing. Thank goodness our civilization finds men of that caliber when we are faced with tyranny.

Don

Greetings all .. well its becoming very quiet in here , but I refuse to let the thread die LOL!

Today is not about finding another amazing train , I have been a little quiet in the hunt lately but that should change soon ( I hope)

However today saw the greatest addition to any collection .. the gift of KNOWLEDGE

I was lucky to find these two books I have been after for a while on that 'orrible auction site

One I have been after a LOOOOOng while and the other was a bonus because it was from the same seller and it came post free lol

( Always looking to save a buck!)

The first one is rather timely as the gent involved we discussed recently with my find of the little HO JVR above

I have wanted this forever ! but it was usually spendy and came from Europe with big postage  , but for the first time ever on ePay.Au I saw it listed and it was mine for less than $50( about $35 to you yanks ) .... Bargain !

So while I was there I added in ..

Both come with their box covers too , so are in pretty good nick for age

So much goodness , for spending quiet nights by the fire this winter now its here downunder

@Fatman posted:

Greetings all .. well its becoming very quiet in here , but I refuse to let the thread die LOL!

Today is not about finding another amazing train , I have been a little quiet in the hunt lately but that should change soon ( I hope)

However today saw the greatest addition to any collection .. the gift of KNOWLEDGE

I was lucky to find these two books I have been after for a while on that 'orrible auction site

One I have been after a LOOOOOng while and the other was a bonus because it was from the same seller and it came post free lol

( Always looking to save a buck!)

The first one is rather timely as the gent involved we discussed recently with my find of the little HO JVR above

I have wanted this forever ! but it was usually spendy and came from Europe with big postage  , but for the first time ever on ePay.Au I saw it listed and it was mine for less than $50( about $35 to you yanks ) .... Bargain !

So while I was there I added in ..

Both come with their box covers too , so are in pretty good nick for age

So much goodness , for spending quiet nights by the fire this winter now its here downunder

Those are both great finds!  Prices for them are all over the map - I found them at bargain prices as well, which explains why I have them.

Well I too have the book "A Century of Model Trains" a fascinating book but I bought mine so many years ago the price is likely meaningless.  The book of JvR however is really a super find, I certainly do not have it and have really never seen it offered for sale.  Super find Fatman.  However I do have another much more recent book that was very modest in price and while it does not offer too much in terms of history (that you would not already likely know) it has many, many beautiful full color pictures of great toy trains.  The book  is "Classic Toy Trains" by Gerry and Janet Souter, Motorbooks International, 2002.  I recommend it for its photographs alone and you can probably pick one up for a very low price.

And to keep the "spirit" of tinplate going forward, here is my latest acquisition.  At a recent train show in Austin Tx I found this pushed way back on the table for $10.  Its a Lionel #494 Airport beacon and its all tinplate except for the red/green plastic top that turns as its driven by a Vibrotor motor.  Candidly the tower is not too unusual but finding an original plastic top is VERY unusual.  The all red version is the earliest variation of the 494 and dates from around 1954.  In various forms the 494 beacon was available until 1966.  It is fully complete and in excellent condition although it is clearly in need of a good cleaning.

Well Best wishes everyone, hope you have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend.

Don

#763 in the "Where does FM find these weird things... ??? " category

Today we present a weird and wonderful train set , probably marketed in the late 40's/early 50's by "someone" in the UK ...

There is bugger all on the web about this particular train except ONE photo of a similar set owned by a collector in Belgium in 2012, his rails are much nicer than mine with bakelite forming the sleepers, this set looks to be pressed cardboard , so I am "assuming" its a first production run? ( keeping it cheap to assess demand ?)  .. I can find NO reference to the actual manufacturer of the set however .

One of the references to the company behind the power unit was in a Sydney Newspaper in 1948 ...

Electrotor was the motor of choice in the infant slot car and model toy industries apparently ?

Anyhow the set as such is very weird and wonderful , I am assuming it is driven by a rubber band connected from the mini motor to one wheel by the looks of the auction photos ...

The bodies appear to be aluminium sheeting , which immediately after the war was easier to obtain than steel , and I suspect the marketer was someone in the electrical field with plentiful access to it , looking to make a buck as many were at the time using toys to boost their bottom line

This was a complete no brainer .. rare ( I am guessing , because a week of searching delivered precisely that one photo , but other electrotor goodies are out there at a goodly price premium ) , was insanely affordable ( cos I am a cheep arse) , and .... well... odd! which pretty much guarantees it can come live here

UPDATE ... it appears this set might well be from "Toby" toys in the UK although its parentage is not 100% confirmed

https://www.binnsroad.co.uk/ra.../tobytoys/index.html  <-- scroll all the way to the bottom !

Thanks to those who helped out and pointed me in the direction

@Fatman - By looking at your first picture, I guess that the wheel is powered by the motor through being connected via a "rubber band" drive belt from the motor shaft to a shiev on the rear of one of the wheels...is that correct.  If so I have an HO switcher from my boyhood days (1950's) that used the same drive mechanism.  In that case the motor turned a horizontal shaft and the rubber band's went around the drive axles that were relatively large diameter rubber coated cylinders between the wheels.

Don

Hi Don , not in my sweaty little hands yet , but you seem to be on the same wavelength as I am with it .. if you look in one of the pictures you can see the band falling off, and the "extra" flange/pulley on the inside of one wheel

Fatman - In anticipation of your new arrival, I thought i might share my 1950's version of a "rubber band" drive mechanism.  As you will see it is perfectly suited to small locomotives.

Here is the complete locomotive, I believe it was sold under the trade name..."Mighty Mite"

It is HO scale however even for HO its small, only about 3 1/4 " long overall.

The entire frame and undercarriage is a single heavy die casting, likely for both stiffness and weight for traction.  Its so small, that the casting could actually be easier to make than a sheet metal frame and trucks.  Now the key part, note the large rubber coated cylinders between the wheels.  This is where the rubber band drive belts were wrapped to transfer the rotary motion of the drive motor to the wheels.

With the cab off, you can see the motor with a drive shaft extending horizontally out of both ends of the motor.

Here is an end view of the drive shaft.  The rubber band drive belts wrapped around the drive shaft and then went down to the large rubber cylinder between the wheels making a figure "8" in the process.

Well that's it.  My recollection is that it worked pretty well at least in a normal time span.  Obviously today after 70+ years the rubber bands are long gone but I am sure they could be easily replaced.  In addition, again as I recall, the price of this locomotive was far cheaper than conventional drive loco's.

Best wishes

Don

@Don McErlean posted:

Fatman - In anticipation of your new arrival, I thought i might share my 1950's version of a "rubber band" drive mechanism.  As you will see it is perfectly suited to small locomotives.

Here is the complete locomotive, I believe it was sold under the trade name..."Mighty Mite"

It is HO scale however even for HO its small, only about 3 1/4 " long overall.

The entire frame and undercarriage is a single heavy die casting, likely for both stiffness and weight for traction.  Its so small, that the casting could actually be easier to make than a sheet metal frame and trucks.  Now the key part, note the large rubber coated cylinders between the wheels.  This is where the rubber band drive belts were wrapped to transfer the rotary motion of the drive motor to the wheels.

With the cab off, you can see the motor with a drive shaft extending horizontally out of both ends of the motor.

Here is an end view of the drive shaft.  The rubber band drive belts wrapped around the drive shaft and then went down to the large rubber cylinder between the wheels making a figure "8" in the process.

Well that's it.  My recollection is that it worked pretty well at least in a normal time span.  Obviously today after 70+ years the rubber bands are long gone but I am sure they could be easily replaced.  In addition, again as I recall, the price of this locomotive was far cheaper than conventional drive loco's.

Best wishes

Don

Those are usually nice runners. Replacement bands are available.

Steve

That's a wee ripper @Don McErlean !!! Thanks for sharing

Just tying up a deal at the moment for a heap of rusty crap I NEVER thought I would find here in Australia ... so no posting pics until its bought and paid for lol ... Condition is not fantastic , but I am pretty much betting its the only one in the wild in Australia , so it must be mine LOL!

Oh and thanks to some knowledgeable people on the internet it appears that set ^^^^ up there is possibly/probably from "Toby" toys in the UK !

Mic Drop moment ?

( fresh from the wilds of a tiny Aussie town ... )

Fatman!! THAT IS UNBELIEVABLE That may be one of the rarest toy train items (at least of US makers) that there is.  The Marx bunny locomotive from the bunny train. Guidebook priced at over $1000 (USD) 12 years ago making it roughly $1350 (USD) today using CPI inflation indices.  However, even finding one for sale at any price is the find of a lifetime.  Congratulations.  Here is a picture of the entire set (no not mine for sure).  OBTW the "Bunny Cars" which i have seen on E-Bay run about $800 (USD) each , So a set like below , in the box, I would estimate around $5000 (USD).

I don't know how you  do it, but your "finder's" luck is amazing

Best Wishes

Don

@Greg J. Turinetti -  Greg it could be the "Trail Blazer" set as I am pretty sure that the story I was told was that this was the only trains the household ever got hence I expect it was a "factory" consist. In my set however the #4644 locomotive is red and the gondola is green.  The caboose looks about like the one you pictured.

Thanks for your comment.

Don

@Steve "Papa" Eastman posted:

Those are usually nice runners. Replacement bands are available.

Steve

Thanks for the HO memories…I has one of these…mine was made/sold by Athern…and called “The Little Hustler”…unfortunately mine had only two speeds…dead stop and full speed…

There was an article in one of the old model railroad magazines about making a counter shaft that would dramatically reduce the speed and make the Hustler behave like a real switcher…but I no longer have my 1950/1960 magazines…

Howard…

@sawdust43-YES!! That’s it , the Athern “Hustler”  your post made me remember the name.  I don’t remember the performance issues but I was like 11-12 and liked them to go fast anyway.

Don

Coupkle of new finds this week ..

A simple Johann Hoefler loco and passenger carriage from the 1950's

And a local Australian Robilt ... not the most common colour in South Australian Railways bright blue livery ( and dust n rust lol )

This was a very good bargain from a marketplace ad .. and not too much later after I had bought it , the seller messaged me , saying she had found the following items and was I interested in them as well ... The tender and an open wagon .. So feeling a little guilty at getting the loco at such a good price , I made her a better offer for them .. Swings and roundabouts

@Fatman- Neat trains for sure, that Hoefler is really neat, almost a cartoon image but fun for sure.  The Robilt (is that correct?) looks to be in reasonable shape with the rust mostly just affecting the surface paint.  However, when I looked at the tender, it seemed to be marked "S A R" could this be the South African Railways??? or is there an Australian RR that uses the same letters as an abbreviation.

Best Wishes

Don

South Australian Railways @Don McErlean   Much less common than the normal Victorian or NSW liveries in Robilt .

Robilt was a small firm in Melbourne that were essentially toolmakers , and after WWII saw the upkick on toy sales as a profitable sideline ... They were known later on for very good quality lapidary machines

@Fatman-Thanks for the info. I sort of thought that “Africa” was a bit remote so the name “South Australian” makes much more sense. Great train and super find!

I just won on E-bay another “Made in Western Germany “ tinplate litho train no mfr noted.  When  it arrives I shall post pictures and hope someone might recognize it.  Bit of rust on the loco but the single coach looks perfect.  “Western” Germany placed it historically between 1953-1990 so we will see.  At $20 I can’t resist.  

Best wish

Don

This battered Lionel set #98 found its way to me recently. I'm not one for restorations of vintage equipment, but I think I might make an exception here:

It's always fun to see what the old-timers did with their equipment, for example that interesting coupler adapter. Anyway, the guy that dropped it off said it had been in his parents' attic, untouched for close to sixty years. He said it belonged to his father, probably from new (late 1920s), and had faint memories of it running around the Christmas tree when he was young. I'm humbled to have it.

Started making a parts list...

PD

@pd posted:

This battered Lionel set #98 found its way to me recently. I'm not one for restorations of vintage equipment, but I think I might make an exception here:

I believe that is the correct decision for this set, it should be brought back to its former glory.

@Rich Wiemann posted:

I believe that is the correct decision for this set, it should be brought back to its former glory.

Thanks for the feedback. I think that's where we're headed.

PD

@pd- Greenberg’s recent book on O-gauge including the 1920’s has an extensive year by year treatment of the 253 locomotive. You can likely date it to within 1year. Great set.  As a pre-war guy there is a middle ground between restore and don’t touch and that is clean and repair to operation. You keep most of the original patina but fix such things as missing couplers , bad brushes, and frayed wiring. Just a suggestion-super set and a great rescue.
Sincerely Don

I think this one is too far gone for a polish, Don. Too many dents, breaks, rust, corrosion, etc. Lots of straightening and re-soldering required. At this point, the "patina" might be all that's holding it together

PD

@pd- Great comment, well you would know best!  Good luck regardless of your decision to restore or not.  Finding a complete set is a great find and just its existence is great.

Don

@Don McErlean posted:

...well you would know best!

Not so sure about that

The prewar O-gauge level-crossing warning sign collection grows:

Left to right, Lionel, Ives, Flyer, Bing, Hafner...

@pd posted:

This battered Lionel set #98 found its way to me recently. I'm not one for restorations of vintage equipment, but I think I might make an exception here:

It's always fun to see what the old-timers did with their equipment, for example that interesting coupler adapter. Anyway, the guy that dropped it off said it had been in his parents' attic, untouched for close to sixty years. He said it belonged to his father, probably from new (late 1920s), and had faint memories of it running around the Christmas tree when he was young. I'm humbled to have it.

Started making a parts list...

PD

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!

@pd posted:

The prewar O-gauge level-crossing warning sign collection grows:

Left to right, Lionel, Ives, Flyer, Bing, Hafner...

The one with the wire loop base is Ferguson

Steve