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 .