Bought some more UK tinplate and going to start a UK tinplate group.

AD: Sounds like a wonderful plan! ☺ PLEASE be careful and take care of yourself in the current crisis!  ☺

Well the thread sounds great, since its "UK trains" I am going to assume that us Horby folks might be included.  I hope so.  Here is a postwar Horby "Goods set" from the later part of the 50's.  Its a clockwork type 51 loco with its associated cars.  So here is a picture to start things off.

Best wishes

Don McErlean

If you go to my website at www.myworldoftrains.shutterfly.com you will see a great deal of British tinplate primarily Hornby  and  Bassett Lowke. Always interested in chatting about British and Continental trains. I've posted lots of photos in the past.  Here are a few others.  Lew Schneider

Lewrail: Awesome models! Especially like that boxed BL Princess Elizabeth! ☺

Beautiful models!!   Love that Princess class Pacific.  I wish the Corgi models had deeper flanges to better run on tubular tinplate track. I have no choice but to go to work right now.  It will take some outside intervention for FCA to shut down the local plants.  I do the best I can to stay safe and healthy.   Atleast I can play trains if we as a country end up in a lock down situation like Italy is in right now.   Cheers   Mike

I think Lew posts pictures of his USA Hornby just to make me jealous

It's working Lew , its working

Mike,

I live about 40 miles from you, and we probably attend a lot of the same shows.  I have some Ace, Darstaed, and Hornby, and might be interested in participating.  My email is in my profile - feel free to contact me.

Sounds good Mallard.  Shows I am thinking of is the fall NMRA show in Danville, IN, Manual High School show before xmas down in Indy.  After the holidays we set up at the NMRA show in Noblesville, Muncie, Manual HS again and probably the Urbana shopping mall show in IL.  That is a really good show, our G scale steam group goes to that one.  I will be emailing later today.   Mike

Lew,

Nice British Flyer baggage/combination car.  I see by your website that you don't have any of the other cars in that series or any of the engines.  

Here are some of the British Flyer items I have.  

A grouping of the above engines

NWL

Mike,

  Good luck with your plans.

Cheerio,

Tom 

Love those little clockwork engines and Lew's layout pics.  I hope to get my little 4x8 layout at home looking more like that in the coming years.  I found the track I need to complete the loop with O vs 027 profile rail along with the rubber road bed.  I have found that roadbed cuts the noise by about 50%.  Its more like running tinplate on the carpet vs a wood table top, which is very very important for someone with sensory issues with sound.  Hopfully the mail man will have my clockwork Duke of York with him today.  For buildings on my railway, a mix of tinplate and ceramic xmas buildings will be used.  I have one of the huge Marx tinplate freight houses and while not UK in specific, it looks splended on the railway.  Just need some goods wagons to park in that spur.   I would love one of the vintage Bassett Lowke controlers but I believe they are set up for a different voltage than 110/120 VAC that we use in the states.  So both an older Lionel RW for AC powered trains and a LGB DC power source will be used for now.   Until new stuff shows up, here is my Enterprise with my Lionel 252 set in the back ground.   AD

Hi Nationwide. Couldn't get your Profile to come up on the internet, so I'm violating the rules in order to reply to your kind comment.  In the spirit of full disclosure the Walker & Holtzapfel controlled clockwork  loco pulling the American Flyer British luggage van is still mine,but the luggage van now resides with a good friend who really wanted it.  

Lew

Those Walker clockwork engines are really neat.  I cant say I have ever seen one for sale to even know how salty they are.  I have heard they were about the best of the best for clockwork drive with the govenor set up they used to keep speed in check and extend the run time.   Nothing in todays mail, hopefully Monday for my Duke of York.    Mike

Even though I concentrate on American clockworks, I still wanted to have Walker-Fenn and Walker-Riemsdyk examples in the collection.  The Walker-Fenn was a project loco I bought... from what I could determine, it was dropped and damaged years ago.  The loco came with a letter written in 1984 concerning the owner trying to locate a mainspring and cab roof.  There was quite a bit of damage to the cab end of the loco.  This is what is looks like after rebuilding:

The Walker-Riemsdyk was acquired in working, original condition... which is unusual for me!  Here is the locomotive:

And a scan from a 1953 catalog in my collection showing an advertisement for the locomotive:

Finally, a comparison picture of the two on my old windup layout:

When I get home Tuesday I'll post a lot of stuff about the world of controlled clockwork. It's out there so still a bit pricey as it always was from the first day it was produced.

Lew

I should do some old magazine digging. I have some copies of a British magazine set published in the 70s as a model railroad history. The clockwork articles were getting pretty high tech  , with rotary phone governors and Teflon wheel bearings being discussed. That was probably the last generation of clockwork timetable/operations layout-builders.

I like the Walker-Fenn the best,  Love the wide tread rims.  That is my favorite type of tinplate stuff.  I have heard the stuff at the very tail end of the clockwork era was getting really fancy with the rotary phone govenors being adapted and the low friction bearings.  Whatever could be done to control speed, minimize friction and extend the run time.   Really a unique era and no electricity needed to "play" trains, where ever and when ever you wanted to!

I highly recommend Jack Ray's book "A Lifetime with O Gauge" about his Crewchester clockwork railroad.  Chapter 3 "Improving the Breed" talks about installing the telephone governors (teleguv) and installing PTFE bushings in the cars.  Someday, I'll hopefully run across an old rotary phone mechanism and see if the governor is adaptable to one of my engines... not sure if the domestic Bell phones are similar to what was used in the UK at that time, though...

I have the 2 part article by Jack that was in the very early issues of Garden Railways here in the states covering Crewchester, but it was after it was electrified and did not speak much to the clockwork era of the line.  But I have read about it in other books.  I will have to add that book to my list to find and buy here soon.   Thanks    Mike the Aspie

Found some pics of the Crewchester clockwork layout. Beautiful models, including one of my favourites, Caledonian Railway 'Cardean' https://www.flickriver.com/pho...s/72157638046559114/

With so much interest, atleast in the USA in smaller scales, with "operation" using car cards and such.  Its to bad that many have forgotten about the simplicity of clockwork drive in O and 1 gauge.  A raised O gauge railway in the garden that is well planned, just as Crewchester was, can be operated in a very prototypical way.  All without the need for power on the rails, or the cost of battery RC.  Just clockwork and maybe some live steam for those that like to burn their fingers.  That is one beautiful Cardean locomotive.  Just think of a clockwork model like that, but with modern ceramic bearings like used in the RC car hobby, the govenors used in the late clockwork era from rotary phones to keep speed realisitc.  I would be buying but that is just a pipe dream, but a fun dream at that!    AD

Not to hijack the thread, but in the first photo you can see some old-school block telegraphs ( I think) They were bell signal devices between signal boxes or towermen on the layout. I stopped by one box with my grandfather, whose friend worked there, and remember the communication bells ringing.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Railway_block_code

Interesting reading and good looking models. I really like the pre-war and early post war stuff. This may be considered blasphemy but has anyone ever taken a clockwork engine that had a missing or un-repairable clockwork mechanism and fitted it with an electric motor ? Were there some models that were offered both ways ? 

I have seen former clockwork UK locomotives fitted with electric drives up for sale on ebay.  Most Clockwork drives can be repaired, including the main spring which is usually what breaks from age.  This is what I have been told, never had a non functional engine or a main spring break.  I dont wind my engines fully so as not to stress the nearly 100 year old spring

artfull dodger posted:

I have seen former clockwork UK locomotives fitted with electric drives up for sale on ebay.  Most Clockwork drives can be repaired, including the main spring which is usually what breaks from age.  This is what I have been told, never had a non functional engine or a main spring break.  I dont wind my engines fully so as not to stress the nearly 100 year old spring

 

I havent electrically repowered any of my clockworks , however I did recently come across one that had been well done and added it to my collection ... Hornby in particular offered many models in electric or clockwork versions ... This particular one however was never offered in electric .

Normal version in clockwork from my collection ...

Electric modified version utilising a "period " motor assembly ... 3rd rail Pick up is from the tender

Well this is not exactly a train, but it is UK tinplate.  This is a Hornby Goods Platform that dates from the late 40's to the early 50's.  Found at a local train show and is practically new in its original box.  No openings, everything (Doors, Windows...etc) are just lithographed but it is a more usable size than the huge Marx freight station that was mentioned previously. 

Happy Monday - stay healthy

Don McErlean

Yes, the Marx freight house is huge, but it makes a nice scenery break by blocking view of the train at that corner of the small layout.   That is a super nice freight house.  I only wish more of the tinplate litho buildings had open windows so a light bulb could be put inside to light them up.      AD

More UK tinplate and my final bit for awhile.  Bassett Lowke live steam Mogul with some really nice Darstaed cars(2 coaches and a 12 wheel diner).  The cars are impressive, sprung trucks, LED lighting and interiors.   I will need the brake coach with the tail light and circuity to feed power to the lights, but that will be later this year before I can look for one.  Maybe I will see if I can convert the lighting to work on an internal battery supply.  The Mogul has been restored but its tender is original condition.  She is a worker as can be see by the blackening from the fire below.  Looks like soot, need to see if I can polish it off the paint as I use fuel that doesnt soot up the paint.  The other side is really soot free compared to this side.  Very happy with the great service from Station Masters Rooms.  If your looking for vintage or brand new UK/Euro tinplate/scale plate, I highly recommend them.  

Mike,

Thanks for the info re your experience with Station Masters Rooms.  

I've bought a few items from Great Britain, but never something of that size and value, so I have a couple of questions...

1) Did they automatically deduct the VAT from the price, or did you need to ask?

2) Did you need to pay any duty or customs charges when the package arrived?

Thanks.

His prices do not include VAT, so nothing to deduct for us in the USA.  Nothing duty or custom charges ever and I have bought engines close to $2000 from him with no issues what so ever.  He also ships UPS 3 day select.  I have gotten items from him faster than I get stuff from someone in California!  Many items you can make offers on, or put together a package deal of items you want, then see what he can do.  Many times, depending on the item(s), he can come down on the price to where shipping is nearly absorbed to the point of being free.  Keep in mind, a large gauge one live steamer, with shipping and proper insurance is 70 to 100 extra US dollers.  For the quality, selection and great customer service, I have found no equil.  One would have to travel to the UK for one of the large AGM shows to do any better and we all know shows can vary on selection and prices.   He also take payment via Paypal, making things simple and easy for us over here.     AD

He is also very responsive to emails, unlike some businesses I have dealt with.  I will add, no relation, just one very satisified customer.  Enjoying UK tinplate in either gauge can be a challenge in the USA,  with ebay being ones main outlet to shop as you rarely see it at shows(unless there is a decent amount at York) and not everybody can make that show.  I would trust buying a high doller model from Kev at TSMR than on ebay any day.   Just my opinion and experience over a couple years of buying there.  AD