Buy/Make Anything Cool Lately (Tinplate Version)

Brian Liesberg posted:

That is awesome Brian! I always wanted one of those but never had the space for one. Thanks for sharing!

I saw it on Trainz for $300 and couldn't resist. Need more than trains on a train layout

A smaller airplane but still uncommon. Have been looking for this for years as it is often missing off of the Lionel desk item. Now to clean it up

Jagrick posted:

A smaller airplane but still uncommon. Have been looking for this for years as it is often missing off of the Lionel desk item. Now to clean it up

What's the story with the miniature Lionel streamliner? That's pretty neat.

This is a paper clip tray Lionel put out/had made in the 1930's. They also made a paper weight depicting a 402 for the 25th anniversary (I have one of those as well). I have reproduced the Lionel streamliner as above from pewter and now will do the same with the airplane.

I thought I would share a technique I am using to clean brass plates and brass journals. The brass identification plate on my new old switch tower was tarnished, rusty and hard to read. Sorry, I didn't take a closer picture of the before.

I removed the plate and cleaned it. See how it turned out!

The "Lionel" was not even readable before. To clean this, I started with some old Tarnex I had around on a paper towel. This didn't do much on its own, but it is an important start. Then, I sprayed the plate with WD40 and used a Scotchbride pad to lightly work the dirt loose. The WD40 loosens the tarnish that the Tarnex activated. (I'm making this up. I have no idea why it works.) I don't use much pressure. I was afraid the black lettering would come off, but it is all still there. I alternate the steps until the plate is clean. Then I wipe it off an reinstall it. 

This works with nickel journals too, but for those I use fine steel wool.

George

samdjr74 posted:

Brian Liesberg posted:

That is awesome Brian! I always wanted one of those but never had the space for one. Thanks for sharing!

Agreed!  It's the full-size pre-war version of the MPC era by Mattel "Vertibird"

John Smatlak posted:

O Gauge Guy posted:

sncf231e posted:

O Gauge Guy posted:

This arrived yesterday to enhance the enjoyment of my weekend.  All of my pre-war tinplate is either Lionel or Marklin, and I’ve never been greatly excited by Hornby.  However here in Australia Hornby dominated the market, so there’s lots available.  I saw this signal box / switch tower and just had to have it!  It’s actually closer to a local prototype.

 

I managed to straighten a few corners that were bent.  It looks like the roof has been removed at some point as one of the tabs is not inserted into the slot.  Now I have to decide whether to risk removing the roof again to fix the loose chimney and clean the inside.

 

Guy

Since it does not have a hinged roof this looks not like a prewar version (No 2E Signal Cabin), but like a postwar version (No 2 Signal Cabin) which was made with this orange roof colour from 1955-57. It is a nice accessory anyway, but as you can see on my (green roofed) version it does not like the sun.

Regards

Fred

Thank you for this helpful information Fred.  Yes, the sun is doing some damage.  I've seen these with a red roof, a green roof and a blue roof - also an aqua-cyan roof, although maybe this one was faded.  From a 1935 and 1956 catalogue:

The holiday weekend provided some time to check another project off the list- adding a light to my Hornby Signal Cabin. Not sure if Hornby ever did this with this particular accessory, but the lever frame inside needed lighting! The socket and wire were secured in place with bits of hot glue, so it is easily reversible should a future owner of the piece not want to have it. For more details on the lever frame inside, see my post of 8/7/18: https://ogrforum.com/...16#80551019625758116 Now I just need to find the tower operator figure to go inside!

I recently acquired some of the correct type Hornby supports for the throw rods; these kept the rods in place parallel to the track. Note also the gent inside the tower.

I decided I could not leave this Std Dorfan outfit behind today. Great casting on the outside, but has some issues inside. Won't know how serious till I open it up.

Steve

my new toys

KCS SD70MAC 81148

N&W Y6B 20-3072

N&W J class 20-3142

John Smatlak posted:

John Smatlak posted:

O Gauge Guy posted:

sncf231e posted:

O Gauge Guy posted:

This arrived yesterday to enhance the enjoyment of my weekend.  All of my pre-war tinplate is either Lionel or Marklin, and I’ve never been greatly excited by Hornby.  However here in Australia Hornby dominated the market, so there’s lots available.  I saw this signal box / switch tower and just had to have it!  It’s actually closer to a local prototype.

 

I managed to straighten a few corners that were bent.  It looks like the roof has been removed at some point as one of the tabs is not inserted into the slot.  Now I have to decide whether to risk removing the roof again to fix the loose chimney and clean the inside.

 

Guy

Since it does not have a hinged roof this looks not like a prewar version (No 2E Signal Cabin), but like a postwar version (No 2 Signal Cabin) which was made with this orange roof colour from 1955-57. It is a nice accessory anyway, but as you can see on my (green roofed) version it does not like the sun.

Regards

Fred

Thank you for this helpful information Fred.  Yes, the sun is doing some damage.  I've seen these with a red roof, a green roof and a blue roof - also an aqua-cyan roof, although maybe this one was faded.  From a 1935 and 1956 catalogue:

The holiday weekend provided some time to check another project off the list- adding a light to my Hornby Signal Cabin. Not sure if Hornby ever did this with this particular accessory, but the lever frame inside needed lighting! The socket and wire were secured in place with bits of hot glue, so it is easily reversible should a future owner of the piece not want to have it. For more details on the lever frame inside, see my post of 8/7/18: https://ogrforum.com/...16#80551019625758116 Now I just need to find the tower operator figure to go inside!

I recently acquired some of the correct type Hornby supports for the throw rods; these kept the rods in place parallel to the track. Note also the gent inside the tower.

That switch tower you put the light in is one of the coolest buildings I've seen.  Thanks for showing it off.  By the way , adding a light to it was a great idea. I too would have done the same.  illuminating the switch leavers  was a must .

Jagrick posted:

This is a paper clip tray Lionel put out/had made in the 1930's. They also made a paper weight depicting a 402 for the 25th anniversary (I have one of those as well). I have reproduced the Lionel streamliner as above from pewter and now will do the same with the airplane.

you can see how the 2 cast pegs on the airplane fit in the holes on the 752

I couldn't resist- it's actually a floor toy, but a great looking piece- such great colors and proportions! Made in Japan, not sure when but I'm guessing 50's or 60's.

Jagrick posted:

Jagrick posted:

This is a paper clip tray Lionel put out/had made in the 1930's. They also made a paper weight depicting a 402 for the 25th anniversary (I have one of those as well). I have reproduced the Lionel streamliner as above from pewter and now will do the same with the airplane.

you can see how the 2 cast pegs on the airplane fit in the holes on the 752

Very cool! Had not seen this one before.

John Smatlak posted:

I couldn't resist- it's actually a floor toy, but a great looking piece- such great colors and proportions! Made in Japan, not sure when but I'm guessing 50's or 60's.

 

That's pretty wild...almost looks like it fits the track...And...there is a siren.

Fendermain

Oh man that screams "bash me into a runner". I'd be almost hoping it was just a repop if I got it cheap

Yes, that has to run !  Very cool.

John Smatlak posted:

I couldn't resist- it's actually a floor toy, but a great looking piece- such great colors and proportions! Made in Japan, not sure when but I'm guessing 50's or 60's.

 

John - did you chuck a couple of Bild a Loco motors under this beast? Will it clear the Hellgate?

Jim

Jim Waterman posted:

John Smatlak posted:

I couldn't resist- it's actually a floor toy, but a great looking piece- such great colors and proportions! Made in Japan, not sure when but I'm guessing 50's or 60's.

 

John - did you chuck a couple of Bild a Loco motors under this beast? Will it clear the Hellgate?

Jim

LOL I hadn't thought of converting it, but that would be pretty neat. And yes, it does clear the Hellgate Bridge. I shall have to keep my eyes open for a lesser quality one for conversion experimentation, this one is just too minty. A photo of the bottom is included below.

Thanks for flipping it over. Its design doesnt make for an easy conversion as you might hope. Tight to wheels&gauge, connects to the shell via tabs and a step in front of the cab is there at the porch, for a start. I think it might be harder to go Build a loco than floating the porches prototypically. With the cab raised up an 1/8th" to clear the porch step things look promising though. A set of top and bottom bolster plates with pivot rivet sitting between cab and truck. ..reuse the tab and slot system on your pivot plates. 2rail carpet drive? Or even driveshafts, 2r to 3rflanges. Those side frames and faux wheels can hide a lot if you could get them swinging.

On the box lid there is a white makers mark. Could you get a better shot of it?  (I like logo aspect and scroll the old Japanese lists sometimes just to look at them.) 

I don't collect much tinplate but I've always wanted a wind-up train and found this AF set at the DuPage train show.  The seller said it was "The Rainbow" set but my (limited) research indicates that the tender and coaches are not correct, and it does not have an observation.  Either way it's cool enough for me.  It barely runs at all on the original track, and on my O54 circle under the tree I can only get it to go around 2 1/2 times on 4 1/2 turns.  Once it stops it still has 2 turns left on it.  I did apply a drop of oil to the wheels on the coaches which helped a lot.  I also picked up a station stop and water tower.     

Don

dmestan posted:

I don't collect much tinplate but I've always wanted a wind-up train and found this AF set at the DuPage train show.  The seller said it was "The Rainbow" set but my (limited) research indicates that the tender and coaches are not correct, and it does not have an observation.  Either way it's cool enough for me.  It barely runs at all on the original track, and on my O54 circle under the tree I can only get it to go around 2 1/2 times on 4 1/2 turns.  Once it stops it still has 2 turns left on it.  I did apply a drop of oil to the wheels on the coaches which helped a lot.  I also picked up a station stop and water tower.     

Don

At York I picked up an 8 wheel rainbow set.

Steve

Enjoying my recently arrived Bing for Bassett Lowke "George the Fifth" O gauge clockwork loco. It's quite a nice runner- makes two full laps around my O gauge circuit on a single wind. The tender looks great with it, but it appears to be from another engine as both the engine and tender have "pins" instead of one having a slot to hook them together. My other question was, what is the middle spring-loaded lever? The outer push/pull rods are forward/reverse (reversing lever) and stop/go (brake lever). Shortly after posting this I found a scan of an instruction sheet on the internet so I have edited the post; the answer apparently is that it is the Setting Lever (aka "Restarting Lever") intended to work together with a special track section to permit the loco to not only stop via trackside setting, but also to restart once the trackside lever is released. After seeing the sheet I realized I have one of these track sections, so I'll give it a try. 

Some photos and a brief video included below. The video includes one of my other clockwork pieces, an Orbor stationary power plant with bucket loader. Enjoy

The middle lever is to be used with a brake rail to stop and restart the train; see the description here:

https://www.classicogauge.net/....php?f=19&t=1260

Edit: After writing the post I saw you had found out already.

Your tender is a Basset Lowke (not by Bing) one; I assume it is from a Basset Lowke compound 4-4-0 (which might be a clockwork or electric one). Here is a picture and video with a correct tender:

Regards

Fred

sncf231e posted:

The middle lever is to be used with a brake rail to stop and restart the train; see the description here:

https://www.classicogauge.net/....php?f=19&t=1260

Edit: After writing the post I saw you had found out already.

Your tender is a Basset Lowke (not by Bing) one; I assume it is from a Basset Lowke compound 4-4-0 (which might be a clockwork or electric one). Here is a picture and video with a correct tender:

 

Regards

Fred

Fred- many thanks for the info on the tender and the levers. The linked site is great! Much appreciated.

Got my next 2816 in time for Christmas!

Couldn't help myself, got another 5D test set this last weekend. Now I can keep one in shop and display other with the rest of test sets.

Jagrick posted:

Couldn't help myself, got another 5D test set this last weekend. Now I can keep one in shop and display other with the rest of test sets.

Love it Jagrick! Would love it more if I knew how to use it!👍

Joe Gozzo

Pick this restored AF 561 Whistling Billboard and control box off of the bay. Awesome restoration/Custom Paint.

Joe Gozzo

Found a wonderfully bright, late, English-style, 20s/early 30's windup Bing loco (w/catalog page)

John Smatlak posted:

Jim Waterman posted:

John Smatlak posted:

I couldn't resist- it's actually a floor toy, but a great looking piece- such great colors and proportions! Made in Japan, not sure when but I'm guessing 50's or 60's.

 

John - did you chuck a couple of Bild a Loco motors under this beast? Will it clear the Hellgate?

Jim

LOL I hadn't thought of converting it, but that would be pretty neat. And yes, it does clear the Hellgate Bridge. I shall have to keep my eyes open for a lesser quality one for conversion experimentation, this one is just too minty. A photo of the bottom is included below.

 

Modern Toy Company from the logo, probably early 1960s

In the same vein- the mystery standard gauge subway car. It's a wind-up toy, which coincidentally does have flanged wheels with standard gauge spacing, but the trucks don't swivel, so it's basically a floor toy. It's certainly neat looking, and as an added bonus has lights (battery powered) both front and rear. See the photo of the logo (YM?)- I'm hoping someone will recognize the maker. This is definitely a candidate for conversion to operation!

Made some banana plug adapters for both my ZW-L and ZW.

Steve

DMESTAN - your set is a Rainbow.  The 1927 version did not come with an observation.  As for an exact match with respect to car lithography - I wouldn't worry too much about that.  I've seen a number of boxed Rainbow sets over the years. Sometimes the litho treatment of the cars in the box match the catalog cut and sometimes they don't.

Catalog cut for 1927

 For example - the set below was boxed and the set label was "Rainbow".  The car frames were consistent with the 1927 time frame but except for the engine and the fact that one of the passenger cars is blue (wrong window configuration - according to the catalog) and the other does share the window treatment and the color orange with the other car you would have to squint pretty hard to convince yourself that the catalog and the box contents are the match.

Steve "Papa" Eastman posted:

Made some banana plug adapters for both my ZW-L and ZW.

Steve

I had enough spacers to complete the ZW-L, but had to order another pack for the ZW. Guess they’re out of smaller boxes.

Steve

Santhion City Palace all the way from Hungary.

Replica Ives 200 Powerhouse made by yours truly.

George

I didn't buy or make it, but I got the Lionel No.85 racecars for Christmas.

https://www.facebook.com/themo...eos/306895663270256/

Super awesome Christmas present 🎁 

Bought the Lionel sign for my 840 power station. I had to paint and letter it myself. I used Folkart enamel for the lettering . I think I found a great paint for hand painting !

George

George S posted:

 

Santhion City Palace all the way from Hungary.

Replica Ives 200 Powerhouse made by yours truly.

George

Fabulous George!