Buy/Make Anything Cool Lately (Tinplate Version)

Went over to a friends today and came home with a few Thomas Industries cars.

Steve

This is a bit of a hybrid, but since it is powered by tinplate, I'll post it here.

This is a Marx Riser Gear windup motor, but as you might have noticed, there is a bit of extra mechanism at the front.  The motor is basically stock with the exception of a lot of extra gearing to make the governor spin faster.... and since the governor can only spin so fast, it means the motor runs considerably slower than stock.  A lot slower.  Since the gearing between the mainspring and drive axle is stock, the pulling power and running distance is comparable to a stock Marx Riser Gear motor.  A stock motor like this will complete 5 laps of my mainline in a bit less than a minute.  This motor takes nearly 8 minutes to cover the same distance.

Why is it a hybrid?  Because I installed it in a Lionel #8796 diesel switch engine shell... a plastic shell... 

It sure is fun to see it putter around the layout:

Dennis Holler posted:

Looks like I just won this pile of crap.   I know it is not that great, but I was looking for a 483 crane and gee, its basically two whole sets plus some Chrome Marx signals for $55..  The 3/16ths set is missing the 561 loco, but I have a couple of those so no problem.

Nice score...!

Mike 

Not a great score, but not bad for $30 shipped on a buy it now...

Not bad Dennis...

Mike 

Always getting ready for Christmas...

Been buying lumber and tubular track. Today my buddy Rich Boyen and I built the 8' x 12'

L Girder table.

Joe Gozzo

LoadMaster posted:

Dennis Holler posted:

Looks like I just won this pile of crap.   I know it is not that great, but I was looking for a 483 crane and gee, its basically two whole sets plus some Chrome Marx signals for $55..  The 3/16ths set is missing the 561 loco, but I have a couple of those so no problem.

Nice score...!

Mike 

Not bad Dennis, I have seen the flea market guys list one signal and a bent piece of track for that much. 

Of course theirs is "RARE AND VINTAGE". I have often thought of starting a topic called "REALLY????"

on here so people could post some of the absurdly priced items they see online. Like the guy who

keeps relisting the rusty marx 6" frame for 69.99 or the one who keeps listing the common flying

yankee set for $3500. I made him an offer of $75, he got upset. hehe

BeachHead2,

   Great looking Christmas Tanker!   Real nice purchase.

Finalized the Restoration of the Black and Gold 817 Caboose this morning, very satisfied with the out come.

PCRR/Dave

USTTC made a series of club cars and a engine for TTCS. They made one a year. I had all but the 1981 boxcar until a couple of years ago when I found one for $63.00. Took to a TCA meet for show and tell and have not seen it since. Just got a replacement for $11.00. Now that I have replaced it, I’m sure I’ll find the other one.

beardog posted

Not bad Dennis, I have seen the flea market guys list one signal and a bent piece of track for that much. 

Of course theirs is "RARE AND VINTAGE". I have often thought of starting a topic called "REALLY????"

on here so people could post some of the absurdly priced items they see online.....

I don't know how many times I've seen an item listed as "rare" for an exorbitant price yet there are 20 other listing for the exact same item. Makes me laugh.

Mike 

This just showed up at the front door. It needed a little cleaning, the steam chest cylinders were loose and some lube. I added a bridge rectifier and put it on the track. Runs great and very smooth. Hopefully I'll win the original matching cars for it this weekend

samdjr74 posted:

This just showed up at the front door. It needed a little cleaning, the steam chest cylinders were loose and some lube. I added a bridge rectifier and put it on the track. Runs great and very smooth. Hopefully I'll win the original matching cars for it this weekend

 

Nice...!

Mike 

 

Dennis Holler posted:

Not a great score, but not bad for $30 shipped on a buy it now...

nice score Dennis!

and already weathered

Well, here is my latest venture into the world of the bay.  "9615 boxed Sears Allstate set, complete, VG, and running."

Not, not and not. I emailed the seller back and suggested if she was going to list a set as complete, it should be.

Also if she was going to list it as very good, all components should be very good. And if she listed it as running it

should be running. Her response : "we're an estate liquidation company, we don't know anything about trains.

The guy  who listed this doesn't work here anymore. " This is one of these companies that says "we'll make it

right" (or we'll make excuses). So far I have not heard back. 

Sorry guys, all three videos are the same, I went brain dead uploading them

Well I am thoroughly enjoying my new red Mth 261.  I do have a question to anyone else who has an Mth tinplate repro?  Does anyone else’s engine make a gear whine noise as it speeds up?  At any speed over 35 scale mph I can hear a whining noise that soon drowns out the loco sounds.  I have applied some grease to the exposed gears but it hasn’t really made a difference.  Has anyone else experienced this, can it be corrected?

jhz563 posted:

Well I am thoroughly enjoying my new red Mth 261.  I do have a question to anyone else who has an Mth tinplate repro?  Does anyone else’s engine make a gear whine noise as it speeds up?  At any speed over 35 scale mph I can hear a whining noise that soon drowns out the loco sounds.  I have applied some grease to the exposed gears but it hasn’t really made a difference.  Has anyone else experienced this, can it be corrected?

The main drive gear could be dry. They are a pain to get to. They are under the electronics if I recall. This is for P3.

jhz563 posted:

Well I am thoroughly enjoying my new red Mth 261.  I do have a question to anyone else who has an Mth tinplate repro?  Does anyone else’s engine make a gear whine noise as it speeds up?  At any speed over 35 scale mph I can hear a whining noise that soon drowns out the loco sounds.  I have applied some grease to the exposed gears but it hasn’t really made a difference.  Has anyone else experienced this, can it be corrected?

Beautiful set!

Joe Gozzo

Steve "Papa" Eastman posted

The main drive gear could be dry. They are a pain to get to. They are under the electronics if I recall. This is for P3.

thanks Steve,

 I was really hoping to not have to take apart a brand new engine, but I would really like to occasional run faster than 35 smph.  And it is a ps3

Bet it did not get properly lubricated at the factory, or something is in a bind.

jhz563 posted:

Steve "Papa" Eastman posted

The main drive gear could be dry. They are a pain to get to. They are under the electronics if I recall. This is for P3.

thanks Steve,

 I was really hoping to not have to take apart a brand new engine, but I would really like to occasional run faster than 35 smph.  And it is a ps3

You bought it new, Id let the dealer take care of it.

Steve

beardog posted:

Sorry guys, all three videos are the same, I went brain dead uploading them

Sometimes it's just less headache to move on.   Looks like a nice little train!

I am late in catching up with this topic, and I am not sure this qualifies as either "bought" or "lately," but I sure think it is cool. 

While primarily a low-grade S gauge operator/collector, I do enjoy my modest collection of Marx 6" tinplate trains, toys and accessories.  It has been years since I found a really interesting train at a thrift store or flea market, but I occasionally find myself accompanying my wife to one or the other.  To give myself something to look for, I seek out tinplate candy and cookie tins and the like that I think can look good on a tinplate setup.

At some time last year, I must have mentioned this to my sister who is an experienced thrift shopper, both for her own use and for vintage items to sell in her own shop. 

I was already the envy of the room when it turned out that this great old train (actually airline) case under the tree turned out to be my gift from her.   

Imagine my further surprise and delight when I opened the case:

Actually the tall can in the first pic was a gift from my other sister who hosted the Christmas get together and was a co-conspirator in the hunt.   What's more, each can contained an additional small gift.  Not only a great tinplate acquisition, but very easy to pack for the trip back to Oregon.

Cheers!

Alan

The little suitcase is amazing, I have a friend who will indeed turn green

when she sees it

scott.smith posted:

Score! Blue or silver hall?  Looks to be original nice! 👍

Santa post man brought me  Lionel Jr 1700E red and silver streamliner today. 

Seller said he had cleaned and lubed it, so when I unpacked it I took it

in and put it on the layout.  Turned on the power and poof, sparks and smoke. 

I don't think 1700e's are sparkler locos or have smoke units so I turned it off

immediately. I slowly turned it back on and got the hum of death from the 

transformer. I tried moving some of the old wires around, didn't work. 

Dead short. I took the motor out and found some deteriorating insulating.

Put some tape on that, no help. I noticed the e-unit was partially out of the 

frame, no screws. I think the e-unit got jostled in shipping and got something

grounded that was not supposed to be. The train was packed very well, so 

I can't fault the seller. I finally ended up removing the e unit completely

and the train runs fine. I think the e unit fried the moment I turned on

the power. 

Pics and video attached. Including the evil e unit.

SS,

  Seriously nice Lionel City Station House, looks to be in really great shape, Congrats on a real big time find!

PCRR/Dave

I definitely have the collector gene.  I like to think that I have been able to keep it under control, however, the urge to add to the collection can become quite demanding.  I recently decided I "needed" to fill in some of the missing pieces in the Northwoods Flyer Collection.  So, I have started to look for American Flyer's 6 1/2" lithographed passenger cars that have their numbers lithographed on the side (yes there are versions without the number too).  I already have quite a few of them, but as I look at the Greenberg Guide there are so many more that I don't have.   And so the hunt begins; and hopefully I will be able to limit the collecting urge to just these cars (for now).  They often show up as single cars and are not too expensive when purchased as singles, and in operator condition.

As an example I recently picked up this #1205 Baggage car in blue with Type IV trucks.

And then I came across the #1306 in blue with Type IV trucks

And of course they look great together.

The next example could show up at anytime! 

Northwoods Flyer

Greg

Greg J. Turinetti posted:

I definitely have the collector gene.  I like to think that I have been able to keep it under control, however, the urge to add to the collection can become quite demanding.  I recently decided I "needed" to fill in some of the missing pieces in the Northwoods Flyer Collection.  So, I have started to look for American Flyer's 6 1/2" lithographed passenger cars that have their numbers lithographed on the side (yes there are versions without the number too).  I already have quite a few of them, but as I look at the Greenberg Guide there are so many more that I don't have.   And so the hunt begins; and hopefully I will be able to limit the collecting urge to just these cars (for now).  They often show up as single cars and are not too expensive when purchased as singles, and in operator condition.

As an example I recently picked up this #1205 Baggage car in blue with Type IV trucks.

**** collector gene... Nice finds Greg! Good Hunting....

Mike 

Got brave and tried to make a removable scrap load for my NPR gondola. Cut a piece of polystyrene to fit the gondola and affixed it to a piece of foam to raise it up so I didn't have so much area to fill. painted it black and started gluing pieces of plastic scrap and brass and aluminum tubing to it. A little detail paint and...

Another view...

The load is just a press fit so when I want an empty gondola, I just pull it out.

Mike 

Nice, Mike

nice job Mike!

Greg those books are a bad thing to look at...they just show us how many more trains we need!

Chris Lonero posted:

scott.smith posted:

Score! Blue or silver hall?  Looks to be original nice! 👍

There were more than a few of those available. You could get one in any hall. That one is particularly nice, but I did not see many "projects" at this York.

George

jhz563 posted:

Well I am thoroughly enjoying my new red Mth 261.  I do have a question to anyone else who has an Mth tinplate repro?  Does anyone else’s engine make a gear whine noise as it speeds up?  At any speed over 35 scale mph I can hear a whining noise that soon drowns out the loco sounds.  I have applied some grease to the exposed gears but it hasn’t really made a difference.  Has anyone else experienced this, can it be corrected?

I have a PS2 260e and do not have that problem. Make sure something isn't bent or binding. The side rods should be loose. Turn her over and make sure none got bent.

George

Steamer posted:

nice job Mike!

Greg those books are a bad thing to look at...they just show us how many more trains we need!

No kidding Dave!

Chris Lonero posted:

scott.smith posted:

Score! Blue or silver hall?  Looks to be original nice! 👍

Looks original, but it is a repaint. $50.00 in Silver Hall. Best price I saw all day. Since it’s for my new tinplate layout at the museum I would have bought one that was a basketcase to repaint. This will need very little work.

Scott Smith