I purchased several unpainted MTH tinplate samples and have repainted them to match engines that MTH didn't make passenger cars for.
To go with my N&W 400E; newly painted 400 series passenger cars
My MTH AF Wabash Piper; newly painted Hamiltonian cars
Scott Smith
Nicely done Scott! Beautiful!!!
@scott.smith, those look great!
I wish they had tooled up a brass piper in O gauge. Mth was awesome with the reproductions as well as new paint schemes, but I wish they would have stretched out and made some more original tinplate offerings.
@jhz563 posted:@scott.smith, those look great!
I wish they had tooled up a brass piper in O gauge. Mth was awesome with the reproductions as well as new paint schemes, but I wish they would have stretched out and made some more original tinplate offerings.
MTH didn't really do much outside of Lionel reproductions in O-Gauge. The American Flyer O-Gauge was some really nice stuff. I would have loved to have seen the Ives steam engines done in O-Gauge. Ives made some really nice Jr. sets like the Black Diamond and the National Limited in O. However making more tooling is an expensive process and getting the numbers to recoup the investment could be difficult.
Scott Smith
I haven't bought anything, feeling a little poor lately, since I just retired last week from the VA after almost 42 years, but I have gotten around to a few things.
I restored and repaired this prewar 62 semaphore and it actually works. It's an interesting and rare piece but I'm selling it on FB marketplace. I like the electric semaphores better.
I added chains and a load on a Flyer flat car. Some of the barrels I painted with Glow in the dark paint but it doesn't work very well. I glued 1/2 inch magnets into the bottom of the barrels so they will stay in place. I bought a bag of 100 unpainted barrels so I'll be making a bunch more in assorted colors.
I like these simple crossing warning signs so I've painted them in different colors. You can't see it in the pictures but the lettering on most of them matches the base color. Standard gauge is supposed to be colorful so these are.
@scott.smith posted:MTH didn't really do much outside of Lionel reproductions in O-Gauge. The American Flyer O-Gauge was some really nice stuff. I would have loved to have seen the Ives steam engines done in O-Gauge. Ives made some really nice Jr. sets like the Black Diamond and the National Limited in O. However making more tooling is an expensive process and getting the numbers to recoup the investment could be difficult.
Scott Smith
Oh I understand, but I can dream. A 257 or 258 with a can motor would be cool. And while the desire for a different driver configuration has been spoken over ad nauseum, a camelback over the existing frame seemed like a possibility, or take 2 motor/drive wheel assemblies and make a tinplate articulated locomotive. A tinplate 2-4-4-2 if could just imagine. I think the market would there, but as you say it would take years to recover the capital costs.
Just picked this up from the National Toy Train Museum.
@Samplingman posted:Just picked this up from the National Toy Train Museum.
That is beautiful !! Please show more of it when you can , photos and/or video of it running . Congratulations
TCA Western Division Banquet car for the 2021 convention. 100 made. They were on the banquet tables, and like this one, given the the volunteers.
Steve
I spotted this bridge, complete with its box, on ebay awhile back. At first I thought it was some kind of repaint but after rummaging through some of my German reference books on Bing I found it listed as a 1930-1932 manufactured item. By this time Bing had moved away from all litho and was making items with a mixture of paint and lithography.
Robert S. Butler : What a fantastic bridge and approaches. Hard to believe its some 90 years old. Thanks for posting.
Don
After building my Reading 100 inspired inspection engine I decided it needed a home.
Now it's on display on top of my bookcase.
That’s brilliant 
@JET posted:After building my Reading 100 inspired inspection engine I decided it needed a home.
Now it's on display on top of my bookcase.
Thats fantastic !
Well back on the standard ga wagon again. Just got this 390e Blue Comet and 4 Car set today , and in the past month a Lionel classics 381e State set, MTH 9e Girard Set, a Hellgate, and bunch of Tinplate accessories. But this Comet iced the cake for me so happy I finally found one I could afford , layout soon to be built now 
@JET - What a fantastic engine, great job. @Steam engine : My goodness what a buying spree...beautiful hardware for certain. I had to give up my std gauge, just could not find anywhere to run them.
Don
A package from Ray turned up today, a nice little Ives 3252 from the guys over at Vienna Station:
Likely an older restoration, it's a strong runner. The brass plates would make it a Series-3, dating from 1925-1927. I have a nice set of freights to line up behind it.
PD
@pd Nice engine! Vienna Station is my favorite place to find tinplate.
A great source for tinplate, for sure Alex. Never know what you might find on the list, lol.
Paul
Great tin as always, it’s been quite awhile. Straight from a train show and, while I don’t have any “gauge 1” trains, I was very happy to have bought this.
Bassett-Lowke* GN Banana Van-Owner didn’t know the maker, I then saw the “lowke” on the side. For $30 I thought it was a nice buy. Here’s it’s better side
I noticed later that this was inscribed on the bottom “C.H. Hollis December 25,1923”(possibly 1933) And, just now, after removing the top-I found a sheet of paper inside
it was a fact sheet- I don’t know how the owner didn’t see it and missed it. It turns out this freight wagon was made by *Carette for Bassett-Lowke and is considered gauge 2.
But it fit on LGB track? I know that Bing and Marklin’s gauges were out of sync(Marklin gauge 2 was Bing gauge 1, or vice versa) but did Bassett-Lowke or Carette make gauge 2 that would fit on gauge 1 track?
I’ll do some research on it but just thought I’d ask while sharing. just Very happy !
it is indeed Carette for Bassett Lowke.
The part number on the end indicates that it was a gauge II version. The last two digits "54" indicated 54mm for gauge II
if it were gauge 1 the digits would be 48 and gauge 0 would be 35.
It is possible that the axle guards have been bent inwards and a set of gauge 1 axles fitted to it.
Roland
I needed some loads for flat cars and gondolas so I bought a bag of 100 wood barrels. I've painted and decaled a bunch of them as well as installed 1/2 inch magnets in the bottom so they won't fall off. They look pretty good.
These also look good of flat cars.
I had been looking for a Lionel Standard Gauge 318 set and was specifically looking for the Apple green variation with orange trim on the cars. Thanks to the fine folks at Stouts Auctions, I was lucky to get one at their last auction for a reasonable price. It needs new wheels on the engine but is otherwise a clean original set. 
@Pete in Kansas posted:I needed some loads for flat cars and gondolas so I bought a bag of 100 wood barrels. I've painted and decaled a bunch of them as well as installed 1/2 inch magnets in the bottom so they won't fall off. They look pretty good.
No Pete, they don't look "pretty good"! They look Very good!
How many coats of paint did you use to get that gloss on wooden barrels? Did you prime first? What paint did you use?
@Pete in Kansas posted:... installed 1/2 inch magnets in the bottom so they won't fall off. ...
Great idea!
I believe the magnets cost me $7.99 for a pack of 50 at Michaels. I drilled a shallow 1/2 inch hole with a spade drill and then stole the wife's hot glue gun to secure them.
Not tin, but now STD Gauge.
This project has been laying around for a year. It is now ready for this Christmas, The Lionel Polar Express loco and tender were #2 gauge, so an easy mod. All the cars were G gauge and required donor trucks and a bit of cutting and sawing.
Steve
@Lionelski posted:No Pete, they don't look "pretty good"! They look Very good!
How many coats of paint did you use to get that gloss on wooden barrels? Did you prime first? What paint did you use?
I used whatever Rustoleum was sitting around on my workbench and brushed on 2 coats. I drilled the hole for the magnet first and put a 2" deck screw temporarily in the bottom to give me something to hold onto while I painted them.
I recently purchased a 4 wheel Bing beer car. Based on the auction pictures the car looked to be in rather poor shape but I decided the looks were due to nothing more than a lot of dirt and other grime.
When the car arrived I pulled out the cleaning wax and went to work...
...as it turns out, I was right.
Robert : Great work, car looks fantastic.
Don
@Pete in Kansas posted:These also look good of flat cars.
Since I bought and painted 100 of these i needed more cars to fill with them. I know no real railroad would paint a working car like a gondola white but I already have red and green ones so...... this one looks pretty good in white loaded with drums. I made a sheet metal riser so the barrels would sit higher in the car and the labels would show. 
latest items I picked up in this past month!
390e Blue Comet set
and Accessories
Just got this very clean original 343 set (380 with 319, 320 and 322 cars) from a local estate auction. I think this is in the 1925-1927 catalogs. I love the color combination and the tall 200 series trucks. Not sure if it is supposed to have two pullmans or just one.
I just completed this McCoy Smoke Fluid Tank Car. It's been a project that I've been working on on and off for probably 4-5 years. I was heavy into train projects and then my son and I bought a 1967 Mercury Cougar that we worked on together, so train projects hit the back burner. I'm glad to finally have this done and am pleased with how it turned out.
Love the smoke fluid tank car Joe. 
Thanks Joe.
Now I just 
have to find a set of blue 710 cars
@CPC posted:Now I just
have to find a set of blue 710 cars
They are a pain to put on the track, however they are worth effort. I seriously debated about bidding on that. Congratulations,
Scott Smith
Scott,
Thanks. I just couldn't pass it up. Just wish I knew how difficult it would be to strip an MTH set and repaint.
Charlie
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