Buy/Make Anything Cool Lately (Tinplate Version)

@pd - That #90 Flyer station is just incredible!  Outstanding modeling, unless you revealed it I would never have known that it wasn't the tinplate version.  WoW!!

Don

Thanks, Don, it was a fun little project. Gonna try to make a no. 91 freight station next.

PD

@pd You should be very happy with that. It came out great!

Tom

The Victory Diner that I got from Classic Model Trains at York is so beautiful that I can't leave it alone.  A couple of months ago, I built a landscaped base for it, and I recently decided to add a smoke unit.  I bought a water vapor "smoke" unit and cobbled together a way to direct the output through one of the smokestacks in the roof.  I tried to think of a way to direct the smoke to both stacks, but I decided that it wasn't feasible.  Perhaps a second unit can be added down the road.  The smoke from these units is a little faint and it doesn't show up well in the picture and video, but it is clearly visible when viewed in person.

Very nice...I've not seen these before.

PD

Made a modified paper version of the Flyer Town Freight Station (No. 91):

From 1931, the original no. 91 would be the same size as the no. 90 (Hyde Park); however, the graphics are scaled much smaller on the no. 91 so they look a bit strange side-by-side. I increased the dimensions of the no. 91 by ~ 25% to get things a bit more comparative.

Started with photos of an original, developed graphics using MS Paint, printed and mounted on artist's matt board. The base is a scrap of 1/4-inch masonite. Doors and windows were cut out, printed on cardstock, and cemented in from behind to add depth; the "embossed" roof is matt board and cardstock.

PD

@pd- beautiful work and the #91 is not near as commonly found as the #90.  So here is the question...how many more can you make?    (only kidding).   It certainly looks just like the tinplate original, great job!

Don

I found this yesterday at an Antique Mall in a section full of O gauge trains.  It's the first one of these I've seen. For $5. I figured I couldn't go wrong. 

Lionel 48W whistling station with replacement roof overlay and sign.  Button modified to be permanently on; station is controlled by a pushbutton on the layout fascia.

@boomer0622 - Hey, good find and a great price.  Marx actually made two principal versions of the NYC 20102, an illuminated one with a light and electrical pick up and like yours the non-illuminated version.  Yours has the later type of lithography (2 color grey and red) as opposed to the older lithography on the type 556 caboose ( mostly all red)  which was made from the 1930's .  Since yours has tab/slot couplers, it most likely was made before 1953 when Marx began to equip everything with plastic knuckle couplers.  So best guess, your would date from perhaps late 40's to early 50's but candidly Marx is very difficult to date with any great certainty.  Overall the 6" cars, in various colors and liveries,were made from 1936-1972.

Don

Boomer0622, if that caboose has sliding tab & slot couplers (and I suspect it does), it would have been from a windup or onboard battery set.  According to Walter Hiteshaw's CD, those were made from 1953 to 1972.  Windup versions had plastic wheels and sliding couplers, electric versions had metal wheels and plastic knuckle couplers, just like Don said.

Well worth $5!

Don & WindupGuy:  Thanks for the info on my new caboose.  What engine would be pulling this caboose ?   A Commodore or a regular steam engine ?

That caboose could be found behind just about any windup steam locomotive that Marx built from 1953 to 1972...

Windup version of the 591 - what I refer to as the 533, made in many variations:

The plastic body 400 windup:

Late Style 198:

Even the lowly 401 windup:

Those are nice sets that you have.  I only have a couple of windup engines, a Commondor and a Sea Board F unit, powered A.  I would love to find the non powered A and B units someday.   Thanks for your response. 

@Don McErlean posted:

@pd- beautiful work and the #91 is not near as commonly found as the #90.  So here is the question...how many more can you make?    (only kidding).   It certainly looks just like the tinplate original, great job!

Don

There are many things one could make, Don, but there's also a limited amount of space on the layout. There's already a half-dozen stations on our relatively small pike (not including random passenger platforms). We're going to have to disposition a couple of the modern-era pieces to make room for these "whistle stops".

That said, a friend flipped me a few photos of a homemade garage to match with a Lionel bungalow; I might take a stab at making one of those.

PD

Just arrived - custom decorated steeplecab set from Dan Furmanski / Trainmakers. 

The steeplecab set looks awesome!!! How long did it take to build after you ordered it? I plan on talking to them at York.

Bob

Is there a website for Dan Furmanski / Trainmakers?

Thanks

Charlie

@CP BOB posted:

The steeplecab set looks awesome!!! How long did it take to build after you ordered it? I plan on talking to them at York.

Bob

Thanks.  Sending a PM re the details.  Dan is getting pretty busy.

@CPC posted:

Is there a website for Dan Furmanski / Trainmakers?

Thanks

Charlie

He has a Facebook page.  Look for "trainmakers".

Thank you

Charlie

A garage to go with a Lionel 184 bungalow:

PD

Tremendous work PD!!!

Bob

Thanks, Bob! These are great fun to design and build.

Here's one more pre-York project completed, a modified "Vintage Lithograph Station" from Paul Race's Tribute to Tinplate site:

With Paul's permission, I edited the graphics a bit to rearrange windows and doors while adding a train schedule board. I extended the roof-line to provide an under-cover platform, and made a bench out of a few bits of matt board. Now it's more of a suburban station than the whistle-stop no. 90 as Flyer originally designed it.

PD

@pd posted:

Thanks, Bob! These are great fun to design and build.

Here's one more pre-York project completed, a modified "Vintage Lithograph Station" from Paul Race's Tribute to Tinplate site:

With Paul's permission, I edited the graphics a bit to rearrange windows and doors while adding a train schedule board. I extended the roof-line to provide an under-cover platform, and made a bench out of a few bits of matt board. Now it's more of a suburban station than the whistle-stop no. 90 as Flyer originally designed it.

PD

You mentioned "pre-York", so I'm assuming that you'll be there next month.  Are you familiar with the Standard Gauge Module Association?  If not, I'd like to invite you to stop by the layout in the Black hall and to come to the meeting at 7:30 on Friday morning.  The meeting includes a lot of displays and show-and-tell (especially for home-made items), so if you can, please bring one of your creations.

Yup, I plan to be there, and on Friday, but I won't make it by 0730. I'm an hour or so south of town and I'll have a number of other TCA members in tow. While I probably could be on the road by 0600, no way those other guys can/will do it. Maybe, with some advance planning, I can make the next iteration. In the meantime, thanks very much for the invite.

PD

Finally got around to making a faux-tinplate version of a 1930-ish Distler filling station:

All paper and matt board, a few bits of basswood, and a small base made of masonite. I found the pump on eBay (got too lazy to design one). Gonna add a company station sign before it goes onto the layout.

PD

@pd - Your handiwork is just fantastic!  Really love the stuff you have made.  Super job!

Don

Thanks, Don. Last structure project for awhile...got too many other pre-holiday tasks to work on.

PD

Don,

He keeps telling me the same thing, but he keeps sneaking away to work on a new structure project.

PS: But I do enjoy each project.

Charlie

Chessie 8003 2-8-4 pulling a string of prewar cars, including a custom painted Breast Cancer Awareness hopper.  First car has an adapter coupler.

I went to the first train show of my adult life on Saturday - the First Frost in Allentown. I'm pretty proud of myself that I controlled the impulse buy urge and limited myself to $112, which consisted of 3-conductor wire for switches, 2 lighted bumpers, O27 track crimping pliers, and this nice Marx Southern Pacific 6000 AA set. Headlights don't work well, but it runs smooth and was a great price.

@John's Trains - John, sorry for taking so long to respond, but I lost track of where your input was placed.  Congratulations on selecting that handsome Marx 6000 F-3 AA diesel.  This locomotive was introduced in 1950.  Now you need some cars.  Although they can be used to pull nearly anything, Marx did market a few sets with the 6000 as power.  These, for the most part, came with what collectors call 7" cars.  These are tinplate, lithographed cars, all 4 wheel and typically with tab/slot couplers or post 1953 with plastic knuckle couplers.  Fear not however if you find a knuckle coupler for the great majority the "tab" of the tab/slot coupler will slide into the knuckle and give you a link.  The sets came with the following cars:

1. The grey / red PRR boxcar.  Any number in the series from 37950 to 37959

2. The 80982 Wabash gondola - yellow with black "WABASH" on the sides

3.1235 SP caboose, orange.

There were 4 sets but all came with the same cars (the difference between the sets was mostly in the amount of track that came with them and the transformer).  Here is a picture of the cars, sorry I don't have the caboose.

Best Wishes, good luck, great train, all the best with it.  OBTW...RUN IT Marx trains LOVE TO RUN.

Don

@Don McErlean posted:

@John's Trains - John, sorry for taking so long to respond, but I lost track of where your input was placed.  Congratulations on selecting that handsome Marx 6000 F-3 AA diesel.  This locomotive was introduced in 1950.  Now you need some cars.  Although they can be used to pull nearly anything, Marx did market a few sets with the 6000 as power.  These, for the most part, came with what collectors call 7" cars.  These are tinplate, lithographed cars, all 4 wheel and typically with tab/slot couplers or post 1953 with plastic knuckle couplers.  Fear not however if you find a knuckle coupler for the great majority the "tab" of the tab/slot coupler will slide into the knuckle and give you a link.  The sets came with the following cars:

1. The grey / red PRR boxcar.  Any number in the series from 37950 to 37959

2. The 80982 Wabash gondola - yellow with black "WABASH" on the sides

3.1235 SP caboose, orange.

There were 4 sets but all came with the same cars (the difference between the sets was mostly in the amount of track that came with them and the transformer).  Here is a picture of the cars, sorry I don't have the caboose.

Best Wishes, good luck, great train, all the best with it.  OBTW...RUN IT Marx trains LOVE TO RUN.

Don

Thank you very much for the reply, @Don McErlean.   I previously had gotten a Marx B&O #62 AA diesel set and it came with some cars including that grey/red PRR boxcar and the yellow Wabash gondola, both with the plastic knuckle couplers. I will keep my eyes open for a 1235 Southern Pacific caboose that looks good.

John

@John's Trains-  John, while going through some things, I found the missing caboose from my collection that I was unable to post in my last response.  So  here is the Marx 7" SP caboose that you should look for to use with your new AA units. This car was made between 1952 - 1955.   Good Hunting!

Best Wishes, Don

@Don McErlean posted:

@John's Trains-  John, while going through some things, I found the missing caboose from my collection that I was unable to post in my last response.  So  here is the Marx 7" SP caboose that you should look for to use with your new AA units. This car was made between 1952 - 1955.   Good Hunting!

Best Wishes, Don

Thank you, Don. Yours looks good. I will be on the lookout for one like that. My railroad doesn't have many rules, but one that I do try to enforce is that "Every freight train shall whenever possible be trailed by a caboose that matches the locomotive's road name." So then, it seems that I'm going to need to find one, hopefully in decent shape.   

John

Junker 816 hopper painted pink and lettered as a Cancer Awareness car.

Went to the Wayne show in NJ last weekend and picked up some Marx signal and a flood lite tower, the I purchase a nice standard gauge #10 shell painted in Mojave. Th pain is in fair condition just with some chips as it is original paint. Going to put this on another 10 that I picked up years ago and was repainted badly as there is bumps under the paint from rust. Will be looking for a better frame and hopefully not repainted

@RonH posted:

Went to the Wayne show in NJ last weekend and picked up some Marx signal and a flood lite tower, the I purchase a nice standard gauge #10 shell painted in Mojave. Th pain is in fair condition just with some chips as it is original paint. Going to put this on another 10 that I picked up years ago and was repainted badly as there is bumps under the paint from rust. Will be looking for a better frame and hopefully not repainted

Great to see old stuff being recycled.

It seems that there are a lot of #10 bodies floating around because the motors were used as donors for various standard gauge projects over the years.  What are people doing to re-motor these orphans?

@Mallard4468-  Hey not to be telling you what you already know, but I wondered if you knew that the "strap" headlights on your #10 body actually date the piece.  The strap headlights were only used in 1925-1926 and then in 1927 Lionel switched to the cast headlight housing which was used until the model was withdrawn in about 1931.  Anyway thought you might like to know .

Best Wishes

Don