Do anything tinplate related today?

jim pastorius posted:

Cleaned ALL my track, sure needed it. Finished tacking down the Standard gauge track. Ran my Ives Standard engines-they are sweet !!  Gathered the pieces to make  an adapter coupler between Lionel  and hook and latch couplers so I can mix my  Standard gauge freight cars plus planning and adapter between the Ives cars and the Lionel latch couplers. Putting down the standard gauge loop has doubled my layout enjoyment at very little cost. I  have 9 Lionel engines and 3 Ives. About  20 Lionel Standard freight cars and about 18 passenger cars. I am very pleasantly surprised how smooth and quiet the Standard runs on my layout.

The jim, tacking the track doesn't that transfer noise through when running the trains.

Joe Gozzo

Bought a 1717, 1722 litho cars & a 2654 tank car on Ebay tonight. I also bought in near new condition the 4 prewar semi-scale freight cars at York 2 weeks ago.

jim pastorius posted:

Cleaned ALL my track, sure needed it. Finished tacking down the Standard gauge track. Ran my Ives Standard engines-they are sweet !!  Gathered the pieces to make  an adapter coupler between Lionel  and hook and latch couplers so I can mix my  Standard gauge freight cars plus planning and adapter between the Ives cars and the Lionel latch couplers. Putting down the standard gauge loop has doubled my layout enjoyment at very little cost. I  have 9 Lionel engines and 3 Ives. About  20 Lionel Standard freight cars and about 18 passenger cars. I am very pleasantly surprised how smooth and quiet the Standard runs on my layout.

The jim, tacking the track doesn't that transfer noise through when running the trains.

Joe Gozzo

did a little body work today.

Displayed Std and prewar O trains at a local library's "Train Day"

Feeling pretty good today, so keeping with the take it easy orders from the Dr, I set a few pieces out on a table where I could sit in a chair vs stand at my work bench. Got all the new arrivals wheels and pick up rollers oiled and repaired some broken horses from the Ives Circus Set. Nice to feel like I accomplished something.

Steve

To continue my first foray into tinplate I picked up 4 cars over the weekend, for a total of  $65, which I thought was a great deal.

My only concern is that I would like them to be shiny and toy like again, and I'm not sure how to pull that off . Sorry for the poor quality pictures , but here is my haul.  The log car has no graphics ,  so I guess it could be repainted , but the others do.  I really like the baby ruth boxcar, but the graphics are pretty scratched up.  Any suggestions , remember I am a tinplate rookie.

Cheers, John Z

For comparison here is one of my finds against a brand new Mth car.

Clean them gently with mild soap and a little water. They will never look like new. You could possibly touch up some scratches but best bet it to live with them. if you want shine I put a little light machine oil on them.

Steve "Papa" Eastman posted:

Feeling pretty good today, so keeping with the take it easy orders from the Dr, I set a few pieces out on a table where I could sit in a chair vs stand at my work bench. Got all the new arrivals wheels and pick up rollers oiled and repaired some broken horses from the Ives Circus Set. Nice to feel like I accomplished something.

Steve

Sorry to hear you were under the weather. Enjoy those trains. ��

I started cleaning my finds from this past weekend.  The baby ruth car has clearly had the roof repainted, with a brush or roller.  The tank car isn't in bad shape, I think some of the marks are deposits ,  not scratches. I am hoping that if I step up to a sponge instead of a wet paper towel that it will clean up more.  The trim however is pretty beat.  I have never disassembled a tin plate car before but it looks necessary.  Are these parts readily available, or do I have to make do with trying to clean/paint the old ones and put them back?

 Also, did the wheels and axle boxes on the trucks come in different colors, or is the plating just worn off of mine?

The lionel gondola unfortunately has some rust, mostly on the inside of the box.  I am thinking the only options are to leave it as is for now, or to disassemble the car, clean off the rust and paint and start over with some primer.  If I do this is there any way to reproduce the graphics?

I like to look at the scratches and dings on these cars, and imagine the joy some child had putting them there.

George Tebolt has Prewar parts, as does Jeff Kane.

fresh from the paint shop. I don't usually repaint an engine in this condition, but when the tender was next to it it really showed the chips and scratches to much.

Steamer posted:

fresh from the paint shop. I don't usually repaint an engine in this condition, but when the tender was next to it it really showed the chips and scratches to much.

Nice job Dave you going to put a name on the tender or leave it blank?

Joe Gozzo

Spent a portion of the day examining multiple 463W train sets and tabulating variations.  I've been wanting to do this for a long time.

jhz563 posted:

To continue my first foray into tinplate I picked up 4 cars over the weekend, for a total of  $65, which I thought was a great deal.

My only concern is that I would like them to be shiny and toy like again, and I'm not sure how to pull that off . Sorry for the poor quality pictures , but here is my haul.  The log car has no graphics ,  so I guess it could be repainted , but the others do.  I really like the baby ruth boxcar, but the graphics are pretty scratched up.  Any suggestions , remember I am a tinplate rookie.

Cheers, John Z

For comparison here is one of my finds against a brand new Mth car.

 

Nice group you have there. You can learn to live with scratches, dents and some corrosion, but a little work with Q-tips and cleaning polish goes a long way. Checking an inconspicuous area first helps, though.

Thanks Joe. plans are to letter the tender for the New York Central .

Spent Friday setting up the huge SGMA layout at Trainfest 2016 in Milwaukee.  Today and Sunday the SGMA team will be operating that layout for the more than 20 thousand visitors that attend that show.  Should be a lot of fun!

Bob Nelson

navy.seal posted:

Spent Friday setting up the huge SGMA layout at Trainfest 2016 in Milwaukee.  Today and Sunday the SGMA team will be operating that layout for the more than 20 thousand visitors that attend that show.  Should be a lot of fun!

Bob Nelson

 

Bob how can you not have fun doing that I wish I was close enough to check it out.

Joe Gozzo

Had a blast running tinplate trains on the SGMA layout at Trainfest 2016.

Bob Nelson

Next step of my bridge.

The first set of towers is ready to paint.

Arne

ARNE;  The bridge looks great.  Love tinplate, especially when they are handcrafted.  I really like seeing tinplate buildings even more than tinplate trains.  Looking forward to seeing your completed bridge.  wayne (walter)

Gorgeous un-November-like weather today, so outside I went and removed the crumbling insulation from a SG switch that needs re-furbishing......the seamy underbelly of tinplate?  Next, some de-soldering and adding of heat-shrink tubing....

Was given an American Flyer 3110 today. A neat little loco, to be honest!

navy.seal posted:

Had a blast running tinplate trains on the SGMA layout at Trainfest 2016.

Bob Nelson

Pictures?

navy.seal posted:

Had a blast running tinplate trains on the SGMA layout at Trainfest 2016.

Bob Nelson

Bob,

Will the Trainfest be on youtube? I have seen other numerous SGMA events on there.

Joe

Trainlover160 posted:

navy.seal posted:

Had a blast running tinplate trains on the SGMA layout at Trainfest 2016.

Bob Nelson

Bob,

Will the Trainfest be on youtube? I have seen other numerous SGMA events on there.

Joe

SGMA's video is now under development and will be posted as soon as possible.

Bob Nelson

Repainted the roof on this Ives 550 baggage:

Looks much better.

PD

Next Step of my bridge.

Arne

Arne posted:

Next Step of my bridge.

 

Arne

Thanks for the progress update can't wait until we can see the finished product.

Joe Gozzo

Painted the last colors on an American Freedom Train GS4 in Standard that I'm building for a member of this board. Bending handrails for the locomotive.

Jim Waterman

I took a $4 dollar beater frame, applied a few quick bursts of black paint, and presto, had a blank canvas for whatever occasion arises.  For the display today , a few trees and a mini nativity held on witn double face tape did the job.

The 259e got a serious work out today.  It was pulling 5 cars for about 45 min to an hour.  Interestingly it didn't take off until about 9.5 volts and was going plenty strong by the time it hit 11 volts. Anything more than that was asking for a derailment when the lead truck bounced out of gauge after going over a switch.

Well the saga continues I had surgery a couple of weeks ago and cannot lift anything over 5 pounds or do any stretching so my wife has been gracious enough to pull some of my tinplate cars down from the closet so that I can open them up cleaning and lubing them. I got to do something instead of this daytime TV. It was kind of nice to see some of the older ones that I haven't had out in a little while that I need to get on the track.

Joe Gozzo

that 259e looks really good. I've been paying attention to the tinplate engines lately. Just won this shell for $5. Undecided whether I'll look for an original motor, seems like the zinc pest is a problem with the drivers on these? or put a 1666 type in it.

Steamer posted:

that 259e looks really good. I've been paying attention to the tinplate engines lately. Just won this shell for $5. Undecided whether I'll look for an original motor, seems like the zinc pest is a problem with the drivers on these? or put a 1666 type in it.

 

Steamer posted:

that 259e looks really good. I've been paying attention to the tinplate engines lately. Just won this shell for $5. Undecided whether I'll look for an original motor, seems like the zinc pest is a problem with the drivers on these? or put a 1666 type in it.

If I  was starting from scratch I would go conventional but more modern.  Specifically I would use a can motor, electronic reverse unit, and machined wheels, especially if you can get a traction tire groove cut in at least one of them.  My biggest issue with my 259e is the lack of traction.  For all its size it just doesn't have much grip, and tinplate cars have more rolling resistance than modern ones, making this an important consideration , at least to me.  Good luck with your project . 

Steamer posted:

that 259e looks really good. I've been paying attention to the tinplate engines lately. Just won this shell for $5. Undecided whether I'll look for an original motor, seems like the zinc pest is a problem with the drivers on these? or put a 1666 type in it.

Took me a bit to get the 1666 reference. As an old Marxist I went to that maker's loco with that number before even realizing that you probably meant the Lionel 1666. It would be way cool if a smoking Marx 1666/666 motor would fit the old L company tin though. Kinda like a hot rod Ford with a small block Chevy in it!  LOL

Joe,

   A little time with the 249 Up Graded by Guns with the incredible ERR!

PCRR/Dave

Now there is Magic in the old 249 upgraded with ERR thanks to Gun Runner John!

handyandy posted:

Steamer posted:

that 259e looks really good. I've been paying attention to the tinplate engines lately. Just won this shell for $5. Undecided whether I'll look for an original motor, seems like the zinc pest is a problem with the drivers on these? or put a 1666 type in it.

Took me a bit to get the 1666 reference. As an old Marxist I went to that maker's loco with that number before even realizing that you probably meant the Lionel 1666. It would be way cool if a smoking Marx 1666/666 motor would fit the old L company tin though. Kinda like a hot rod Ford with a small block Chevy in it!  LOL

as an old Mopar man I'm highly offended by that reference Andy......

yeah I shoulda mentioned the Lionel 1666.....but you never know what I might end up putting in this thing.

Not today, but a week ago I spent an hour or so cleaning up this Flyer 3012:

Used a bit of Meguiars cleaning wax which does a great job polishing without marring the original paint. I've had equal success on Flyer and Ives lithography. Probably best to try it on an inconspicuous spot first, but never had a problem.

PD

Continue with the bridge

I hope the following is to understand I use google translator

The bridge needs a railing. Laser cut is too expensive for a few parts, so the parts are etched.
First with a laser printer on glossy paper the layout, i take old catalog paper.

Then use an iron to iron the toner onto a metal sheet

Then the whole for an hour in water and the paper off. After them solder a power connector and wrap the sheet with adhesive tape.

Put the tin in a bowl of hydrochloric acid with 5%

There is also a power supply and an electrode of carbon

The electrode has the – and the sheet the +

After about 30 minutes it is finished

The railing on the bridge

Arne