Dorfan standard gauge

exceptional find!  especially the locomotive.

how is the motor?

one correction if i could nitpick, though, ...

it's "Wide Gauge" when talking about Dorfan (or Flyer for that matter).

cheers...gary

Wow, are find!

Congratulations! Outstanding! Take care as you clean it. Yes, allow the inner child to escape for a while. BTW Don't let anyone catch you giggling and talking to yourself. lol! Again, Outstanding!!!

Gary you are correct and I knew that, my booboo, motor runs but needs a little TLC

Awesome find. While the cars are nice, the condition of the loco makes it quite a rare find. The fact that it runs (or has the potential to run) puts it in a whole other category. 

I'd love to get phone calls like that! Congrats. 

Are you going to restore them or leave them as found?

Al

leave cars alone ,probably restore the engine ( I know original is often preferred but I like the look of a restored piece also it is rare so I don't think it will adversely affect the value, your opinion?)

i also have a No. 3920 Loco-Builder Engine (1927-30) [ed. corrected], and it is also in sound shape, but i'm not 100% certain the paint is original... just my gut feeling.

although the 3920 is the least valuable of the three wide gauge Dorfan models (the other two are ridiculously rare, though), yours seems to be eternally (i'd like to see the motor or at least an undercarriage picture) original with the maroon body and yellow windows.  i would look around for a replacement window (they tab into the openings) and personally i might replace any wires that would affect normal operation, but i would not touch the finish.

the exposed metal is not going to rust or deteriorate and with proper care, the cosmetic playwear this locomotive has seen over close to a century of existence will be frozen at this point.  repaint and all that character would be gone forever.

cheers...gary

I'd say that engine is good enough to leave it be. nice find.

    Great Find!!! PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE leave the loco paint alone!!! If u promise to leave it alone, I will mail you a replacement window. Cant beat that deal huh! The vomit green pullman is quite a scarce variation. 

   Dorfan locos with paint in that condition are very scarce, usually you have nice paint and a bad casting, or rough paint on a good casting. It is probably a 3919 (No bearings). Im sure any Dorfan collector would consider that loco to be Dorfan C7!!!

  If you want the window, drop me an email at willowriverantiques@yahoo.com.

For the life of me, I cannot follow your logic here.  If a train is a dime a dozen, then an argument can be made that one less 318 or 380 in original condition will not be missed. But, "this one is rare so I'll destroy any originality and value it has" just defies reason.

Picture someone your grandson's age collecting trains around 2070.  Time was, you could find a Dorfan 3020 in original condition, amazing to think, huh?  Now they're all gone, people repainted them when they found them, even the nice ones, can you imagine?

Take Dave up on his offer for the window, and treasure your Dorfan, as is.  

Gary, 

"i also have a No. 3930 Loco-Builder Engine (1926-30)....although the 3930 is the least valuable of the three wide gauge Dorfan models... yours seems to be eternally... original"

You're calling this the 3930, but that is the more scarce "crocodile" model: this is the bipolar, and is the 3920 (also cataloged in 1930 as the 3919 without ball bearings).

david

yup my error.