Front End Friday

Local freight at Todd's Junction about 3 pm Friday afternoon.  

Well folks, here is another Friday and its 85 degrees in central Texas and its still MARCH!!  It seems too early for such temperatures but candidly with all that's going on in my life right now its good to know that ...the grass still needs mowing, the trees need trimming, and the flower beds need to be prepared so I'm keeping busy.  Today's offering is a old front end (in fact both ends are old ). This is an American Flyer "Champion" set from 1930-1932. It was one of their low price sets and of course it was the depression era so price was important to sales, perhaps more than usual.  Remember 1932 was the bottom or maximum depth of the Great Depression.  So here is the American Flyer Champion.

The F.E.F. view.  She is mostly sheet metal but with copper domes and handrails.  A 2-4-0 she hauls a short manifest of some one piece AF passenger cars.

Here she is with her sheet metal tender, the light on the rear however is faux, just for looks.

Here are the #519 and #518 passenger cars including the combi car in front.  These were interesting designs by Flyer, super cost effective, they were designed so that the entire car could be lithographed on a flat sheet, punched out and then folded into a complete car like origami.  Very clever indeed.

Best wishes to everyone, hope you have a good weekend

Don

Some favorite faces

Happy FEF everyone - have a great weekend!

@CAPPilot posted:

A little late today.

Question.  Is this the front?

Or is this the front?

Had to look.

WbB 44 tonner.

"And the answer is . . . YES!"

@CAPPilot posted:

A little late today.     Had to look.

WbB 44 tonner.

Yeah Ron that ' F ' stands for front.

All this time the manufactures have been doing these little markings on these machines ........and I just found out what that ' F ' stands for myself .

@TedW posted:

A late night depart...

This photo would be a great one to put on the  'IMAGINEERING  IN  RR  PHOTOGRAPHY '  thread Ted.  Nice .

@Don McErlean posted:

Well folks, here is another Friday and its 85 degrees in central Texas and its still MARCH!!  It seems too early for such temperatures but candidly with all that's going on in my life right now its good to know that ...the grass still needs mowing, the trees need trimming, and the flower beds need to be prepared so I'm keeping busy.  Today's offering is a old front end (in fact both ends are old ). This is an American Flyer "Champion" set from 1930-1932. It was one of their low price sets and of course it was the depression era so price was important to sales, perhaps more than usual.  Remember 1932 was the bottom or maximum depth of the Great Depression.  So here is the American Flyer Champion.

The F.E.F. view.  She is mostly sheet metal but with copper domes and handrails.  A 2-4-0 she hauls a short manifest of some one piece AF passenger cars.

Here she is with her sheet metal tender, the light on the rear however is faux, just for looks.

Here are the #519 and #518 passenger cars including the combi car in front.  These were interesting designs by Flyer, super cost effective, they were designed so that the entire car could be lithographed on a flat sheet, punched out and then folded into a complete car like origami.  Very clever indeed.

Best wishes to everyone, hope you have a good weekend

Don

Don, your photos of old tinplate's always bring a smile to my face! Thanks, and glad your staying busy and active!!!

@TrainBub posted:

Happy FEF !!! 🙂  Here’s My Absolute Favorite !!!

3Rd Rail T&P

TrainBub, I can see why it's your favorite, it's quite striking! It's so detailed you could look at it all day and not see everything. Scott and the 3rd Rail team do beautiful and amazing work.

Hey Ron ( CAPPilot ) you say your late for FEF , what time zone are you in ?    I'm going to post a photo here and I still have 3 1/2 hours before Friday closing down for me. ( doesn't mean some FEFs can't be submitted tomorrow   ).

Well here I  go with my front ends for this Friday...............

...........make it a great weekend all and God speed.

Happy FEF everyone. Something from a couple years ago.

FeF in the Paradise repair siding WP 485 GS-64 and Power Wagon service vehicle in the evening sun. Happy Friday and have a great weekend!!

Did someone say “Union Pacific”?

@TedW posted:

3/24/23 FEF Something a little different for today.

Great model and great job assembling it, Ted! Slava Ukraini!

@Don McErlean & @Jerry Williams I missed last week's FEF and your posts informing us of your wives' passing. I sincerely express my condolences to you both during this difficult time. While you and your families will miss the many blessings that your dear and beloved partners brought in this life, rest assured that they both experienced a joyful reunion with the Lord as they began the next. My prayers are with you both.

@TedW posted:

3/24/23 FEF Something a little different for today.

I'm going to cheat on this FEF and show my TET from the past.

Ted showed a model from the same company  ( I believe it was called U Gears )  above from the Ukraine who make clocks, autos ,etc. from the same type of kits.

The really cool thing about these kits is that there is no glue needed.   The power is supplied by a large wad of rubber bands.  Tons of laser cut plywood and great instructions.

FWIW  The "Ugears" kits are fun, albeit a little fiddly.  Large variety of models to choose from. Lot's of toothpicks(provided) to hold them together.  Use a bit of sandpaper and bar of soap to friction fit the parts.  Also useful, needle nose pliers and flush cutters.
https://ugears.us/collections

Happy FEF friends of this fun thread, my grandsons put together a model similar to the one shown earlier. We gave them the kit last Christmas and it sure looks great. Happy Railroading Everyone

@TedW posted:

FWIW  The "Ugears" kits are fun, albeit a little fiddly.  Large variety of models to choose from. Lot's of toothpicks(provided) to hold them together.  Use a bit of sandpaper and bar of soap to friction fit the parts.  Also useful, needle nose pliers and flush cutters.
https://ugears.us/collections

The recessional for our wedding was ' Ode to Joy ' .   I did assemble the ' Hurdy Gurdy '  by U Gears .  It looked a lot like the hobo' s on the Polar Express movie.  It actually can be played. ( I played 'Ode to Joy '  for Judy on it........she didn't recognize what I played )

Don/Jerry, I’m so sorry for you both. My heart goes out to you. My thoughts, prayers, and condolences to you and your families.

Andy

@Steamfan77- thank you for your thoughts and your message. Very much appreciated

Don

Don if it should happen to stay 85 degrees in central Texas through sometime in December I think you'll be okay.  Busy but okay.  Just keep working outside my friend.

@coach joe - Great advice and I am certainly going to try to keep busy.  My daughter in law came by today and we started cleaning up my lady's flower beds for spring.  Its good honest, dirty hands work and it does make me feel better.  Thank you for your comments and thoughts, it means a lot especially now.

Respectfully

Don

@Bill Swatos - Bill I am just catching up on reading some of our threads and posts but I wanted to thank you for your condolences and thoughts.  All my "forum friends" have really eased this situation and I thank you all.

Best

Don

Front End Friday of the HO style for me today.  Here is my Milwaukee Road Little Joe locomotive by MTH that just became available off of pre-order.  Purchased mine from TrainWorld. Ran the set at my club layout (South Florida Railway Museum).

Happy Front End Friday, everyone

Front End Friday....CSX style. I hope everyone has a great weekend.

Here is a link to my brand-new video highlighting the big SD80's hauling a long string of Lionel Auto Racks.

Lionel "Auto Racks"

Donald

Canadian Pacific GP30 on this FEF.

Taking the lead from @trumpettrain from a few FEF's ago, I'm featuring my newest and oldest front ends today. First, here's my newest Lionel front end, a Soo RS-27 from 2022:

And my oldest Lionel front end, a PW 2354 NYC F3 AA "growler" set from 1954 or 1955:

Unfortunately, I cannot claim that I have had the "growler" set since childhood; I got her from Trainz a few weeks ago. She required a fair amount of work, but now, like Archie and Edith's old LaSalle, she runs great. She's pulling a string of Weaver scale boxcars today. Her RK 027 passenger consist is just to the left.

Here's my ends of the front kind for this fine Friday!  

Happy FEF

Happy Friday everyone.

Happy Good Friday with your front ends!  Here is the front end of an R17 #5 train coming into City Hall -

Happy FEF!

Well F.E.F. folks, I thought I might continue to post some older toys just for fun and nostalgia purposes.  This is an American Flyer, cast iron, clockwork locomotive.  According to my guide book,  it is the later style (second offering) no XI and is marked "A.F. no 16" under the cab window but with no raised panel, offered in 1929-1932.  A key dating feature of this type is the tapered boiler that was first offered with the type XI in 1922.  At just over 90 years old (yes she still works) she is in excellent condition.  Note: Positively identifying and dating early Flyer Cast Iron locos is difficult, my identification of this loco is my best estimate but its just an educated guess with limited data.

Her she is with her passenger set, the Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul coach and the RPO/Baggage car.

I did find her as a boxed set so here she is in her set box.  The track pieces are wrong I am sure, although the track type (AF 2 rail) is correct.  It had no curved pieces when I bought it thus I would think those are missing as most sets in this era came with a circle or oval of track.

Well I hope you are looking forward to a great weekend.

Best Wishes

Don

A great FEF to all ...........

...........and a Happy Easter.     God speed.

Greetings from the Paradise layout! Happy FeF, here's some Santa Fe. There are some great photos today, I'm enjoying the thread. Thanks to all!

@RSJB18 - hey I was reviewing the pictures on this thread and saw the "Two Cousins Fish Market" refer on your layout.  If you get a chance could you send some info on that car especially how to get one?  Don

Have a good Front end Friday and Enjoy your Easter Sunday!! Front and rear of PW Lionel 2344 ABBA from 50/52 the add on 2344C B Unit NYC from 50 / 55 .  Along with Western and Maryland set from 95 passing each other.

4/7/23  1601 through the crossing...