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Auctioned this past Saturday @ Maurer's...[IMG][/IMG][IMG][/IMG][IMG][/IMG][IMG][/IMG]
[/IMG][IMG][/IMG][IMG][/IMG][IMG][/IMG]Original Post
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Elektoy!
Ron M
Ron M
Those RONS are pretty smart guys!!! 
Care to tell us a little history of this Company??? The significance of this item???
Care to tell us a little history of this Company??? The significance of this item???
A brief excerpt from the TCQ (V2-4) article on Elektoy:
"The Elektoy train line was manufactured
between 1910 and 1917--a relatively
short span of years--in Harrison, New
Jersey, in a small factory of limited
production and rather anonymous circumstances.
A father-son combination named
Hoops operated as "Metal Specialties"
from 1875 to 1910. Various metal goods
with a wide variety of uses were manufactured
up to the advent of the patented
name ELEKTOY train line in 1910. Shortly
before the trains were produced ownership
passed to one person, but his name
is unknown at present. In the war period
of 1917-1918 train manufacture was
permanently discontinued, and the company
faded completely from sight after
World War I."
Ron M
"The Elektoy train line was manufactured
between 1910 and 1917--a relatively
short span of years--in Harrison, New
Jersey, in a small factory of limited
production and rather anonymous circumstances.
A father-son combination named
Hoops operated as "Metal Specialties"
from 1875 to 1910. Various metal goods
with a wide variety of uses were manufactured
up to the advent of the patented
name ELEKTOY train line in 1910. Shortly
before the trains were produced ownership
passed to one person, but his name
is unknown at present. In the war period
of 1917-1918 train manufacture was
permanently discontinued, and the company
faded completely from sight after
World War I."
Ron M
For a really definitive story of Elektoy (with lots of pictures) is Don Fraley's article in the TCQ V45-3.
Ron M
Ron M
According to Louis Hertz, Electoy Trains were manufactured by the J. K. Osborn Mfg. Co. of Harrison, NJ. Hertz believes that the dates of production were 1911-1913 (see "Riding The Tinplate Rails" and "Collecting Model Trains" both by Hertz.) This is a nice set. What was the hammer price?
$1875 plus 10%...
The Electoy loco motor is apparently prone to failure of the thin fiber retaining ring that holds the six pole armature segments in place...it failed on my 905 anyway probably a long, long time ago. You see this type of failure in some early Lionel motors as well, e.g. 42s. I have had the armature serviced (re-wound by the Motor Doctor) and the loc is awaiting further repairs and re-assembly (by me.) Hopefully I'll have my set (a three car freight set) running sometime this winter.
Great looking set - the lithography is in REALLY good shape! I have an Elektoy freight set (box car, two cattle cars and a caboose) with the painted version of this loco and I love it dearly. My set also has 8 extra cars made out of mahogany rolling on Elektoy trucks and each of the cars is numbered with a small aluminum plate. This makes for a VERY heavy train that the loco had no hope of pulling!
Got this set with a box of original Elektoy track, two switches, a crossover, and a bumper! The story on all this was that a hardware store in Pennsy had used this set as a Christmas window display set for many years and then it got put away by the family - there's still some green paint on some of the track ties and this makes sense to me about the very well made wooden cars, all using leftover Elektoy trucks. I suppose somebody at the store made the cars to expand the layout since the company went belly-up so quickly.
I love the way the loco body hinges up on these for servicing and the smoke stack actually acts as the screw which holds it all down. My loco ran very well after just some oiling and cleaning, UNTIL it was making some laps and the lower cap fell off that holds the bottom brush in place (it literally just screws on). Cap fell off on the track, sparks flew, the brush literally fell apart in my fingers, and I've not found another one to replace it with - odd sized tube! If anyone knows what brushes Elektoy locos use, please let me know!
You can see my Elektoy loco and some of the cars I'm talking about sitting idle in my youtube vids, just search my channel, "nachtjager77". Thanks for posting Ron, this is a far better than average set!
Got this set with a box of original Elektoy track, two switches, a crossover, and a bumper! The story on all this was that a hardware store in Pennsy had used this set as a Christmas window display set for many years and then it got put away by the family - there's still some green paint on some of the track ties and this makes sense to me about the very well made wooden cars, all using leftover Elektoy trucks. I suppose somebody at the store made the cars to expand the layout since the company went belly-up so quickly.
I love the way the loco body hinges up on these for servicing and the smoke stack actually acts as the screw which holds it all down. My loco ran very well after just some oiling and cleaning, UNTIL it was making some laps and the lower cap fell off that holds the bottom brush in place (it literally just screws on). Cap fell off on the track, sparks flew, the brush literally fell apart in my fingers, and I've not found another one to replace it with - odd sized tube! If anyone knows what brushes Elektoy locos use, please let me know!
You can see my Elektoy loco and some of the cars I'm talking about sitting idle in my youtube vids, just search my channel, "nachtjager77". Thanks for posting Ron, this is a far better than average set!
Thank YOU for adding to the thread!!! Ron B.
Hi -
I am the purchaser of this set. I already had a freight set but lacked a locomotive and one section of curve track. Both were supplied with this purchase. All of the Elektoy products are interesting. The couplers for this set must have been double ended but not attached to a car. For the freight set and the tender shown here, the coupler is one way and riveted to one of the truck rivets. My guess is the double ended ones got lost and the company responded by changing to the riveted in place ones. That would place this passenger set as earlier than the freight set.
The three rail track has a unique clip on the center rail that enables the track to be connected at either end, either way - no need to pull track pins. This lot also came with the remains of a switch (probably enough parts to restore) and a 30 degree crossing. Looks like the company made all of the parts for a layout.
I am unaware of accessories but always interested in learning more.
Thanks,
