Hafner - Wyandotte Tinplate

That is very nice, David!  Looks great on your portable layout.  I have a "fixer-upper" all-black version of that locomotive on the workbench right now.  Seeing your train makes me want to get my engine finished & running!  Thanks for posting the pictures.

I love it.  And those Dimestore Dreams autos are perfect for your theme, aren't they?

I am in my third childhood so take comfort and ..as always you captured the charm of tinplate and gladly I have become addicted to those Dimestore Dream cars. I have the 2000 engine and have collected as a supplement to that addicition, eight unique Hafner cars along with your recent acquisition that I electrified with a Marx mechanism. Your posts are in my top ten. Where in the world did you find that station? More importantly, what is it? Is that cardboard or tin? 

That is great Dave. That engine is one of my favorites. I have it in a freight and a passenger set.

Steve

David, very nice and a good find. That's my favorite Hafner color scheme. I've been looking at train shows for one in very good or better condition but haven't been able to locate one in good enough condition yet.

I'll keep on lookin'.

Like you, I prefer toy train layouts. Detailed scenery and scale models don't interest me all that much. They are ok to look at but your little portable layout is much more interesting to me. Good work!

here's a passenger car i bet you don't have...

hard to see how this one slipped by QC.

cheers...gary

Gary

What the..? What a fantastic variation with equally sharp graphics. That's what I love about tinplate, just when you think you have the map of what was done and when by a maker, something both bizarre and amazing like this pops up. Thanks for sharing it. The Marxified Hafner below is on it's approach to the bridge..

Here is the passenger set with the same engine & tender.

Steve

Nice find David, and those items all look great together on your handy fold-up layout!

A friend has a similar Hafner wind-up loco with bell and battery-power headlight. The bell mechanism is super-simple: the clapper drags along between the rails and is flipped up by the ties - it wouldn't work on 3-rail. The headlight bulb is not in place in the photo but you can see the battery holder up front.

dave...

all i can say is that "cardboard and tin were made for each other"...thank you for posting...

a great reminder of how the hobby started...

my very best regards...

howard

http://www.littleglitterhouses.com

Marx made a 34 piece cardboard tab and slot set called "Railroad and Village Construction Set" in the 1950's (I believe).  The  buildings I constructed from images I obtained on the internet.  I sized and printed the images, then glued them to foamcore, cut, glued and assembled them.  I didn't use the tab and slot idea but glued all parts together.

Yes, "Dimestore Dreams" or "American Dimestore" vehicles do go well with the toylike windup layout.  I would really like to use vintage Marx stamped metal vehicles, but they must be very collectible because the selling prices for one is greater than an entire Marx train set.

i've got to think it was a boring day on the factory floor.  here is another rather obvious error i got in the same lot that also brings up an interesting observation on Hafner production...

a sand car lithographed blank shaped into a tank.  but this also answers the question as to why the Hafner sand cars have a V-shaped interior.  when the gondola blank was shaped into a tank, the graphics lined up perfectly on both sides.  so for economy, i would guess that EVERY Hafner freight car used the same size body blank which was likely some even fraction of a full sheet.  if the sand cars had a flat bottom, it was be very shallow or would require a larger blank to shape it into a standard looking gondola.  standardizing blanks to fit the same press with different form shapes is what you needed to do to make the pennies add up and survive in business those days.

fun stuff...gary

David

I should have expected such a creative solution from you in replicating the village. Talk about coincidence...I have nearly completed the restoration of a large ( nearly standard gauge) Keystone gas station and your response is timely. It is made from Masonite with a tough printed material on which they printed as sort of a method that was even less expensive to produce ( I assume) than printing on tin. It has taken two years to gather bits and pieces. The one thing I cannot locate is the large sign placed atop the building. And so...thanks to you, I will look for a better full on image of the sign. I was thinking I could get a custom decal made, but your method more suits my pocketbook. Thanks for responding. BTW..the  cars in the picture are not Keystone.. The ones I acquired have opening hoods and trunks that are outfitted with tanks that are meant to be filled via the pump. The car wash on the side is also water using hence the pump..a lot of water and paper laminated Masonite are not too kind to one another.

Gary,

I found my first Hafner cars in the dusty corner of a resale shop and when I turned a silver 91876 gondola upside down, I found it was formed from a yellow mustard can! I still have it and my assumption is it was made during WW2 or the Korean War during metal shortages. And I thought that was bizarre..I can hear it now.." Bob, go to the dumps and see if there are any mustard cans there today.."

I wonder how your examples escaped..did some Hafner employee pocket them as a curiosity? You have some rare of the rare examples I have ever seen. Thanks for sharing them.