International GG1 ...1953. Scale ..,,3 rail ...

diecast body?

I had forgotten how short the Lionel were.

Thanks!

john

Body is sheet brass ...side frames cast brass ...this is a big engine ..so is the real GG1..

Thank you for taking your time and effort to repost this.

SZ

$250 might be close to $2500 today.   No small expenditure!

I really appreciate the repost.  I won't repeat what I said in the original thread other than to say what a wonderful find and new information for me.  I never know IMP made a GG1, especially one of that quality.  Enjoy it!

@CPF3 posted:

$250 might be close to $2500 today.   No small expenditure!

$250 in 1953 is worth about $2400 in 2020

@Carey Williams posted:

....these builders were the first snapped up when Max Grey began importing and KMT was established .

Think that might be KTM?  Many of the IMP boxcabs that I have or had were marked KTM.

I am not a Doorstop GG1 expert, so take whatever I type with a grain of salt.  My first GG1 was a sand cast bronze body I got from Dan Henon in exchange for a nice Egolf Pullman car.  I then introduced myself to Ed Alexander, who gave me a tour of his small factory, and sold me some GG1 side frames.  Let me see if I can find a photo.  The casting was flawed in the cutout areas below the pantographs, so there is a layer of Bondo in there to make the contour more correct.

Carey    Thanks for sharing that great find its a beauty indeed. I to have seen this model, up for sale here in Australia, but advertised as KTM, I bid on it but unfortunately missed out. The raised lettering and stripes set this model apart from other GG1's.  Bob always great to see your doorstop versions of the GG1. There always a stand out model, with those Ramond Lowey streamlined lines.   cTr....( Choose the Right )

There are several doorstop GG1s in O scale.  Baldwin (the model company) made one, the Alexander one could be considered in that category, and there are other's I've seen on eVilbay that were not identified.  Mostly sand cast bronze castings for body shells.  Wish I had an example of each for my collection.  My only doorstop GG1s are in HO by George Stock.  Saw a doorstop P5a(modified) also this summer, but it was the same time I purchased the Ajin built Overland one instead for a better price.

I never knew the GG1 was referred to as a door stop. I can see why.

Learned something new!

Doorstop is a slang term in the hobby for any really heavy, generally cast metal, locomotive. It can be a Diesel, an electric, or a steam model. The more massive and more lacking in detail the better.

@Arthur P. Bloom posted:

Doorstop is a slang term in the hobby for any really heavy, generally cast metal, locomotive. It can be a Diesel, an electric, or a steam model. The more massive and more lacking in detail the better.

Beat me to it. 

I have bronze castings from three different patterns - I was selective, since some of the variants are really not all that accurate.  The ones I like best have the whiskers cast in (I fill them to smooth).  The Alexander/Duddy is next best.  I think the above Tuscan model is neither of those.

"Doorstops" started out as a derisive term.  We adopted it and made it respectable.  Too bad the Ow5 folks couldn't do that.

Thanks guys for clearing up the door stop moniker. I guess I'm too private with my trains to ever pickup any slang.

Here is an Alexander body on Wolfer trucks.  Most Alexanders are aluminum castings, and I have one of those.  Ed's earliest effort had too much slant in the nose - you do not see many of those.  This is a fairly accurate model:

That's a nice one Bob.

Years ago, I once had a set of GG1 sides sand-cast in Al that were about a half-inch thick; I have no idea who made them but a heliarc welder would have been the only way to put them together. I ended up trading them for two Lykens Valley models, a Southern Big John hopper and a Santa Fe 86' hi-cube boxcar which I assembled and still have.

I have some IMP box cars. I would love to learn more about them.

Hello  International offered a wide range of cars in HO and O scale .in the early 50's ..here are two pages   1952 and 54 ..

I have several IMP models including the Japanese Bo-Bo electric, the NE style caboose, what is likely the Camelback, but on an All-Nation10 wheeler frame instead of the Atlantic frame in the catalog, the Pacific, and few other's I can't remember I'm sure.  The quality is isn't terrible and they are fun pieces.

The quality isn't terrible?  I love it!

Measured against, say, Max Gray imports, it comes up short.  By a bunch.

The little Steeplecab was quite good.  The sand dome off the Pacific/Atlantic was useable.  The Challenger really wasn't terrible, but Lobaugh was light-years ahead in quality.  And some of the freight cars could be reinforced and re-detailed to take them out of the "not terrible" category.

Opinion.

Maybe I exaggerate a wee bit much.  I like the quality of IMP products or they wouldn't be in my collection!   I absolutely love my Camelback even if it a hybrid with the wrong drive.  I don't have anything close to that GG1 of the original post though.  That is one to keep an eye out for.