International Model Products Dockside

Bout the only thing. I found out about them is they made boat models and miniture operating outboard boat motors like mercurys. Out of about 3 thousand listings I didn't find any trains so it could have been a one off for them.

David 

It may have been made in Japan. Scale brass was made there in the early post war period.

You're right, it was made in Japan.  That's one of the only things I've found out about it.

I love the 0-4-0 Little Joe's. That dates back to my HO days, and recent reintroduction to them. 

That's a nice O gauge version. Don't worry about painting it. Just enjoy it and know that it's a very nice piece.

If you can show us a pic of the motor and e-unit, it would confirm my thought that it was built by Sakai.

International Products was a fairly popular importer of mostly two rail scale RR products in the early '50's.  And, I'm sure that virtually all of their items were made in Japan, as there was no other fine model industry anywhere else until some years later.  I remember a little four wheel diesel or gasoline loco that was also made at that time in "0" gauge.  However, they also had a line of HO engines that preceded the Tenshodo name that became more popular.

I was not aware of their entry into the tinplate or three rail market and find your Little Joe "Docksider"  to be very interesting.  Recently I acquired a brass model of an Illinois Terminal "Streamliner" which was also a three rail (center rail) "0" gauge model.  It also has open frame, AC type motors, one in each of the two cars.  Surprisngly, the model is in 17/64" scale rather than 1/4", which makes it somewhat larger than other similar "0" gauge models on my layout.  I'm having it restored and painted in it's original Blue, Gray and Aluminum colors right now.  No builders name appears anywhere on the model but it certainly looks like it might have been an International Models product.

Paul Fischer

Here you go:

Thanks for all the thoughts so far - this is interesting stuff.

I don't think it's a Sakai, the mystery continues. It's amazing how that all fits in a little body.

It is put together quite cleverly, but being a tank engine there's a surprisingly large amount of room to work with.  They probably could have even included a smoke unit.  One not-so-clever quirk: as with Lionel e-units, there's a level to lock it into one direction, but you can't change the setting without removing taking the shell off!

I hear you Bob, although this model is reasonably solidly-built, it's not a top-quality brass piece.  But, it does get a few details right that the much more recent Right-of-Way docksider didn't.  I got it for $92, so even with the added cost of detail parts, paint, and decals, it's going to be a good-looking little engine for a very reasonable price, not to mention a fun project.  I might even have Frank Timko install a can motor and reversing board.

So the consensus is it's not blasphemy to modify this particular piece?

Go for it and show us what you did here when you can!

Prrjim and mwb, I like that logic.  This is going to be a really fun project, and I'll post photos when it's done.  No doubt, I'll also show up here with questions before all is said and done...  Wish me luck!

The reverse unit appears to be a Gilbert American Flyer. I have owned other IMP locos of this time period and they had a manual reverse switch.

As to my flimsoid comment - I agree that the freight cars are adequate.  The Pacific and Atlantic need at a minimum new frames and steel driver axles.  The drivers can be made to work, but a good set of drivers will go a long way toward making these things run better.

The Varney Dockside is truly a classic.  I will have one in O Scale some day - i might pay close to ninety bucks for one as above.  Or I might just copy my Varney in 17/64. I did that to my Mantua Shifter and my Bowser Pacific:

I see others have long since expanded on International.  I have several of their cars,

packed away...not looked at in some while, so can't list...used to pop up inexpensively every now and then in local shows..usually tarnished bare brass, think I have a USRA caboose and a UP offset cupola caboose, stock car, and others..BUT haven't looked at lately.  Other old brass I'm curious about are: who made a brass Mack railbus, that looks like maybe, Ken Kidder, but..ONLY Ken Kidder?..and who made a brass Sykes railbus..also, I'd guess as Ken Kidder, but have never seen or heard of another..or seen an old ad for it, as I've seen Kidder ads for the Mack...wonder if International made any of these...? Seems there were more than one brass Mack railbus imported...Kidder and ?..in the 1950-1960's?

49Lionel,

    Please keep your IMP Docksider in original condition. It documents a little-known product.

   Please send a summary of this topic and photos to Allan Miller. OGR could publish them and invite replies to gather more information about IMP 3-rail products.

Last year I came acroos a Right-Of-Way B&O Docksider at Allentown. Here are photos.

The tether appears white but it is black. It blends in above the coupler. I think it plugs into a sound system in a trailing car.

I have a 1956 IMP HO catalogue in my dusty musty old archives.  I had two IMP steam engines.  They were both so junky I gave them away.  One was a brass 2-8-2 that I converted to three rail.  It had a reverse lever in the cab that you had to manually operate to change direction, very sparse and sketchy detail and a poorly designed universal joint connection between the motor and worm gear.  The other was a brass B & O 0-4-0 designed for three rail.  Again there was practically no detail.  Electrical pickup was by a soft brass shoe that wore through quickly.  After smokestack fell off I gave it away too.  I would not expect much from an IMP engine.  It is pretty though and would look nice on a shelf somewhere.      Odd-d

Thanks, Odd-d.  Looks like you've solved the mystery of "when".

The ROW dockside looks like a good start if someone wanted to detail it. Much better than the MTH version.

Here's my Varney Dockside. At one time, the most popular HO locomotive on the market. I'm building a small Baltimore waterfront layout for it.