Made in The USA Prewar

Tom,

   You bet, my 263E work train is still my favorite Tin!  That baby was American made and still running strong, big 810 Crane Car and all!

PCRR/Dave

i would add American Flyer, Marx, Ives, Hoge, Dorfan & Hafner* to that list.

with Marx you don't even need to apply much TLC.

* in the 20's Hafner did feature a line of Bing (Germany) freight cars (IMO some of the best early American style tinplate) which were phased out late in the decade.  a few early American Flyer accessories were apparently also Bing creations.

cheers...gary

My 90 year old American Flyer passenger cars fascinate me whether they sitting on the shelf or trundling around the layout. I hope I am in as good a shape if I live that long!

Andy,

  Yes, I know that feeling. Clean lines, decent detail...fun to just stare at.

  Tom 

Tom

The fabulous thing about our vintage trains is that with a little TLC, they can be made to run as well as the day they were originally opened......how many 75-100 year old toys can say that!

Peter

 Made in the US. A sad reminder of were we should be focusing our one eyed dollars.

I do more than "like the thought". I've spent the extra coin. I will again.

 I just wish others would follow suit more often. Not every time, I think more often from more people is possibly enough.

  Even at the cost of second, third, or forth best vs the best you can get.

Your going to need to feed your "neighbor" eventually. Might as well help them earn it.

 But with the 'its all about me trance' of today?  It will take a much bigger fall than "some what recently" to wake the sleep walkers IMO.

  One old hobby was VWs. I bought mine very used, and every new part was made aftermarket in the states if I could help it. (many were) 

I'm just not in tune with todays throw away mentality at all.

I try to buy an item good enough to never "need" another.(or settle for u.s. best at least)

Pre-war, & post-war trains, are both in that "last a lifetime" category.

Its one of the reasons I feel little love for the new stuff. I just don't see it lasting as long. Even untouched, sitting on a shelf many will die.

 Even PW plastic engine shells bother me

 One of my favorites is a K-line GG-1. But every derail makes me wonder if it will work again once re-railed. A can motor and reverse board inside sure are smooth.

  But when will father time tell my capacitors, or a no longer made chip to fail?

I doubt very many new trains at all, will qualify for the century mark .

Heck, I'm also hoping for one, or even two more centuries of running for the PW owners that get my 2037 after I croak. And I abused the crap out of it already 

 Great electrical designs on new stuff really. But having worked with electronics, I think my fears are fairly realistic

 I'll stick with near a century of proven "bullet proofing" thanks.

Oh look, a digital fan. It streams mp4s for my sleeping dog, from work, using my phone .

Only $3200. Like "i" need that man "i" ain't tryin' to stone age my breezes with some random, trifling, old school knob.

You phone lovers, be glad you never worked for me. I clocked you out for the day and sent you home, if it was out of your pocket for over two minutes, anymore often then once in a great while. Ask & you might get 1/2 hour on the clock if number are ok . You aint messing with my bread & butter to yap, or text without asking .

  Yep. I hate um. I'm not getting better at liking them either.

But compare new to old trains and here I am like....Hey, how do we work clockwork into these rants anyhow??

Conventional rules because it is so simple, & so rugged . G'night Gracie

Wow! That is going to be one tired 2037! Better give it enough "earl" (or oil) as my father would say.

Back in 1994, my wife got me back into the hobby when she bought me a beaten up 2037 from a local antiques store.

 Tom 

Prewar or Postwar, nothing like some cleaning and lube and they run like new. Can't beat'm.

Yeah, it's history in your hands:  To think that some kid 70-80-90 years ago played with the same exact toy.

exactly Daryl. when I look at the scratches on my tinplate, I imagine the joy some kid had doing a Gomez Addams bit...or whatever train wrecker they had in the '30s.

Here is a 262E I bought last year.  I just love the little thing!  Look at the way the smokebox front conveniently folds down for headlight bulb replacement.  Contrast that with a statement in the manual for my modern 2-8-0, which says something like, "You may wish to take your engine to your dealer for headlight replacement".

Boy, that is beautiful.

How does she run? 

Tom

 The Addams family was originally a newspaper funny pages cartoon from the 1930's or so. (pre war)

 I don't know if Gomez was running trains yet for sure, but I think it may have been a Lionel tv promotional idea. One that they likely wouldn't admit to publicly

 If I said I'd never tried it, I'd be a liar. But I think the loss of my Erie, or Army A-unit shell put an end to emulating the nonsense. 

 A  least for a while.

  I did animatronic animation work for a decent stretch of time. And this shorter representation below was going to be a semi functional copy.

  All was going well till I injured myself, and then couldn't really reach above my head anymore.

 I had to let it sit for a long time before I could even get help mounting it solidly to run again. The first derail kept it, and me, inactive for months after So I built my present table layout to keep me running while I tried to heal.

  I was going to be using car door lock solenoids for lowering, strobe light, and a container, smoke unit, and computer fan with a dampened flow, to hold a clouds worth of pre-made smoke, to accompany the scene. That's why there are no support peers.

 You can see some of the hardware added for this, or to replace the mechanicals that were meant to be a part of it. The break point is the left girder bridge to trestle bridge connection. The right side was hinged at what is now a tunnel.

  I still cant reach up there well, but I keep my hopes high on getting up there again one day to finish up.

Thank you, Tom.  She runs very smoothly and steadily.  It's just a joy to run.

Enjoy our prewar trains .

Only thing i wish is that they could somehow talk about the journey they been thru before me.

Martin

Martin,

   Yes, that would be interesting. For me, I always wonder how many previous owners were involved and how many miles/scale miles/hours they have run.

 Tom

Record keeping is done by some. My Grandfather kept records of all previous owners.  Everything had a file card. He would call and offer them back before sales/trades etc.

 I recently found out from a cousin, I may be able to get a discount from one HS owners.

   Turns out Gramps held one set of childhood trains untouched for about ten years, and gave the owner a call. Then sold them back to the guy at the same price he paid, and wouldn't take a penny extra.

That guy eventually opened his own hobby store

Nice story. How many trains did Gramps have? Neither of my grandfathers had any interest in trains. 

Tom

Adriatic, the image you've posted no longer appears!

One of the attractions of pre and post war trains is the history associated with them and the lost US manufacturing technology involved. Lionel made a lot of trains each year. The only RR interest my father or grandfather had was a real steam engine bell we had sitting outside at "the farm", the family summer retreat of 160 acres. Hunters stole it one fall.  Thanks guys. Why I don't like hunters.

This past Christmas marked 50 years in the hobby for me. Always the lone wolf, I was promoting American flyer S when all around me was Lionel.  Even worse, the following for model trains had made the giant shift over to HO and that upstart N.  New AF stuff was like hens teeth.  I don't recall anything ever being NIB anyways, in fact nothing I owned had its original box.

All that is gone now, yet I still get nostalgic over some of the original examples of tinplate I now own.  It fascinates me to think what joy was derived in those first years of the depression by some lucky young owner of my Baby State set.  Scratches tell a story for sure, but I hope that the excellent condition of my set meant it was always treated with loving care the way I do.  It proves that you don't need big bucks invested in tinplate to know the pride of ownership every child once felt, especially when that feeling is renewed in ourselves. 

The next cool milestone for some, one that might have already arrived for you, is seeing our prized possessions into their 2nd century.  I have an old SG 38 that will be the first to hit 100 in about 3 years.  How amazing is that?!?!

Bruce

Bruce, 

  100 is a nice milestone. Most of my locos need another 24 years. 

  Hope you invite us to the party, maybe we'll bring grease and oil! 

Tom 

Although I can appreciate pristine examples of vintage trains, the vast majority of mine have plenty of playwear... evidence that the previous owners played with the train, enjoyed the train, and  - dare I say - even loved their trains.  As a prime example, allow me to submit this well-worn Ives No. 17.  If I have interpreted the details correctly, this particular model would date to 1915.  A Century has now passed since it left the Ives factory in Connecticut and was presented to a child, who was surely excited to receive such a fine treasure.  Yes, it is missing the cowcatcher (forgive me, but "Pilot" just seems too formal of a term for a cast-iron train).  I can only imagine the child either dropping their prized locomotive, or maybe it derailed and fell off the table, but they were certainly horrified that it was now broken!  Perhaps even a bit of dread of having to tell dad what happened.  Yet, it was still treasured and not thrown away; even as the world continued through the struggle of "The Great War", still safe throughout the Great Depression, and squirrelled away so it wasn't sacrificed to the scrap drives of World War II.  Somehow it survived to the end of the 20th Century and eventually wound up in my hands.  And now I am its caretaker for a while... and if I do my job properly, when I pass on, the Ives No. 17 will also be passed along to another caretaker.  So, Happy 100th Birthday little Ives, and may you live another 100 and beyond!

Bruce/ Tom,

I've spent many hours talking to my older residents. All the time wishing they could answer my questions. Oh, how I desired to know about all the people in their past. Don't you know how much laughter they must have heard?

I have a small #17 Ives iron loco, half the pilot but she runs !!  My wife bought it for me as a present. A keeper.

  He had hundreds. An old school collector, and operator, with a box of white gloves for the showcase pieces.

  From the floor up to the layout. Layout to the ceiling. Showcases. Closets etc. This first section alone below had every critter Lionel made + a few off brand but nice pieces.....It would be easier to list what he didn't have. I think he was missing 1 or two locos(?) and some rare box cars.

 He had collected since pre war. He ordered everything he could each year especially when Lionel was hurting, which accounts for how many I had. He was offered one of the old "top 100 dealer" CP carbody sets(yr?). But I never saw a store. I know he was given experimental train chassis(?Williams or Lionel?), track and switches to test out for either Ross, GG, or Atlas?

  He knew Lionel employees, was active with TCA, and another group? and definitely voiced his opinions  I think he even had an "editorial scuffle" on TCA grading?, and/or rivet counting vs toys? with "One of our own" during the 70's .

 MPC quality literally made him cry on a carbody (amtrack?) as he returned it, and stopped pre-orders.   

 A Lionel Jawn Henry was his dream. I really wish he could have seen it made.

 His favorite steam was the Mikado, or Berk's for O.

The GG-1 and the Super Chiefs for looks.

Normally waiting for the power up when I was young:

A pair of custom motor Super Chiefs in A-B-B-A,(at least) & 14 lighted cars each

A pair, of three FM Trainmasters doing freight. 2-red top & a grey, 2-greys & a red top.

More un-cracked on the shelves.  

One Hudson pulling clerestory heavies.

Another Hudson or Berk doing combo.

 This would be done again, but my injury stopped me unburying it, for a few years.

It was just plain easier to build upstairs for now.

Um,, this is only half cleared of stuff, most still new in the packages [from family shopaholic] 

  I have began clearing it again recently. But I cant carry things when ascending stairs yet.

This will be one heck of an "out of the junk box" topic when done.... 

Two more smaller shelf sections aren't shown.

 When I was real young, it wasn't a PW theme. It was highly detailed, and the track continued straight through the wall on the left side into the next room. A roundhouse was under the steps that the wall hides now. Not being able to monitor an unseen train in the next room, that track was pulled before Lionel and MPC even got together.

(and Grandma wanted a laundry room so Gramps would stop using the washer and dryer as a bench. I remember the proposition well:

 "And I get the whole rest of the basement for my trains? You're on Lady!". That's when showcases got added  

  Right here at the bottom you can a big square was hacked out one day in the 90's for reasons unknown ????

There was hinged sections for access here. The cut out portions are still here too....under boxes of more crap. 

There's also about 4ft between lights, and a window not even seen.

TrainsRMe,

   Great old Lionel 262E original, would love to have one myself, I have the 263E, 263E P2 the 259, and the 249 now ERR, would love to add a 262E if I could find an original in good shape, especially in the Gun Metal Gray.

Great find buddy.

PCRR/Dave