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@Don McErlean There are probably people with a much more qualified opinion than mine who can comment on Marx Motors , but I just think they are made simple and made well, clarifying here I am referring to the simple 4 wheel variants or double reduction ones  !  ... just a rudimentary design made well with no real adjustments necessary, about the worst thing that will happen to most people is the need for an armature clean and brush maintenance, which is really simple a trio of screws and 2 nuts and you are there in 2 minutes, rarely needs nothing more than a quick scrub with a fibreglass pencil and maybe a cotton bud with alcohol. Brush retaining springs are simple as and auto adjusting , even the e-unit if it has one is just a spray with contact cleaner, same as the manual reversing contacts

Just built well, non-complicated, nothing that needs gauging or finicky adjustments .. unbolt, clean , re-bolt, run !

9 times out of 10 even an old one just needs a drop of oil on shafts and it will run. I just like them because simple and well built beats technical and bean counter cost cutting every time.

Mr Marx knew what he was building and got it right early on and stuck with it basically

Change for change sake affects too many things in this world , I don't need a toilet seat that cost $10,000 and has user customisations and selections , I just need something to stop my bum hitting the water !

@Fatman - Thanks for your comment.  I agree completely !

Don

I grew tired of trying to find a nice Flyer no. 91 freight depot, so until one turns up, I made one:

PD

@pd- WOW that is truly amazing work!  Beautiful job.

Don

Well almost finished

Plated all brass and assembled the loco and tender

just have scratches to do and she is done. I have stop working on trains and focus on the Christmas layout.

@pd posted:

I grew tired of trying to find a nice Flyer no. 91 freight depot, so until one turns up, I made one:

PD

Why buy one?  From layout viewing distance, I'll bet it's hard to tell that yours is printed.

@Mallard4468 posted:

Why buy one?  From layout viewing distance, I'll bet it's hard to tell that yours is printed.

I scaled this up a bit from an original, probably about twenty percent larger. An original no. 91 would be the same size as a no. 90, but it looks dramatically undersized because the doors/windows/etc. are sized to fit the tin body, not the other way around. I scaled the no. 91 up so that the windows and doors look sorta correct by comparison.

I'd been looking for a nice original Marx West Side Warehouse for the layout, but those seem really scarce, especially one that doesn't look like Dad backed the family wagon over it Christmas morning. Ed Berg posted some nice scans of the WSW graphics on his site, so I think I'll just use those to make a paper version. There are some plastic bits (doors, chimney, skylight, etc.) that I'll have to fabricate, but shouldn't be too tough.

Until I can find nice originals of these things, the paper versions will serve as place-holders on the layout.

PD

Acquired a Marx Military Official Car recently to anchor the Marx military-themed train I'm assembling:

Has a few scuffs to polish up, otherwise in nice shape. Is it my imagination, or does that illuminated drumhead look a bit like the Rising Sun?

PD

pd:

Sorta looks like the "rising sun" to me as well, but I do think it looks pretty good for its age.

Enjoy!!!

Peter.....Buco Australia.

Yes the Marx drum head does resemble the "Rising Sun" symbol of Imperial Japan.  However in the late 1930's this was not as well known as after 1941.  In fact the US insignia on our aircraft had a solid red circle in the middle of the star, this was removed after '41 to reduce the chances of mistaken identification.  This car most likely dates between 1936-1946 with further dating based on the "tail" of the tab/slot extension.  Eyelet rivet 1936, twisted tail 1938, punched tail 1946

Great looking car, good find!

Don

Don: Thanks for the interesting history lesson on this Marx carriage, and what was happening before and during WW2 with regards "paint schemes".

I always enjoy hearing from you.

Peter.....Buco Australia

Rivet here, Don, so prewar production?

PD

@pd - Yes, that is the "eyelet" rivet which marks your car as one of the earliest produced , circa 1936.  It would have the rivet from 1936-1938 so your car is most defiantly pre-war! Great find!

Don

@Don McErlean posted:

@pd - Yes, that is the "eyelet" rivet which marks your car as one of the earliest produced , circa 1936.  It would have the rivet from 1936-1938 so your car is most defiantly pre-war! Great find!

Don

Thanks for the info, Don. I know very little about Marx, so any factual tidbit is an upside

PD

About 2 wks ago at a local train show, I was able to acquire this #2653 black, rubber stamped, hopper.  A late pre-war car from 1940-41 it was part of Lionel's effort to make their line more realistic.  They were removing the number plates and replacing the decoration with more realistic rubber stamping.  In addition, the older latch type couplers were being replaced by couplers capable of automatic operation, in this case electric solenoid actuated box couplers.  So here are some pictures of my "new" 84 year old hopper!

I must say that after 84 years, she is fully complete.  All the ladders and brake wheels are intact and the rubber stamping, while it has a few scratches is remarkably complete.  Her dump hatches still work and are properly actuated with the opening wheel on the side of the car.  In fact, I am 80 this month and I am sure there are many that would say I am not nearly as complete nor do I work as well...

Best Wishes

Don

A terrific find, Don, one of, if not the rarest, version of the 653/2653-series hoppers.

And hope you have/had a great birthday!

PD

@pd- thanks for your comments and the birthday wish !

Don

Happy birthday Don......and I'm not so sure about the comments of "not nearly as complete nor do I work as well".  You certainly impressed us (Sue and I) when we went to dinner with you at "The Olive Garden" a couple of months ago, when we were travelling through Waco, Texas.

Great little coal hopper wagon as well.....you sure can pick them!!!

Stay safe and continue keeping well Don.

Peter.....Buco Australia.

@Buco - Peter thanks for the birthday wishes and your response to my posting.  Our dinner together remains one of my great memories of contact with really great people.  Say hello to Sue for me.  All the best.

Don

Got the frame on the Flyer 3015 beaten back into shape, so she went into service this past week:

I gotta move a Lionel 270 bridge that catches the "automatic" direction-control lever when the 3015 passes through. Easy enough to move the 270 from the outside loop to the inside loop of the "mainline". Might replace it with a prewar Flyer girder bridge if there's sufficient clearance.

PD

A well-worn and incomplete Flyer Hiawatha set found at York:

Working on finding a tender.

PD

@pd - NICE Find!  Good luck finding the tender but its a great find as is...

All the best , Don

getting a lot of photos of my internal storage and came upon a lot of a past tinplate layout. Will post more over the weekend (because I still don't have a layout in the new house)

Nice photo!

Tom

Hello, fellow tinplaters I have a request for some help.  I recently acquired a German (it is marked "made in Germany") what the seller stated was a 1930'ish open slotted reefer.  The odd thing is that the car is labeled "Milk Traffic" and those words are in English, hence it must have been made for export likely to either UK or US.  It has a trademark printed on the bottom but I cannot read the name of the mfr nor does there seem to be any other reference to who made the car.  I am going to post pictures below, including one of the trademark.  I am hoping someone here can help me ID the maker and perhaps when it might have been made.  THANKS!

Here is the car, it is 4 wheel and about 5 1/2 " long, dark green, accented with yellow rivet highlights and obviously imprinted with the English words "Milk Traffic"  The trademark states "made in Germany" and you can see the European style couplers.

Here is the mystery.  This is the trademark printed on the bottom of the car.  The top words, which I can read in the actual mark say..."Made in Germany" but the words after the picture of the little 2 window house I cannot read.

Anyone who could help me out to determine the maker and when it was made would be most appreciated.  The seller claimed 1930's but who knows?

Thanks for your help

Don

That one is a mystery to me also Don.

Very nice looking wagon, and it seems well preserved for its age.

I'll watch the replies as well, as I am keen to know its maker too.

Peter......Buco Australia

@Don McErlean posted:

Here is the mystery.  This is the trademark printed on the bottom of the car.  The top words, which I can read in the actual mark say..."Made in Germany" but the words after the picture of the little 2 window house I cannot read.

Anyone who could help me out to determine the maker and when it was made would be most appreciated.  The seller claimed 1930's but who knows?

Thanks for your help

Don

Don,

a B lying in a W says "Bing Werke". The milk traffic car has the No 62/560, was made 1923-1928.

Arne

@Arne - THANK YOU!!  I really appreciate you responding and providing that information.  Thanks again!

Best Wishes

Don

Terrific little Bing Milk Wagon Don!

They also did it in the plain jane cattle car version

Not much new to report but I did find a little set I have been on the look out for years

You sometimes see the loco listed for sale , but to find a complete box set was a bonus indeed !

I "think" its c1950's and unsure as to maker but def UK origins

@Fatman- What a neat set.  It seems like an early version of those Japanese and other inexpensive toy sets that we saw awhile back from the 1960's.  Much more realistic, those later ones with their very bright livery, do not have the "look" for real trains even though they are fun.  I had never seen the maker "Sunnyvale" before, I wonder if they made any other train toys.  I also noticed some interesting stickers on your box.  One of them from "Walther & Steve ..." has a message that I cannot read but I was wondering what it said?  In addition, the handwritten note..."Packd"  was interesting even if misspelled (at least in American English if the work is packed.)  It's fun to think about what was so important to the long ago owners that they had to put those stickers and wording on the box?

Great set for sure!  Thanks also for the pictures of the plain cattle version of my Milk Traffic van.  I must admit I am still a little curious about why the words "Milk Traffic" are in English (even the 3 cars Arne showed in his picture are in English) and so I am assuming that these items were made by Bing for export to either UK or US.

Glad to have you back on the forum Fatman, great to hear from you again.

Best Wishes

Don

@Buco ...Peter, my friend, I am sure you have followed the above inputs on this thread.  I am pleased to say that Arne identified my little Milk Traffic van as Bing and the makers stamp as a "B" nestled inside a "W" for Bing Werke and gave it a year of manufacture of 1923-1928.  As you can imagine I am thrilled with that information.

Best Wishes Mate!

Don

@Don McErlean posted:

Great set for sure!  Thanks also for the pictures of the plain cattle version of my Milk Traffic van.  I must admit I am still a little curious about why the words "Milk Traffic" are in English (even the 3 cars Arne showed in his picture are in English) and so I am assuming that these items were made by Bing for export to either UK or US.

Glad to have you back on the forum Fatman, great to hear from you again.

Best Wishes

Don

Yes, was made for UK.

Here the picture from UK catalog 1928.

Arne

New in the collection.

A 100 year old train. Made by Heinrich Fischer in 1924.

Arne

Just extraordinary...thanks so much for sharing those pics.

PD

@Arne posted:

New in the collection.

A 100 year old train. Made by Heinrich Fischer in 1924.

Arne

Fantastic Arne!

Yes Don.....Arne is definitely "the man" when it comes to identifying European tinplate trains that have some age about them!!!

Fatman: Great to hear from you again.......we "boys from the bush" have to stick together. That is an unusual looking  "shunting engine" set, and it looks to be in very good condition....great find, and thanks for sharing!!!

Once again, Arne, you have sourced an incredible little train set that has survived 100 years almost intact. I sure hope I make it that far, and look half as good as it does at 100.

Played trains again yesterday with my neighbor's 5yr old son (he has Autism), and we had a ball. He is so clever using the transformer controls, hitting the bell and whistle buttons, and bringing the trains (yes we had two trains running at the same time - on separate tracks) to a stop, and then reversing them. That's what playing trains is all about......still have a smile on my face!!!

Peter.......Buco Australia.

Arne:  First thank you for confirming that my Milk Traffic van by Bing was made for the UK marked and showing me that catalog cut.  Now I have to find those Milk cans ! 

The train by Fischer is just great.  I love these old tinplate items although I have managed only to collect a very few of them, I still seek them out to add to my collection when I am lucky enough to find one.  Best of luck with your new train.  It certainly looks in far better condition than its 100 year old age.

Best Wishes

Don

Nice Bing milk car Don, there is many variations around those cars, i have a cattle car, very similar but with four wheels trucks so just a little longer

Very best, Daniel

As we are on Bing theme, here is my latest find, a lovely BING die cast loco for the New York Central from 1925-30. It is in good condition except that the commutator has exploded in three parts.... it is not going to be an easy fix and finding a replacement one is a dream so.... I have to do something to make it run again...

All my best wishes, Daniel

Wow Daniel, its great to hear from you again, hope all is well in France!  Your Bing cattle car was really neat to see.  I am afraid except for my Milk Traffic van I have no other Bing items, so I am very interested in what they offered as they are a very famous brand name and were very active in the US in the early part of the 20th century.  Your Bing locomotive is great.  Like my Milk Traffic van it too must have been intended for the export market from Germany as it is labeled NYC lines, in English.

By the way, it is really good to have you back on the forum.  Thanks for posting.

Don