Weekend tinplate photo's / Video's 7/22/16!

Last week a collector friend gave me this boxed Mettoy Railway Accessory Set. The British company Mettoy (METal TOYs) produced toy dolls, boats, aeroplanes, trains and  later Corgi Toy cars; the company was established by a German immigrant. The set should contain a tunnel, a signal box and a signal. The signal is missing, but the box is a nice item by itself. The picture of the signal box differs from the content, but the content is assumed to be original. 

Regards

Fred

Good morning, all. My contribution this week is our Lionel 225. This locomotive is not original to our family. Rather, we acquired it at one of the old meets at St. Benedict in Holmdel, NJ during the early 80s as we thought it would make a nice stablemate for my Dad's 226E. When we purchased it, the locomotive was in superb cosmetic condition but needed an  overhaul following many decades of storage.

We took the model to Boyd Mason's Hazlet Train Stop where, in addition to converting the tender to knuckle couplers, Boyd performed his trademark magic and our "new" 225 was running as well as the day it emerged from the erecting halls of Lionel. Ah, the memories. 

Bob

As I collect prewar trains my preference is to have the best original condition pieces that I can afford.  I don't always stick to that guideline.  Once in a while I buy a repainted item or something that American Flyer never made (but perhaps should have).  I call this part of the collection  "The What If they had made this Collection".

This is one of the first pieces.

 Flyer (Gilbert era) never made an observation for 490 passenger cars. One day I ran across a whole fleet of these cars that a previous owner had customized. The piece that fascinated me the most was this observation car.

Here are a few more of these cars.

In the world of let's pretend; what if Flyer had made an observation like this, and paired it with these passenger cars and one of the streamlined engines of the same era?

Let's say it was the #553

They could have marketed a train called :

The Red Comet,  or The Cardinal, or my personal favorite The Scarlet Letter Carrier 

From the Land of Pure Imagination,

Have a Great Tinplate Weekend

Greg

Wish I had something new to show y'all (like my Ives/Marx/Lionel mixed train), but I forgot to take photos before I left this weekend. Have some archive photo of my 495 instead.

In the spirit of Greg's "The What If they had made this Collection" I offer my home brewed AF 1122 observation car...

Here's the rest of the train in two tone copper - The Copper Cannonball

The Cannonball is also pulled by a streamlined steam engine, but alas, it is not a Flyer loco, but a modified Marx Commodore Vanderbilt, complete with a Marx 666 smoker.

Favorite loco, Lionel 258:

A nicely refurbished example, runs like a champ.

PD

Chris, although the Marx Glendale Depot was probably made for O Gauge, it really is much better scaled to Standard Gauge... and the curve on the front of the base matches Standard Gauge 42 curves!

Fred, I really enjoy Mettoy – they did some fun lithography.  Here's their Joy Line Station, another tunnel, and a 2-rail bridge:

david

CNJ 3676 posted:

Good morning, all. My contribution this week is our Lionel 225. This locomotive is not original to our family. Rather, we acquired it at one of the old meets at St. Benedict in Holmdel, NJ during the early 80s as we thought it would make a nice stablemate for my Dad's 226E. When we purchased it, the locomotive was in superb cosmetic condition but needed an  overhaul following many decades of storage.

We took the model to Boyd Mason's Hazlet Train Stop where, in addition to converting the tender to knuckle couplers, Boyd performed his trademark magic and our "new" 225 was running as well as the day it emerged from the erecting halls of Lionel. Ah, the memories. 

Bob

Bob,

 Another beautiful locomotive. Nice that you have great memories to go along with it.

Tom

This week i finally founded the correct tender to match with my little clocwork 040 Marklin in gauge 1. Made i think around 1914 so just a hundred years old.

I still have to find one for my Issmayer o gauge .....

As it is clocwork models this week i will also show you a small O gauge Bing for the american market. New York Central and hudson River on the tender.

And last one a model which is relatively common, sold under different manufacturers name, Issmayer, Carette, Bing or others, but definetely a Nuremberg German product. A curious combination on the front with classic european bumpers and adapted for the american market with a cow catcher.

Have a great tinplate weekend,    Daniel

Today's input is a quiz. A good friend presented me with a present the other day.  I think it is Kibri, but there i sno trade mark, nor does it appear in the comprehensive Kibri catalogue on the internet.  The mystery primarily centers on the curved buffet.  I've never seen those windows on a Kibri buffet before.

I'm also showing a photo of what I think is a Kibri station that looks  quite like mine, but doesn't have the buffet.

Any ideas?

Lew Schneider

HandyAndy, love your Copper Cannonball!  Nice job on the observation fantail, some tricky folds there, I think it came out great!

Lewrail, I agree, they look Kibri-ish, but not quite.  Mystery.  My bet would be somebody started with a Kibri and modified?  On the other hand, the "comprehensive Kibri catalogue on the internet" is likely not that comprehensive.  I value those photo databanks, but I always seem to be finding one they don't have...

david

Last month, Thom ("Doc") posted this picture of a watch tower he made, and it made me think...  I have a few of these American Flyer Erector shacks scattered around the layout...

... so I tried it on the top of a Lionel 394 beacon tower, and it fits perfectly over the lightbulb.  Not sure what it is (fire lookout tower?) but Flyer seemed to like to put little shacks on any accessory they could, so here's another combination!  Thanks Thom!

hojack posted:

Last month, Thom ("Doc") posted this picture of a watch tower he made, and it made me think...  I have a few of these American Flyer Erector shacks scattered around the layout...

 

... so I tried it on the top of a Lionel 394 beacon tower, and it fits perfectly over the lightbulb.  Not sure what it is (fire lookout tower?) but Flyer seemed to like to put little shacks on any accessory they could, so here's another combination!  Thanks Thom!

 

 

 

 

Wow David, they look like they belong together.

Steve

My #46 McFlyer getting a little track time. Has the bell ringer which gets shut off after a couple laps.

Steve

HOJACK   I like that tin building much better I will look for one and change mine. Great idea.

hojack posted:

Last month, Thom ("Doc") posted this picture of a watch tower he made, and it made me think...  I have a few of these American Flyer Erector shacks scattered around the layout...

... so I tried it on the top of a Lionel 394 beacon tower, and it fits perfectly over the lightbulb.  Not sure what it is (fire lookout tower?) but Flyer seemed to like to put little shacks on any accessory they could, so here's another combination!  Thanks Thom!

Pretty nice. In this photo, next to your track, it looks like a decent crossing guard or switch tender's shanty (just by itself).

Tom 

Hojack,

This is a great idea.  I like the  looks of it. I'm going to have to dig out one of my Gilbert American Flyer Towers and see how it looks on one of them.  I have always liked that  little Erector building and have a couple of them hanging around looking for a job.

Greg

This looks great!! OK; Now I need a shack.  Anyone have one they want to sell?  

Chris Lonero posted:

This looks great!! OK; Now I need a shack.  Anyone have one they want to sell?  

There are always a few for sale somewhere.

For our windup buddies: I found a a motor less AF 9900 Zephyr, perfect for finally getting a windup one. It would not be cheap however, fleabay number 122052748577

Chris, although the Marx Glendale Depot was probably made for O Gauge, it really is much better scaled to Standard Gauge... and the curve on the front of the base matches Standard Gauge 42 curves!

Thank you.  I don't know much about Marx but I got this cheap at my dealer and all the parts are there as far as I can tell. I didn't know the curve matched 42 curves but that was a great idea on Marx part.  I'm using it as a display piece in my train room. 

hojack posted:

Chris Lonero posted:

This looks great!! OK; Now I need a shack.  Anyone have one they want to sell?  

There are always a few for sale somewhere.

I just picked one up last week from Vienna Station, now I know what to do with it.

Chris Lonero posted:

Chris, although the Marx Glendale Depot was probably made for O Gauge, it really is much better scaled to Standard Gauge... and the curve on the front of the base matches Standard Gauge 42 curves!

Thank you.  I don't know much about Marx but I got this cheap at my dealer and all the parts are there as far as I can tell. I didn't know the curve matched 42 curves but that was a great idea on Marx part.  I'm using it as a display piece in my train room. 

Chris, here is the station with all the parts.

Steve

Steve "Papa" Eastman posted:

Chris Lonero posted:

Chris, although the Marx Glendale Depot was probably made for O Gauge, it really is much better scaled to Standard Gauge... and the curve on the front of the base matches Standard Gauge 42 curves!

Thank you.  I don't know much about Marx but I got this cheap at my dealer and all the parts are there as far as I can tell. I didn't know the curve matched 42 curves but that was a great idea on Marx part.  I'm using it as a display piece in my train room. 

Chris, here is the station with all the parts.

Steve

OK. I don't have the acesories in front of the station but I do have the lever for the crossing gate.     Does that arm just operate the crossing gate under the track?   

Chris Lonero posted:

Steve "Papa" Eastman posted:

Chris Lonero posted:

Chris, although the Marx Glendale Depot was probably made for O Gauge, it really is much better scaled to Standard Gauge... and the curve on the front of the base matches Standard Gauge 42 curves!

Thank you.  I don't know much about Marx but I got this cheap at my dealer and all the parts are there as far as I can tell. I didn't know the curve matched 42 curves but that was a great idea on Marx part.  I'm using it as a display piece in my train room. 

Chris, here is the station with all the parts.

Steve

OK. I don't have the acesories in front of the station but I do have the lever for the crossing gate.     Does that arm just operate the crossing gate under the track?   

Chris, yes, the lever it to use the trains weight to activate the crossing.

Steve

Chris Lonero posted:

OK. I don't have the acesories in front of the station 

Here is the accessory set, for sale by Harry Hennings!

Thanks HOJACK.   I have a bid on a shack you found me.  

So update for y'all (still no photos!): I have 72 and 62 Ives Chair Cars on the way, and a 73 observation. The roofs on 2 have been repainted, the other is in poor shape (as is the one on my 70 baggage). They will probably receive black roofs and be put behind my Lionel 258 (2-4-2) for a neato passenger train. What are your thoughts on doing the repaint?