Weekend Tinplate photos 📸 and videos 📽 1/2/20 In memory of Marty Fitzhenry

I call this one, "The Christmas That Never Was." After setting up the tree, I brought down my Lionel Classics set, the "Fireball Express," and laid down the track  This simple loop, with two straight tracks, took up half the room.  Since I was going to entertain the family, (11 adults and one toddler) I decided to go with a simpler layout of O27 trains.  But, I did take the photo to document the moment.  I wish that I took more pictures, since it is such a beautiful train set.  

I am very sad to read about Marty's passing.  I have been reading posts by him for about 15 years, or whenever I started to follow this forum.  

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The pre-war top-of-the-line locomotive by JEP was their Fleche d'Or Nord 4-6-2 Pacific. JEP also made a smaller 4-4-0 which looks a bit similar (but smaller) and was called Flechette. Last week, after a thorough cleaning of the rails since it was wet and cold (and not sunny at all) I had a run with both these locomotives in the garden. And like normal with JEP, they ran effortlessly:

Regards

Fred 

The FCC (Filing Cabinet Central) is happy to welcome back the venerable 259e, returned to service from the dead line at the TCA musem de-ascension sale a few years back.

1668 out to stretch it's legs.

FRED: VERY NICE JEP locos!  ☺

A very cool tinplate model of the small Crocodile of the Seetal in Switzerland made by ETS. Those engines are very smooth runners. 

And a swiss MAGGI freight car, I need to change the couplers as the specific ETS coupler is not intended to match with anything.

Have a nice weekend,  Daniel

Still working on the new addition at the club.

Scott Smith

American Flyer Engine #1094?

   In the 1928 Flyer catalog the Little American set was illustrated with a locomotive with the Flyer number 1094

Catalog Illustration

  The engine was described as being based on the New Haven style. The illustrated cow catcher and frame are different from that seen on similar engines such as #1096. The text describes the engine as "attractively lithographed in a two-tone shade of Sunset Red, with such details as nameplates, rivets,  plates and windows attractively brought out in pleasing color combinations."

  To the best of my knowledge the engine, as illustrated, was never manufactured.  

  From time-to-time one will find a boxcab with the lithographed number 1096 which has the same frame and disc wheels as the #1094 illustration as well as solid, brass plated, cow catchers.

   Obviously, the biggest objection to the idea that this engine is #1094 is the fact that the litho engine number 1096 does not equal 1094 even for very small values of 1096 ().  However, it is known that Flyer changed catalog numbers of items such as stations and passenger cars without changing the original lithoed number on the item.  The various iterations of the the catalog numbers for the illini passenger cars comes to mind (same numbers lithoed on the car ends) as well as the station number for #96 which morphed into #104 without a litho number change and the #95 Freight station which became #97 and eventually #98 but retained #95 all through the production run. 

 I've never found one of these engines in a set with a set box but the similarities between this engine and the 1928 illustration make me think this engine is, in fact, #1094.  

Chris, my condolences on the death of Mr. Fitzhenry. A few photos at the main elevated station, including a time check using a combination Xmas and birthday gift that confirmed that the trains are running on time.

DANIEL: LOVE that Croc, but the Zillertal Railway is located in Austria, and NOT Switzerland. Granted, that croc looks more like a Swiss loco.

JKE: Is that NICE "storkleg" electric or live steam powered?

Tinplate Art posted:

DANIEL: LOVE that Croc, but the Zillertal Railway is located in Austria, and NOT Switzerland. Granted, that croc looks more like a Swiss loco.

Sorry Art, I make some confusion.... The Crocodyle is the Seetal model in Switzerland, which means the Crocodyle of the Lake Valley?

Very best,  Daniel

Zillertal translates to "silver valley".

Robert S. Butler posted:

American Flyer Engine #1094?

   In the 1928 Flyer catalog the Little American set was illustrated with a locomotive with the Flyer number 1094

Catalog Illustration

  The engine was described as being based on the New Haven style. The illustrated cow catcher and frame are different from that seen on similar engines such as #1096. The text describes the engine as "attractively lithographed in a two-tone shade of Sunset Red, with such details as nameplates, rivets,  plates and windows attractively brought out in pleasing color combinations."

  To the best of my knowledge the engine, as illustrated, was never manufactured.  

  From time-to-time one will find a boxcab with the lithographed number 1096 which has the same frame and disc wheels as the #1094 illustration as well as solid, brass plated, cow catchers.

   Obviously, the biggest objection to the idea that this engine is #1094 is the fact that the litho engine number 1096 does not equal 1094 even for very small values of 1096 ().  However, it is known that Flyer changed catalog numbers of items such as stations and passenger cars without changing the original lithoed number on the item.  The various iterations of the the catalog numbers for the illini passenger cars comes to mind (same numbers lithoed on the car ends) as well as the station number for #96 which morphed into #104 without a litho number change and the #95 Freight station which became #97 and eventually #98 but retained #95 all through the production run. 

 I've never found one of these engines in a set with a set box but the similarities between this engine and the 1928 illustration make me think this engine is, in fact, #1094.  

 

Robert,

The big difference between the engine in the 1094/1096 that you show and the later 1097 engines that used the same frame is the motor design.  The motor from the 1094/1096 is very similar to the motor in the 1097, but the brush design is different between the two motors.  I do not have a picture to post at the moment.

Additionally, there are a few minor differences as well.

Headlight height

NWL

Tinplate Art posted:

JKE: Is that NICE "storkleg" electric or live steam powered?

Art, the loco is the replica Storkleg issued by Maerklin in 1999 to commemorate their 140th company anniversary. Like the ca. 1890 original, the replica has a clockwork motor. However, the wind-up motor powers the loco for only a short distance of a matter of feet. Therefore, I decided to swap out the clockwork and install a DC motor in the loco so that I could enjoy running the loco and pulling cars with it. 

Not much to see this year but we did have a train around the tree and it fascinated our 10 month old grandson.

Actually there were three generations of our family who were fascinated by this set.

Have a great new year.

Northwoods Flyer

Greg

Last gasp of the holiday floor running season. Nothing special about it except the time it took to unpack and repack for a general ho-hum “now please get it off the floor” response from everyone involved. Probably the last time they’ll ever see the light of day.

love af wide gauge,,,,,but with black trucks,,,,ohhhhhhhhhhh yea,,,,,picked this up on the cheap,boom

PhillyChris posted:

Last gasp of the holiday floor running season. Nothing special about it except the time it took to unpack and repack for a general ho-hum “now please get it off the floor” response from everyone involved. Probably the last time they’ll ever see the light of day.

hate to hear that, those are beautiful!

Got a couple of "out of the box " members of the tinplate/vintage train family arriving soon ...

Although one is " In The Box"

This is a Trackmaster OO clockwork locomotive manufactured by Pyramid Toys Ltd in Great Britain, and its shape will be very familiar to anyone who ever had a Triang Train set ... Triang bought Pyramid Toys out in late 1951 to boost the variety of rolling stock available for the fledgeling Triang brand they introduced to the world in 1952! This locomotive was only produced by Pyramid Toys from 1949-51 , but iterations of it ( which evolved into the 0-6-0 Jinty) were the mainstay of many Triang sets right up into the 1970's !

My Second beauty is a Tipp & Co ( Tippco) tinplate carpet locomotive !!!

I couldnt believe my eyes when I saw this listed for sale on that certain auction site and even better the description didnt feature Tippco at all ! I thought I was going to get it for starting bid , but unfortunately for me a couple of other people might have had an idea how special it might be , but even more surprisingly , they gave up after a few tentative bids ?

I have been looking for documentation of this version for a few days now and keep coming up with a blank , They released a similar sized one ( I think) that I saw in a 1937 catalogue , however it was a green litho , and most importantly DIDNT have this awesome chimney smoke wheel built into it that this model has !

https://www.historytoy.com/Tip...motive-ground-runner

The seller didnt actually list an overall size of it , but I am thinking it might be substantial going by the size of the clockwork and key? The green locomotive in the Historytoy link is 24cm long ( 10") and this appears at least to be the same by proportion?

If anyone can actually date this for me or provide a link to some literature that might help me out I would be super grateful

I am thinking late 20's to 30's?

I think I read somewhere that Fred ( @sncf231e ) had a Tipp & Co Floor train ... any ideas on this one Fred?

Hoping that 2020 is a great year for all here !

oh and @PhillyChris They are too lovely not to play with ... The floor is yours too .. Own it !

( says the long ago divorced man ... )

Toast to Marty!

and the last couple of photos of the holiday layout, its been taken down .

PhillyChris posted:

Last gasp of the holiday floor running season. Nothing special about it except the time it took to unpack and repack for a general ho-hum “now please get it off the floor” response from everyone involved. Probably the last time they’ll ever see the light of day.

Unfortunately, that sounds about like three of the five in our household when it came to my trains around any tree.  That's why I set em up in the basement this year.  Plus the girls were all out of town so it was real easy lol.

Fatman posted:

My Second beauty is a Tipp & Co ( Tippco) tinplate carpet locomotive !!!

I couldnt believe my eyes when I saw this listed for sale on that certain auction site and even better the description didnt feature Tippco at all ! I thought I was going to get it for starting bid , but unfortunately for me a couple of other people might have had an idea how special it might be , but even more surprisingly , they gave up after a few tentative bids ?

I have been looking for documentation of this version for a few days now and keep coming up with a blank , They released a similar sized one ( I think) that I saw in a 1937 catalogue , however it was a green litho , and most importantly DIDNT have this awesome chimney smoke wheel built into it that this model has !

https://www.historytoy.com/Tip...motive-ground-runner

The seller didnt actually list an overall size of it , but I am thinking it might be substantial going by the size of the clockwork and key? The green locomotive in the Historytoy link is 24cm long ( 10") and this appears at least to be the same by proportion?

If anyone can actually date this for me or provide a link to some literature that might help me out I would be super grateful

I am thinking late 20's to 30's?

I think I read somewhere that Fred ( @sncf231e ) had a Tipp & Co Floor train ... any ideas on this one Fred?

Hoping that 2020 is a great year for all here !

The Loco at Historytoy is a Tip & Co No 649. The catalog 1938 says 25 cm ( 9 3/4 inch) long.

Your Loco is a No 650 which is 31 cm (12 1/2 inch) long. Or more precisly, it´s a 650 P. The wheel in the chimney is a whistle (in German Pfeife). Is only in the catalogs 1936 and 1938 but without picture of the whistle.

Greetings

Arne

Dennis Holler posted:

PhillyChris posted:

Last gasp of the holiday floor running season. Nothing special about it except the time it took to unpack and repack for a general ho-hum “now please get it off the floor” response from everyone involved. Probably the last time they’ll ever see the light of day.

Unfortunately, that sounds about like three of the five in our household when it came to my trains around any tree.  That's why I set em up in the basement this year.  Plus the girls were all out of town so it was real easy lol.

 

Our oldest is married and out of the house, no interest in the old stuff...mine or the wifes. Our youngest is still at home, and like's Dad's trains, but because they're mine. The wife likes the old stuff,but she likes the big stuff...pie safes,hoosier cabinets. She likes the trains because they're mine. She likes the trains under the tree because they are a part of my family's tradition, and she's rather have me in the living room running the trains instead of camped out in the basement.

Thank you so much @Arne !!!

You, my friend, are an amazing resource ...

I saw the above listing but ignored it because .. no whistle ! lol ... and there it was right in front of my nose in the text

All nice stuff again, gentlemen. Thanks for the words of encouragement. One son is 14 and doesn’t care much about anything. The other is 11 and he still prefers to mess around with the LGBs and the little Playmobil figures. My wife insists that she must have a ‘she-shed’ if I am to have a train room. Some day... some day.

FEF

Fatman posted:

 

I think I read somewhere that Fred ( @sncf231e ) had a Tipp & Co Floor train ... any ideas on this one Fred?

 

Here is a picture of my Tippco floortrain:

Is also has a whistle, better called a squeaker I think.

Regards

Fred

PhillyChris posted:

All nice stuff again, gentlemen. Thanks for the words of encouragement. One son is 14 and doesn’t care much about anything. The other is 11 and he still prefers to mess around with the LGBs and the little Playmobil figures. My wife insists that she must have a ‘she-shed’ if I am to have a train room. Some day... some day.

I don’t know when she-sheds became a thing. First time I heard about it was on that insurance commercial, “Someone burned down my she-shed “, “ nobody burned down your she-shed Sheryl - it was struck by lightning “ , “ now I can get a ‘shesheeir’ she-shed “ .

The reason for man caves and train rooms is that wives own every other room in the house. You are lucky that you get space on the floor Chris. You could have ended up in the garage like Papa Steve. We had a little argument at our house when I carved out a third of the basement. She wouldn’t give me the third garage, because my daughter needs that space for her car two weeks a year.

George

PhillyChris posted:

Last gasp of the holiday floor running season. Nothing special about it except the time it took to unpack and repack for a general ho-hum “now please get it off the floor” response from everyone involved. Probably the last time they’ll ever see the light of day.

Those are way too beautiful to keep hidden for 11 months or more.   I am sorry you enthusiasm hasn't rubbed off on those around you.   You have an exquisite collection. 

Same here.  That’s a beautiful engine.  Gotta love that tinplate sound too.  Enjoy it while you can.  Prob going to put mine away soon as well.  Don’t have a wife, if I did I’d prob keep it up longer just to annoy her.

Cheers,       W1