Weekend Tinplate photos 📸 and videos 📽 4/23/20!

I finally found a standard gauge version of the Toonerville Trolley after quite a few months of searching. Now, thanks to some servicing by my Dad, it's happily wiggling along on its new home.

Dorfan observation needing some love:

Oy, where to begin...

PD

Here's a new layout video showing the Fulgarex/Twerenbold reproduction Rheinuferbahn ("White Train",) from about 1980. Maerklin originally made the set in 1930.  The video also shows an original Maerklin No. 2108 goods shed with stairs in the base and crane from 1919-1925 with a selection of lead "Britains" flat lead figures, a Wolfgang Bauer reproduction No. 2825 English-style station stop, and an original Maerklin No. 13733/4 interlocking tower from 1927-1932.

Nice train, Jim. Those figures, I'm not sure W. M. Britain ever made "flats"...might be Lorenz or one of the other German manufacturers. Regardless, they are quite nice.

PD

@pd posted:

Dorfan observation needing some love:

Oy, where to begin...

PD

I love the extended viewing platform. A great piece. I look forward to seeing the restored version.

@Jim Kelly-Evans posted:

Here's a new layout video showing the Fulgarex/Twerenbold reproduction Rheinuferbahn ("White Train",) from about 1980. Maerklin originally made the set in 1930.  The video also shows an original Maerklin No. 2108 goods shed with stairs in the base and crane from 1919-1925 with a selection of lead "Britains" flat lead figures, a Wolfgang Bauer reproduction No. 2825 English-style station stop, an original Maerklin No. 13733/4 interlocking tower from 1927-1932.

 

I love the elevated line. Is that original tinplate pieces? Can you enlighten us on the provenance of that? Also the newspaper kiosk. What a beautiful piece!

PD Wrote: "I'm not sure W. M. Britain ever made "flats"...might be Lorenz or one of the other German manufacturers. Regardless, they are quite nice."

The base of the large tree is the only piece in the set that is marked. Here's some photos of the set:

Will wrote: "I love the elevated line. Is that original tinplate pieces? Can you enlighten us on the provenance of that? Also the newspaper kiosk. What a beautiful piece!"

Thanks, Will. Both the elevated line and the newspaper kiosk are modern production by Santhion of Budapest. The elevated line design is after Carette for the upper track portion, and similar to Maerklin for the trestles. The newspaper kiosk may be a new creation by Santhion. I'm not sure Maerklin made something like that but they may have.  

@Jim Kelly-Evans posted:

Will wrote: "I love the elevated line. Is that original tinplate pieces? Can you enlighten us on the provenance of that? Also the newspaper kiosk. What a beautiful piece!"

Thanks, Will. Both the elevated line and the newspaper kiosk are modern production by Santhion of Budapest. The elevated line design is after Carette for the upper track portion, and similar to Maerklin for the trestles. The newspaper kiosk may be a new creation by Santhion. I'm not sure Maerklin made something like that but they may have.  

They don't seem to have a website. The only thing I can find is a photo album on the Maerklin FB page. 

Will wrote: "They don't seem to have a website. The only thing I can find is a photo album on the Maerklin FB page."

No web site just a Facebook page: Marklin & Co.

OK fellows - here is something just for fun.  These three Tank locomotives are neither valuable nor rare except to folks like me who just like to watch them pull their cars and "go around" the layout.  These are three (partial) type 101 Hornby (I believe) former clockwork locomotives, 2 of which are repainted and all three are sans markings although the green/black one in front appears to have its original finish.  They have all been re-powered using Marx electric drive motor / drive assemblies installed in a way as to mimic the Hornby mechanism.  They all work GREAT (love that Marx system) including reverse.  So just for fun...here is their picture as they line up and say..."Tanks a Lot!"

Sorry for the awful pun ! 

Don McErlean

Very interesting, Jim. Thanks for that. I have a few of their trees, but have never seen any Britain’s flats. That has to be some pretty rare bits.

I continued painting my buildings for my tinplate layout at the club.

At this point I am coming to the end of my tinplate townhomes. I don't think my wife would put up with anymore painting.

That brings the total number of the tinplate townhouses to 12. That about doubles the amount of tin buildings that I had on the layout prior to this.

Scott Smith

@scott.smith posted:

I continued painting my buildings for my tinplate layout at the club.

At this point I am coming to the end of my tinplate townhomes. I don't think my wife would put up with anymore painting.

That brings the total number of the tinplate townhouses to 12. That about doubles the amount of tin buildings that I had on the layout prior to this.

Scott Smith

Looks great 

Steve

at last this jim cohen 1764 has a voice,,,i took the sage advise and shined it up,,,motor from hennings,,,runs like a bat,,

Hi everyone,

Sorry the background is not great, but had this newly arrived BLZ French locomotive on the modelling table to remove a broken headlight bulb. Isn't she beautiful and she is heavy! Miketg

Trying something new a bit of a light background. The locomotive is French from LR. Miketg

Every now and then I just have to have something ... "Just 'Cos"

This week in my scrounging thru the net up popped ...

A very blurry photograph .... LOL!!!

However just after it was ...

And for less than $25 USD , I thought " Am I ever gonna see another one? "

The loco it comes from is a fairly rare beastie as it was only made in limited numbers for a few years before Hornby was asked by the UK Parliament to "Make something a bit safer Old Chap ?"... which they did , rewiring it to firstly 4V specs , then because it could not perform very well , bumped it up to 6V for a few years until the 20V standard Hornby motor arrived

Yes folks when they said High Voltage , they meant it ... you plugged your controller into the 240V mains and it was dropped down by a 60Watt household bulb to about 110V which you then fed into the tracks !

I wonder how many cats or dogs fried on these things ??? ( let alone kiddies LOL) ...

It will probably never see a track in my lifetime, ...orrrr will it ( evil grin) ....but hey its a talking piece !

At least it had decent insulators on the brush covers ???

Ahhhh How much better life once was ...

From above

"Any boy can fit up the track and operate the train . Full instructions accompany each set, and there are no difficulties and dangers ."

Unusual Modern Marx NW loco. They normally had a steam line cowl added to the top.

Steve

Finally for today, the BLZ passenger cars that can go with the BLZ loco above. Miketg

Fatman, good buy, but finding wheels will not be easy; brushes cap are not original ones. It is an excellent motor, much better than the models made after, you can run it a very long time without any problem. 

Many of them has been rewired to be used under 20 v. It is more easy to use if you mixed the Metropolitan with other trains of course but running an original one is so pleasing.  Just one condition, be careful and always use pieces in perfect condition. I am used to run HV trains and never had any problem, here is my original set, as it has also been sold in France during a longer time than in England in HV.....

I show it some years ago but maybe you didn't see it. 

I also have a spare motor I was thinking to rewired to 20 v. You can see the original brushes and the motor is complete.

Very best,  Daniel

Gorgeous set Daniel!

I am not sure if I am going to go down that rabbit hole , as you know we are talking pretty expensive , but I will keep my eye out regardless ...

I came from the era too when 240V and live steam were things you played with LOL

Our parents were very trusting I still remember one day putting out a methylated spirit fire on the carpet out with my hands when my sloppy filling of my treasured Mamod road roller leaked out a bit

Finally unboxed this beautiful behemoth 

@Steve "Papa" Eastman posted:

Unusual Modern Marx NW loco. They normally had a steam line cowl added to the top.

Steve

I saw one of those years ago at York at their booth in Orange Hall. I started to buy one and decided I would wait until the next York. The next York there weren’t any more. I have been looking for one ever since.

Scott Smith

@Fatman posted:

Ahhhh How much better life once was ...

From above

"Any boy can fit up the track and operate the train . Full instructions accompany each set, and there are no difficulties and dangers ."

Back when Darwin was still hard at work every day.

Probably purely coincidental that the boys of that era who reached adulthood all had a good understanding of electricity.

Daniel, that's an amazing Hornby Metropolitan set!

@Fatman posted:

 

I came from the era too when 240V and live steam were things you played with LOL

Our parents were very trusting I still remember one day putting out a methylated spirit fire on the carpet out with my hands when my sloppy filling of my treasured Mamod road roller leaked out a bit

Wow I often wondered if any of the early pioneers tried running 110v to the rails. Can't believe they were marketed that way to kids that's just nuts.

I remember how excited I was to get my Mamod Steam Wagon. I had stared at that catalog for a year beforehand pining for one. My grandfather walked me down to the local hardware store to buy a can of Wood Alcohol because they wouldn't sell it to a kid. When I asked him what it was he said " it's poison...bums drink it and it makes them go blind". That was 50 years ago and I remember that like it was yesterday (which is probably why he said it.) 

I set the steam wagon up in the driveway and got the fire going..it wouldn't run worth a **** !  Barely made enough steam to blow the whistle. Crestfallen I put it away until one rainy day I got bored and decided to try it again in the basement...ran like a champ! It was then that I realized the wind outside must have been blowing the flame around preventing it from building a good head of steam. And yeah I set the floor on fire many times, luckily it was concrete and I would just let it burn itself out. If only my parents knew. 

@pd posted:

Dorfan observation needing some love:

Oy, where to begin...

PD

That's a great looking piece. The little cast figures inside are neat are they removable or fixed ?

@Jushavnfun posted:

Finally unboxed this beautiful behemoth 

Beautiful colors!

Wow:  Daniel what a beautiful set.  However I am a safety guy (currently for NASA) and I just can't get my head around dealing with kids and 240 v electricity!!  I read about the Hornby 60 v motor but 240 V is something else.  Hard to believe anyone actually marketed toys that way.  I go back to prewar with Lionel and even in the 20's they came with a transformer, although some of them I have today (but would not dare to plug in ) have 2 prong non grounded plugs, unsealed connectors and silk wrapped wire which would give the consumer product safety committee fits .  However I do have a reproduction of a Lionel instruction sheet from about 1914 I think which was prior to widespread electrification especially in rural areas.  It instructed the child how to make DC batteries using sulfuric acid and glass jars from Mom's kitchen !!  I also know  that in the dim past they also advocated using a series of light bulbs to modify the current into the track for speed control.  My live steam experience was with a stationary power plant that drove a miniature machine shop with drills and saws etc.  However it burned solid "pellet" fuel so no spills, just flames. 

Miketg: excuse my lack of knowledge but you addressed two manufacturers today that I have not heard of before..."BLZ" and "LR".  Could you spell out who these are?  Thanks.

G-Man 24 :  Love the Dorfan cars with the "little people" in the windows.  While the condition may be a bit down at the moment, its amazing that it survives at all.  Great find. 

Justhavnfun and "Papa" Eastman- great loco's thanks for posting.  I have always been disappointed that the "new" Marx really did not succeed in the marketplace.  It may be that their prices, as I remember, did not really offer the "low price" alternative to the major brands that was the key market strategy of the original Marx company.  Perhaps the market just didn't want "toys" anymore. 

Here is my contribution today...nothing near as rare or exotic as others but just fun including the bg story.

In a rare postwar photo, dated about 1957, the Leonardtown and Savannah (L&S) is desperate to retain its commuter business from the suburbs to downtown and for workers to the Port of Savannah.  In a last ditch move, the normally frugal L&S management (read-CHEAP!) has leased a new motor car to lower the cost of running commuter service.  Today, it is undergoing trials on the line, and candidly it looks fairly crowded.  Unfortunately the surface railway, in the background, has just declared bankruptcy and will be withdrawn and replaced with buses in the very near future.  This will clearly create even more competition for the L&S as their relationship with the Savannah Trolley Corp. was always mutually supportive.  What no one really knows however is that Just around the corner is the opening of I-95 and Route 80 which will kill this traffic deader than a door nail by 1965. Unfortunately for the workforce what is also unknown is that by 2020 traffic on these major "EXPRESSWAYS" would be so dense that commuters on buses would make better time by walking! 

Have a good week everyone.  Keep healthy

Don McErlean

This is the only other locomotive and set I own besides the 390E and cars handed down to me from my grandfather. I got this No 347 outfit years ago from a friend who ran an antique toy store. He had bought the outfit from the original owners.

Paint is nice with just some tiny tick marks here and there. All the original boxes are solid. Even had the original track inside but I swiped it for use on my No 199 display. The 4 drive wheels were replaced at some time as well as the wiring to the reversing switch. 

A friend of mine finished up his 816 hopper rebuild, came out pretty nice!

@Dennis Holler posted:

A friend of mine finished up his 816 hopper rebuild, came out pretty nice!

Your friend is very talented!😀

, he's a swell guys too lol

@Don McErlean

BLZand LBZ always confused me but I have it sorted now lol

LBZ= Lorenz Bolz Zinndorf made a few trains ( mainly an O guage sand truck thingy) Germany

https://www.binnsroad.co.uk/railways/lbz/index.html

BLZ= Messrs. Bourdeau Lheurre and Zedda A FrenchFirm making O and HO after WWII in France

https://www.binnsroad.co.uk/railways/blz/index.html

LR = Louis Roussy Great French manufacturer

http://www.tcawestern.org/lr.htm

@Dennis Holler posted:

, he's a swell guys too lol

Not to mention Handsome and modest !

The Binnsroad site is amazing, you can find out almost anything about some of the lesser known producers.

Miketg

@Miketg posted:

The Binnsroad site is amazing, you can find out almost anything about some of the lesser known producers.

Miketg

It's a really good reference. I don't know if it is complete. I doubt it, but it is as good as anything.

George