Weekend tinplate photos/videos 5/18/18!

I have a car I'm wondering is it a factory demo car, a scarce version as I do not see it in my prewar book but it does not look like it was a repaint job either. 

If it was a repaint, some one got all of the original paint off and it was done a long time ago as this is far from new paint. Even where there is nicks/chips/scratches it does not show any sign of another color underneath it. 

While searching in the storage area something i still have to find .... I rediscovered a small collection of  BUCCO freight cars from Switzerland.  They are all from the 1950-55 but some of them are still in production today. The major problem with those nice little freight cars is the paint, directly made on metal and it tends to crack but after alls they are old now and it is patina. Notice that the Swiss wine car is not red as on the french models, this one is made of wood.

All those cars are now going on track behind  a krokodil from Keyser of the same period.

Have a nice tinplate weekend,    Daniel

That will be a nice Swiss goods train with the "croc", Daniel!

This week a CR (Charles Rossignol) TRAIN ECLAIR 0 gauge clockwork train-set arrived. It has a lot of small 2-dimensional lithographed tinplate accessories:

And here is  a video of a run:

These accessories, and more recently acquired stuff, are included in an updated version of my train accessories e-book which can be seen or downloaded (for free) here:

http://sncf231e.nl/tin-stuff-from-fred-2/

Regards

Fred

rtraincollector posted:

I have a car I'm wondering is it a factory demo car, a scarce version as I do not see it in my prewar book but it does not look like it was a repaint job either. 

If it was a repaint, some one got all of the original paint off and it was done a long time ago as this is far from new paint. Even where there is nicks/chips/scratches it does not show any sign of another color underneath it. 

It's not hard to take the paint off. Can you show the underside? The tabs will usually tell you.

George

That looks like bare metal to me. Like George said paint is easy to remove especially pre war paint.  I don’t believe they used any primer back in the day. 

It's not bare metal as I see the metal in some places but George could be right. I like it anyway as it is different.I did put new stanchions & brake wheels, I also replace one coupler as it was broke. The tabs all are pressed tight against the frame. But starting to think it was a repaint but was done good in it's day, as stated this is not a recent repaint. Thanks for the input. And yes Chris it appears to have no primer underneath either. 

Here is an uncommon accessory from the Pre War era (and its tinplate).  The video above lets you hear what it sounds like.

S gauge folks are familiar with the two tone electric whistling billboard, but here is evidence that kids in the pre war era could have the same kind of auditory experience.

Have a Great Tinplate Weekend

NorthwoodsFlyer

Greg

started the rehab on my recent 817 trade. 

lots of scratches, broken couplers, and missing three sets of wheels, but in basically good condition.

Off with the old paint (no primer, came off easily with the wire wheel)

since I already have a fairly nice green 817, a color change is in order on this one

1

Steamer posted:

started the rehab on my recent 817 trade. 

lots of scratches, broken couplers, and missing three sets of wheels, but in basically good condition.

Off with the old paint (no primer, came off easily with the wire wheel)

since I already have a fairly nice green 817, a color change is in order on this one

 

Dave what did you use to strip the paint off of that caboose? 

the wire wheel on my bench grinder

Bing - Pennsylvania Electric - cast iron locomotive - litho cars from the 1920's. Note the "Pennsylvania Lines" lettering on the engine and the cars.

rtraincollector posted:

It's not bare metal as I see the metal in some places but George could be right. I like it anyway as it is different.I did put new stanchions & brake wheels, I also replace one coupler as it was broke. The tabs all are pressed tight against the frame. But starting to think it was a repaint but was done good in it's day, as stated this is not a recent repaint. Thanks for the input. And yes Chris it appears to have no primer underneath either. 

I like it definitely different.  Different is good! 👍

Daniel and Fred: AMAZING as always! Love that crocodile!

its been 9 years since I did an major layout renovation,so I have decided to move the standard outside loop to the the inside where the o line is and move the o to the outside,and with luck add another loop of o,i think it will look better with the standard closer together,  

found this gem with some  4 rail track ,great find,if anyone wants a copy hit me up,anyway I believe that the controller is the one they refer to,anyone know what kind  of  lockons they used with this ?,looking at the paper,i have this button also,maybe its the (top  pix look like a door bell,terry

Dave Didn't think of that. you did a good job. I may have to try that, wonder how well my Dremal with a wire wheel would do. 

the blue and orange line

terry hudon posted:

found this gem with some  4 rail track ,great find,if anyone wants a copy hit me up,anyway I believe that the controller is the one they refer to,anyone know what kind  of  lockons they used with this ?,looking at the paper,i have this button also,maybe its the (top  pix look like a door bell,terry

Terry,

I would like to take you up on your offer of a copy of the directions.  The door bell button is the same one that they use for the pre war whistling billboard, so my guess is that is the one used for the 4 rail track.  The whistle got moved from the tender or car into the billboard. The other controller is from the AC Gilbert era, after the 4 rail track was discontinued.  I believe that some of the 4 rail curve tracks actually have an eyelet or a clip attached to them where the wire is attached - no additional lock on necessary.  I will have to go looking in my photo archive, or I will have to dig out my 4 rail track.

Great find!   And Good Luck with your remodel.  We will expect voluminous amounts of photos as you make progress.  

Northwoods Flyer

Greg

EDIT

I knew I had photos of the curve track with the clip.   Seek and ye shall find.

Someday I will have a loop of this track setup to demonstrate how Flyer got its whistle.

Greg

PS

Did you know that they made 3 rail track with this masonite base for a short time too?

Greg, prepare to be disappointed.... you cannot hear the whistle for the train clatter is too much...UNLESS you get lucky and have a VERY strong whistle in the tender.

I was SO very pumped to get my 4 rail track together in a loop (straight are TOUGH to find...) and then to have an anemic whistle was a let down. <Sigh>  But, it was fun to find the track and build the loop.

Rob,

I have no illusions about what the Flyer whistles will sound like.  Every time I hear one I think about my mother's MixMaster when she was  baking a cake when I was a kid.    I agree, the fun is in the hunt.  I just want to be able to show folks what the track was like with a Hiawatha or one of the other trains that the track was designed for running on it. I have quite a bit of it now.  I even inherited some of it in the family collection of trains.  Its tough having the collector gene.  

Northwoods Flyer

Greg

How about a little patina 

This beauty showed up yesterday fresh from the bay.  It was covered it crud but some light duty scrubbing with a baby wipe to away a few decades worth of grime.

Unfortunately it's not running yet, I need to take the motor apart and clean it, hopefully the reverse unit won't need any attention.  I am strongly considering changing the coupler to a screw mount so that I can easily swap out to different types so as a latch coupler to readily pull lionel post war stock, or even mount a knuckle coupler.

Greg J. Turinetti posted:

Rob,

I have no illusions about what the Flyer whistles will sound like.  Every time I hear one I think about my mother's MixMaster when she was  baking a cake when I was a kid.    I agree, the fun is in the hunt.  I just want to be able to show folks what the track was like with a Hiawatha or one of the other trains that the track was designed for running on it. I have quite a bit of it now.  I even inherited some of it in the family collection of trains.  Its tough having the collector gene.  

Northwoods Flyer

Greg

haha,i have a prewar billboard,,,,and yes it sounds like a cow missing a tooth !

rtraincollector posted:

Dave Didn't think of that. you did a good job. I may have to try that, wonder how well my Dremal with a wire wheel would do. 

I tried the dremel first, didn't take much paint off, but it is good in tight spots. faster and easier on the bench wheel.

Hey Rich. Is this crane a Lionel/MTH or is this one you did?  

jhz563 posted:

This beauty showed up yesterday fresh from the bay.  It was covered it crud but some light duty scrubbing with a baby wipe to away a few decades worth of grime.

Unfortunately it's not running yet, I need to take the motor apart and clean it, hopefully the reverse unit won't need any attention.  I am strongly considering changing the coupler to a screw mount so that I can easily swap out to different types so as a latch coupler to readily pull lionel post war stock, or even mount a knuckle coupler.

Do not change the coupler yet. If the hook is the right height, it will fit in a Lionel knuckle  coupler. I did this for a different reason. I used a Lionel engine to pull the Marx. The Marx 21 is beautiful, but it is a terrible puller. You may be able to pull some lightweight freight, but mine would only pull one Marx lighted passenger car. The wheels tend to slip. It worked better with a lot of weight added to the motor, but this could burn it up. It was only designed for 14 volts max. 

I put the shell on an MTH PS2 and run it that way.

George

“I put the shell on an myth ps2 and run it that way.”

Sounds neat George.  Send some pictures some time, I’d love to see what you did and hear how you married the two together.

Rob and Greg - I had the same experience with the 4 rail, however, the whistle on my 1941 Royal Blue isn't too bad.  It is, however, soft but it can be heard over the roar of the train. 

   For me the bigger disappointment with respect to sound in pre-war trains was the "chugger" sound on the Lionel 260E.  It took me forever to find a good example of that engine and after cleaning it up and checking all of the electrical connections I put it on the track and cracked the throttle. The horrible grinding sound that came out of that engine scared me half to death - I was sure I had just destroyed it.  I quickly shut off the throttle, pulled the engine from the track, tore it all the way down to check for damage, found nothing, put everything back together and applied current to one of the rollers with a ground clip on the frame...and got the same hideous sound.  So yeah, if you reallllllly stretch your imagination you can say the engine is "chugging" ...personally I think it sounds like it is gasping for breath and fighting a last ditch stand for its life. 

chris

that is lionel prewar ,that i refinished,90% of all the cars shown are lionel prewar ,that I refinished ,the ore car ,box car,dual lite car  and loco are modern mth.all others prewar

rich

RICH B posted:

chris

that is lionel prewar ,that i refinished,90% of all the cars shown are lionel prewar ,that I refinished ,the ore car ,box car,dual lite car  and loco are modern mth.all others prewar

rich

Rich, they look great!  What Orange and Blue did you use and how does it compare the the MTH colors?  I did a 249E in the Orange &Blue a few years ago and want to do another

Dennis,thanks.the orange was rustoleum ,perfect match out of the can.the blue was a mixture of testors acrylics insignia blue and blue angel blue ,which I airbrushed ,after a couple of days I cleared the blue with testors gloss,the orange had a nice gloss out of the can.also used a medium to light grey primer.then rubbed both out with turtle wax.

rich

I think these are really cool being tinplate and all. If I ever tripped over one cheap enough I would just have it for a display piece. 

almost done with this one....

before-

and almost finished-

George S posted:

rtraincollector posted:

I have a car I'm wondering is it a factory demo car, a scarce version as I do not see it in my prewar book but it does not look like it was a repaint job either. 

If it was a repaint, some one got all of the original paint off and it was done a long time ago as this is far from new paint. Even where there is nicks/chips/scratches it does not show any sign of another color underneath it. 

It's not hard to take the paint off. Can you show the underside? The tabs will usually tell you.

George

The fact that the brake wheels and stations have been removed could indicate that it was repainted; a long time ago judging by the wear and tear.

Greg J. Turinetti posted:

Rob,

I have no illusions about what the Flyer whistles will sound like.  Every time I hear one I think about my mother's MixMaster when she was  baking a cake when I was a kid.    I agree, the fun is in the hunt.  I just want to be able to show folks what the track was like with a Hiawatha or one of the other trains that the track was designed for running on it. I have quite a bit of it now.  I even inherited some of it in the family collection of trains.  Its tough having the collector gene.  

Northwoods Flyer

Greg

Thanks, Greg. Now I have to pull out my 4-rail curves and check for the tab. I know they are around here somewhere......... I have been able to find enough #600 curves and #601 straights for an oval but the short #602 curves are really difficult to locate in 4-rail. I have some of the Masonite-backed 3-rail also which I believe was available in 1938-'39 only.

Jim,

Do you have any of the 1/2 straights?  They fall in the "difficult to find" category too. 

Somewhere I have a full box of the #601 full straights.  When I bought them it was the first time that I knew what their number was.  I wish they had produced a crossover too.

Northwoods Flyer

Greg

RICH B posted:

the blue and orange line

Beautiful! I expect these are all custom painted?