Return From York

Tinplate has largely been about color for me. I've been a great fan of English outline 0 gauge locomotives and I have a few nice examples that I operate with with passenger car consists, but up until now I've not had any compatible "goods wagons," (freights.) Here are are some beautiful and interesting Hornby wagons that I found at York. They are all pre-war 0 gauge tinplate, mostly dating from the 1930s. I was happy to pick these up because there is not all that much Hornby available stateside. It would probably take me many months to acquire this many fine cars.


The big buzz around the halls and hotels was about the Knapp 2" gauge engine and tender that was priced at $250.00 and sat unnoticed on a table in the Silver hall behind a Lionel #29 day coach for several hours, before being spotted by someone who realized its four-figure value. Why didn't I see it?


The bandit meets continue to decline in terms of attendance and their importance. I heard that some big outfits are planning on cutting back their presence at the unofficial meets in the future. With hotel prices high, it makes sense to cut your stay short if the business is not there. The weather was crappy early in the week, but by Wednesday it had improved enough so that people could set up at the outside venues.


I enjoyed the Toy Train Paper & Memorabilia Group meeting on Wednesday evening, so ably hosted by Joe Mania, the TTML breakfast on Friday, and the SGMA Altoona event planning meeting, also on Friday. Inside the halls there was plenty to see as always, and plenty of people to chat with. Mike Wolf was busy with quite a crowd at his MTH Trains display. Lionel was there as usual, as were just about all of the usual vendors. One notable exception was the absence of Pride Lines. I understand that John Davanzo is not feeling well. Get well soon, John!


Jim