CSRM Walking in...

Don't even start to think these pictures can do this museum justice. This is the train you get to see when you walk in the door. This museum is the DEAL of the century (by the way), at $9 a person for admission, it just doesn't get better than this.

They have a little bit of Tom Sefton's collection down near the entrance. You know, the cheap stuff like the original Buddy L stuff in a sandbox, the 2 7/8 Converse Trolley and an original Lionel Station and some O gauge. This is in the foyer of the museum, not the museum itself.

So as far as I'm concerned, I got at least half of my nine bucks worth right in the foyer. By the way, the gift shop isn't bad. That have a decent selection of railroad books. A little pricey but they need to support one of the best museums in the world so I tend to want to cut them some slack. More soon.

Marc

There are museums and then there are "museums"

If you are an art aficionado or devotee, there are museums in every state and in every country you can go to. Almost every one of them will be good and some will be excellent. Others are beyond excellent, you almost have to pinch yourself to believe what you are seeing. The Louvre in Paris, The Metropolitan Museum of Art or the Museum of Modern Art in New York are a few of those kinds of places.

I liken this experience to art because when you see the trains in the California State Railroad Museum, you'll get it like I did. These things are art. It's tempting to think toy trains are art. They are. But they are art imitating life which is (in fact) art. The paint, the color, the metals and smells are just heavenly. I've been to the Vatican, I've been in the Sistine Chapel more than once and this is pretty close to that experience.

The California State Railway Museum is one of those museums where you need to pinch yourself to make sure that either:

A. You aren't sleeping or dreaming.

B. That you haven't left the planet and are now at the Pearly Gates of Railroad Heaven.

C. You want to make sure blood and oxygen flow to all parts of your body is still normal.

I had to walk through this museum twice to absorb it. There is a two hour parking limit down the Streets of Old Sacramento. Just don't do it. You aren't leaving that place in two hours. And even if you do, there are more trains and a Steamboat behind the museum. Just don't. Park in the lot across the street and figure you'll be there at least 4 hours. And bring a camera with a ton of space on your memory card. I took 600 shots without blinking an eye. I brought a really nice Oympus 13.5 megapixel camera and now I kind of wish I brought the Nikon. The town of Old Sacramento wonderful as well. Not quite a religious experience, it still is a place where you can spend (easily) a day walking around, looking at the shops and making friends with some wonderful people. Loved it and I want to go back and ride the riverboat and the trains.

By the way, the museum only offers train rides on the weekend. If I didn't have locked and loaded airline tickets....

So I'll post the pics outside of this little blurb I've written. Blogger (the Google Software) has a tendency to jumble up the text when I insert the pictures, so I'll try to keep my prose short and sweet.

Marc

California State Railroad Museum Coming At Ya!

I visited the wonderful Tom Sefton collection and museum in Sacramento this week. All I can say is that I was struck dumb. I have so many pics and thoughts to post, it will basically refresh the entire blog page. Let me settle down a bit first, I have some bad jetlag and need to figure out which timezone I am in...

Marc

Some pics for the forum

Some of you requested I post some pics of Mr Cohen doing his thing. I dug back in the archive and found a few. I know I have more, they are just part of about 10,000 pictures I have stored so far on my server..

I'll keep digging. In the meantime, I'd respectfully ask that these not be re-used at all for any reason. I didn't put a watermark on these as I felt that it was inappropriate, I've uploaded the full pictures as they came from my camera.

Remember, just one guy used all of those machines to turn out standard gauge and 2 7/8 gauge trains. The car he is holding up is his prototype knobby roof day coach.

Marc

The Artist Has Left Us....

I had said I would post a few pictures with the passing of Mr. James Cohen of Trumbull, CT.. He was a very good friend (and not just of me) but of Joe Mania, Bob and Magaret McCoy, George Sirus and many of the other folks that built rare and unsual toys after World War II. He spent much of his time and youth in Bridgeport, CT. He built some pretty amazing layouts when he was younger, specifically in O Gauge. As you can see below though, he really enjoyed larger trains.


The maroon 1912 was specially weathered by Jim. He had varying techniques and degrees of aging and weathering. The TCA had asked him to limit the weathering process because at one point, his weathered trains (that he had built and weathered) were impossible to tell from the original. Yep, they were that good. And even with his initials on the bottom, it still shook some folks up enough to ask him not to age the trains or to mark them heavily so as not to be passed off as the real thing.

If you spent any time around Jim, his garage and basement always smelled like train paint and lacquer. It didn't bother me too much and it was very distinctive. I think he stopped noticing it after years of exposure. The paint booth in his garage was really cool and worked beautifully. This guy was one of those rare American artists that just honed his craft to perfection. As kind of an interesting footnote, I went with Jim to the shop in New Haven (it's just off the Yale Campus) where he got the rubber stamping for the New York, New Haven and Hartford stamps for these. He didn't use decals like many other manufacturers do. It really does make a difference in the quality of the train. The place was kind of interesting too, very old building in a very busy part of town. The guy was constantly picking up new stamps, or some kind of new die to make a window or truck. I wish there was a way to give him 20 more years...

When I see the brass 1912, I always think of Inca Treasure. Imagine what someone will think 1000 years from now when they find this thing. I'm pretty sure it will capture someone's imagination even then.

More later, I'll publish out some trolley pics and some unusual pieces.

Marc

Another Train Leaving The Station...

Everyone that knew him and met him knew they were dealing with an expert toy train guy. This wasn't just some run of the mill blowhard who spouted off about all of the stuff he'd done or seen at a train show or on some layout somewhere. This guy had been to the Ives Factory and knew the brothers from Madison Hardware well. He was best man at Louis Hertz's wedding!

Jim Cohen (JJC were his initials) passed away today around 1 PM. He was frail and 83 years old. Jim was not a "run of the mill" train guy. He was a charter TCA Life member. He knew pretty much anyone that was a serious collector or enthusiast in the world of toy trains. And most importantly, he built them with a no compromise attitude. In his prime, he could crank out as many as 30 stellar reproductions of 2 7/8 and standard gauge a month! If he didn't build the trains, there is a good chance he at least refurbished at least one of every item Lionel, Ives and Flyer ever made. He was particularly fond of (and I didn't know this until I knew him a few years) of Brass Pipers. He thought it was one of the best looking models he had ever seen. The guy traded and sold more trains than I have in my collection and his memories of tearing through the Ives Factory in Bridgeport are almost legendary. He was a heck of a story teller and definitely a man that was dedicated to these wonderful toys up until he couldn't handle them anymore.

If you are a newbie to the toy train hobby, it is with sadness that I have to say; you missed one the greats. I first met him at the Shoreline Trolley Museum in Connecticut. I'd heard of him but didn't know him. After eating countless lunches with the guy and buying a kings ransom in trains, I have to say I will miss him for the rest of my own life. I'll post some pictures later on to give you some ideas on what a wonderful train maker this guy was. I think anyone that knew him will agree, he was a "once in a lifetime" kind of friend and collector. And I'm glad I had my shot at time with him, I wouldn't trade it for any train in the world.

Marc

Gorgeous Layout on Ebay - 1926 199 Layout

There is a wonderful little prewar layout on eBay. Just a plain oval of track and some basic structures. The colors are really bright and crisp and the trains look amazing. When I was a kid I was always intrigued with the pre-formed German layouts made by Kibri and Noch. I guess Lionel had the same idea in 1926. I really love the simplicity of these. No big collections, no vast panoramas or mountains, just colorful tinplate in a really small space. I hope this little layout gets a great home.

Marc

Just liked this picture...

I just liked this picture. Scanning around Flickr and it caught my eye. Taken by a guy called "Aloha" in 2008. This station is even better in person! Click on the pic to open up the whole photo!



Marc

The Copper Torch

I was hanging out at the Statue Of Liberty on Sunday. The park staff that actually manage the island are as valuable and as great as the actual monument itself. I really did enjoy listening to them and Liberty herself is just always incredible. Check out the pic of the retired copper torch. Again, those things made out of metal just seem to go on forever....

Marc

Memorial Day

Sorry for the lack of posts. Lately I've become less and less interested in the acquisition of trains vastly more interested in either using them or seeing the real thing. Summer is always ideal for the real McCoy and there are at least two trolley museums that are begging for my attention.

These pics are from the Liberty State Park Station in New Jersey. This is where the actual Blue Comet left from for Atlantic City. The tracks are completely overgrown now. It's kind of strange seeing them, very much like seeing pictures of the Titanic. Really quite beautiful but a little haunting, even in plain daylight.

The building is not quite as nice as Ellis Island or a station like Grand Central, still though, the roof and design seem very European. It really is a wonderful structure and makes you wish you could really board a train there and go someplace exciting (like Atlantic City in the 1930's). The actual windows are all original and the garden and waterfront area is tremendous. They do have some Jersey Central trains there however they are rather underwhelming.

If you are a real train watcher/spotter there are some places in NJ where you can see some real gems. I have seen a GG1 and some very old heavyweights under construction right off of 287 down the pike from Morristown and Parsippany. I got off their one day to grab some lunch and there were tons of old passenger cars on sidings and a GG1 under some kind of rennovation. It was all "off limits" however there was so much stuff there you could see it in plain view from the road.

Anyway, that's about it for now. Keep looking for those trains!

Marc

Great collection! Check out this new Youtube...

Wow, gotta redo the train room now...



Marc

See it in action: the 255E Steamer

http://www.mthtrains.com/news/467

The beautiful Taylor presents an exciting new (prewar) engine from The Lionel Corporation. I'm not a huge fan of bright orange trains, I do like gunmetal however. Go check it out and let me know if you get one of these. Always great to see new tinplate.

Marc

We've lost a Giant in Toy Trains

We've lost a giant in toy trains, Margaret McCoy. As part of the McCoy team, some of the most innovative, imaginative and wonderful toy trains ever produced came from the mind of Margaret. Make no mistake, she was a key partner in McCoy Trains of Washington State (aka The Chicken Coop). Her honesty, integrity and giving nature will be missed the world over.

Margaret passed away on 3/13/11 at 8:30 am. I'll send out further details as I find them out. In the meantime, we will forever miss one of the great ladies of toy trains.

Marc

Edison WGHS from Feb. 26th, 2011

One thing about the SGMA, those guys sure are right; Standard Gauge needs a big layout and a ton of room to really shine (ha, funny, shine). I did really enjoy the mix of trains the guys had at the show, there was some plain vanilla, some eclectic, some passenger and a ton of freight. One constant: friendly discussion all around from highly curious onlookers and the experts in the SGMA area. Kids went completely nuts for the stuff too. I saw quite a few folks at N, S, HO and O gauge and G gauge layouts. But the SGMA layout was constantly packed. Was great meeting the gang as well, they are just great guys. Can't tell what's better, the people in the booth or the trains. Probably both.

Marc

More WGHS Pics

More pics from the SGMA. I saw Mr. Kelly taking pics and movies thus I am guessing we'll be seeing great stuff from him shortly as well....

Mickey @ SGMA in Edison

WGHS This weekend

Big Show in Edison this weekend. Good to see all of the SGMA guys doing their thing. Was also really nice to see all of the vendors there like Lionel, MTH and Aristocraft (to name a few). Turnout was just insane.

Boucher Blue Comet - WGHS in Edison/Feb. 2011

My friend Jim Kelly's gorgeous Boucher Blue Comet at the WGH Show this weekend in Edison, NJ.
Marc

Eggliners in Edison this weekend (Feb.26, 2011)

Took a quick Youtube of these cute little Aristocraft Eggliners running amok in NJ this weekend. The WGHS was fairly large, and really crowded. Half of me likes people playing with toy trains, the other half of me gets crazy navigating the crowds. More pics and movies coming...

Marc

The Prewar Times?

The Prewar Times seems to have disappeared! Josh, if you are out there, drop me a note and let me know what happened?

Marc

Probably the best collection I've ever seen....

In case you missed CBS Sunday Morning today, this is probably the best collection I've ever seen. Can anyone spot me about $20 million to pick this up?



My God, this is really something.

marc

Marx Yahoo Group

Just a quick note - for those of you that like all trains made out of tin, go join the Marx Yahoo Group. The pics are really neat and the tinplate is colorful, lithographed and just plain fun (and they are ridiculously affordable).

I know, a short post but worth the visit. I've been running some Marx lately and I'm not disappointed at all.

Marc

New Tinplate Times is Out!

Check out Mr. Kelly's wonderful new online magazine. I'm growing to love these Marklin trains more and more; Jim has a wonderful article on German Tinplate. He also has the REAL and whole story and several McKeens that have showed up in the last few months that are breathtaking and true works of art. Not trivial creations by any means.

Go check it out HERE.

Marc

Wooden Train

Yes, I know we are all slaves to the tinplate master. However when you see something like this, you just have to scratch your head and think "how did they do that"? Check out this youtube. I gotta tell ya, youtube is great, there is no way (in the olden days of magazines and static pictures) that you could have gotten a sense of how awesome these trains are. The boom crane is really amazing. And to have all of those little handmade switchers around.....

And all of that wooden track just blows me away. I know I scream when I have to go out to the trainstore to buy the metal stuff! I'll stop babbling, just check this out.

Marc



PS You may want to check out some of the other European beauties at Modelspoor 2010. They have an absolutely fantastic tinplate trolley layout with some truly amazing catenary.

Breaking news... New Lionel Electric Trains Catalog for 2011 out!

That was fast. I really like some of the "out of box" thinking like the pink sets. The O gauge sets are absolutely fantastic. This catalog is outstanding. I'm impressed MTH.

The choices in freight and traditional passenger cars is simply outstanding. Check out the catalog here.

Definitely worth the wait.

Marc

Magnificent Marklin Collection

I was looking around the Tinplate and Marklin Forums last night and I saw this.... Possibly the largest Prewar Marklin collection there is. This is (from what I can tell from the forums) only one collector! And not all of the collection is being shown!

This is currently on the 4th floor at Sotheby's in NYC. It's a closed sale, meaning that this probably will go to a very high roller. People with way plain old ridiculous amounts of cash. My guess is that this is a $10 million plus collection, just from what I am seeing here.

What a marvel this must be to see all of these toys running.

Oh yes, before you continue perusing all of these pics, let me give credit where credit is due: I absolutely did not take these pictures. These came off the Marklin forum, the link is above. The guy that took these was "Mechman".

If I feel well enough (had some surgery a few weeks ago and still just barely sea-worthy), I may go into NYC to see if I can see this collection. Apparently Sotheby's would prefer this not be photographed.

Looks like a "once in a lifetime" viewing of prewar Marklin though. What an amazing collection....
Marc

Happy 2011

Stopped off at New England Toy Train today and took a few pics from the upcoming auction. Goodness for 2011. There's more coming!

Some things we have to look forward to in 2011:

Multiple York Meets
Two new MTH Catalogs
MTH delivering stuff from their 2010 catalog
A couple of awesome SGMA showings

And some of the best prewar auctions in history!

Any thoughts on new and exciting things for 2011?

More pics on the way! Happy New Year!

Marc

New York City Nostalgia Train

Every year around this time New York City does some really fun stuff around the holidays, particularly with the transit system. Yesterday was no exception; NYC Transit ran old subways and buses. No surprise, many of the riders liked the old stuff better (go figure)! Here is a fantastic Youtube...



By the way, here is what driving around New York City in 1928 looked like (not a whole lot different than today...)



Marc

Simplicity and Electricity

Just checking out the tinplate forums and I came upon this Youtube Gem. The author states his wonderful layout takes him right back to a simpler time (1938). I really like the design and execution of this layout. I could sit for a mighty long time just watching these trains roll around (and I do on my own layout).

Hope everyone is well this holiday season. Don't be bashful, send me some train pics!

Another Youtube of Great Trains

Hi All,

Hope your holidays are bringing you some fun with trains and time with your family. 2011 should be an interesting year for toy trains. Check out my second and last video for the Great Trains Return show going on in Wilton, CT. Today is the last day (Dec. 17th) of the show and not coincidentally, my brother's birthday and the day Tron comes out (again). Go figure. I'll try to jump to NYC next week and grab some video of the trains in Grand Central. Marc

Great Trains Youtube

A little Youtube of the wonderful layouts at the "The Great Trains Return".



Marc

More Wilton Pics

Quite a few wonderful toys. Just to be forewarned, it does take some time to get to this place and you aren't going to spend 2 hours hanging out there. This is maybe a 1 hour excursion. It is very good for kids though, the larger layout is very low and easy for them to see. There isn't much interaction though. Still a very worthy little trip, especially if you live in the area.

Marc

Ives in Mike's Collection

I think if Mike V had been around during the days of Ives, they may not have gone bankrupt! Heck, they might still be there! Is that that a sunset on Mike's shelf? I haven't seen that much orange in any collection!

Mike can you at least do a Youtube or invite me over so I can do a Youtube of a couple of these running? Just gorgeous Mike, what a fantastic collection! Forgetting about the rest of your collection, these alone would be enough for me!

Marc

Awesome Trolley Collection

Ya gotta love Mike's collection. From the wonderful way he displays it to the selection he has in it, it is just one of the best. Blow this thing up and take a look. Mike, nothing following that 1010 Interurban yet?

Marc

If you happen to be in Wilton, CT....

Wilton is a lovely little town not far from NYC off of Route 7 well into Connecticut (it isn't near the NYC border). Wilton has a ton of history and surprise, some of it is tied to trains! At the historicial society in Wilton there is a wonderful exhibit called "The Great Trains Return". There are several layouts as well as toys from various eras and a substantial amount of information on trains in Wilton. I happened by there last week on Route 7 and I took a few pics....

I'll post some Youtube videos and additional pictures shortly. I'll apologize in advance, I used a phone to snap the shots and videos. And as per usual, even with a good phone camera the pictures still are a far cry from my Nikon SLR or Samsung 12.2 MP camera. I'd urge you to go to the historical museum yourself. It is in a wonderful old home that has a tremendous history all its' own.

Marc

Jehu in Standard Gauge

My buddy Joe put this together after he saw the latest Jehu Garelick models at the TCA show in PA. Check out a standard gauge model. Manufacturers, please take notice: not every new standard gauge model needs to be a 400e or 408e.

Marc

Boucher Standard Gauge Tinplate Double Headed 2100s

Lots of construction going on my layout recently. I'm building a No. 1 gauge level. But I finally got a chance to make a new video. Enjoy!

Come on, time to get into the spirit!

I just uploaded a quick Youtube video to start to pull us into the holiday spirit. This is my latest acquisition, a 1911. I put a few 10 series cars on it to see how well it will pull. It's really a fantastic little engine, way better than I could have imagined.

The Flying Yankee looks like a snake winding around my layout. I would love to see some more youtubes of layouts. I'll post some pics as well in the next few days.

Marc

Pics of new MTH Tinplate Station on facebook!

If you aren't on Facebook, this might be a good reason to join. Just check out this new station from MTH. They really do look different new!
Marc

Exciting new track manufacturer

So it looks like there is a new track manufacturer out there! USA Track LLC has launched an authentic line of standard gauge tubular track. Here is the info from USA Track's website:

"USA Track LLC is a new company that bought all of the existing tooling and parts to make Standard Gauge track from EBR Products last year. We recently finished replenishing inventories of rails, ties, insulators and track pins and can supply you with 42, 57, 72, 84 and 87 inch diameter curve track, as well as 14 and 36 inch long straight tracks. All track products are traditional tubular tinplate track made entirely in the USA with components all made in the USA. The other brand of traditional tubular Standard Gauge track currently available is made entirely in China, and is inferior in every way. In addition, our USA made product is 10% cheaper than the Chinese imitation."

If you aren't familiar with Kirk Lindvig, he exemplifies the "can do" attitude. He's also honest as the day is long. It's one of the reasons that this is exciting; honesty,creativity and track.

Check out the website, it is highly likely we'll see some very cool custom stuff out of them. Can't wait to see what's next.

Marc