Standard Gauge Extravaganza!

Click on the title and look at ther March 1 auction at Maurer's. Something in Standard gauge for everybody!

Jim

More Pics and Labels

More imagery from the wonderful Indig auction at Maurer.

That bottom one is ridiculously nice. Seeing these pictures makes any criticism of this auction kind of moot. Just seeing the trains would be worth the trip!

I know a few are wondering what these little "labels" are under the articles in the Blog. This is one of those nice things that differentiates a computer generated magazine from the paper kind. These words are headers the authors give the articles they write. There are almost 900 articles in the Standard Gauge Blog. If you're like me, you see something you are interested in and if you're lucky, you remember it. More often than not we forget way too much of what we know or we think we have seen in the toy train world.

That's where the headers come in. They are tags for the Google database engine. Too technical? Let me whip out my techno weenie translator:

If you want to search for articles in the blog and have your results be accurate, these words help.

Now go get that tax return so you can buy some more trains!

Marc

Indigs auction

Well, I wrote a long winded piece about the indig auction and for some reason when I went to put in pictures, it deleted it. I have no energy to write it all over again.. Lets just say that the prices realized pretty much reflected the condition of the stuff, I spent 3 hours at the preview looking at only the pre WWI stuff and still couldn't tell what was going on with a lot of it, and there were a few good deals, but no real bargains, to be had. I think I got one of them:



this is a 1911 Special that I have been wanting for about 25 years. A friend told me last year that there may only be about 10 of them out there. That sounds a little low to me, but basically, they are hard to get. And it runs just fine - I couldn't believe it. I am sure it had been sitting on George's shelf at least since it was photographed in Lou Hertz The Toy Collector book back in the 60's. The other thing I got wasn't such a deal. I thought it was the deal of the century until I did my research AFTER the sale (we can't know everything, can we) and found out I paid a bit of a premium for it.

Its an Althof-Bergman engine from ca. 1875. Being a floor toy, its not exactly standard gauge blog-worthy, but I dragged it all the way home, so I am gonna post it.

-Alex

Sharing the Pics!

In the spirit of sharing pics and info, Ron Blume sent me these pics from the Maurer Auction this past weekend. Wow! I hope these trains see some track time when they go to their new homes.

Marc

The George Indig Auction At Maurer

I attended both sessions (Friday and Saturday) for a few hours each day. Funny how some commentators opinioned that many of the pieces were in poor condition. But as far as I'm concerned you would never know that from the prices realized, particularly on the rare stuff. From my perspective prices across the board were equal to or greater that what I'm used to on EBAY and elsewhere, and at least for me there were no "deals" to be had. I made no purchases either day, not because there were no items that I was interested in, but rather, the bidding was intense and items quickly exceeded my predetermined maximums. I'll let others who were there comment further and simply say that it was fun to watch the auction, examine some of the rare pieces, and chat with attendees.

Jim

Go check out the newest Tinplate Times!

It's up and as usual, it is terrific! What would we do without Jim Kelly?

Marc

<--- Maurer Auction

2 7/8 - The forgotten gauge

Before standard gauge there were a multitude of different track sizes available. There was 2 inch track, 2 7/8 gauge track and so on. Voltamp, Knapp, Carlisle and Finch, Howard, Marklin, Hornby, Bing, Fandor and on and on used all different sizes of track.

Interestingly, markets and timing can make or break the scale of a toy train.

I had a friend up in my trainroom yesterday and he was looking at my O gauge stuff and he said "that's what I always thought was the big stuff". Since I have standard gauge and 2 7/8, there's much more that's bigger in my trainroom.

I'm not sure how much has changed since the turn of the century. All of those wonderful brands mentioned above are gone. We seem to have gravitated to two places: size and prototypical representation. Z, N, HO and O seem to be the mainstream. S gauge and standard gauge being the aging and ugly cousins of the above. 2 7/8 is the old man that lives up in the attic that walks around in a velvet bathrobe and rambles on about knowing Bing Crosby.

So why 2 7/8 gauge? Well for one thing, I love the heft of the trains. For some reason in my visceral mind, heft equates to quality. The more metal I have the better I like it. I bought my son a Z gauge set and it felt like I was setting up a flea circus. I've watched the T&M videos more than a hundred times and I do remember the whole story about how JLC got his first big break with the Electric Express in the window. I also remember the reason (it was reported) that 2 7/8 failed was because homes were getting smaller and there was no way to do switching. Actually, there is and there are some 2 7/8 gauge switches as well as some supposed prototypes from Lionel floating around. Laying 2 7/8 gauge track is a bit of a hassle but no worse than well balasted standard gauge or O gauge track.

To the point of this discussion; I urge everyone to look out for 2 7/8 both vintage and repro. After 1 or 2 recent purchases, here is what I can tell you.

1) It doesn't cost that much.
2) It is really fun to watch.
3) It's a bit easier to fiddle with because the parts are very large.
4) When it looks older it still looks really cool.

The accessories for 2 7/8 are really rare. I've only seen the bridge in person and things like bumpers. I know there are a few accessories out there but I haven't had direct access to them. One more thing; the Converse Trolley is the grand daddy of all the trolleys out there. Yes, I know there were trolleys before it but it still maintains a place in all train collectors psyche as the one trolley that epitomizes prewar trolleys. I've been working on the motor for one for a while and I can't seem to get some of the parts in correctly.

So some questions:

1) Who has seen 2 7/8 gauge accessories?
2) I know there are a few collectors out there. What's your favorite 2 7/8 piece?
3) Any pics?

I know 2 7/8 will never gain a large following in the hearts of large volumes of collectors. There's no steam and it only captures a small part of the United States prototypical running stock. But it does lend itself to one thing: it can be elevated using the cast iron pillars. It was designed to be elevated because the prototypes had elevation as well. Standard gauge (because of the way it is weighted) can have some pieces elevated. 400E's and 392's probably won't be so hot on well elevated layouts. Too much power too fast will give you airborne toy trains. Every peice of 2 7/8 can be elevated beautifully.

I've rambled enough. Any thoughts? Oh yes, the above pic is from the upcoming Maurer Auction.

M

Maurer Treasures!

Well, it's shaping up to be family reunion day at Maurer's in April. This two-day auction is probably the most interesting and significant auction this year. I haven't looked at all of the pictures yet, but I don't agree that the early lots are mostly beat up or restored. Maybe it's just a difference in perception, or in what factors appeal to the individual collector, but I did see some wonderful Voltamp pieces, some interesting C&F, three great Boucher locomotives, and lots of other stuff that interests me. Of course, my approach to the older and rarer tinplate is from an historical perspective. For me that means that condition is secondary to historical importance and scarcity. For example, the Lionel/Converse trolley pictured is fascinating to me. These rare 2-7/8" gauge pieces were only made between 1901 and 1905. I have an article about the L/C trolleys set to be published soon in Tinplate Times, in which I argue that it is possible to date these trolleys precisely to one of four years/periods: 1901; 1902; 1903; and 1904-5. This trolley looks to me like a 1903 vintage piece. Wouldn't I love to add it to my collection!

Jim

Amazing Auction at Maurer (April 6th and 7th, 2007)

As you all can tell, I haven't posted as many auctions up as I used to. That's predominantly because they have become in large part kind of ho hum. Boring to be exact. Would I like more 200 series or 500 series cars. Well, ya. Do I want to look at them over and over again? Not really.

As you know from reading my blog, I like Ted Maurer's auction house. It is NOT pretentious, going to auctions there seems to be consistently interesting and fun and I like the people that run them and manage them. All told one of the best run operations around.

So this auction is something special. Lots of C&F, Knapp, Howard, Ives, some absolutely great Lionel trolleys and some substantial classic standard gauge. There's also some top notch 2 7/8 as well. I'll try and post some of the pics. Remember, this is the estate of a well known and long time TCA person. It took a lifetime to roll a collection like this....


M

PS The pics I'll post are of items that I wish I could see made by our curent crop of manufacturers.