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

The Brute Has Arrived!

Well, the Brute has arrived. As many of you know, I am not a "box saver". However the graphics for this box, well, seem to be just oustanding. I have to rank this right up there with any prewar box I've ever had. They are definitely getting saved after the Brute is removed. So what would everyone like to see on the Brute? Some pics of it running? Some pics of it crushing my layout? Some movies? What should I put up on the blog that everyone would like to see (besides me crashing my trains)?
Marc

MTH 2008 Tinplate Catalog

The link is above. It's a great catalog, no doubt. MTH should be commended, no company has ever offered the depth and breadth of product that they offer in this tinplate catalog. Use the link at the top and download the PDF. This catalog is as good as it gets!

Marc

San Diego Model Train Museum

Out here in lovely San Diego; who says the West Coast doesn't have the same train vibe as the East Coast? Right in the middle of town there's a huge Santa Fe station and trolleys are running everywhere!

This town is full of cool trains, gorgeous buildings, boats and ships and the airport was where Charles Lindbergh worked on the Spirit of St. Louis.

I started out my brief train adventure in Balboa Park in San Diego. Balboa Park is gorgeous. And I think gorgeous is the understatement of the year when it comes to the park, the museums and the general area around San Diego. The buildings in Balboa Park are beautiful. I'll post a few pictures here, my prose can't do them justice.

This large public area also houses the San Diego Model Railroad Museum. It is a 27,000 square foot not for profit showplace. It has layouts maintained by clubs from N to 0 gauge as well as sizable exhibits and a wondeful Lego layout. Yes, I took a ton of pictures but the only way you'll see them is if you tune into my blog for the next week.....

PS Yes, they had some very nice tinplate on display. Spectacular museum. Youtube and pics on the way!

Marc

Bringing It Back

I bought an old tinplate set last week...the kind of stuff that is still coming out of attics 90 years later. The set was poorly over-painted and looked pretty crappy. I started on the caboose. It had enough of its original paint left underneath so that I didn't have to repaint it. I carefully stripped off the over-paint and preserved as much of the original paint as I could. But the tender needed to be repainted. Here's the "before" and "after." I knocked this strip and repaint out today in about four hours. The loco will be much more difficult and will take a lot more time. So who knows what trains I'm working on?

Jim

McCoy Diner!

Betcha didn't know McCoy made a diner! Neither did I. But now you do. And it is a beaute!

This thing is brilliant. While it is a passenger car, it is also very slick looking restaraunt. Even if you can detail a car nicely, this thing looks like an authentic tinplate diner.

Not everything needs to be motive power to be innovative and exciting!

Marc

MTH 2008 Vol 1

Ok, I just picked up the catalog. I'll post some pictures of it shortly. Some initial observations:

- It looks like the catalog was put together quickly or hastily.
Premier, Railking, Railking Scale, Tinplate and accessories are all in one catalog.
The page layout isn't bad but it isn't as nice at MTH's catalog page layout usually is.
- The Tinplate section is very crowded.
You'll see what I mean when you look at it. It's definitely been condensed.
I liked the separate tinplate catalog much better.
- MTH seemed to pick some thing out of past production to produce and not others.
Such as a Blue 256 (why not red or orange?)
The 384 Christmas set (why not do a 385E Christmas set?)

So this catalog was quite a bit different. There were substantially less accessories in this catalog than any other MTH catalog I have ever seen. The basic tinplate accessories were intermingled with the actual tinplate toy train offerings. Very strange.

Having said all that, the green 390E makes you forget the catalog layout. It was the one item that I would have and always have picked as an ideal tinplate reproduction. I recently traded away a green 390E. They are hard to come by and cost a small fortune in good/original condition. They are gorgeous engines to be sure. I do hope that MTH offers 300 series cars to match the 390E offering in the same colors (Green with Orange trim or Green with light Green trim). Regardless, this engine is an instant winner and I would highly recommend getting in preorders sooner than later.

All told, still a very decent tinplate offering. MTH essentially took items from the last 3 catalogs and put as many as they could into this one. Really, they've done so much new tooling and work for the last few catalogs, I'll cut them some slack and say I'm glad they are not loading up on yet another set of new tinplate offerings without first shipping the one's they have already promised.

Pictures inbound shortly.....

Marc

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

Tinplate Classics!

Frank Hornby was the originator of Meccano, Hornby trains, and so much more. My special attraction is to the really beautiful tinplate 0 gauge trains that Hornby manufactured during the prewar era. I have very little Hornby prewar tinplate in my collection, but my eyes have been opened to just how great these trains are. The fabulous book entitled "The Hornby Gauge 0 System" by Chris and Julie Graebe, is a spectacular over 400 page tome with some of the most colorful photos of beautiful tinplate toy trains that you will ever see.

Hornby opened a factory in New Jersey and made trains there in the 1920s for the US market. That venture ended in the late 20s with the sale of the factory to A.C. Gilbert. A much more lucrative venture was French Hornby. The factory in France operated quite independently from Hornby HQ in Liverpool, making French outline trains. The French continued to concentrate on 0 gauge even after the UK factory went into high gear producing the new "Dublo" (H0) scale trains in the late 1930s. The French continued with 0 gauge after WWII. Here's a great postwar 0 gauge tinplate set that I couldn't resist. It's French Hornby, ca. 1954. What a beautiful tinplate toy train...and look at the boxed presentation! It's a work of art.

Jim

Looking At The Wheels "Go 'Round"

"There is something in the complex human makeup that stirs at the sight of objects in motion -that thrills responsive to the charm of flying spokes or smoothly-moving machinery; in brief, all of us, young and old, 'like to see the wheels go 'round.' It is this fact that makes the operation of a model railway, whether in the store window for attraction and profit, or in the home circle for pleasure and instruction, a thing of unfailing interest and sure return."

- from a ca. 1914 Voltamp catalog

This still holds true today, even in the information age, or whatever it is we chose to call the early years of the 21st century.


Our modern age does have its marvels. I'm just back from a delightful 12 day cruise in South America. I was able to check email and surf the web from on board the ship. I even bid on a couple of EBAY items. The ship was not one of those 3000 passenger giants. However, even though it held only 700 passengers, it had a computer room with about 20 terminals. Online time could be purchased in packages with lower per minute fees on the bigger packages. I found that a 200 minute package was just perfect for us.

I thought about my tinplate trains from time to time while on vacation, especially after the topic came up at the dinner table. I didn't run into any more train buffs, but my orange Lionel tee shirt did elicit a few responses from fellow passengers. I enjoyed describing my fondness for antique tinplate, and I felt good about the hobby and my participation in it.

Now it's back to the fun of standard gauge as there are some interesting events on the horizon. I have a local TCA meet this Sunday, and there are some online autions happpening. I'm also getting ready to publish the Spring issue of Tinplate Times, and I want to get back to working on some projects in my shop. Vacations are fun, but it's also nice to return to something that's fun all year long. Looking at the wheels going 'round is one of those all-year-long fun things that I really enjoy.

Jim

Heard It Through The Grapevine

Heard through the grapevine that the Leland Monorails are getting loaded onto a ship as we speak by MTH.

It's kind of exciting, this is the first time this rare item has been produced since 1931. I am kind of anxious to see if this creates a new ecosystem for monorails. I know MTH is selling track, etc.. I am kind of hoping they architect some switches and the like.

Oh ya, I liked this Ives picture so I posted it.

M

A Whole New Gauge For Me

I've somehow stumbled into Lionel 2-7/8" gauge. It was nothing I planned; it just sort of happened. I won an auction, and so now I have this whole new area to explore and learn about.

I've been doing a lot of reading about 2-7/8" gauge. Most of the reference books on standard gauge have chapters on 2-7/8" gauge. I've glanced at this material in the past but I never really paid much attention to this area because I didn't think I'd ever get into this stuff. The originals are rare and expensive, and even the reproductions are costly and somewhat scarce. And, then there's the whole question of layout space if you want to run this big stuff.

The track is a whole other matter. It's not readily available (is it?), and I suspect it's tricky to assemble, not really child's play. I can see how the move to three-rail tubular track was necessary. Yesterday, I built this display stand for my first 2-7/8" piece. I made a quick trip to home depot for a piece of scrap oak, some scrap steel, and some wood to make ties out of. I think it turned out pretty good.

Jim

Catalogs And The Magic Of Tinplate Toy Trains

"There are many today who would say definitely that the model railroad hobby of, say, 1923 to 1927 was more interesting and pleasant than the hobby of today, due not to any fault of today's hobby and hobbyists, but to a certain warm nostalgic glow that always surrounds the memory of pleasant things. One has only to look back over a file of Ives, American Flyer, Dorfan, Lionel, Boucher and Bing catalogs from 1920 to 1930 to recapture this feeling. Certainly the catalogs have changed, and in changing have lost much of their friendly attitude, and many favorite features which were once characteristic of every good tinplate catalog; pictures of the interior and exterior of the factory, the story of the company, pages devoted to technical information, features of the line, suggestions etc. These things might well come back to our catalogs. There has been a slight trend in this direction in the last few years, and Tinplaters are hoping for the best." - The one and only Louis H. Hertz, in "Riding The Tinplate Rails" p. 144, (1944)

Ah, that "warm, nostalgic glow," captured for sure in the great tinplate catalogs of the 1920's, but, contrary to Mr. Hertz's hopes, sadly missing in most of today's toy train catalogs. I think that some of the catalogs of the immediate postwar era have charm. I enjoy looking at the Lionel and AF catalogs of the 40s and 50s that I drooled over as a youngster. But today, with toy train production offshore, there's no hope of seeing pictures of the interior and exterior of the factories, and we wouldn't relate to them even if we saw them. However, I will give Mike Wolf credit for his Tinplate Traditions catalogs, where you do get the story of the company as well as an acknowledgement of what went before in the descriptions of his modern tinplate reproductions. I've begun to collect these Tinplate Traditions catalogs. I think Lou Hertz would approve of them.

Jim