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
I have a couple of dealer friends who are very pleased with their sales at York last week. It seems like people were buying trains in spite of the economic problems we have. As I walked around the aisles I thought to myself that, wow, there are a lot of trains for sale! But, crowds in the halls on Friday were large. I had a nice time and enjoyed talking to a number of friends and meeting people for the first time, like Mark, Don and Naomi of New England Toy Train Exchange. I picked up some parts and paint, the new Lionel Fun Factory book, and a scarce C&F car. It was a good York for me.
Lot number 1374 at yesterday's fantastic Noel Barrett auction included two rare Dorfan light fixtures. I talked with a very experienced, long time collector who told me that, while he knew about these lights from Dorfan catalogs, he had never seen examples of these lights before. This lot sold for $4K. There were plenty of other interesting items at the auction. It was a great opportunity to see some real rarities.
"One thing is absolutely certain. Every collector, regardless of his original interests or intentions, sooner or later is going to have to face the matter of Ives trains, for Ives unquestionably dominates almost the entire landscape of such old model collecting like a gigantic mountain, or, as some new fans who have not yet fallen under the spell (as they almost invariably sooner or later do), may insist, like a gigantic cloud." - Louis H. Hertz, Collecting Model Trains, 1956, p. 49.
Blog reader and standard gauge enthusiast Bert Schuck sent in this photo with the following information: "I thought I'd send you a few pics of some of the stuff I picked up recently at York and eBay. Check out the little Distler garage I got at York and the larger version that came out of Canada via eBay. They make a nice little industrial setting.The Dorfan bridge will make a nice companion to the Burplaspa tunnel on a floor setup.It should be an easy restoration. I like the Newark addition to my NYC theme."
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.
This is the parking lot at the "Holidome" in York, the site of probably the largest of the "bandit" meets that are held preceding the twice Yearly TCA Eastern Division train meets. This picture was taken on a chilly, cloudy day under threat of showers, and this week conditions are similar, or worse. Many people complain that the the "bandit" meets are shrinking and are now only a shadow of what they once were. I suppose the cause is the usual suspect: online auctions.
