Recent Additions

[Terry]

I bought a hoard of tinplate a few weeks ago. This 153 with wire handrails was included. I had the 153 in dark olive with wire handrails, but no other wire handrail locos. So this is an addition to the collection.

 

In the same tub was this interesting windmill. No markings on it. Not part of a steam engine set because the fan is attached with a screw, not on a shaft. Probably just a cheap German Chirstmas Village toy from the late teens or 1920s. I'm sure I can find some place on the layout for it.

[early0electric]

Going through a drought here. I haven't picked up anything new to add to my train or paper collection or just something I thought was interesting for a while now. Nothing at the auction houses, Invaluable, and Liveauctioneers that I don't already have, and nothing off eBay. No train meets within 100Mi and YORK is looking iffy even though I've got reservations. There's supposed to be a glut of trains out there but apparently not what I collect.

[Terry]

I haven't bought anything since the TCA convention 5 weeks ago.

Stout had a Lionel trolley in a Butler bros box last week, but I didn't bid because I thought it would sell for more than I could pay. It went for less than I expected, but who knows what the high bidder would have paid.

Jim's been selling some nice stuff on eBay that I don't have, but I have enough dark green locos and orange boxcars. I just saw a red 14 boxcar on ebay. I don't know if two red boxcars are enough.

The good thing about not buying trains is the money piles up and the first one after a drought can be more expensive!

[starfire700]

I had too many dark green locos in my showcase that they were like cord-wood, could not see them.
Thinning-out has made for a more pleasing display, and have to say I am happy with the sales results.

[early0electric]

Now there's a great thought to ponder...Do I need to keep 2 of something just because I have them?

[starfire700]

That was my thought, and the answer came up no.
For me, however the answer to having 2 or more of an item that I can run on my layout is yes.
I like to run unit-trains and double-header power.

[pjdog350]

I have allot of doubles. Two 224’s, three 2026’s, three 675’s. 7 streamline JR’s. My collection is probably the smallest on this forum.

[starfire700]

The important thing, in my opinion, is to keep and collect and/or run the items that are still fun.

[early0electric]

They're all still fun but like you said, they look like cord wood on the shelves. My train collection started out sideways and slowly they've been angling out to the point that if I didn't have string tags on each I might not know what I'm looking at unless I pull it out. And then I've packed away my boxed outfits so I don't see them anymore unless I start opening them up. I'll have to start looking at redundancy in my collection.

[Terry]

Mike - If you get some cup hooks you can start hanging them from the ceiling by the string tags.

[early0electric]

You know, Terry, there is actually someone that does hang cars from hooks by their axles. I don't remember whether it was on Groups. io or or Facebook on Tinplate Toy trains.

[Terry]

Mike - there was an Austrailian or New Zealander on the Yahoo Standard Gauge group who hung trains from the ceiling. That was in the 1990s.

Here's something a bit different --- a Lionel 12 gondola with the number and data stamp on the left:

 

The interesting car should have brakewheels but they are missing. The car is the same as the one above it, but for the position of the lettering. The number and the data are different stamps. These cars have no Lionel MFG embossing or identifying stamps.

I have another brown Lionel 12 with the MFG embossing in the frame.  It's shown below on the lower left:

 

The MFG embossed gondola has a different number stamp, but the data stamps are the same.

Here's the three brown gondolas:

 

All the cars have tab couplers. I think these brown cars date from between 1915 to 1918.

[Harold]

  Recently picked up two cast aluminum cars off Ebay.   These are 17/64 gauge cars and weigh 2.5 pounds each.  I have a hopper and a tank car and am in the process of converting them to 3 rail and adding some detiails from scale city.

The tank car is gong to be a King Syrup car and the hopper will be lettered for my own coal and coke co.  The cars are not My loco or Mi I scale and thus far I have not been able to identify the maker.

Does anybody else have any of these cars?  Would love to see pictures and will post mine when they are complete.  I have to paint outside for now and am waiting for some cooperating weather.

[early0electric]

I recently picked up a boxed Outfit 163 (152, 820, 822). Glad to have it. Freight sets seem harder to find than passenger sets.  This will tide me over until the next purchase!

[Terry]

Harold - My freind who is internet adverse has some mi-loco cars I found a few years ago.   I sold some mi-loco passenger cars last year and there are pictures on the forum.

Those cast metal trains are so neat. I have lots of similarly made trains in 00 scale. 

Mike - that's a great looking 152 set.

Since this topic is getting some interest again. . . Here's my 29th 33 loco:

 

The 30th came a few minutes later: