Tin-plate hopper

Last month on the 17th of December, we had the local swap model train meeting in Zutphen, which I crash-visited between several appointments, but that gave me just enough time to find a nice modern tin-plate hopper.

The hall was packed with toy trains, but the general atmosphere was a bit more optimistic than the last swap meeting in March. There was simply more trade. I obviously spend most of my time at the train table of Blik en Speelgoed.
Now I was looking for a tin-plate hopper for quiet some time. I had a Lionel 816 hopper on my wish list for a few years. But those that surfaced here in Europe, were either far beyond restoration or extremely over-valued. So, I was happy to see that Merkur released a full metal modern-tin plate hopper, no. 9416

It is a true modern European hopper (Facss type) and very well made for a full metal train car. Although the chutes cannot be opened, it is still a beauty, which runs and looks great. Finally the tin-plate has arrived. Although, I never practice new years resolutions, I do have figure out what will be next. Perhaps wiring some additional lamps and signals. One of the recent surprises is the re-erection of the Czech top train company named Tioka-Ikaria, which apparently is also planning to release a metal hopper car in the coming year. Well I am anxious to see what they will produce.

By the way, I was given four scratch-built scale 0 train cars a few months ago (they are in the middle of the pictures). They are interesting folk art objects. They are made from cheap wood (cigar boxes) and soldered metal wires. Given the type and grey colour of the paint, I would reckon that they were build in the late forties to early fifties of the last century. Somebody must have spend many evenings making those. The wheels are common bub wheels, which were most likely salvaged from wind-up cars. The couplers are Märklin type. They do not have buffers, as that would probably have been to complicated to self-fabricate in the shed. They have a special appeal to them, which is difficult to comprehend and explain. Anyway, I will sure that they will be kept in good running order for the coming decades.