unknown tin toy lantern

I recently found this toy lantern in a second hand toys shop. It works with a 4,5 Volt flat battery (3R12). There are no references to the manufacturer and the production date. If anybody would know, please send me an e-mail.

Easter railway fun

Easter eggs need to be transported!

Let's run them around before eating them.

Lionel 8770 switcher that didn't reverse

This Lionel 8770 EMD NW2 switcher (blt. 1977) was purchased in Edmonton (AB) in 2000. It ran nicely forward, but did not want to reverse. In reverse mode the motor made all kind of buzzing sounds and hardly moved. The motor clearly looked fully restored and most parts were amazingly clean for a toy train engine of this age. The central axle of the electromotor was found to move 5 mm down in reverse and 5 mm up in forward. In forward mode the brush springs push the axle sufficiently down, but in reverse mode the axle is not corrected by a spring and the transmission between the wormwheel and gear gets frustrated and it blocks. I tried adding several rings to minimise the vertical displacement of the axle and finally that worked. Two thin rings on the bottom (1 mm metal M2 ring with 2 mm plastic ring on top of that) and a larger ring on the commutator (4 mm high, cut from a drill plug) did the trick. The switcher likes to go forward and backward again!

SD 28 C&O diesel

This SD28 diesel engine is an excellent runner (Lionel 18834, blt. 1994). It has six powered wheels and is able to run at very low speeds. I let it run with a group of box cars (9706, 9715, 9426), a depressed flat car and a caboose (9167). The 9426 is by far the nicest box car. The depressed car is restored and still unnumbered. I reacon that it could either have been a search light car or a transformer car. Since, the car arrived in poor state and the numbers were unreadable, I just painted it nicely and left it unnumbered for the time being.

Modern B&O train

This B&O train is run by a GP9 diesel (Lionel 28514, blt. 2000). It is nice running diesel that pulls long trains and still runs smoothly. It has a horn which sounds a bit like a door chime. In tight curves its wheels will sometimes slip. It pulls a 9130 covered hopper (blt. 1970), a 9701 double door box car (blt. 1972), a Sentinal box car (from boxcar set #3, 1996), a 9783 Timesaver box car (blt. 1977), a 26042 Gondola (blt. 2003) and a 26570 red caboose (blt. 2002). All nice cars that run great. The hopper cover must have been added during the years, because it was originally sold without a cover.

Modern Reading train

This steam train is composed of 4-4-2 Reading steam engine 8402 (blt. 1984), two green hoppers 16460 (blt. 2002), a gondola with coil covers 17405 (blt. 1994) and a bay window caboose 6439 (blt. 1984). It is a very smooth running train that is able to run very slowly. It forms small smoke puffs while running. The caboose has a bit jumpy third rail connector and needs a new spring. Twenty years ago I added some light sewing machine oil in the chimney and it still smokes, although the smell of the smoke is less attractive nowadays.

Extending the roof for Lionel 610

Sometimes you purchase an item with a trouble. Like this Lionel 610 passenger car, which I could purchase for bargain, but without a roof. Later I found a roof, but it was half an inch too short.
Therefore, I first splitted the roof exactly in the middle with a Dremel equipped with diamond wheel. Next, the roof was extended with a brass strip, soldered back together, plastered, sanded and painted with black anti-rust primer.
Now all that is left to do is to restore the rest of the passenger car.

Lionel 1666E, 1680, 652, 607, 2672

Smoothly this prewar torpedo train runs by...
This prewar engine runs so smooth, it is really a joy to see and feel it run past you.

Lionel 2651 flat car

This little beauty was found without stakes and lumber load. Hollash supplied the new stakes and George Tebolt the new lumber load. A simple but rewarding project.

Lionel 289E

This beauty still needs restoration. The brushes have been refreshed and the collector has been cleaned thoroughly. It is a good runner. Only the pilot wheel is a bit jumpy, so I need to do something about it, otherwise every switch is a gamble. A creative painter has changed the looks of this steamer dramatically. It is about time to bring her back in the original gun metal colour.

Lionel 1680 tank car Sunoco

This 1680 tank car was corroded, so I had to restore it. However, no decals were available for the 1680 tank car, so I had to be a little bit creative and use 2755 decals (from Olsen toy train parts). Since, the tank car could not be restored correctly anyway, I chanced the design a little bit more.

Lionel 652 Gondola

Lionel lines,
more than 100 years of fun !!!

This 652 Gondola was purchased in a poor state and had many rust spots. It had to be saved. It was cleaned to the bare metal, plastered and painted again back to former glory.