sncf231e

That is a very dangerous advice. I did that (avoiding the agony of making a decision on scale or gauge) and now have gauges 3.25 inch, 1, 0, S, H0/00, TT, N and Z and scales 1:16, 1;32, 1:48, 1:45, 1:43.5, 1:64, 1:87, 1:76, 1:120, 1:150, 1: 160, 1: 200 and some more. Regards Fred

On the North American steam locomotives the bell was operated by rope or by air (i.e. not steam). Both the rope as the air valve were hand operated 😉. Regards Fred

This was inspired by the Palitoy A3: For more on this and other A3/4's see my e-book: http://sncf231e.nl/lner-pacifics-and-nyc-hudsons/ Regards Fred

This afternoon I had a run with the GNR (Great Northern Railway) S2 4-8-4. It is a bit bigger than the GNR Single: Regards Fred

Regards Fred

The Kitmaster model (Italian Tank No 8) was a Gr 835. The same prototype as the RivaRossi model shown above and also made in earlier, simpler, versions by RivaRossi. Regards Fred

Here is a 2-rail electric small tinplate train made by LR (Le Rapide) at the end of production. The same locomotive was longer available in a clockwork version. The "Electro Express" was made to run on a battery so it runs on 4.5 Volts. I do not have the original track (I have never seen it even), but used Fleischman 2-rail electric track, which is from the same period (mid fifties). Regards Fred

Anything goes with a BR95: Regards Fred

Of course the CIWL Pullman cars of type Côte d'Azur are the most luxurious but the Pullman Flèche d'Or cars in the original brown/cream livery are my favourite. Here you can see many models of this type of Pullman car in different sizes: Regards Fred

These Bing locomotives are low pressure locomotives. Do not pressure test it; it can easily be damaged by doing that. To see whether the boiler is not leaking just put some air on it (bicycle pump). By doing that you can also see if it runs on air after having put some oil on the moving parts. If you put on some pictures of the engine and the burner I might be able to advise you further (I run a lot of live steam engines). Regards Fred

An extra run with the Loewy designed S1 6-4-4-6 and the K4 4-6-2: Regards Fred

A presentation of some models based on the locomotives designed by Henry Dreyfuss for the New York Central RR in the streamline era: Regards Fred

There is a shop in Eppenheim (about 5 km walk from Heidelberg station or take a bus): Modelleisenbahnen, Schützenstraße 22, 69214 Eppelheim, Germany. http://modellbahn-schuhmann.de/index.html Regards Fred

This afternoon I ran a Lionel and an American Flyer train. Both are 0 gauge 3-rail AC trains. You may choose which one you like more 😉. Regards Fred

Sizewise they are accurate. See here the Kitmaster next/above to a 40 year old Europolitrain passenger car of exactly the same type. The Europolitrain cars were considered very good at that time: Regards Fred

In “A Century of Model Trains”, New Cavendish Books 1974, Allen Levy wrote: “The products of Elettren of Italy give us a good insight into how gauge 0 tinplate Märklin trains might have appeared had they continued to develop that range after the war as they possess the same quality of being almost a scale model, yet still a creation of fantasy, albeit with great refinements.”. Pierce Carlson wrote in Toy Trains, A History (1986): ”Elettren made only two locomotives, concentrating instead on a very fine line of passenger coaches with elaborate interior detail. The Elettren coaches …were and still are the best passenger coaches ever produced by any toy train manufacturer” . Here you see an Elettren rare FS 746 Mikado with Italian baggage car, first class car and second class car and a CIWL restaurant. Regards Fred

Most of these items were made in large quantities. Some of the larger stations might have survived better then smaller items like the BUB phone booth but there are not rare items in my collection. I think the only rare item is the Alpha Models set of French signals. This is a numbered set of which a total of less than 100 were made for the 50th aniversary of Fulgurex at the request of Count Antonio Giansanti Coluzzi. These signals were a re-make of signals originally made by Marescot in the twenties. Regards Fred

I was made aware that I had already uploaded 999 videos to YouTube. So I made a special thousandth video without any running trains: One hundred railway accessories Regards Fred

Here is the video of the 2023 meet of today: Regards Fred

I just finished reading it (and looking at all pictures). It is a great book, also available here: https://trains.lrpresse.com/A-20133-l-age-d-or-de-l-echelle-zero-en-france-1930-1970.aspx# Regards Fred

About my track gauges: I have two loops of track, the inner loop (top in the picture) is gauge 1 and gauge 0, where the third rail for gauge 0 runs in the middle. All rails areseparate, so I can run 2-rail and 3-rail 0 gauge trains. The outer loop is gauge 1 and gauge S. The extra rail for gauge S is good enough in the middle of the track, such that I can also run 3-rail gauge 1 trains. Regards Fred

Regards Fred

It looks very funny (and I do not mean the face on it), as if the rear wheels will rock the grate. Is this based on something real? Regards Fred

Another run with the Reno, but also the Genoa Regards Fred

Yesterday I made a video of a very detailed (interior and exterior) O gauge CIWL restaurant car: Regards Fred