TRAIN TIME: Idea File

It's kinda slow here this week and I haven't been workin' on anything special. I s'pose that's another way of sayin' I got a bad case of the lazies :-) Soooo, I went in the 'way-back' machine and pulled an old drawing from the idea file. This sketch was done in the '80s when I was building my small HO scale model railroad and I wanted a tiny depot. I think the windows were patterned after the plastic ones made by Grandt Line as was the rooftop trim. As it turned out, I ended up buying a tiny station made by Woodland Scenics and this station was never built. There's no dimensions, and really, it's so small you can adapt it to fit just about any situation. Enjoy!

TRAIN TIME: The Idea File

Hmmmm, train time, train time, what shall I post this time? I got to thinkin' that not everything about trains is some slick photo, fancy train layout, or big museum. Prior to building a layout sometimes it's just fun to jot down ideas and/or make sketches of things one might want to incorporate into the layout. This holds true regardless of what scale or gauge you're into and the inspiration can come from anywhere. The following sketch was based on something I saw while taking a cruise down the Mosel (spelled 'Moselle' here Stateside) River in Germany. There along the banks was a coal or sand distributor - quite fankly I don't remember which it was now and never wrote it down. The operation was quite small. As much of the traffic along the Moselle and Rhein is barge traffic, it's most likely that a barge would pull up to this facility where a tracked crane would simply load (or unload?) the product to or from any one of the sorting bins. I sketched this little business after we got home that evening - along with several other things - and didn't really remember more details. For those who don't have a waterway on their layout, it's just as easy to lay tracks next to the sorting bins and crane. Enjoy!

Comments

Normally I take Tuesdays and Wednesdays off from blogging but I thought this would be a good time to offer up some comments left by others and some notes.   Now, all these comments have been posted and are attached to the particular post they are in reference to.

First, Dave Farquhar, a long time blogger, computer guru, and fellow toy enthusiast had this to say about the Plastic Ladder Fire Truck post on 11/06/10:

"Don't take this as gospel, but I think All Metal Products was related to Wyandotte, possibly by merger."

Later he posted an additional note regarding the same Fire Truck:

"Ed, I checked my notes, and yes, Wyandotte and All Metal Toy Products were one and the same. The company was liquidated in 1956 or 57, which was how Marx ended up with the Hafner tooling. If I had to guess, California Moulders got the mold for this truck. Getting into plastic was one of the ways Wyandotte tried to compete with Marx, but it was too little, too late."

Thanx Dave

Dave also offered this about the Wal-Mart 201 Christmas Cookie Tins:

"Typical Silver Crane quality. Hopefully they've proven popular enough (and not just with the train crowd) that we'll see more of their product next year. I like their storefront tins for populating a commercial district."

Now, this is where I'm at a loss.  'Silver Crane' apparently manufacturers more of these tin-litho cookie tins, but you see, my foray into the cookie tin collecting thing didn't start 'til fairly recently, and then only to buy tins with a European design so as to fit in with my fledgling Hornby collection.   Soooooo, that being said I'll have to be on the alert for more 'Silver Crane' products.

Next is EeeGee comment on my 'Import Pasta Tins and Idea File post of 1/9/11 may be on other reader's minds as well:

"Hey Iceman, I am always amazed at the litho tins you display after finding them on eBay. What sort of search perimeters do you use? I've tried and clearly "I'm doin it wrong" EeeGee PS - it's totally fair for you to NOT answer that question. It's sort of like asking a guy what part of the lake he finds those giant bass in and what kind of bait he's using."

Actually EeeGee, it's nothing special - two words "tin building".  I find a lot of these tins with just those two words.  I'll also use "tin station", "tin house", "tin diner".  I look in both the 'Collectibles' and 'Toys and Hobbies' categories of eBay.  But quite frankly a lot of my purchases were the result of pure dumb luck, seeing the right auction at the right time.  If you happen to know the manufacturer of the item you're looking for then add that to your search parameter.  I've also been outbid on many really cool pieces of tin - those were the 'fish that got away'!

I may have stuff, and I may take pictures, and I may put this out for all the world to see, but that doesn't mean I know everything.  It's good to know there are followers who have some of the answers and it's good to see fellow collectors on the hunt becuase that's a sign of a lively, dynamic hobby!

Many Thanx and Enjoy your day!

Ed

Import Store Pasta Tins & The Idea File

Sorry 'bout not posting yesterday.  The wife wanted to use the computer and so my normal Thursday evening post is a tad delayed.  I'm gonna do one now and then hopefully I can pick it up again this evening.  In any case it gave me a pause to think about what I wanted to do this time and it struck me, as I was looking at my train layout, that it didn't turn out exactly the way I had envisioned - yet the overall vision remains true.  The layout is an inverted 'U' shape with the town of Marxville on the right and a Plateau on the left.  The Plateau is designed specifically to be able to change themes at will - little of the scenery will be permanent so that if, let's say, I don't even want to have trains runnin', I can pull off the track, place whatever I want up there and have fun.  The transition area (the 'bottom' of the 'U') scenery as it appears now wasn't really planned, it just kind of evolved after messing with different areas.  

The Marxville area was planned but turned out a tad bit different.  Which brings us to the purpose of this post.  For many years, while I was still into HO scale model railroading, I would jot down sketches of different scenery ideas.  I would look at things that would inspire me and try to record, somewhat ineptly, my impressions and these went into a folder simply labeled the 'Idea File'.  The following sketch was made while waiting in a doctor's office in Germany.  Hanging on the wall was a folk art painting (actually a print) of a very small harbor.  I thought at the time that it would make an ideal scenic element for a small model train layout and so I made this sketch.

While gathering buildings and materials for building my present layout I purchased the following two buildings off of eBay.  What is surprising though is that these buildings aren't meant to be toys.  They are decorated pasta tins sold from one of those fancy Import Stores!!  They're not true tin-litho, but rather have a lithographed wrap, applied perhaps using a thin shellac, to the outside of the tin containers.  They're beautiful, and the artwork is spot-on for a harbor scene.  Here they are:

Below is a small Lemax boat from Michael's

The point to all this is that even after preparing for a nice fisherman's harbor scene, I decided to change the theme to a Navy Base.

The reason for this was three-fold:

 1.  The buildings and boats I had been buying were a little too large for the space they would have been shoe-horned into.  The buildings were perfect for O-gauge but just too big for this particular location.

2.  The Navy Base has a more industrial feel to it, making it a better fit for a city-scape.

3.  I could choose from a wider array of toys which would fit the location and give me the 'feel' I wanted for the space alloted.

The key here, is that it's OK to plan and prepare, but don't be a slave to your plans.  After all it's just a hobby and these are just toys.  Make any changes you feel are right, go with your instincts and above all - Enjoy!