Issmayer Pre-war Train Station

I'm kinda pooped today so this will be short.  Our selection is what I believe to be an Issmayer Pre-war train station.  There are no manufacturer's marks but the shingle pattern and overall look point to Issmayer, a German manufacturer of toy train accessories prior to World War II and is approximately from the 1920s.  It's kind of hard to tell from the photographs but not only is all the detail lithographed, it is embossed as well!  The lithography neatly follows each brick, window, and door frame.  What an excellent job!  Although the awning sticks out quite far, there are no apparent attachment points for supporting posts.  Instead there are two sturdy beams running from the back wall to the front of the awning.  The door is missing on my example unfortunately.  Size-wise this is a large structure more suitable for Standard Gauge trains than O-gauge.  It's a wonderful example of the toy maker's art.  Enjoy!

American Flyer #90 Hyde Park Station

I believe I'll finally post a tinplate railroad accessory, I mean, after all I am mostly into 3-rail O-gauge trains and stuff so sooner or later I gotta put something here that's actually a part of that whole scene.  Today we feature the American Flyer #90 Hyde Park Station.  This is what collector's call a 'Pre-war' item - that is, anything made prior to World War II.  Unfortunately I can't tell you exactly what year this was made because, dummy me, I sold my American Flyer reference book!  DRATS!  For the non-collector I s'pose it's just easier to say that American Flyer was a competitor to Lionel and Marx in the 3-rail tinplate train market prior to the United States entry into WWII.  After the war, American Flyer changed direction somewhat by reducing the size of their trains to the smaller 2-rail S-gauge.  S-gauge was stuck between HO scale an O-gauge and was a very nice choice for those wanting something larger than HO scale but not desiring the toy-like look of 3-rail tinplate.  Enjoy!