NOR-CAL EXPRESS. March 2009 FULL COLOR PRESIDENT S MESSAGE. the. The Toy Train Beacon of the West

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1 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA DIVISION-TRAIN COLLECTORS ASSOCIATION the NOR-CAL EXPRESS See the Nor-Cal Express in FULL COLOR at As I write this, we are only three weeks away from the Cal-Stewart Meet, scheduled for the Santa Clara Convention Center March 20-22, According to the highly efficient Registration Chairperson (my wife, Mary Ann) we have so far received approximately 325 registrations and are selling a lot of tables. The volunteers are working hard to make this year s Cal-Stewart a great event. We look forward to seeing you in Santa Clara. DON T MISS THE CAL-STEWART MEET AT THE SANTA CLARA CON VENTION CENTER, MARCH PRESIDENT S MESSAGE At last month s meet in Lafayette there was considerable discussion regarding holding our monthly event at different venues to attract more members. While an informal poll disclosed a general preference for continuing at Lafayette, we will hold at least one (maybe two) meets at an alternate location when Lafayette is not available. There was also some sentiment that we should move back to Montera School in Oakland, but as I previously explained, the Oakland School District is just to difficult to work with and we have had too many scheduled meets where the facility was not opened as promised and/or the room was not set up to accommodate us. Personally, I like Montera because it is only five minutes from my house, but it s just not practical at this time. I would like to get some feedback on the show and tell portion of our monthly meet. I think the information is very interesting and informative, but it does delay the start of the trading until about 10:15 or 10:30. Remember the meets are for you and we want to provide when the members want. So, let me know if you have any thoughts regarding the way in which our monthly activities are scheduled. See you in Santa Clara. March 2009 The Toy Train Beacon of the West by Bob Nichelini # Bob Jim Hartney brought this Schieble Hill Climber floor toy loco to the February meet. This is friction-motor powered, and Jim demonstrated the power of the motor by coasting it the width of the room! Jim Hartney brought his KBN (Karl Bub Nurenberg) loco to the January meet. It is O-gauge, clockwork, and is from period. Compare this to the loco in Walt Disney s classic movie Dumbo. FUTURE MEETS April 11, June 13, July 11, Aug. 8, Nov. 14, Dec. 12, 2009 (all at Lafayette Veterans Memorial Hall, 3780 Mt. Diablo Blvd., Lafayette ) Sept. 12, Oct. 10, at the Walt Disney School in San Ramon March Cal-Stewart, Santa Clara May 23 Scottish Rite Temple, 6151 H St., Sacramento Business. Meeting: 9:30 AM, Trading: 10-11:30 AM

2 Page 2 A WONDERFUL WORLD OF TRAINS! These photos show a small portion of this fabulous collection. More in the next issue of The Express. Top left: Tootsietoy and other small trains, incl. HO gauge Middle left: American Flyer prewar O-gauge Bottom left: Later-era American Flyer prewar O-gauge Upper right: Dorfan O-gauge Bottom right: Issamayer (German) O-gauge trains

3 Page 3 Various cast iron figures, auto, signs, etc. Very early Converse open trolley (floor toy) Two early Marklin stations This is a Marklin 1-gauge roundhouse, with various locos. For security purposes (since this newsletter is viewable online) the identity of the collection owner is obscured. Nor Cal members will probably recognize him anyway. Nor-Cal Express Richard White, Editor Phone (925) toytrain13@hotmail. NOR-CAL TCA OFFICERS President: Bob Nichelini Vice President: Rod Cornell Treasurer: Pete Goodier Secretary: Rick Renfro

4 COLLECTING LIONEL S PREWAR FREIGHT CARS by Richard White TCA # copyrighted Collecting all of the variations of these smaller size freight cars was an obsession for me. A number of trips to the York Meet helped me out considerably, but I never obtained a few of the rarer cars ( stock car and hopper, for instance). Here s a checklist I worked up a few years ago, that shows all the major variations. Not included are factory errors, etc. The chart is sort of squashed horizontally, so that I could fit it onto the page (I can you the unsquashed chart on request). Comments or corrections welcomed.

5 SOME ITEMS SEEN AT RECENT BATHS AND NOR-CAL MEETINGS (BATHS Bay Area Tinplate Historical Society meetings are open to interested Nor-Cal collectors of pre-wwii tinplate trains. Contact Richard Hofmeister) Page 5 Marx clockwork airplane that circles the Empire State Building (Dec. BATHS meeting) Markling One Gauge station canopy. (Dec. BATHS meeting) Bing One Gauge cast-iron, clockwork locomotive, missing main rods, and the three cars (combine and two coaches) that accompany this top-of-the-line set of Fantastic! Owner: Rod Cornell ( ) Dorfan (?) O-gauge sectional bridge, tinplate. ( ) John April s Standard gauge #385E loco and tender, that he has worked on extensively new frame, cylinders, some trim etc. Those are his transition cars too. ( )

6 MORE ITEMS SEEN AT RECENT MEETS Page 6 Thanks to Rod Cornell, this Marklin O-gauge live-steam loco and tender of 1910 or so, finally have the correct passenger cars to accompany them. The lithographed tender and cars are lettered Pennsylvania. gauge. The loco was formerly owned by Richard White (see article in the June 2007 Express, page 7), but it is now (with the cars) owned by his son and fellow Nor-Cal member, Randall White. ( ) Richard Zanotti brought in this hybrid locomotive. The body is a cast-iron Bing in 1 Gauge. The wheels are repro Lionel Standard gauge and the motor is a postwar #2037 Lionel! Richard obtained this at York. ( ) Dennis Musante brought in this original Sam Cobeam drawing for a cartoon in The New Yorker magazine. ( ) These are tinplate Kovap trucks (note the beer can truck!) obtained on a visit to the Czech Republic. I didn t get the owner s name. ( ) A Paya (Spain) level crossing or crossing gates (manually operated). Paya made an extensive line of O-gauge tinplate trains, but no longer, sadly! Again, regrets about not getting the owner s name ( )

7 Richard Hoffmeister brought in these printer s proofs for Athearn HO gauge kit boxes. Steve Slaussen is the owner of this like new Lionel O-gauge #752E aluminum set of 1935, which is complete with the original item boxes, set box, 072 track, transformer, and rheostat. ( ) Athearn boxcar as a presentation piece. Brought by Richard Hoffmeister. ( ) Bob Morris owns this beautiful Lionel prewar terrace. ( ) Fake (on the left) and genuine Lionel #6427 cabooses. Hard to tell the difference until you look inside. Brought by Mark Boyd In the background, and on the preceding page, some expertly repainted and lettered (very hard to tell they re not original) American Flyer prewar (pressed steel) Pullman cars. Also brought by Mark Boyd. ( ). Bing (?) steam engine. The Editor regrets he has lost his notes regarding the owner of this piece.

8 TRAIN REPAIRS, PARTS AND SALES Mike Raymond MTH PS1 PS2 DCS LIONEL TMCC MTH Authorized Service Center, 2575 Knolls Drive, Santa Rosa, CA Phone: JUST TRAINS Largest Selection in the East Bay Friendly help for the young and the young at heart O-scale Hi-Rail and Tinplate, G, HO and N 5650-H Imhoff Drive, Concord Tues-Fri 10-5:30 PM Joan Bradford, Owner Thurs. 10-7:00 PM Website: Sat. 10-5:00 PM (925) Sun. 12-4:00 PM FAX: (925) Submit address changes to: Mark Boyd address: tcqed@comcast.net the NOR-CAL EXPRESS