TRAIN TIME: Brimtoy O Gauge No. 48 Tunnel (1949- ?)

This nice little tunnel features beautiful rolling countryside graphics and was made starting in 1949 according to the book

"British Toy Trains

Featuring all those other British toy train manufacturers

Book 4 of 5 - Wells-Brimtoy Ltd 1946-1991 

One Hit Wonders"

by Michael D . Foster

I can't seem to find how long it was in production but apparently Brimtoy shut down production in 1983 so it wouldn't have gone any further than that. The tunnel disassembles into two pieces but when these photos were taken, I just didn't do that to show the process - sorry. The lithography on both halves is exactly the same so a full photo workup wasn't necessary but now I wish I would have tried to take a few more. Enjoy! Opa Fritz

TRAIN TIME: Brimtoy No. S3 Model Wayside 'FUNLAND' Station (1927-1932)

After going through my hard drive the past few weeks I have found hundreds of unedited photos: trains, vehicles, space toys, airplanes - you name it! Here's a group of pics taken four years ago that just recently were edited! 

According to the book:

"British Toy Trains

Featuring all those other British toy train manufacturers

Book 3 of 4 - Brimtoy Ltd & Wells-Brimtoy Ltd 1914-1945"

by Michael D . Foster

This FUNLAND Station was made from 1927-1932. The station was bought when I was trying to find that 'right' one for the Hornby layout. I mean all the stations I bought fit, but some are longer, some a bit wider, and for one reason or another just don't have the right feel for the spot chosen on the layout. So while this wasn't ultimately chosen for the layout, I now have a nice Pre-war gem on my hands for the collection! This measures 12 3/4" (32.38cm) L x 4 3/4" (12.06cm) H overall. The ramp is 3 1/8" (7.93cm) W. Enjoy! Opa Fritz

TRAIN TIME: Meccano Dinky Toys Yellow Oil Bin Set 49 Service Station Accessory

Goin' through my photos and came across this nifty little accessory useable for petrol stations: the Meccano Dinky Toys Yellow Bin Set 49 Service Station Accessory in yellow. It's diecast metal with a stamped steel opening lid and the interior details are painted. Enjoy! Opa Fritz

TRAIN TIME: Speaking of Keys - Does Your Spider Have A Key?

In yesterday's post was a photo of an original Hornby key for clockwork engines. But what happens when you don't get a key with the engine(s) you buy? Well, keys are available separately (for a price of course)  OR, you can get one of these 'spider' keys with five separate, different sized keys each. A complete set is two keys with 10 different sizes - often times these are sold separately but sometimes in a set of 2 each - and trust me, they have already come in handy! Enjoy! Opa Fritz

TRAIN TIME: Tin Plate Model GPO Post Box, Probably Hornby - NOT PROBABLY - DEFINITELY!

Just found out yesterday that this pillar type post box (which I posted a few days ago) was included as part of Hornby's Accessories Set No. 3. I'll expand on that in a future post. Enjoy! Opa Fritz

TRAIN TIME: Hornby Type 101 No. 2270 0-4-0 Clockwork LMS Tank Engine - Redux

This is a re-post of an engine first appearing here on the blog back on 1 Mar 2019 and it's here to sort of keep this Hornby thread more-or-less cohesive (and I need time to get other posts ready). Enjoy! Opa Fritz

A bonus was this key included with the engine. Too often these are missing.

TRAIN TIME: Hornby No. 50153 Clockwork Engine

When I started buying Hornby, accessories and buildings were being added much quicker than engines and rolling stock. A part of that was price - these suckers can get expensive! - and reliability. After a couple of wind-up engine disappointments, I was getting a case of burnt fingers. Fortunately today's engine was a good purchase overall and was a bit cheaper than normal because someone had customized it with hand-scribed 'R's' on the tender sides. I'm okay with them. My apologies for not presenting my usual 12-pic photo essay set but apparently when these photos were taken I got lazy! :-) Enjoy! Opa Fritz

TRAIN TIME: Hornby No. 2 Special Tank Locomotive LMS Red No. 6954 (1935)

You know how when you buy something and then afterwards kick yourself and ask "Why did I do that?" Case in point: this Pre-war Hornby No. 2 Special Tank Locomotive. I bought it knowing full well it wouldn't traverse the small radius curves on my layout, but I liked it! LOL I never got around to doing the full photo essay on this but I did pose it on the layout for a few still shots. Enjoy! Opa Fritz