Early Toy Trains: a Book Review

e*Train Issue: Jun 2016 | Posted in: Toy Train Paper & Auctions

By Jan Athey, TCA Librarian Summer 2016

Joe A. Swisher’s new volume, Early Toy Trains, derives from a fortuitous purchase he made in 1993 of an unusual Voltamp collection. Through this purchase Mr. Swisher was introduced to Dr. Franklin O. Loveland of Gettysburg, PA, who mentored him and led him to a special appreciation for the early American manufacturers; Carlisle & Finch, Voltamp, Knapp and Howard.

Knowing little about early toy trains, Joe met with Frank who assisted him in writing a July 1996 article in the Quarterly about this unique collection which was later purchased by the National Toy Train Museum. Many years later, in November of 2013, Mr. Swisher was astonished to learn of Frank Loveland’s death when he discovered an ad in the National Headquarters News publicizing the sale of Dr. Loveland’s train collection at Bertoia’s Auction House in Vineland, NJ. He immediately ordered a catalog.

Joe Swisher’s visit to view Frank Loveland’s collection at Bertoia’s as well as the Bertoia auction catalog serve as the basis for this book. With the permission of photographer, Mike Bertoia, Mr. Swisher was able to reproduce with great clarity and detail the high-quality photographs presented in the auction catalog which cover these four early manufacturers as well as some European accessories.

Early Toy Trains takes a unique approach to presenting information on these companies. Each chapter is devoted to a different manufacturer, offering illustrations from old black and white company catalogs, including original retail prices. Following early illustrations are the Bertoia photographs of Frank Loveland’s trains and accessories including auction prices realized, thus inviting comparisons.

Early Toy Trains does not claim to be a comprehensive study of early American toy train manufacturers and minimal analysis is provided. However, its author achieves a worthwhile purpose in documenting a world-class collection while, at the same time, offering tribute to Dr. Franklin O. Loveland, scholar and connoisseur of early 2-inch gauge toy trains.

This book is offered for sale for $35 plus postage by calling the gift shop at the National Toy Train Museum at (717)-687-8624 or from the author by sending a remittance of $38.00 to:

Joe A. Swisher
613 Northgate Rd.
Aberdeen, MD 21001

Shop Amazon and Help TCA

TCA members who shop at Amazon.com can have each of their normal purchases generate a modest payment to TCA! And it won’t cost you anything!

The Train Collectors Association is now a participant with AmazonSmile, which is a special website operated by Amazon that lets customers enjoy the same wide selection of products, low prices and convenient shopping features as on Amazon.com.

The difference is that when customers shop at AmazonSmile (smile.amazon.com), the AmazonSmile Foundation donates 0.5% of the price of eligible purchases to the charitable organizations selected by customers.

The process is simple. Just search for and select Train Collectors Association when you sign up and shop at smile.amazon.com.

You use your regular Amazon.com username and password, but when you log in to smile.amazon.com, you’ll see that you are supporting TCA with your purchases:

Note that if you just log in to the regular amazon.com, this benefit does not operate.

There are no costs to either you or TCA, but TCA benefits!

This is a great way for TCA to earn extra cash to offset costs, so sign up today to help support TCA.

* Note: TCA is not a party to any of your Amazon transactions, and does not endorse any products or vendors.

Helping TCA with your ebay purchases when you use PayPal

If you’re an ebay user and have a PayPal account you use to make payments, you can designate a donation for TCA when you’re checking out — any amount, small or large.
If you’re a regular seller on ebay, you can pre-designate a percentage of your sales to be donated automatically in your name to TCA as long as the purchaser pays with their PayPal account.

In both cases, you will receive a donation receipt from the PayPal Giving Fund, and enjoy applicable tax advantages.

How to do it:

Click on the image above, or use this link. This will take you to ebay, where you will see the following page (log in to ebay if you are not already):

This offers TCA as an option. Click on the “Add to My Charities” button where indicated with the red arrow. Thereafter, when you make a purchase, at checkout you will be offered the option to make a donation to TCA in any amount of your choosing. Small amounts add up, larger ones are great! It’s always up to you!

The option will appear at the lower part of your checkout page, something like this:

If you’re a regular seller on ebay, you can allocate a portion of your sales proceeds to be donated to TCA. Look at the green arrow marked “Optional” above to see how to do it. Details on how ebay calculates the donation may be read here. This is a wonderful way to share the financial benefits of your hobby with the organization that promotes it!

An added benefit to TCA is that these donations are not subject to normal processing fees, so that makes your donation work harder!

* Note. TCA is not a party to any of your eBay transactions, and does not endorse any products or vendors. PayPal issues the receipts to you for your donation, not TCA.

Early Toy Trains: a Book Review

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