Homey-Did It Again!

e*Train Issue: Sep 2022 | Posted in: Collecting, Restore & Repair & Photograph

Home Made Locomotive

By J. Russ Dolbear Chester, VA. TCA# 91-34606

EDITOR’S NOTE: I received this email from Russ and felt that it deserved notice. Clem was impressed with the homey-made items that Russ had found.

Hi Clem, and Carol,

I enjoyed your article, Clem, about the homemade anomalies, and had to add my 3 cents worth. I didn’t build the loco I am sending pictures of, but I admire the work of whomever did. If you can identify its maker, I would be elated.

Someone, probably before WWII based on the parts, took an old humpback Lionel 0-4-0, with the Dog Leg brush plate, welded some wheel driver counter weights to the spoke wheels (Die-cast, not Cast Iron), and scratch built a Steam locomotive around it. The front Cow catcher appears all scratch built and if the boiler is off another manufacturer’s product, I don’t recognize it. A 22-caliber bullet shell casing was used for the whistle, and all the side rod work is scratch built.

The Sand Dome piping to the drivers are continuous through the running board, and the handrails running the length of the boiler are held in place by stanchions the likes of which I have never seen.

Home Made Tender

I believe the tender is scratch built as well. Note the Prewar trucks. I traded for it at a local Virginia Train Collectors Meet about a year ago and got a $million dollars worth of fun carrying it around the meet quizzing all my friends,,,,”You have 10 seconds….Who made this?” Amazingly, no one had a clue. By the way, what do you call a man with no body and no nose?….NOBODY KNOWS! (NOSE). Sorry, I couldn’t resist.

Orange Ives 3253

The orange Ives 3253 I will have to take full credit for. I’ve always loved ORANGE trains. I found this derelict Ives shell under a table in a box of shells at York about a year ago. I wanted to do something unique with it, so I test fit the shell on a Lionel 156 motor and frame, and with minor adjustments, it fit. I had to carve out a fender for the reverse switch to protrude, and then I went to my parts bin. I added a Lionel Cast Headlight housing, two small pantographs, and a scale bell. Drilled some tiny holes in the corners of the frame of the 156 to mount tiny HO Flag Holders. The Lionel Hook Couplers work fine. I liked the Orange shell, even though it was losing its paint and graphics, but now I am contemplating taking it all apart and making it beautiful.

Any suggestions on a color or proposed Road name? I know, I know….leave it alone. But in THIS case, I am the artist creating the forever unique project!

For your review and comparison!

I included a pic with a real Lionel 156 next to this Ives 3253 Hybrid for comparison of its lack of height and overall unique appearance. I welcome all comments, Good or Bad.

Clem commented – “Love your homey did locos and love of them. I don’t know who done them. For you, the l only repaint color is ORANGE!!!!! What rail lines used orange? Charge on.” Your editor agrees, Absolutely!

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.

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

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

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* 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.

Homey-Did It Again!

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