HERE IT IS

The only thing I have left is to apply the decals. WA HOOOO!

Finally my Dorfan passenger train runs. Very few engines are still intact and less are still running.

Restoration day

Today I started to clean, sand and re paint my Dorfan train. This will remove rust that is slowly destroying this beautiful piece of 1930's history. Some of the cars were painted awful colors and right over rust. It will finally have all matching cars again.

My new tender

Here is the last piece I acquired for my 1930 Dorfan train, the tender. It will be re painted with the others.

BYE BYE TRAIN

I took every car apart including the engine.

BATH TIME

The cars were covered in oil, grease and all of the other goo from 79 years of play. I gave each car a bath in rubbing Alcohol

SANDING

After I took all of the details off of the cars I sanded the original paint so my paint would adhere better. There was a lot of rust. Someone years ago had repainted one of the cars. They used a wrong color and painted right over the lumps of rust.

The priming begins

Finally I start to prime all of the parts. Most of the cars were really rusty. I primed inside and outside. That should help preserve this train for years longer. I chose black primer to help my topcoat be a little darker. This should match the original color better.

I finally completed my Dorfan train.

Here is my Dorfan train before I had a tender. The paint is peeling off and some of the cars have been poorly repainted the wrong colors. I finally found a tender on E-Bay. The auction closed at 3:00 PM on Easter Sunday. That was right in the middle of our Easter brunch with Jerri's family. I hid in a bedroom and bid at the last second of the Auction. I WON. It was the best Easter I ever had.

I have a new friend. His name is Ken and he attends our church. Ken and I went to a toy train swap meet in Perris. The meet was held at the Orange Empire Railway museum. The vendors set up tables outside in a park area. The weather was perfect. I had the greatest time. There was so many things to see and trains to buy. I found five Dorfan passenger cars for a great price. They were made in 1930. I will publish the photos later.






Here is a photo of one of the trains at the museum.
It is an electric train from the Los Angeles Railway.

MY LATEST COLLECTION

Julius and Milton Forcheimer made toy trains
in Nurnberg Germany until1923. They moved to the United States and made toy trains from 1924 until 1933. They named their company Dorfan after their mothers Dora and Fanny. Dorfan cars are rare and hard to find. These 3 cars are worth about $60. I bought them for $15 for all 3 on E-BAY. I am now looking for a caboose and an engine. Dorfan engines were made of a Zinc alloy. Over time impurities in the castings expand and cause the train body to crack and fall apart. It is rare to find a Dorfan engine still together and even more rare to find one that runs. When you do find one it is very expensive. Some day I will have a complete "WORKING" set.

Wa Hoo it works perfectly

CLICK ON THIS VIDEO TO WATCH MY 1930s TRAIN RUN.

PCC FLEA MARKET

On Sunday I went on a new adventure for me. I went to the
flea market at Pasadena City College. I joined Dan, who works in the machine shop at my job and his brother Mike. We went out to breakfast first and then off to the college. The flea market at PCC
is about 350 vendors selling Antiques and collectibles. It was like going to 350 Antique stores all in one day. Dan collects arrowheads, Mike collects Antique radios and reel to reel tape recorders. As you can see I collect Antique toy trains.

Today I bought a Commodore Vanderbilt Engine, tender, gondola and caboose made by Marx. I paid $40.00 for the set. My collecting book lists this set from $70.00 in the worst condition to $300.00 in Mint condition. It's condition is about the $150.00 range. It works perfect both forward and reverse. This set was made between 1937 and 1942. Not bad for 72 years old.

LETS GO SHOOT SOMETHING

Finally I did something other than toy trains and cars. Chuck and I went out to Oro Grande and found a spot in the middle of nowhere where we could shoot our guns. I had not shot my gun for years. The last time it jammed and shot out of the side. I tried to get Chuck to stand on my right but he did not fall for it.




While we were there I had to look around for a
possible gold site. There were some suspicious
diggins out there.






Chuck shot his 12 gauge shotgun. He had me try
it. I had forgotten what a kick they have.







I think we will be back here with more ammo real soon.

More pictures

Check out the new pictures in my Monorail Blog. I have been real busy and have added Thunder Mountain.

Back to the train room

Finally I have been working in my train room. Here is the new splash mountain ride I added to my Disneyland section. The log really moves all through the mountain.

BACK TO SOME MAN STUFF

My truck was leaking gas. Chuck came over and helped me take the bed off. There was a crack in the gas tank. A little fiberglass patch and it was back on the road.

Wow did I do that?

I had never installed wood flooring before. It looks so good that I want to put wood flooring in the living room. This is too much pink for me. I need to get back to the garage for some man stuff.

New floor for an old room.

I did some painting inside the house. I painted the craft room pink. Then I ripped out the old carpet that was 19 years old. Here I am installing new wood flooring. I think it makes the room look a lot bigger, don't you?

HOUSE PAINTING

As you can see I have been busy painting the house. Soon I will dig a big hole and put in a fish pond to the right of the craft room.