I looked into that a few years ago using the early type beans to construct an “L” type viaduct. At an average price of $3 per beam for vintage parts with no rust it would have been a bit pricey.
The K’nex Golden Gate actually belongs to this little lady:
I think its time I made a little ‘status update’
Some ups and some downs over here. Looking into a possible heart condition, hopefully it’s nothing serious but it is important to have it checked out.
I was on vacation the past week, and picked up quite a few train goodies. Some of my favorite new additions are a (not quite complete) Fleischmann HO export outfit (made in Germany for the US market), a 6175 Flatcar with Rocket, and a Marx Monan A-Unit with two dummy B units.
-El
Some great finds Ellie, especially that Fleischmann set!
(You know, when I hear the name Fleischmann the first thing that springs to mind is cheap whiskey! I should broaden my horizons a bit! 
)
Best wishes on your exam and I sincerely hope there’s nothing to be concerned about. I’ve got a heart murmur myself but I’ve had it since my 20’s and I’m 72 now. So it’s never gotten worse.
Wayne, Fleischmann to me is the name of a German train make… never as famous or successful as the German train and toy giant Märklin, but also makers of fine products. Fleischmann produced a fine line of O and HO gauge trains in the postwar years, though the O gauge line was dropped by the 1960s. Unlike Märklin, Fleischmann used 2-rail DC operation for its trains for the most part.
It seems that at some point in the late 40s or early 50s, Fleischmann realized that the US dollar had a much higher value than did Western German’s Deutche Mark- thus, Fleischmann could produce a quality product in Germany, sell it at a competetive price in the US, and make a much greater profit on each sale than they could selling to German customers. The result was the altering of old tooling and creation of new, to produce a line of trains that could appeal to the US market. They produced a very nice ALCo FA as well as some ‘americanized’ versions of the existing BR03, BR24, BR41, and BR80 steam locomotives already in the Fleischmann line. A Baldwin switcher and an EMD F7 were also produced.
Unfortunately, the global economy changed and Fleischmann was no longer able reap benefits from offering the ‘export’ line. The final ‘export’ items aimed at the US market left the catalog in the early or mid 70s afaik.
-El
Yes, looking at the cab of that Pacific it does appear to be one of those “Americanized” locomotives you mentioned. It’s angular in the German style.
You know, if you like Fleischmann products there’s a VERY good possibility that the export models made in the late 1940s may be marked “Made in the American/British/French Occupation Zone.” It’s certainly going to be one out of the three! Something to keep an eye out for as a unique historic collectible.
Just to wrap up the Fleischmann gag you’re too young to remember this ad but I sure do!
Prayers offered for the best outcome of your testing, El.
Palallin, thank you for the support- we’ll see what we’ll see. Still working on getting in with a Cardiologist.
Wayne, all of the Fleischmann products I have are marked ‘Made in Western Germany’. Perhaps this differed for earlier examples.
As far as the ‘americanized’ german steam locomotives, the alterations were fairly minimal. To turn a BR03 into the American 4-6-2 I have, a more American styled tender with a US road name was swapped for the german one. Additionally, the front end was modified with steps and a more American style pilot. The original two headlights were omitted, replaced with a single headlight in the front of the smoke box. The removal of the smoke deflectors, and a solid black paint job finished the makeover.
The quality of these german models is excellent, it’s hard not to love them. I would greatly enjoy having more O gauge products from the finer German makes, but they don’t come cheap… the ‘little ones’ will have to suffice for now.
-El
I wasn’t aware O Gauge trains were being made in Germany anymore but then I’ve never looked. So I did some looking and found THIS:
Interesting! Beautiful models but as you say they don’t come cheap. On the other hand price-wise they’re kind of on a par with the American high-end items.
And don’t feel bad Ellie, I can’t afford them either!
On the other hand I’m kicking around the idea of taking a Post-War 2-6-2 or 2-6-4 if I can find one cheap and “Germanizing” it into an imitation Heeresfeldbahn or Deutsche Reichsbahn engine. But that’s for a future project.
SP type cabeeses with their cupolas lopped off make semi reasonable passenger cars if you paint them green and add “DB” markings 
That they would! Several weeks ago when that nice young Mister R.J. from Long Island got his MTH Bavarian S3/6 but no passenger cars I suggested he “chop n’ channel” some MTH “Overton” coaches, it wouldn’t take too much effort to turn them into erzatz pre-WW1 German coaches. Or at least get them to the close enough stage.
Anyway, here’s his video. It’s a beautiful engine!
Wayne, I meant more the vintage O gauge… I prefer the classics! But old Märklin O gauge goes for big bucks, and forget about 1 gauge… Fleischman O is also collectable, and the electric models are incompatible with Lionel as they were all 2-rail. I have a fine little clockwork loco and some cars in my collection, they are very nice. The Loco’s cruising speed is to fast for its own good, unfortunately.
Becky, I like the way you think… they would make some nice little branchline coaches. Would probably want to convert them to 2-axle cars to complete the look.
-El
So pennytrains, per your 17 June entry inquiring minds want to know. You made it to the airport starting with the RTA at Terminal Tower…have you ever considered riding the RTA in the other direction?
Well actually, I took the #71 bus north to connect to the #54 trolley which took me to the redline rapid transit station in Brookpark where I boarded the train to the airport. And I’ve often considered riding the entire system just for fun 
I don’t think I have any pictures but I did do it to 3 cabeeses. They were the MPC era type with divided windows. I used thin styrene to cover the roofs and used a few Lego pieces to make “ventilators” down the center. But I kept the trucks as is. The motive power was a Kughn era Atlantic with the wheels painted red, trapezoid smoke deflectors and the end of a tank car acting as the boiler front. I also used Lego buffers and I hand made the miniature lamps for the pilot deck.
Pennytrains, ah ha! that’s what happens when you read a post too fast. I missed the part about boarding at Brookpark - I thought you had boarded at Terminal Tower.
Sometimes we have to break our own rules…
saw this on eBay and my curiosity got the best of me.
It doesn’t entirely fit within the theme of my collections (it is ex-Marx tooling, maybe that counts for something?) but it is an oddball item. And I’d just been thinking about a colorful little switcher made by Tyco in a neat ‘Bell System’ paint job.
I can’t figure out much, but it seems this was some sort of promotional item for Bell South, related to the 'Managed Network Solutions" alliance they were a part of. It came in a special box with information about the promotional deal, but I can’t find a good picture of it. This is the best I could do:
I find Lionel’s promotional outfits quite neat, especially the ones with unique cars promoting specific customers- I think this had the same appeal for me. I doubt these locomotives have much value to collectors, but I am sure they’re quite tough to come by compared to some other HO gauge promotional items.
I have no intention of giving up my O gauge persuits, of course- not to worry. And my HO collection is still predominantly classic Lionel, Gilbert, and Marx.
-El
Interesting Ellie! Typically promotional items like that tend to be “in house” articles and don’t show up on the used market often. A good collectible even though it’s outside your normal scope.
I have not posted here in a while. Been busy - skin cancer scan (passed, all clear), built a murphy bed for the lake house, got the pintoon into the lake, onlt to discover that the water pump on the outboard somehow failed while it was in winter storage, moved the picnic table and grill onto the deck, and got an on demand water heater installed in the lake house.
The only train activity was looking at a Lionel box car in a silent auction that I had not seen before. I passed on it because the last bidder’s handwriting looked like is was a kid’s. I really don’t need another box car, so I let the kid get the thrill of winning an auction.
Great news on the skin cancer scan! And you did the right thing letting the kid win, well done!
