Hornby Class 25 25218 in the fog.
Almost like being there!
Just FYI that’s the postwar version with the SNCF on the tender. The pre-war had NORD. Either way, I think it is a great looking set.
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That it is!
Mersenne, I seem to remember seeing this set shared before somewhere, maybe by you? It is a lovely set, I wish I had one of my own!
The TCA Western’s article on Seki states that the company was a pre-war operation, do you have other information?
-El
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Hmmmmm… The picture dates from 2022. A couple of years ago I posted a picture of the engine on another forum but I don’t recall ever posting the set picture. I do know I haven’t saved it on the external image site I used to have to use when I posted on the older CTT forum so the couple of sites I visit where this is still a requirement wouldn’t have it. As for the set date - that came from the auction house listing where I purchased the set. If it is prewar - all the better and I guess I’ll have to do some more research. 
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Thanks for the heads up El_Fixes_Things. I checked the TCA site you mentioned and in the text they made the point that Seki appeared to copy the early Lionel style of trucks and the Marklin style of couplers…and here we are the trucks are a match and I have some pre-war Marklin cars with the same coupler style. So, I can say I just added a new train set to the pre-war collection.
1923 Lionel passenger car truck
Seki passenger car truck
As for the picture - I checked the other couple of sites where I have posted things and I can’t find the set picture. If I did post it I’ve forgotten where that might have been.
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@mersenne6 I figured out where- it was here!
If it is Sakai, it would be postwar- if Seki, then prewar. Regardless, a very nice set.
I keep thinking about sharing my Tokyo Endo Rail items, but really they just aren’t very presentable right now. They were purchased as projects, eventually I will complete them…
-El
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Oh my, that Caledonian set is drop-dead gorgeous! LOVE the locomotive!
Thanks for sharing it with us!
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El_Fixes_Things - thanks for that. I forgot all about that post. When I made it I was still under the impression it was Sakai - again because of the auction house. However, it is Seki. When I did a careful check of the cars last night (looking at the trucks and couplers) I found the name Seki to be part of the end litho. The problem is a large piece of the name is punched away to make room for the slot for the coupler. Because of slight punch variation as well as printing variation different parts of the word “Seki” are left on each car which allows one to see the name.
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It is an old set, over ten years of age. Just purchased it second hand. Never been run; in fact I doubt it has been out of the box. All the original tissue paper was still there.
It is an excellent runner.
I can believe it! And it must be a pleasure watching it run as well! 
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Here are a couple less glamorous items from my collection- comprising the entirety of my collection of Sakai O gauge products (at least for now): one Sakai right handed turnout, and two switch controllers (one in the original box).
The controllers are not marked, so without the box you might not know what they were. The switch is marked on the plastic swivel rail.
Here is a picture of the switch controller, outside its box- unlike the one without a box, this one has all 5 of its plastic binding post nuts.
The back side of the box has the instructions on how to hook up the switches, much like what Marx did with their accessory boxes.
Here is a look at the underside of the right hand switch:
And a picture of the switch machine, with the cover removed:
I have never tried to power it up, but I did note it was not mechanically operating properly. It would get jammed, and the swivel rail would not stay fully aligned for the straight route. I decided to remove the two brass eyelet rivets and bend up the 2 tabs that secure the switch machine to the switch, and see if I could figure out what was causing the issue.
The issue turned out to be a problem with the throw bar sitting too low, and the pin on the end not properly engaging with the swivel rail. Over time this had worn out part of the hole, so it no longer engaged properly.
Some careful tweaking of the throw bar fixed the issue, and after some fine tuning I got the mechanism to a point of smooth, reliable throwing when moved by hand, with the swivel rail properly locking in both thrown positions.
I suppose eventually I will have to set it up and see if it works. It would be cool if mine still had the target, but I did note the mechanism that is supposed to turn it is not properly connected to the holder for the target. Since I don’t have the target, I didn’t bother trying to fix this.
-El
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Amazing! This is turning into one of the most interesting topics we’ve ever had!
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I hate to keep mentioning trains I don’t have anymore, but that Sakai block signal reminds me of a Tomy battery operated block signal I had. Along with the Thomas sets (most of which I assembled in combinations Tomy never produced) I sold off several accessories at garage sales. Here are a few pics of the toy section. The signal is in the center of the boxes stacked behind the photos showing what was included in my custom sets.
Largest of all was my collection of Star Wars toys and advertising.
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“Collection” may be an understatement. 
Rich
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Well, today is a big day- a package arrived on my doorstep this morning from Spain…
Everything was very nicely packed and arrived undamaged.
These parts are for my Paya Santa Fe:
These parts are for my Paya sleeper car:
The quality of the reproductions seems to vary a little, some appear nearly as clean and detailed as the originals, while others are a bit rougher and more washed out. But all have been cast in hard, sturdy metal which should hopefully not suffer from the same issues as the parts they are to replace.
I forgot to purchase the tanks for the top of the smoke box, but I am not going to worry about them for now. I can always purchase some at a later date, and they are only cosmetic- not essential to getting the locomotive running.
For now, I’m going to start by getting the sleeper car repaired, as it should require the least amount of effort. I will eventually replace the ends with the new castings, but will wait until I have cleaned up the castings and painted them- the originals are warped, but do not impede functionality of the car as far as I can tell.
Stay tuned…
-El
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I remember those and other shots, that was the MOST professional-looking garage sale I’ve ever seen!
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