Early German Engines

Manxman · Early German Engines

I was just dusting / playing with my German engines and decided to do another pic of my growing collection. The car is probably the oldest and dates from about 1910 and the Fleishmann is the newest being post war (I keep it with the others because of the strong Doll / Fleischmann connections and their shared products).

I have 7 engines now and they are (from left to right). A Doll 502 (with a 501 Chimney and other changes)(late 20's early 30's), A Doll 505 (mid 1930's), and a Fleischmann 155/1 (early 1950's).

The model in the middle is my Steam Car. I still can't say who made it for certain but it still seems like Carette are a very good bet.

The engines on the right are: A Marklin Roller (late 1920's early 1930's), A Bing Roller 130/740 (1924ish), and a Bing Traction Engine 130/721 (1914ish).

The tools are by Doll and Plank and date from the same period (ish) as the engines.

MooseMan

Manx, they're all gorgeous, but that Doll 502 has to be my favourite....that's pretty enough to make a grown man weep. Do you ever run them?

IndianaRog

One of a kind collectiont there Manx...I am really liking the car in the center...hope you are able to more definitively ID it as time goes on. It can be a thrill when you stumble across the proper connection and suddenly Eureka!!!

Manxman

I'm having problems with the car at the moment. However, I have recently shown it to a friend who used to be an engineer (and has a large Garden Railway). He looked the car over and decided all of the parts could have been made by any of the early German companies except the wheels. He thought the 'tooling' (whatever that is) for the wheels would have been very expensive and a specialist bit of work. So his suggestion is to look for a copy of the wheels and that may help. So far he might be right because I can't find wheels to match in any pictures yet. The other thing he found that I had missed was a couple of dent /creases on both sides of the car (same each side) that may suggest it once had running boards fitted onto the model.

IndianaRog

You will figure it out.

I had a neat "Ah Ha" moment this past week. I stumbled across an odd looking steam engine called a "Frisbee" by Stevens company, in an obscure eBay listing. The Frisbee looked like an inverted lightbulb on legs, with the bulbous part (boiler) down and a mini beam engine on the top end. I kept looking at that auction and kept wondering where I had seen that very engine before. I knew it was a steam website that had listed a pic of that engine for several years now, saying the website owner was looking for that engine.

I couldn't remember the name of the website owner, but knew it had a unique name. I studdied a few steam collector links on several websites and hit upon it studying CEDGE'S links. The guy looking had a website called: "Eureka, I found it"...I then hooked him up with the guy selling the Stevens piece and hopefully they can make a deal. Kind of fun to play matchmaker!!!

Maybe someone will do the same for your car Manx...you never know with all these eyes out pouring over the marketplace.

cheers,
Rog

tmuir

Great collection Manx.
I can see running boards being on that car.
I have friends that have recently moved to Tasmania where that car came from, will have to pay them a visit and trawl all the antique shops to see if that car has any friends.

Manxman

Thanks for the comments. I've got another book on order now (early german toy cars) to see if that can help me with the car.

I'm also looking at a Bing Tool due up later this evening, that will go with my Bing mobiles. I'd really like a Fleischman tool or figure but it seems very few come on uk ebay. I've seen some very nice ones on American ebay so I may have to go further afield in the future to expand the early German part of my collection.

The other model I keep looking out for, at the moment, is another Weeden. Weeden during their main years of production made 4 different mobiles and I own only one, a large Traction Engine Model no 643. I got that model from Cedge and it's great. I'd now love a second Weeden and maybe a Weeden tool as well to add to the American branch of my collection.

Steve_S

That's a wonderful collection Manx, they have lots of character!

Manxman

Mamodman123

Super collection Manxy! The car is the pick of the litter for me though

so much character in all of these!

SillyBilly

Deffinatley the Car for me!

Griffin

A beautiful colection of old German engines there Manx

The Marklin is the one I like the best

Having said that, the Bing Roller is a very close second.

flywheel61

That's a really interesting collection, I could only dream of such engines over here. I particularly like the old car, it reminds me a lot of the 2nd hand pedal car, with solid rubber wheels, I owned in the late 1940's early 50's.

Cheers

Chris

Wallace

Great collection Manxman.

I too am a big fan of the car

tmuir

Stitch

Lovely collection Maxman. A lot of work gone into that.

Manxman

Thanks for the comments. As Tony said, we can still find these models and the forum is a great way of letting people know what's for sale on other ebay boards or in antique shops.

To be fair they are going up in value and it's not usual to get them for under £200GBP each. The most I've paid is £300 (Bing Roller) but I know I'll have to go higher for a very rare model. But if you look at the cost of a new Mamod Van or Bus, then I think they are worth every penny.

In a couple of years these toys will be classed as proper antiques and not collectables any more (100 years old) and I expect the prices will go up again.

John Chapman

Wonderful collection, sheer class.