Ives wind-up locomotive

[nikanjoe]

Have an old Ives wind-up locomotive that has been in the family for decades.  It was given to my mother-in-law when she was a child in t he 40's by a friendly old train collector/neighbor.  It was already old then, but was in great shape and my mother-in-law took very good care of it over the years.  We have the orginal key and it runs fantastically.  It says Ives No. 0 on it and is stamped with a patent date of Apr. 4, 1911 and production year 1912. It is black with a gold bell on it.  It has two sets of wheels, both red, but the rear set is bigger than the front set.  It has two metal bands around the barrel-shaped part of the engine and rivets.   I can't find anything online about this specific train, so I'm hoping someone in this forum can give me the history on this train and tell me if it is worth enough to insure - we live in New Orleans now and you never know when another storm will send a biblical flood.  Thanks for your help and patience with a total train-ignorant novice!  Oh yeah, I did take some pics of the train today, so if you'd like to see them, just let me know and I can email them to you since I can't figure out how to insert them into this message.  thanks again.

 

 

[phillyreading]

,

It would be best to insure an old train like that! Ives went out of business in the late 1930's, if I am correct.

Lee F.

[AF53]

You might want to try this out www.ivestrains.org and also check out the last few pages on the thread Pre War American Flyer Pictures. This site came from there. Credit goes to Ivesboy.

It's a great site, has plenty of pics, and alot of information.

Good luck in your hunt!

Ray

[AF53]

Go to the Pictures area, click on Trolleys and then on Locomotives, then Clockwork and finally 5th Series. Thats where you'll probably fine yours.

As far as worth????? I'm an American Flyer guy so my best advice is to buy a price guide (maybe at a train show or amazon) or just watch EBay.

[ivesboy]

Thanks to af53 for alerting me to this post. You could email the pics to me at [e-mail].

From what youve said its a No.0 made about 1911-12. Ives dated their motors and they are usually correct down to a year or two. It was the bottom line steam engine and came with an F.E.1 tender with red and black litho and a green frame.  Although many numbers shared the boiler casting, the number indicated the size and strength of the spring. It would have come in the set with 1 50/51 Newark or Washingtom litho pullman. The car should have a black or green frame as gray was 1910. Once i get the pics i will post them on here for you and tell you more. 

   As for value....without the cars the loco alone in nice condition would be worth no more than 200 bucks, They were beefy and often survived when the tenders and cars, made of rather delicate tin stampings, were often crushed by a child or parents foot. Therefore it is one of those instances were the rolling stock is valued more than the loco. If you have the whole set, depending on the variation, it could be worth upwards of 500-600. 

Im looking forward to seeing the pics!