The Russians are coming tinplate edition

[emdmike]

My "everything but USA" tinplate kick continues.  Snagged this mostly complete Russian Moskabel set.  Missing the station, 3 street lights, 3 signals and the operating flagman.  But the rest is there.  I will find the missing stuff after my wife lets me out of the dog house and I pay this off.   Really need my 5" gauge ride on UK set to sell.  That would pay for this little purchase!   Should look good under the Christmas tree this year!   Mike

[Flintlock76]

Wow, that's a good find!  Must be a scare article here in the US.

[emdmike]

They are scarce period.  Maybe 5000 made over a period of almost 20 years.  Not even for sale to the general public till the very end in the late 1960's   They were used as gifts to high party people, visiting dignitarys and so forth.   Only one set was made, the colors varried thru the years.  Here is a link to an excellent resource on what the set had and the color variations.   http://www.davestrains.com/soviet.html

[Flintlock76]

I'll light it up for you.

http://www.davestrains.com/soviet.html  

Holy jeez, can you picture Nikita Krushchev or Joe Stalin himself on the floor playing with a train set?  

[emdmike]

I knew of that sight, I more think of high level party members or KGB playing with them than Joe or Nikita themselves.  How about Putin playing with one as a child?  Like any very old toy train, if only they could talk and tell us their stories. 

 

[pennytrains]

Is that the "official" knock off gateman with the overcoated soldier?

[Flintlock76]

Nyet!  Krozzing gateman akzezzory vas inwented in Russia!  

Is no knockov!

[pennytrains]

Wuz dat by ze same little old lady who inwented wodka?

[Flintlock76]

Da, Tovarisch Rebekka! 

Zay, dit you kno is goot Russki train song?  Is true! 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YX_U4a0WvDg 

[M636C]

I wondered what prototype locomotive was used as inspiration for the model.

In 1951, there was only one passenger type locomotive being built in Russia, the type TE-2. This consisted of two short locomotive bodies on four wheel trucks run back to back.

A photo of the first TE-2 is at

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:TE2-20-001_Kharkiv.jpg?uselang=ru

This is dated December 1948 so it seems likely that this was used to develop the model. Certainly, the body shape is the same, the location of the headlight and the shape, if not number, of the side windows is similar. They may have made a single, double ended unit to simplify manufacture, rather than model two units. This TE2 used an Alco 539 engine in each unit, also used in the TE-1 which was a direct copy of the Alco RSD-1.

A double ended unit (with a turbocharged Fairbanks Morse engine) was built in 1961, and this also looks similar to the model, showing that the "Soviet" style was well captured by the model.

http://rzd-expo.ru/gallery/list.php?PAGE_NAME=section&SECTION_ID=525&PAGEN_2=2/105-001n1v.jpg

(click on the icon for a larger photo)

Note on the prototype TE-2, the image of Stalin on the nose, rather than a red star. Later locomotives had the red star here.

For anybody who hasn't watched this movie...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9eAshaPvYw

it explains, to some extent why the lettering was changed on post 1953 models...

Peter

[Leverettrailfan]

emdmike

My "everything but USA" tinplate kick continues.  Snagged this mostly complete Russian Moskabel set. 

Consider me jealous! Ever since I first learned about the existence of these, I've desired a set of my own. Unfortunately, definitely not happening. Too rare, too expensive. Shame, the equipment is really nice looking stuff...

I certainly have plans to acquire some non-US made O gauge trains when my finances recouperate from all the "junk" I bought this summer (and the spare parts I need to order), but needless to say nothing that was made in the USSR 

[Flintlock76]

M636C

For anybody who hasn't watched this movie...

"The Death Of Stalin."  I'm not sure if the film ever got wide release here, it certainly never came to my area.

BUT, here's a very good video concerning the film, a "black comedy" if ever there was one!  46 minutes long, it hits all the high points.  

Language warning!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TG-tG-Wo0Do

[emdmike]

The set I got is a Khrushchev era set, so it does not have the Stalin marks on the casting that the early model had.  It also has 6 power pickups instead of 2.  I will go thru and fully service the drive before I even put power to it.   The gateman is a blatent knock off of the Lionel item, and the transformer is a knockoff of the ones made for American Flyer(but my set lacks the transformer, I am looking for one).   My plan is to complete the set in the coming months as $$ permits.