One thing I found out early on when collecting these trains is that with Japanese tinplate, there are always more questions than answers. My knowledge of these trains has come almost entirely through my own observations of the trains themselves, either by studying the trains I own or carefully watching ebay auctions (whether I bid on them or not) and noting any details I can. Published information about these trains is pretty much non-existent. There are books out there about Japanese toys in general, which probably could give some useful information and might perhaps make reference to train sets, but I have yet to find any detailed information specifically related to trains. The reason is obviously that there are very few (I have yet to meet or read about any) toy train collectors who specialize in such trains (Sakai being the exception, though, as I said before).
As I said in my post, your set would have had a boxcar, also lettered "East West". It came in a box with an illustration of a train which was unquestionably copied from Lionel. A hudson is pulling a train around a curve. Behind the tender is an orange boxcar. In the background, we see the end of the train, which has a two-dome tank car and a brown SP-type caboose. The box proudly proclaims "Electro Train" with "Transcontinental" in smaller letters underneath and "Operates on One Standard Battery".
Alps was founded in 1948. In the 1970's, they stopped manufacturing toys and moved into making electrical components, which they are aparently still manufacturing today. That's all the information I have on the company's history. Most Japanese battery operated train sets like these were made in the 1960's, although there is a chance this set could have been made as early as the late 50's.
As far as value, anything goes. Due to the lack of information on these trains, there are really no set values of any kind for them. Prices for Japanese tinplate on ebay can really fluctuate, although obviously boxed sets command much higher prices than unboxed items. The lack of information and interest in these trains has lead me to get many good buys and acquire the large collection that I have. This set is rather common, but $15 is definitely a very good buy. Have fun with it!
I'm an avid collector of Japanese tinplate trains like this. A while back when I mentioned my interest in such trains, Dave Farquhar mentioned having this set and asked me what I could tell him about it. This is what I had to say:
"There were three different sets like this:
-Maroon/brown engine, maroon/brown boxcar, orange caboose. In this set the batteries went into the engine's boiler. This set is much more common than the other two.
-Blue engine, flatcar with logs, white "Gasoline" tank car, orange caboose. This set was battery-electric with a little battery controller that looks like a station.
-Black engine, silver "Gasoline" tank car, orange caboose. In this one the batteries also went into the engine.
As far as the manufacturer goes, I am 95% sure that these were made by Alps. The reason there is that 5% doubt is because the only markings on these sets are "Made in Japan" and the boxes they came in carried a logo with an "M" in a circle that I am not familiar with. However, Alps did make some small (a bit under half the size of these) tinplate sets that ran on Japanese O gauge track (see my last post for that gauge). These trains look just like miniature versions of the East-West sets. Although they have more prototypical markings (the engines and cars are lettered for Rock Island and the tank cars for Mobilgas), the colours and details in the lithography are very close to the East-West sets. There are other simmilarities, such as the large coal bunkers on the engines (I suppose these are supposed to represent tenders, but I prefer to think of these locomotives as large tank engines), European-style brakehouses on the tank cars and the overall shape of the cabooses. Some of these sets also used station battery-boxes that look just like the East-West one. In addition, the boxes these sets came in use artwork that is very simmilar in style to the East-West boxes, which show scenes of steam freight trains that were without a doubt inspired by postwar Lionel and AF. There is no question that the Alps sets were made by Alps, as the engines, cars and boxes are all clearly marked with the company's logo. My theory is that Alps produced the O gauge East-West sets specifically for some other company to sell. Further evidence to my theory is that Alps made O gauge trains of their own, which is somewhat unique among Japanese manufacturers, as Japanese O gauge is more common. These include a set with a simmilarily-styled (although smaller) steam engine."
Alps was one of many Japanese toy companies that produced tinplate toys of all kinds, including train sets, in the 1960's. Other manufacturers included Yonezawa, Bandai, Toy Nomura (TN), Haji, Masudaya (Modern Toys), Dakin and Plaything. These sets were almost always battery operated (either having batteries put directly in the engine or using a battery controller that sent power to the rails like a transformer). They were available in multiple gauges, including HO, S, Japanese O and regular O. (Japanese railways are narrow gauge, so modelers there use narrower track.) Generally, these such trains were sold as sets only. The only one of these manufacturers that I know sold add-on items seperately was Bandai (and, in any case, it was mainly sets they sold). These companies for the most part disappeared around the 1970's, Bandai being the notable exception, which today is Japan's largest toy company.
I love these weird little tinplate trains! They have such a wonderful charm and character to them. Overall there is a uniqueness (or strangeness) that makes them quite different from American and European tinplate. From the moment I first found out about such trains, I've been incredibly intrigued by them. The fact that they are very much ignored in the train collecting community and the lack of any published material about them has made me want to find out as much as I can about them and obtain as many examples of these trains as possible.
As a side note: When Japanese trains are mentioned, many probably think of Sakai, which does have a strong collector following. While Sakai did make some simmilar low-end tinplate sets, I wouldn't put Sakai in the same category as these other companies. Sakai could be classified as a true "train company" while these others were toy companies that made trains.
Here is an expired Ebay auction for the caboose, without a picture:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=6059513304
Here's the locomotive:
http://cgi.ebay.com/RARE-1940s-O-Gauge-Brown-East-West-Engine-E375-Japan_W0QQitemZ6047408628QQcategoryZ485QQcmdZViewItem
Bob Nelson
Hard to say who made it, need an underside photo of the engine. There used to be many companies that made model trains over the years. Looks like it was an American company is about all I can guess at.
Lee F.
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