Dorfan train set

[Anonymous]

I picked up a complete Dorfan train set with the original box and catalog.  It is the Speed Demon Freight Express(No. 257) the Engine is No. 55.  (That is what the catalog says.)  The engine seems to be in pretty good shape some of the paint is chipped but all the parts are there.  All the cars are in good shape. None seem to have any broken parts and only a few chips in the paint. I am just trying to find out how rare or valuable this set would be.  Any information about it would be appreciated.  I do not know much and cannot seem to find out very much about it on the internet.  Thank you.

[pbjwilson]

Pretty much anything made by Dorfan is rare and collectible.  The fact that it has the box and a catalog really increases the value. If everything is in good shape you may have a set worth several hundred dollars. A picture would be helpful or if you could give more info like #'s on the cars. Does it have track and transformer? You could also search for Dorfan on e-bay and see if anything matches what you have. Complete sets are kinda rare. You may find the individual cars and get an idea of prices.

[1688torpedo]

 Hello ERT3!    You sure do have quite a find there. The Dorfan Company was started by two German Immigrants who used to work for Fandor in Germany & they switched the vowels around & called the American Company "Dorfan". The Fellows who started Dorfan were Julius & Milton Forschiemer & they came to America around 1923 & settled in Newark, New Jersey where the Factory was located on Jackson St. The Company was only in Business 10 years (1924-1934) & they were the smallest of the big four Train Companies( Ives,Lionel,American Flyer,Dorfan.) The fact the your engine is still intact makes it even more rare as Dorfan used Zinc that had impurities in it (unknown to them at the time) which caused the castings to literally crumble into dust! My Father & Uncle had a Dorfan Passenger Set with the 490 series Cars which had lighting & painted passenger sillouhettes in the windows. The Train exist today sans the engine which suffered from crumbling zinc castings. The rest of the train is in the possession of a cousin now & the Passenger Cars are restored. I doubt that you'll be able to run your Train due to the impurities in the engine casting & this may be why some paint appears to be chipped. It could be the result of the zinc expanding outward causing some paint loss. Well, anyway. It sounds like you have literally a one of a kind Train Set to display. Enjoy it for its history & take care.

[eZAK]

BUT Heaven forbid IF you try to sell it on this forum!

[jefelectric]

I picked up a complete Dorfan train set with the original box and catalog.  It is the Speed Demon Freight Express(No. 257) the Engine is No. 55.  (That is what the catalog says.)  The engine seems to be in pretty good shape some of the paint is chipped but all the parts are there.  All the cars are in good shape. None seem to have any broken parts and only a few chips in the paint. I am just trying to find out how rare or valuable this set would be.  Any information about it would be appreciated.  I do not know much and cannot seem to find out very much about it on the internet.  Thank you.

Do you belong to TCA? If so they have a lot of information available.

 

[pbjwilson]

I picked up a complete Dorfan train set with the original box and catalog.  It is the Speed Demon Freight Express(No. 257) the Engine is No. 55.  (That is what the catalog says.)  The engine seems to be in pretty good shape some of the paint is chipped but all the parts are there.  All the cars are in good shape. None seem to have any broken parts and only a few chips in the paint. I am just trying to find out how rare or valuable this set would be.  Any information about it would be appreciated.  I do not know much and cannot seem to find out very much about it on the internet.  Thank you.

 I'd like to see Lionel or MTH come out with sets named the "Speed Demon" or the like.