Id Locomotive Maker

[Keusink]

I have a chance to pick and choose from an estate having 47 HO locomotives. Where do manufacturers generally put their ID in the loco? Usually, the underside only says "Made in China". Most of these locos are not in the original box.

Also, if it is a Bachmann, can I tell from looking at it whether it is a Spectrum? Where do I look?

Some of these have been customized with wiring between tender and loco. Does that necessarily mean it is DCC?

Chris Keusink

[jonathan]

I haven't been at this for very long (about 4 years).  From what I've learned, some manufacturers put their company name on their products, some don't.  I'm just starting to get to the point where I recognize the company just by looking at the engine (still wrong sometimes).  A Mantua has a pretty recognizable look.  The finish on a Bachmann locomotive is just a little different than other locos. BLI's seem to be a little shinier than other engines. Varney put their name just about every part they made (or so it seems).  Penn Line was good for that, too.

If you don't have original boxes, it will be hard to tell, unless you've had some experience.  Sometimes, you can only tell if something is a Spectrum by the color of the original box.

My point is your question seems too hard to answer, but then I'm still in the learning phase.  There certainly brighter bulbs out there.  It seems one would need experience and a real appreciation for how each company handled materials, details, paint, power pick up, etc...

If I were you, I would snap up all 47 locos, take a few photos, say 5 or six engines per photo, then ask again, while posting the pics.  Wish I had your luck.  It would be oodles of fun to pour over that many engines.

Regards,

Jonathan

[Jim Banner]

Wiring between locomotive and tender can also mean the owner has added a tender light and/or extra power pickups.

As far as identification is concerned:  if a manufacturer isn't proud enough of his product to put his name on it, his product is probably not one that I want on my model railroad.

Jim

[Woody Elmore]

Jonathan has the best suggestion - post some pictures.  There were lots of things imported by AHM, IHC, Life Like and others that may or may not be marked.

[jbsmith]

if it was an estate sale. i imagine most are sold and gone by now. estate sales are usually a bargain hunters delight.

"Some of these have been customized with wiring between tender and loco. Does that necessarily mean it is DCC?"

Hard to tell if we can't see it, plus you would have to take it apart and look. if there is circuitboard then it just might be.

[Woody Elmore]

A lot of the older steamers used a single wire to the tender to pick current from the tender wheels. A common method was to attach the wire to the same screw that attached the drawbar.

[Keusink]

Thank you all for responding. Here's my problem.

This estate is giving me first choice of any of 47 locos at $50 each, my choice. I've only seen photos, and will have only a few minutes to go through them in person.

I don't want tp pay $50 for a loco that costs $38 new. And, if there is an MTH, Blue Line, Spectrum, Rivarossi, brass, or other higher end loco, I don't want to miss them. Also, I don't need 47 locos for my set.

JIM BANNER. I agree that higher quality brands should have their name on it. It is just that I don't know where to look for them. Help!

The photos show a couple of Bachmann 2-6-2 or 2-6-0 (some are still in their boxes, which is how I know) where the decendent (big lawyer word) has the tender open and was in the process of installing 8 or 10 wires into them, and attaching them to the loco with heat shrink tubing. DCC? Chris.

[jonathan]

An interesting math problem.  Here's how my simple brain would choose:

Let's say you have $250 to spend for 5 locos (roughly 10% of the engines).
You also only have a couple of minutes to decide, so you can't pour over the engines incessantly.

I would quickly sort the engines by size (number of wheels) and weight.

If the engine is large and heavy, there's a chance (however slight) you could be looking at a brass or other expensive model.  You could tell by the high detail, good paint and lack of dirt or dust (the decedent would have taken good care of these models).

Second, I would look for obvious missing parts (especially drive train parts).  Unless you like fixing old engines (some of us do), you don't want to inherit someone else's project engine.  Time is the enemy here.

Without knowing the manufacturer, I would choose this way because my chances of getting models worth more than $50 is much higher. 

When you have more time, and can show the models to someone more knowledgable. You will probably find you got more than your money's worth.

It's unfortunate there are not boxes for each model.  My guess is, whoever is managing the estate, did not know where to look for those boxes.  A modeler, who had a collection of that many engines, certainly would have kept the boxes... somewhere.

My guess is you won't have time to sort out dc or DCC.  It's not always obvious.

Just my humble opinion.

Regards,

Jonathan

[Doneldon]

Jonathon has a good idea about looking for heavier engines and ones with more wheels and lots of detail.  If this person was a collector the chances are his/her locos are better than average; that is to say, they are more likely to be brass and higer end items.  You can often identify brass by the weight and details, but you should also look for unpainted patches on the bottoms and up inside.  Take a flashlight along to help you look.  Also, a thin metal cab roof (look at the back edge) will indicate brass.  Too, you can be pretty sure a loco is brass if it is with abrass  tender as seen on the bottom or if there are scratches.  Another thing to look for is just general condition.  An expensive beat up brass engine won't be worth so much compared to another in fine shape, all things being equal.  So I'd suggest going by condition, too.  That doesn't mean a brand new, cheap plastic loco will be worth more than any brass loco, but condition is part of the equation.  If you go heavily by weight (no pun intended), be careful of cast Zamac or lead engines.  These can be very heavy but usually give themselves away by the relattively low quality and low relief of the cast on details.  Last, I suggest that you err in the direction of buying too much rather than too little.  At $50 each, it's going to be hard to go too far wrong as long as you stay away from wrecks and obviously cheap platic diesels.  Good luck with your acquisitions.  I'm looking forward to hearing about them.  Heck, I might just want to buy some!
--D