An Upcoming Exceptional Toy Train Auction by Stout Auctions

Monday, February 24, 2025

-1° C /31° F

Overcast and Damp

An Exceptional Upcoming 

Toy Train Auction by Stout Auctions

I haven't written a post about Stout Auctions lately, so I wrote to them for renewed permission to use their excellent photos, and to write a new post. In a short time, 

I received a reply from Mr.Greg Stout via Suzanne Shirley, 

their very hard-working office manager.

For those who don't know, Stout Auctions exclusively auctions toy trains.

The company started their business in 1993, and the company

"has become the leader in quality model trains in both Prewar and Postwar Lionel.

We offer everything from classic postwar Lionel or the colorful tinplate

toys of the '30's, to modern trains from Lionel, MTH, K-Line, 3rd Rail and more.

Stout Auctions also continues to lead the auction field in G scale, HO brass, and

American Flyer S Gauge. If it's related to toy trains you'll find it at Stout Auctions"

Please click on this line to redirect to Stout Auctions Fantastic website

Above: Boucher No. 2500 Blue Comet

four car passenger train set

Above: "Incredible" Howard No. 10 locomotive with

No. 22, 23, and No. 30 gray Adair passenger car

Marklin 0 gauge m.e. 70/12920 gray steam locomotive and tender

Howard steeple cab No. 5 mining locomotive 897

Carette 0 gauge 2350 Vauclain steam locomotive and tender

Very unusual Carlisle and Finch No. 100 four wheel summer trolley 

with rarely found factory installed power pole.

Rare Marklin gauge II armored locomotive and tender. Locomotive is the

variation with the removable shroud. The set also includes armored train

1854/2 troop carrying car, armored train automatic firing car 1853/2

and two armored train automatic firing car 1851/2. This set is very rare,

only a couple of sets are known to exist.

Outstanding Marklin O gauge Der Adler 1835-1935 in rare original box.

The train is high grade C8 (condition). with track, insert, several people.

Early and nice Voltamp 2" gauge 2115 Interurban in two-tone green.

Early version with a wood floor and wooden seats inside. sprung trucks

and cast pilots Factory reverse correctly located at the rear of the body.

This auction most-certainly has a cornucopia of the most old 

and "true" antiques (100 years ++) that I've seen in the years that I have 

been blogging. With some of the being very rare, the auction will be very interesting to see what collectors will be bidding on these toys.

So that's it for today. It's very cold up here in Canada, and our house electric furnace stopped working last night. Fortunately, we have some baseboard wall heaters.

Thanks for visiting my blog, and have a great part of the day or night,

wherever you may be.

My name is (Mr.) Stacey Bindman, and I can always be reached at

toysearcher@gmail.com

Invaluable Contacts Me

Wednesday, May 20, 2015
Sunny and very cold

Invaluable Contacts Me

   I'm always amazed when coincidences happen. Perhaps I'm just aware more of them, but I seem to always have them. What happened about 2 weeks ago is that I was checking out  many people, and auctioneers,  who have helped me out in the past. One of the these companies is Stout Auctions.  

Stout Auctions promotes themselves as "America's premier auction house for Lionel, American Flyer, Ives, MTH, and other scale and toy trains".  The company had granted me permission to write about them a few years ago, and this week, they were on my mind, since I am returning to writing once more on my blog.

  The "coincidence" was that I received an e-mail from a very popular auction Internet company that Stout Auctions happens to use. The name of the company is Invaluable.  Mr. Sam Harding, from  Invaluable had written to ask if I might  announce the Stout Auctions and  select some noteworthy lots. I wrote back to Sam that I would for sure. Stout  Auctions had been very kind to let me use their photos, and I would be happy to help out. What I like about Stout , is that they photograph their items very well. This helps to provide viewers and potential bidders with nice images to see.

 Invaluable

Please click here to visit Invaluable's website

Please click here to visit Stout Auctions

Sam Harding, from  Invaluable wrote that the  auction would be  on May 15, 16, and 30 of 2015.  Sam write the following below for me to mention to you, my readers.

"Stout Auctions is proud to offer for auction an outstanding and diverse selection of trains, accessories, catalogs, books, parts and Railroadiana from various estates and private collections.

The first portion of this sale will feature a large selection Lionel modern era, TCA convention and Museum trains, Williams, MTH, K-Line and Right of Way Industries. Included with the modern era will be a large selection of original parts in bulk. The next section will feature Lionel prewar Standard and O gauge highlighted by 800 and 2800 freight cars and 1100 Mickey Mouse handcar.

The next portion will be Lionel Postwar showcased by F3 diesels including; 2355 Western Pacific, 2343 Santa Fe and 2356 Southern ABA, 2340 GG1, 2332 GG1, 2139W boxed freight set, large quantities of Super O track and Disney phonographs. There will be American Flyer S gauge trains and accessories highlighted by a K5210W freight set in original boxes. There will be HO scale including Tyco and Bachman.

The last 200 lots will consist of G gauge trains featuring LGB and Aristo-Craft.

This sale offers a fantastic diversity with all levels of collecting represented, from MINT in the box to bargain operator/fixer upper lots. Plan to attend in our comfortable and well-lighted auction gallery."

3. Some samples from the Postwar lots

The First Company to Manufacture an Electric Train

Tuesday, September 30, 2014

   Partly cloudy and seasonal temperatures 

The First Company to Manufacturer

an Electric Train

I've been writing of toys from the first half of the 20th century lately, so "history" must have been on my mind when I found these elections today. What's interesting about Voltamp is that it was the very first company to produce an electric train. This of course coincided and is dated soon after the time that mass electricity starred to be installed all over North America.  Of course, North America chose AC (Alternating Current) 120 V. Before this time,  toy trains on tracks moved by batteries.

Please click here to visit this exceptional toy train auctioneer specialist

"Voltamp was an early American manufacturer of toy trains based in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded by Manes Fuld (1863–1929), the son of a Baltimore stove dealer, Voltamp's trains utilized the same 2-inch gauge metal track as Carlisle & Finch, the inventor of the electric toy train. It is significant for its 1907 release of the first electric toy train that operated on household alternating current; earlier electric trains had used battery power.

Voltamp released its first toy train product in 1903.

Although Voltamp outlasted Carlisle & Finch, its primary competitor, both companies were eclipsed in the marketplace by the Ives Manufacturing Company and Lionel Corporation, and Voltamp exited the market in 1922, selling its line to Boucher."*

*Courtesy of Wikipedia - please click here to read the brief article

  What's interesting about the Voltlamp toys is the fact that the electrical components and how they were manufactured at the time helps you to identify about when they were manufactured.  I think that the train is cast iron with brass components. The cast iron informs you that this is both an early train toy.

   The pair of transformers for sure informs you that this is a very early toy train accessory or power course. The sped setting has small ended metal bumps" to incrust or decrease the speed of the train. The inside of the box has lots of thicker coiled wire, and the box also has stamped out ovals to allow for the heat to dissipate. Also, take a look at the  electrical cord and plugs that would go into the wall sockets. I barely remember these cords from the 1950's. Also I've seen exterior cloth covering on very old wiring in old house basements in the ceiling beams near me in a part of Montreal called N.D.G. (Notre Dame de Grace), I last saw this wiring in the early 1990's when my wife and I were looking to phrase a house. I'm sure that by now (2014) the firemen who every several years will inspect homes here for smoke alarms would have certainly notified homeowners of the danger of such old wiring. Also, I'm 100% sure, that any real estate agent would have made the comment about the danger of such old wiring!

  Finally a beautiful street lamp. It's made from cast iron and hardwood as the base. The bulbs are "vintage", and take a look at the  lamp base. Wiring from a transformer or wall outlet would have had small c-shaped clips to connect to the brass nuts and bolts.The nuts would then be tightened to the pair of c-clips to keep the wiring ends firmly attached!

Truly "very old".

And of course, the street lamp would have been assembled by hand!

The written descriptions that came with these 3 toy accessories and parts mention "pre-war". 

THe term usually applies to WWII, but I'm wondering if this might not refer to pre-WWI<

So this is a question for anyone that can help me-

Are these very old toys and parts from pre-WWI or pre-WWII?

Thanks for dropping by to visit,

and as always,

have a great part of the day or night,

wherever you may be,

Stacey

toysearcher@gmail.com

Please feel free to write to me anytime

The AC Gilbert Hudson No.8 Erector Set (History Lesson Included)

Sunday, September  28, 2014
  Continued exceptional autumn weather
             Sunny, mild winds, and hot

The AC Gilbert 

Hudson No. 8 Erector Set

(History Lesson Included)

   After I wrote the recent Marklin posts about their construction kits, I decided to see what other companies of the era had also manufactured similar items. The Marklin item were fine cars models of the era (1930's). However they were unique in the sense that they came in pieces and had to be built. Once built, the toy could be played with.  Manual dexterity, hand-eye coordination, and reading lessons to build the toy, and fun later!

   As I was to find out in this post, AC Gilbert built a fine Erector set, but their entry was a locomotive and tender.A tender is the train car that contains the coal for powering the steam engine locomotive. For those who don't already know, or who haven't read my posts about Stout Auctions, the company's logo is  "America's Premier Toy train Auction Company". If you ever want to learn about toy trains, this is the place to go to, as I already know, but experienced  in today's post. Not only have they sold lots and lots of trains, but they also have an encyclopaedic knowledge to share.

Please click here to visit this fantastic toy train auction company

What's most interesting is to read the written descriptions for the different auctions that these photos are from. By assembling them in chronological order (early to later years), I was able to present a brief history of the AC  Gilbert No. 8 Hudson Erector  Set.

There are many more sets that Stout Auctions have sold over the years, but I selected just 5 nice items to present today. What's interesting to note are the subtle changes both to the case that the toy came in, as well as subtle changes to the engine parts.

Today's post was fun to write because of the nice photography and the ability to see a toy that came with lots of detail. As well, the well-written descriptions provided me and I hope to you, my readers a nice history lesson!

Thanks for dropping by for a visit,

and as always, 

have a great part of the day or night,

wherever you may be,

Stacey

write to me anytime at:

toysearcher@gmail.com

There are Hidden Other Toy Treasures In a Train Auction

Sunday,  September 21, 2014
   Overcast with thunderstorms and raining

There are Hidden "Other" Toy Treasures

in Stout's Train Auctions

   I wanted to tile this post "I went to a fight tonight, and a hockey game broke out". However, Most of you, my readers may not have understood this expression.  I live in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, where our most successful sport here is hockey. The Montreal Canadians or Les Canadiens De Montréal are one of the most famous and successful teams in any sport. The regulations and safety concerns for the players has changed for the better over the years. This is even more important to everyone, especially when your paying the team players millions of dollars per game (yes,per game!) to play and perform.

   Years before there would sometimes be lots of fighting, and thus  someone invented the expression "I went to a fight, and a hockey game broke out". So now you're wondering how this is related to a train action - specifically today's auction company - Stout's Auctions? 

  As I continue to write, I have learned many things, one of these being how to find interesting toys. Stout's Auctions motto is "America's Premier Toy Train Auction Company". Of course, as I started to search out new people and companies, I wrote Stout Auctions to ask if I might write about them. They helped me out and wrote yes.  I read their motto,knew I wanted to write post about trains,

which would be different form all the other toys, and I searched for very nice toys,which I found.

  One day however, by shear accident I found a "non-train" toy. OK, maybe it's a "fluke" and an anomoly,I thought to myself. SO I searched some more, and lo and behold, I found many other very nice "non-train toys. So I learned a lesson - Never assume anything when looking for toys!

Please click here to visit this exceptional toy train auction company

The toys presented today are part of the October 4, 2014 auction

Stout didn't provide much information on the years these toys were manufactured.I would think that they were made in the 1940's or early 1950's. I hadn't seen this Wyandotte before, so  I selected it.

Whenever you search for a Wyandotte toy, make sure to add the word toy. If you don't you will find plenty of Wyandotte chicken photos in your search results. These are very famous chickens and are beautiful.

I had to check if  Major Segrave's name was spelled properly and it was. Of course, being very curious, I need to know what his initials stood for.

They stand for (Sir) Henry O'Neil de Han Segrave.

Sadly, Sir Henry's lefe was short lived and he died in a terrible crash racing a speed boat.

Please click here to visit the Wikipedia website to learn about this most interest person

It's interesting to see two if this super-fast race car toys coming to auction at the same time in a train auction. I also like the 3 photos for each item.  THeir well done!

The coiled metal wires or cord are missing from this toy. THe mechanical operation of these toys was very cleverly designed. The larger  groove in wooden  wheel in the centre of the wheel axle would have a metal copied band that attached to the the left and right propellers. As the toy was moved, all three propellers would rotate at the same time.

Don;t forget that you can view these photos in Blogger "slide mode" where they are presented larger and against a black background.

THe views are much better like that.

Here's a nice Big wind-up toy car (automobile). But what I especially like is the 3D looking garage window features. The drawn shadows on the sides are great! The front of the garage actually opens to allow the car to be driven and housed.

I've written several posts about  toys like the one below.This is an "accessory" that would be attached by special cord to a live steam engine pulley. The cord would be attached to the black wheel. As steam was produced, to was converted into energy.  If you had another special accessory that resembled a large lathe, and had anywhere from 4-8 wheels like this toy,you could attach 4-8 different figures similar to this one, and create "whole working factory" of people!

From the 1870's-1930's cast iron banks were very popular in America. These are "regular banks" as compared to the "Mechanical versions". These simple accept or store money, mostly coins.

A "mechanical bank" usually had a spring that was cocked ,like the hammer of a gun. A coin would be placed on part of the toy,and the figures would "perform". Eventually the coin would be deposited in a secure storage  part of the  bank.

Cast  iron banks were usually made by hardware companies that made home accessories such as locks, keys, door handles, and other metallic home accessories. Hardware companies must have seem toy production as a great idea to make money and keep their workers working when the hardware business was slow. cast iron toys and banks caught on and became extremely popular. Even today, cast iron toys are very collectible in America, and the rarer ones are in very high demand and of course win high prices at auction.

Thanks for dropping by to visit,

and as always, 

have  a great part of the day or night,

wherever you may be,

Stacey

toysearcher@gmail.com

The Tri-Motor Airplane Toys-Part III

Thursday, August 7, 2014
                Sunny and warm

The Tri-Motor Airplane Toys

Part III

   If you've been following my blog, this will have been my third post in a series. Personally, this is one of my favourite toys by all the manufacturers. It has plenty of details, and everyone made big efforts to design their exterior colours to make these toys so attractive. But the best of all was the most-interesting design of the mechanics. Many of the manufacturers created ingenious mechanical designs to have the 3 propellers move all at once. It was as if the toy association decided to have a contest to see who could come up with the best design, and everyone did!

Please click here too visit this most interesting American auctioneers' website

When you write a blog or anything for that matter, you learn lots. If I've learned anything, especially with regard to Stout Auctions, it's that they also auction all kinds of other toys. True, their logo is "America's Premier Toy Train Auction Company", but they do auction other toys. I Searched on Liveauctioneers, and without any surprise, I came across 5 great Tri-Motor toys that Stout Auctions had auctioned off over the years!

Please look closely at the last photo above, so that I can explain how the 3 propellers would rotate in unison. Between the 2 large tires is a black roller. A band (metal or rubber would attach to the front central propeller. As the 2 tires rotated, they would move the front propeller. However, the 2 tires were also attached to the left and right wing propellers by small rods (hidden). So when the tires turned, the  2 wing propellers would rotate in synchronization with the central front propeller.

Even though this airplane was missing its some of its original parts, a collector replaced the parts with others.  You can understand how desirable these airplanes were and still are.

Metalcraft (the manufacture) made several kits that children would assemble. The kits were designed well, and well-made. The Tri-Mpotor above is a fine example of the longevity and durability of this Metalcraft.

Of course, what would  a Tri-Motor  set be without Louis Marx and his contribution to this special toy. His "piggy-back" presentation certainly is different from the "usual", and reminds me of the Zeppelins with their hanging airplanes, or the Boeing Jumbo 747 carrying the Space Shuttles back to their launchpads after their landings in other parts of the USA.

Even my favourite small-sized toy manufacturer-Tootsietoy, made the Tri-Motor. These "miniatures" compared to the "colossal" sizes of many of the other manufacturers, nevertheless were in great demand by children.  They measure approximately 5"- 6" in length (( 127 mm - 152 mm), and I've bought and sold a few of them. Even being small, you are immediately attracted to the wonderful design and features of the Tri-Motor airplanes.

I hope that you liked my presentation of this mini-series. Of course, there are still many,many other Tri-Motor airplanes that I left out, and that can be found at Liveauctioneers or at the individual auctioneers websites. If you get a chance to see one, have a close look at it. You may even want to bid or buy it!


Thanks for dropping by to visit,
and as always,
have a great part of the day or night,
wherever you may be.
Stacey
toysearcher@gmail.com

Great Old American Toy Airplanes

Tuesday, July 8, 2014
              Sunny and hot

Great Old American To Airplanes

   One of the things I like to do when writing blogs, is to return to people and companies who have permitted me to use their nice photos. I don't always remember to do this, and  I missed a nice opportunity to help Stout Auctions broadcast one of their fine auctions that was posted from 
April 5- 26, 2014. I'll have to be more remindful next time!

Please click here to visit this excellent resource and auctioneer

The reason for today's post title is the fact that Stout Auctions is a major auctioneer in the vintage and antique and modern model train  business. However, they will sell other types of toys, and this is another important principal" that I've learned to follow.  Just because a company or collector writes that he/she sells mostly one type of toy, does not mean that they don;t sell other types!

Did I mention that Stout Auctions takes excellent photographs for their listed items?

They take  plenty of photos to present all of the features of each item up for auction.

I almost didm;t use this item. However, when I looked closer, the engine cylinders on this listed are copper-coloured, compared with the aluminum-coloured and aluminum metal cylinders of the first  Buddy L monocoupe airplane.

Readers have written to me to ask if old toys should be restored and repainted.

The item above answer that question. The toy may not have received the highest bidding, but both the seller and the final winning bidder had interests in the restored toy.

Whomever collected this grouping of old American airplanes certainly must have spent a lot of time to find these beautiful toys. And for those winning bidders, they will keep these toys for the future time. That's the nice thing about collecting old toys - there will always be someone who will want to collect!

Thanks for visiting,

and as always,

have a great part of the day or night,

wherever you may be.

Stacey

toysearcher@gmail.com