Hi all - here's a thread with a difference that I hope a few of you will enjoy.
We all (well, many of us at least) have them.
'ORPHAN ITEMS'What do I mean, well here's some examples.....
* - A tender without a loco (or vice-versa)
* - An instruction leaflet that you don't own the item for
* - One portion of a larger item or set
* - A Coach/Wagon without a Roof/Wheels and vice-versa (spare wheels don't count)
* - A box without an item to go in it (items without boxes don't count either because EVERYONE has those)
** very old starter-set boxes (red or very early blue) are definitely in as these can be fun and hard to make complete again get finding examples of everything that would have been originally with it.
I'm sure you get my drift. And you hang on to whatever it is, because "one day" whatever else you need might just turn up. Ever the optimist.
Here are my examples.
1:
G800 Box - I'm not sure where/when I even got this which really irks me but I've had it several years. It's got the wooden base, an oil-stained cloth inside and the Red corner-stapled lid, and in pretty good condition (around C8). For a long time I've been looking for a suitable G800 but they are very hard to find, and when you do, very expensive, and usually with a box anyway. There's a basket-case on Ebay right now which I was tempted but the pictures and damage description are not clear enough to take the risk...
G 800 on Ebay.com2:
323 box (Red) - you'd think this would be simple - the 323 is just a simple wagon - but again, finding one without a box is quite a different story.
3:
314 BP - This one was proof of persistence - I had a 314 BP Red box for many years also. One day a 314 BP wagon came up on NZ Trademe, without a box, and at a price I could manage. It wasn't in top condition, but neither was the box for that matter, so a marriage made in heaven.
4: But probably my most frustrating orphans are two mis-matched halves of an
ST800. I have the chassis/motor from the Front unit (ST800A - Antriebwagen) and the body from the ST800 Rear unit (ST800S - Schlußwagen). They came as a pair and obviously did not match. At the time I rather hoped the seller would find the rest of the missing bits but after several years that has not happened and the seller has left NZ. So somewhere floating around are the other parts of this train.
When I got it, it had been repainted and was in a very sorry state. I stripped them and soaked them to loosen the paint which then came off very easily revealing the original paintwork, somewhat the worse for wear but well-within restoration. It was fun stripping and overhauling the Motor and Jacobs Truck and what a fine piece of engineering it all is. And it now runs like a dream. I'd absolutely love to have one of these ST800 trains but they remain well beyond my budget so in the meantime I dream about the day the other items will turn up for a song - wishful thinking.
I probably have other items but these are a good start to get the ball rolling.
And what do we do with these items?, hang on hoping to get the other part, or risk selling it only to know that what you have been searching for will turn up the next week. And this my friends, is the absolute core of Men's Garages and Workshops. "Might need that one day". Is that just a Kiwi/English thing or are blokes all around the world like that? (hoarders).
Of course if I knew someone who could really use what I have, then some sort of Trade is highly acceptable and strongly encouraged in the spirit of good modelling camaraderie.
I'm sure I read somewhere (possibly on the B&G) that someone had a Marklin wind-up key for a clockwork motor (perhaps from an old Metall set), but nothing to use it on - that would be funny, and just the sort of thing die-hard collectors keep. I'm sure there's many a clockwork loco with no original key either.
If an item bears any of the Marklin logos in any shape or form, that will do nicely thank you.
I did once have an Orphan Tender also which I think was a GN809 or something like that with some mild Zinkpest. I gave that to a close enthusiast friend who I thought might be able to use it. I'm not sure if that is the tender that would match a G800, but I do know the box and the tender did not come into my possession at the same time.
Hope at least a few of you are amused enough to contribute your story. I shall post this to the B&G to get a wider audience and hopefully some interesting feedback and stories.
Cheers
Cookee
Melbourne
Displaced Kiwi
cookee_nz attached the following image(s):
