A visit to Sarge's place this past week has me inspired to attack the tinplate project pile (more like a mountain). I've decided on a bit of a cull first, seeing what I have the interest in reworking/repairing, than a jettison of the rest.
First up, a Lionel 601:
This was part of a 600/601/602 set I picked up at York nearly ten years ago. As with many things at York, I recall the seller had some goofball asking price for them, saying he'd been thinking of restoring them himself. I remember just looking at him for a few seconds, than we both busted out laughing simultaneously. I offered him considerably less than he had them marked, and he gladly accepted the offer. If he really ever held any such intentions, they were likely to strip them and repaint/refurbish. That was something I would do back in my earliest days of fooling with this stuff, but I don't do that anymore (only run-of-the-mill pieces that have shed more than half their paint will find their way to my paint booth).
With the exception of the 601, the set likely requires little more than a thorough cleaning and polish. Some of the frosted window glazing has come unattached, easy enough to replace or simply remount. The 601, however, has a pretty serious problem on one side. I initially thought it was just a bit of dirt/grime caked on the window insert, but close inspection revealed it to be corrosion, so I'll need to carefully remove it, wire-brush it off using the Dremel, or possibly run it through my brother's bead-blaster. Finding a paint match will be the biggest challenge, but there are quite a few off-white variations out there in spray cans. I already have a replacement decal set, so that's not a problem.
Before I get to this, however, I need to finish painting the garage, and the Sprite needs to be awoken from a two-year slumber. Lots to do...gotta get cracking.
Healey