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Check out HOSeeker website to verify if this is he same locomotive you have. https://hoseeker.net/varneymiscellaneous.html - Looks like 1955 "lil Joe" dockside switcher went to plastic? Earliest I saw was listed in the 1947 catalog.
That is interesting, I didn't think they ever did a brass one. All of the ones I have and most of the ones I've seen are pot metal (zmat?). My first one was handed down to me from my father in 1962. He had applied the super detail kit that included Walschaerts valve gear, jewel marker lamps, hand rails, an upgraded bell, & whistle. He later took it and pawned it. :-(