How Old Is Your Oldest "Working" Locomotive?

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My oldest is this HO Bachmann 4-8-4 Overland I got on Christmas in the early '90s ...

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... a project overhaul to stay true to Bachmann's greyhound version: updated to 5-pole motor and brass flywheel, TCS DCC Sound decoder, brass/plastic details, repainted and decaled, LED lighting, added weight (1.5 lbs) ...

Bachmann4-8-4_0.jpg


... detailed back head ...

Bachmann 4-8-4.jpg


... not an 809 prototype, but this one is my favorite of all engines I own!!
 
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I have to check operation yet but they are old
 

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jmupton2000 said:
An old 1960's vintage steamer which still sort of works but tends to overload the controller:
View attachment 206866

And from the Blue Box camp, an ancient DD35X which admittedly has had quite a bit of work done and definitely never existed in real life:
View attachment 206865
Click to expand...
Southern Pacific did have DD35s! They had 3, although they were numbered 8400-8402. The Wikipedia article is here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EMD_DD35

Edit: I'm not sure if they had cabs or not
 
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I've thought it interesting that the DD35 was cabless and the one with the cab had the special designation. Backwards from normal EMD convention. I think we've gotten if figured out now.

I also have a couple Hustlers I didn't think about when trying to find my oldest. I don't know how old they are, they came in a box of things I was given. I didn't have any rubber bands so stuck an SD40 truck under it and added some siderods. It has a can motor, a flywheel and DCC. Here's a video Tim made:
 
kjd said:
I've thought it interesting that the DD35 was cabless and the one with the cab had the special designation. Backwards from normal EMD convention. I think we've gotten if figured out now.
Click to expand...
The DD35 was originally only intended and designed to be a cabless booster unit between a pair of GP35s. When UP ordered DD35s with cabs, EMD already had the DD35 in production, and had to differentiate between the cabless and cab-equipped. Once they did that, they did follow through on DD40 series units, which is why UP's monsters are DD40A(x).
 
This is my oldest working locomotive.
Hornby.JPG

Hornby clockwork tank loco form 1930s 0r 40s.
Brake van ( Caboose) is newer from the 50s.
Works when I can find a key !

Next oldest are these Rovex princesses from the early 1950s
Rovex princess.JPG

Top model is a rare "Plunger" princess which was the second type produced. It has plastic driving wheels and plunger pick-ups.
The first models had roller pick-ups which were not a success and were changed to plunger. Only about 3 roller princesses exist.
The lower ones are later and have conventional metal wheel pick-ups.
These models were sold through the Marks & Spencer stores but Rovex were later taken over by Linesbrothers to become Tri-ang trains.
Colin.
 
hunslet040 said:
This is my oldest working locomotive.
View attachment 207382
Hornby clockwork tank loco form 1930s 0r 40s.
Brake van ( Caboose) is newer from the 50s.
Works when I can find a key !

Next oldest are these Rovex princesses from the early 1950s
View attachment 207383
Top model is a rare "Plunger" princess which was the second type produced. It has plastic driving wheels and plunger pick-ups.
The first models had roller pick-ups which were not a success and were changed to plunger. Only about 3 roller princesses exist.
The lower ones are later and have conventional metal wheel pick-ups.
These models were sold through the Marks & Spencer stores but Rovex were later taken over by Linesbrothers to become Tri-ang trains.
Colin.
Click to expand...
Nice collection.
 


Here are the two oldest working locomotives in my collection - two Pacifics, a Hornby Dublo LMS "Duchess of Atholl" and a Hornby Dublo LNER A4 "Sir Nigel Gresley". Both of them are fitted with the pre-war design of motor with a horseshoe magnet, but are post-war models (the Atholl was scheduled for release in 1939 or 1940 but was delayed by the start of WWII and not released until November of 1948; the A4 was released in 1938, but the pre-war ones had valances covering the valve gear while the post-war ones did not, as the real locomotives had the valances removed permanently during the war for ease of maintenance). The design of the motor changed in mid 1949 to use a (then) new type of Alinco magnet, which means that this pair were made in either late 1948 or early 1949.

P1010543.jpg


NG.jpg


They still run perfectly well, and have regular outings on the layout.
 
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