WELCOME COLLECTORS & OPERATORS

This blog was created to have a place for anyone interested in Dorfan trains to come together to share. E-mail me your Dorfan pictures, links, trains you have for sale or questions. I will add your pictures or links to share with everyone. psychotrains@verizon.net
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THE HISTORY OF DORFAN TRAINS

Julius and Milton Forchimer work for their cousin in Nurnberg Germany untin 1923. The company was Joseph Kraus & C0. They made toy trains named Fandor after Milton's and Julius's mothers, Fanny and Dora. In 1924 they moved to the US and started their own toy company. They reversed the name and called it Dorfan. They made toy trains starting in 1924 but the company could not survive the depression and ended in 1933. Trains were produced in both wide gauge and a narrow gauge equal to "O" gauge. The locomotive bodies were cast with Zinc-alloy which had not been perfected at that time. Most of the castings have crumbled with the passing of 80 years. Few of the locomotives are intact today and it is rare to find one that still runs.

Saturday, March 29, 2014

GREAT TRAIN STORE


On Friday I visited my son and his wife in Tehachapi California. This is where the famous Tehachapi loop is. I went to the local train store Trains Ect. This was a great store. They have a large selection of new trains and accessories. They also have a lot of vintage tinplate on consignment. I did not find any Dorfans however, they did have Lionel, Marx, American Flyer and Ives. I bought several light bulbs for my layout and a couple of vintage Marx cars.
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Monday, March 24, 2014





 On Saturday I went to Santa Susana park in Simi Valley Ca. for a model railroad train swap meet. This was next to the Santa Susana station. The meet was put on by the Railroad Historical Society. I did not find any deals on Dorfan trains but I did find some landscaping, Lionel billboards and a crossing sign controller. It is not always about the deals but it's about hanging out with your own kind (old guys in overalls wearing an engineers hat and eating doughnuts).
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Here is my newly restored # 51 electric freight train running on my 28 foot figure eight. It passes its brother on its way to the Dorfan bridge I just finished.
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I have been working on converting half of my garage into a train room. There is a u shape layout for o gauge with a 77 foot loop. I have 3 lines and even have a slot car track. There is a fireplace for the winter and a ceiling fan and swamp cooler for the summer. I installed a workbench to work on my trains with mounted train and slot car test tracks. There is a new flat screen TV and DVD player to watch all my recorded episodes of I love toy trains. Watch my original Dorfan steam train make it's way through the 77 feet of layout.
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 I have had this # 51 electric engine for several years in a box. I finally got it out and restored it the best I could. Here it is going over the dorfan bridge I just restored.
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Barbara's wide gauge



Barbara, thank you for the photos of your Dorfan wide gauge. Barbara is a member of the TCA and has a large collection of tinplate which she operates on her big layout.
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Paul's trains



Here are photos submitted by Paul. These great examples of Dorfan belonged to Paul's father. They look in great shape.
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