Office of Steam Forum for Model & Toy Steam Gas & Hot Air Engines

I have just acquired the TE below, I am puzzled as to its age as apart from it having no paint, the boiler is in brass and the canopy is also brass, the bodywork is in steel, all has an aged patina.

I normally pick these up to rebuild them, but is this worth more to someone else as a collection item than my chopping it up.

Be interested in anyones comments

That's confirming, just rather taken by the short canopy, so might well incorporate in the rebuild.

Just out of interest what year would this date from as a guessestimate

Either this has simply been stripped of paint/modded by a previous owner, or is one of the many "faux" Wilesco traction engines, built by a Dutch dude quite a few years ago.
(He built them like this, from some large Wilesco parts stock, and had the short roller canopy as a "signature")

None of the above has any real effect on value, and was it mine i wouldn´t hesitate to modify to my hearts extent 

It has his curved burner handle as well 

Interesting, I set my price at what I would pay for a tired one in need of a rebuild and took my chance, was not going to pay some of the silly prices they seemed to be going for currently
All I am after in reality is the rear wheel rims, steering, boiler engine, firebox and gears - the rest is no use to me

I have a large collection of odds and ends that might be of use to someone - drop me a line and see if I can help

Well, I am not a Wilesco expert, but this looks very much like the very first "Wilesco" roller I acquired what looks like ages ago (sold long since..).
I learned later that this strange livery (meaning: brass boiler/canopy etc and other parts like body, nose etc looking as if prepared for but never actually painted + ,in some specimen, a non-standard burner...) indicates that it is a roller assembled from original Wilesco parts by the Dutch importer for Wilesco products in the late 60s/early 70s (?) and sold in the Netherlands and Germany.
The original brass versions of the Wilesco roller / TE have an all brass finish, as you will know.

Thanks, Thomas!

Was this business of assembling Wilesco parts in other countries the "work around" to minimize tariffs before the EU existed?

From Stefan's site, Google translated...

(a little past half way down this page: https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=https://www.stefans-oldsmoky.com/&prev=search&pto=aue )

D36 from someone else's hand / D36 out of others hand

For a long time there has been a question about the manufacturer of the steam roller shown on the left. This looks like a Wilesco product, but has three clear differences:
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For quite some time, there was always the question of the manufacturer of the steam tractor at left. He looks like a Wilesco product, but has three significant differences:

- there is no typical Wilesco burner guide
- there is no imprint "Made in Western Germany"
- Only the boiler and roof are made of brass, the rest is normal sheet metal
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- There is no Wilesco typical torch guidance
- There is no imprint "Made in Western Germany"
- Only boiler and roof are made of brass, the rest is normal sheet
And now there is finally an answer:
The models shown above are NOT from Wilesco or HGL. Wilesco sold a large number of individual parts to another dealer in the 1970s. He first put the parts in acid to treat / paint the surface and then made and sold complete models. However, parts typical of Wilesco such as the handle of the steam valve and the burner guide were obviously not included. Therefore, other parts were installed here.
 
So these are Wilesco components, but not a Wilesco product. These models have also never been subjected to a TÜV inspection.
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And now there is finally an answer:
The models shown above originate neither of Wilesco nor of HGL. I n the 1970 s  Wilesco has sold a large number of individual parts to another dealer. He put all the pieces into acid to treat the surface and to remove paint, completed the models and sold them as shown above. However Wilesco-typical components such as the handle of the steam valve and the burner slide were obviously not included. Therefore other parts were used.
 
So these are indeed Wilesco components, but not a Wilesco product. Also, these models have never been subjected to a technical inspection like the TÜV in germany, which is typical for Wilesco-products since the early 1970s.