Office of Steam Forum for Model & Toy Steam Gas & Hot Air Engines
The Regular Stuff: Chat, Buy, Sell, Off Topic, etc. => General Discussion - Model & Toy Steam Engines – Stirling Cycle – Flame Lickers – Small Antique Originals => Topic started by: ShadetreeMotorcycle on May 10, 2021, 09:44:49 pm
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It does look to be in better than average condition , happy steaming.
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Very nice, congrats!
Good as that one looks it would surprise me a lot, if the stuck parts there doesn´t come loose after one or two treatments with some penetrating oil 8)
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Well, my little blind boiler D5 showed up today! I am very happy that it seems to have made the journey home without looking like it went thru a rock crusher.
The safety valve and whistle are stuck fast in the boiler, also the whistle valve is stuck...I might try some penetrating oil and also some gentle heat to see if I can free them?
Here is a photo of how looks on arrival, barn dust and all...I fitted my spare Chimney and thought it did not look normal...upon further reasearch it is approx 3/4 inch Longer than a stock D5 so apparently my parts bin Chimney is from a D10
I don't think it looks all that bad....my little D5 may be blind but at least he's well endowed.
[attachimg=1]
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Ohhh...how i miss brick and mortar stores :-\
Great story Ben, thanks for sharing!
Guess you´re right about Jensens...
It´s a relatively small business, and especially after Weeden and Empire´s closed up, there was no way the shelves could be filled by American made steam toys.
Wilesco by comparison is HUGE, and could much faster whip up an extra 100 engines, if a department store suddenly needed a refill for Christmas or similar.
If you go by old ads, it shines through there as well, as there´s loads of Wilescos pictured in ads from the 1950´s to 60´s, from nearly every department and toy store in the US, before one encounters a Jensen.
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Thanks for the history of the "blind boiler" D5 Jan, I enjoyed Very much!
Also of note: as a young lad of 12 yrs age and also from the "North Woods"...our family would drive to Grand Rapids near Christmas time for shopping. Back then with no internet one would go to bricks and mortar stores just to see what was available, we enjoyed no less than 5 hobby shops back then!...today we are down to 1 hobby shop :(
I can not say steam engines where really on my Radar back then as I would go straight to the flying model airplane kits, however, after making my selection I would walk the rest of the store as trips to the "big city" where not all that common, and 2 or 3 of the shops had Wilesco in glass cases...I don't remember seeing a single Jensen, but could have missed them as aircraft was my mission. It makes me wonder if Jensen steam is more a regional thing or if it is more prestige to have imported engines on display?
I originally joined this forum with an interest in hit and miss, so before that Jensen Steam was largely unknown to me. My brother and I where gifted an Olde Smokey steam roller so as a young lad I just thought Germany was the goto place for tiny steam engines...lol
I am sure others had a Very different introduction to model Steam than I did.
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A very nice little addition Ben, congratulations!
Over here these are 13 to the dozen, as they´re pretty much what every kid got from a cheap uncle while growing up...much like i imagine the Jensen 60 is in the states.
That is not said to diminish their value in any way, as they have a a huge "fan base" over here, since almost everyone has some sort of nostalgic connection to this specific model...myself included.
Hard to date within an exact year, but there´s a couple of obvious points, which narrows it down slightly.
This type of TÜV/GS tag was introduced in the mid-70´s, and since it says West Germany, it was put on there before the wall went down in Berlin in 1989.
So your engine was made at some point inbetween those years.
When it comes to the screwed in steamline, the D5 was decommisioned in Europe in the mid-70´s as well, due to safety regulations demanding a sightglass, but was kept in production into the 90´s for export.
I assume that Wilesco then, since these already was offered as kits as well, decided that all the "blind boiler" D5s was made with the same parts, to keep the production of the boilers as simple as possible.
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1960s Ben according to the Toy Steam Bible, but that's not gospel -
http://www.toysteambible.org.uk/Wilesco-D5.htm?modid=1603&xid=1111
1960's would be older than I would have guessed. The blue painted base had me thinking newer. The photos in your link looked gray base to me. I just zoomed in and think I see a run in the front so it may well be a re-spray.(on my unit)
If it just makes the journey home safe, I will be happy! :o
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1960s Ben according to the Toy Steam Bible, but that's not gospel -
http://www.toysteambible.org.uk/Wilesco-D5.htm?modid=1603&xid=1111
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I think you did pretty well Ben , I can't help on the age but these pretty routinely sell for &70.00-$110.00 range.
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I know it's Not a special engine, it showed up on market today and I liked the condition of Nickel on boiler....and correct me if I am wrong but the steam pipe appears threaded rather than current production solder joints?
It's missing the chimney so I sent the seller a private offer of $35 and it was accepted....hopefully I did not pay Way to much.
I do happen to have a Wilesco chimney in my parts bin or I would not have made the offer...the bricks on the firebox have a rather dark patina so it may not match my chimney all that well.
Anyone care to hazard a guess on date of manufacture? I don't think it's very old at all,but I have no idea when Wilesco started putting sight Glass in the D5[attachimg=1]