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 Posted - May 03 2016 : 9:29:57 PM
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There's been a long standing belief that these variations are either dealer modified or cobbled up examples. I've been collecting Gilbert HO since 1983, got heavily involved in collecting it when I found eBay in the late 90's and just started collecting again after losing my stuff in a divorce 8+ years ago. With a combined effort from myself and a few others, we have found that there actually exists a total of 4 variations of the Gilbert 433 switcher, three variations on the 443 Hudson and two variations of the 446 Hudson with whistle. Through comparing examples with others found over the years, noting the similarities, we have came up with the following:
Gilbert HO 433, 1955-7
TYPE 1. Stamped 433, 3pc whitewall drivers, stamped GILBERT HO under tender chassis. These are 1955 only.
TYPE 2. Same as above but not stamped under tender chassis. These are 1956-7
TYPE 3. Stamped 433, 2 pc Aluminum rimmed drivers, NO PULMOR, chassis casting has been updated with ears next to the motor. Still equipped with early American Flyer stamped open frame motor. These are most often found with the drivers separated at the rim. All examples have been found with October 1957 date stamps.
TYPE 4. Stamped 433, 2 pc Aluminum rimmed drivers, PULMOR equipped, newer open frame Pittman styled motor, cloth wiring, 2nd revision chassis casting that was modified for the newer motor. All examples found have an October 1957 date stamp. It is believed that these were actually the beginning of the 31004 production run using up leftover 433 shells. This chassis was unchanged from this point until production ceased in 1963.
Type 1/2 chassis vs. Type 3 chassis
Type 3 chassis on top vs. Type 4 chassis on bottom.
443 & 446 Hudson's...
This variation is much harder to find than the Type 3 or 4 433 switcher. The chassis is the standard 5 digit version as found in the 1958 31005 with cloth wiring. The date stamp alone is the only way to verify the authenticity. The aluminum driver 446 shown below has a September 1957 date.
Normal whitewall 446. This particular one has a March 1956 date.
September 57' aluminum driver version
Edited by - bad71burb on May 04 2016 01:45:50 AM
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Posted - May 04 2016 : 12:21:13 AM
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Never knew of this!
" Heck with counting 'em rivets, TRAINS ARE FOR FUN! Not called the Mad Scientist for nothing either!"
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Posted - May 04 2016 : 01:26:39 AM
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quote:Never knew of this!
Originally posted by Redneck Justin - May 04 2016 : 12:21:13 AM
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Most people don't. It's definitely legit with a completely different chassis casting. It has been the gospel so to speak that all 3 digit engines have whitewall drivers and 5 digit were aluminum. The myth is now busted.
A quick search on eBay for the last month will show at least three type 3 versions being sold this month alone. They're out there but ignored as made up engines. The date stamps don't lie...
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