Hello, everyone. Ok, so here's the thing. I just came into this collection of my grandfather's, who was an officer in MacArthur's Occupied Japan from 1947 to January 1952. Being an officer, his family was allowed to come too and my mom was 12 when they joined him there. She thinks it was acquired there, and she admittedly wasn't into such boy things but she definitely remembers it being a big deal around the house over the next few years. When it was given to her two weeks ago, it was all wrapped in newspapers dated 1956. She also very distinctly remembers hearing the word "Tenshodo" many times over, but never any other name. Internet research reveals they mostly did HO (implying other scales too) and did both 2- and 3-rail designs. They also did unpainted brass early on, as well as painted. There are no manufacturer's marks on any of the cars or tracks. (All the tracks - about 75 sections - are identical in design to one another, leading me to believe they're all from one source and one moment in time; but I don't know how to distinguish Tenshodo tracks from anything available from Walthers at the time.) John Gurdak of uncledavesbrass.com, who has been importing Tenshodo apparently forever and who ought to know, dismissed the notion outright because of the 3-rail design - but I believe he was too quick to do so. Does anyone here have any opinions on this? What I'd most like help with, is either identifying the pieces or finding an expert on this subject, preferably in the Carolinas. What I'm going to show you are the two heaviest pieces by far. And one half of another engine. (Or maybe a tender? What you see is all there is of it, sadly.) The rest are substantially inferior in material and construction and paint - some of which is flaking so horrendously I don't even want to touch it. So these are all brass. The so-called "pickle vats" are also 100% brass and probably original paint, although Mom and I suspect Grandpa of having painted the labels himself Thanks for looking! John A
Best guess IMP. Had some at one point. Spur gears, spoon centre rail pickup (these are scale-ish 3-rail). Some folks like them. International Model Products
