It's Kind Of A Weird Story...

 Right before I began finding these cute little semi-toy HO trains, I stumbled upon a strange little auction. 

Apparently, right after the Second World War, a German citizen named Ernst Ganzer began producing kits in the now popular OO scale. 

Let's be clear - OO was the gauge. The scale was all over the place. 

In the US, OO was 1/76. So it was in England, except it ran on 16.5mm track, as it had when it started out there (practical reasons... that should be another post). For sake of comparison, American OO was 19mm betwixt the rails.
16.5mm gauge is most commonly found as HO.

On the continent, OO gauge was apparently more confusing.

Most German manufacturers used 16.5mm gauge, with some manufacturers using 1/90 as the scale.

Enter Herr Ganzer. 

He starts a little company that manufactured cardboard model kits, including rolling stock and a fascinating three rail track system. He named his little endeavor ERGA-Lehrmodell. 

(Sorry - I can't remember the source)

It was an auction for some of these models that got my attention. In addition to being cardstock, they also had stamped and diecast metal parts, though the little steeplecab critter (ain't it cute?!?) is unpowered.

This is where the seed was replanted. The rest was a matter of watering and fertilizing.