For The Love Of Cheap Trains - The Cragstan/DIstler Set I Almost Had

 The time period between 1970 and 1976 was a very hard one for my family and I. My Mother struggled to keep us afloat. Being a single mother in the South at that time was very difficult. She had several mouths to feed, and to worsen matters we moved frequently.

When her money was good, though, she always managed to get my sisters and I gifts, toys or models for me, clothing or toys for the girls.
She knew I loved trains as much as anything space related, and at least she was more familiar with them.
Next to Art's Hobby Shop there was a five and dime store, that sold not only new items but a mix of odd used items as well. They had a decent selection of toys of varying quality.
One day, she gifted me with a train set she found there.
I was so excited. The box art showed a diesel switcher locomotive hauling several cars. It said it was in HO scale, so I knew I could eventually get more track.
I broke the tape seals, and was crushed.
Not only was it a different set, there were only a couple of pieces of track, it was very incomplete.
And it wasn't HO.
I made do with it as best I could, making a garden railroad of sorts with the damaged steam locomotive.
I lost interest. It would be lost. I wonder if the folks at the five and dime knew what the box contained. There would be other toy sets, but I had such high hopes here.
Recently, I found that box again. This time, of course, I'm wiser and know exactly what it is supposed to contain.
While this may have been imported by Cragstan, an American toy importer known chiefly for tin toys from Japan, this set wasn't one of them. For Cragstan, this was high quality - Distler, a West German toy manufacturer. While it may have been high quality for Cragstan, Distler was known mostly for cheap toy trains, though they were durable.
Naturally, I bought it.
And this time, nine year old Robert was happy.

To be sure, I am far more familiar with Distler now, mainly their O gauge equipment. Not too long ago, though, I picked up the locomotive from this set, and like most of my other purchases, was damaged. I love the design, its simplicity. It will be the subject for another post, but the point is, I had an idea what to expect. Recently, when I discovered the box art from that set I was given by my Mother, I began to keep an eye out for it.

And then one popped up.
This set is complete, lacking only the directions. In fact, it looks as though it has never been used.

The spare piece of track you see just below the locomotive is from my Fleischmann collection. I brought it out to compare it to the Distler track. I had read that Distler was supplied with parts from other companies, such as Fleischmann and Trix, but in this case, the track is different, and still labelled "Made In West Germany".

The locomotive is unusual and lovely by itself. It is obviously based on an American EMD SW1, though it has a cooling fan.

The cars look nice as well, though not particularly well detailed. They remind me of a mixture of Marx and Varney. This is the boxcar.

There is also a gondola. 

The caboose looks odd, in that it has only four wheels but is long enough to use trucks. 

Power is supplied by a battery box that uses two D sized cells, and utilizes a simple directional switch. There is no speed control.

It's complete, the whole set, and I have already lubricated and tested the locomotive.

I cannot tell you how this set makes me feel. The feelings are so deep. My Mom tried to make me happy, though, and for that, I will be forever grateful for the joy she could give us.