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TCS EBooks

Welcome to TCS EBooks & Collectors Guides

This is an on-line collection pdf - files by TCS members that may be of interest to the toy and model train collector and enthusiast.

While over time all sorts of useful material may be stored here (we hope) the general idea is to offer 'documents' authored by TCS members that because of their size and  / or specialism do not fit within the constraints of our Train Collector magazine but which we think would be of interest to members.

EBooks are meant for online reading so file size is limited.

"Please note that all files are free to be downloaded and for private use. Copyright may well remain with the original author (and photographer / illustrator) but in any case  please mention the source when you copy something."

EBooks

  • Elegance on Rails (Eleganz auf Schienen Die Enzyklopädie der Atlantic) is a beautiful large coffee table book by Wilhelm Reuter and Claus Bock on Atlantic type locomotices which inspired Fred to make his own EBook on these beautiful engines.
  • Alex Procyk is looking into early railway "models" and how the toy train manufacturers were trying to copy the real thing into models.
  • To celebrate the 75th anniversary of Elettren Fred has put together the (hi)story of this comapany in an own EBook
  • An EBook about thr famous Big Boy and other Articulated Locomotives is the next fabolous book from Fred.
  • This EBook from Fred covers more than 100 pages of wonderfull streamliners from all accorss the world. Enjoy reading and looking at the wonderfull pics (February 2020)
  • This EBook from Fred van der Lubbe covers Pacifics from Continental Europe showing lots of pics of Models of Pacifics from Belgium, France, Germany and Italy (September 2019)
  • Fred van der Lubbe's Ebook with more text but still some pictures, this time about Gauge and Scale of Toy and Model trains. (March 2019)
  • This book of Fred's is featuring Travelling Post Office (or Railway Post Office) vehicles in his collection As Fred comments "From the beginning of the railway age, mail was transported by rail and, also in the early years, mail was sorted during the trip. Soon special carriages to carry mail and also to pick-up, deliver and sort mail were introduced. One of my collecting goals is to make it possible to run representations of the passenger trains of yesteryear, i.e. the period that steam trains ruled. In many of these trains one or more mail cars were included, so I do have some mail cars or postal vans in my collection. So I have made a small catalogue containing all mail cars from my collection (in many gauges and from various makers)."
  • Fred tells the story of his railway cranes (crane cars, wreckers or whatever you wish to call them) and how he became a crane collectors as well as a train collector.
  • Fred van der Lubb's overview of tinplate accessories from his collection. Now further updated and with better quality pictures - 
  • Another book from Fred, this time featuring those aristocrats of steam haulage as they appear in his collection.
  • Fred van der Lubbe's survey of his collection of CIWL vehicles. Now with some revisions and corrections
  • A follow up that complements Fred's book above this time looks at luxury trains not operated under the CIWL name. It encompasses trains from the UK, the rest of Europe and North America, with the reproductions ranging from fine scale models to delightful tinplate toys.

Collectors Guides

  • John Entwistle, made a marvelous job on collection all information on Triang and Hornby Steam Locomotives. He put together all available information of Triang and Hornby Steam locomotives starting from 1955 up to Feb 2019 in his collectors guide which is now available as EBook (February 2019)