Christoph TT Models

[areibel]

Christoph Models was started by Bill Christoph (date unknown). He produced several car kits, boxcars and reefers that were wood with metal details and a cool little log buggy that was all cast metal and included cast metal logs for a load. He also produces several structure kits that were all metal and a line of cast details. There are addresses in both Clarksville TN and Orlando Fl, I believe the car kits were marketed later by Everett Smith.

[areibel]

A little more info on Christoph courtesy of milwrd1-
"For historic reference, the Composite Box Car was Christoph kit number TT-10. In 1967, Bill Christoph sold the TT product line to Everett Smith. Everett Smith moved the Christoph TT product line from Clarksville, Tennessee to St. Elmo Illinois and sold the products under the Everett Smith label. Christoph kit number TT-10 became kit number C-2 under the Everett Smith label."

[TheKnighTT]

Thank you for sharing that one Al. I would love to have one of those reefer kits. I do have some of the log cars and here's a slightly better photo than in the catalogue. The trucks are quite brittle, they either break or come apart.

[areibel]

That problem with the trucks must be an old one. I remember talking to Larry Sayre probably 30 years ago, he remembered when they were new and told me then that the trucks "break if you look at them"!

[tomvanhoy]

I have several of the diecast logs and they are mostly cracking apart due to a bad alloy. Not much good to make lumber with!

[milwrd1]

Much Thanks to Al Reibel for starting the Christoph Models folder. There currently is information on the TT Nut website about these models but it is in several locations.

Al posted info on most of the models, here is a little more. It was previously posted (1/16/22) that the Christoph line was sold to Everrett H. Smith in 1967. The kit model numbers were changed with the sale of the company. Christoph model TT-10 (Composite Boxcar) became Smith model C-2; Christoph model TT-11 (all wood reefer) became Smith model C-3; Christoph model TT-12 (all wood Boxcar) became Smith model C-1. A new model, Smith model C-4 (Outside Braced Boxcar) was added in early 1968. The previously mentioned log buggies were Smith model C-5. All of these kits featured beautifully detailed cast metal parts, specifically the car ends and the underframes. A photo from the advertisement in TT today dated March 1969 is attached.

E Smith kits 3/69

Christoph also produced (?) the 2-4-0 Timber Queen steam engine. A very rare engine, I've never seen one or even seen one posted for sale. I've read about operational problems that plagued this little engine, the engine would bind on curves and the motor would overheat. The motor was located in the tender. The rarity of this engine is comparable with the HP brass 4-6-0, the Gandy Dancer 4-4-0 and the Gandy Dancer Alco model (believe the Alco was a RS2 or a DL721). A photo from the advertisement in TT Today dated February 1964 is attached.

Christoph Timber Queen 2/64

Anybody have a photo or an actual model of the Christoph Timber Queen??

[areibel]

I do, Sort of!
I can't remember if this one came from Larry Sayre or Garn Smith, but it's not complete. In the pictures it's kinda just set together, but it gives the idea of what a finished one would look like and in one of the pics I put in a Lionel General for scale. I've looked at putting it together, but the steam chest (the white metal one in the pics) doesn't seem like it fits right, and I'm not sure if it's correct. (I'm pretty sure the brass one is from an HP Ten Wheeler). The drivers and rod look like they came from a Kemtron Dockside, the motor is laying sideways in the tender and it has a worm gear assembly that bolts to the chassis and is driven with a drive shaft of sorts visible on the tender. And in with it was a little more publicity from back int he day, wish whoever had this one had sprung for an RTR version!.

[Bigelov]

I am just amazed at the amount of knowledge you guys have.

[milwrd1]

Much Thanks to Al for the photo of an actual Timber Queen Note the great looking diamond shaped stack and the distinctive "humped" shape of the pilot / cow catcher. Looks exactly like one of the photos Al provided. Neat looking for an 1875 prototype locomotive. How long is the locomotive? What size are the drivers? How long is the tender? I believe many would be interested in actually how small it is. By comparison, The Kemtron TT Docksider is just under 30' long (3 inches) with 48-inch drivers. The drivers and the rods for the Timber Queen were made / provided by Kemtron, as noted in the "Timber Queen Coming" article provided by Al.

Just a little timeline here....(all references are to the TT Today (T3) magazine).

First mentioned, T3 9/63, scheduled release 1/64.
From T3 5/64, motors have arrived, shipping to start. The lower advertisement Al posted was scanned from this issue, showing the "humped" shaped pilot.
From T3 Spring 71, Timber Queen withdrawn from market. To be returned after the bugs worked out. The text Al provided " Timber Queen Coming" is from the Spring 71 issue of T3.

Just don't know how small this little guy is, but with the Japanese / Chinese micro motors available today, it MAY be possible to squeeze a motor in the engine and eliminate the tender drive.

[milwrd1]

Christoph also produced the very small Whitcomb Diesel, another very rare engine. Mostly developed / designed by Christoph, then put on hold due to supply chain issues. Subsequently brought to market in the late 1960's (1969??) by E. Smith once all the parts were obtained. Believe I've only seen one of these, probably offered on ebay, might have been only the body shell or the complete unit (I can't remember). The attached scan of the engine shell and the chassis is from TT Today dated Spring 1971. Anybody have one of these and could they provide a photo of the Whitcomb?

Whitcomb Diesel Spring 1971

As noted in the text, this guy is really small, only 22 feet (2.2 inches) over the footboards!!