Last trip through York, I visited Mike Rosenberg's booth where I was able to acquire a few tinplate toy railroad people. Based on a few on-line sources, I believe these were made by Barclay, hollow-cast in the style of toy soldiers of the era:
These are in "as found" condition, pretty remarkable given their 70+ year age. I've no plans to change that.
I believe the guy in the middle of the lower image is intended to be a gateman. Both Lionel (presumably Barclay) and American Flyer made gateman that featured figures with an artificial leg. I have often wondered if this indicative of the hiring practices of the railroads, whereby injured employees and disabled veterans were hired to perform such "low impact" jobs along the right-of-way.
