January 2014: Several years ago I acquired off of eBay the stripped down locomotive shown here. I’m pretty sure the locomotive is a Spanish 0 gauge locomotive produced by “Mezquida”. A picture of a complete “Mezquida” locomotive was taken from a catalog for an exhibit of Spanish toy trains at the Railway Museum of Madrid in 1996-1997 titled “Catalogos de la Exposicion “El Juguete Espanol y el Ferrocarril – 100 Anos de Historia”. According to the catalog Mezquida was created by an “Inspector of Finance” (a taxman) who started manufacturing toy trains in the mid-40s in Barcelona, but produced only a few varieties of models, always steam, and often confused with Manamo locomotives. They had similar wheels, connecting rods, and similar styles. The only real difference between the two firms machines was the material used in the body, which in the case of Mezquida the tinplate material is 1 mm. in thickness.
Although I like the locomotive in its current stripped-down condition it would be interesting to try to restore the “toy” to close to its original condition. Finding a tender for the locomotive is essential. Should you ever run across one that is available, please let me know.
Fred's Trains 