Here we have an interesting Locomotive. I have owned this for over 30 years at least, and if I recall correctly, I got this from the original owner. I did prewar restoration for many years and as I know I had to put new drive wheels on this and replaced or repaired the lead and trail trucks and steam chest. It was very curious to me that this was a black 385, since it was never catalogued in black, always in dark gunmetal gray. I also thought that since the 1835 was made in black, maybe somebody changed the nickel trim to copper/brass. The one give away on this would have been that the trim was changed, but this trim certainly appears, from the looks on the interior, that it has always been on this boiler and the boiler paint has the deep richness that original paint would have. The frame and steam chest have been repainted. It was originally produced in 1933/34, and I always thought that perhaps some early models were painted black. I had asked around at TCA shows years ago and older timers than me, [I'm 74], said they knew of a few black 385E's. This has a chugger, the whole thing was rewired when I first got it and it ran at that time, but since it has been stored away for all these years, I think the e-unit isn't working or something is amiss. It wants to run, but right now it doesn't. The drive wheels turn freely but I haven't worked on these for quite a while and my current chemotherapy schedule makes any kind of in depth work nearly impossible lately. These early 385's came with the 384T. The 384T tender may have been restored, hard to tell for sure. I will be happy to answer any questions if I can. Thanks for looking!