Marx Grade Crossing Signal Man

[traindaddy1]

The box says Grade Crossing Signal Man and eBay has  titles such as Automatic Crossing Watchman and Crossing Shanty with man. 

I have not seen any ads for the illuminated version #1440, only the non-illuminated version #1439.

Question: Would you know if the #1440 version was a limited production or would you guess that it is so popular that train people are just holding on to theirs?

As always, many thanks. 

[Papa_D]

My experience buying Marx train items on eBay is the catalog number or accurate name is seldom used. There are about a half-dozen “Grade Crossing Signal Man” items currently listed ranging from like-new to poor (aka junk) condition. Only one uses the right name, a couple are part of “lots” and the rest use a mixture of words such as “crossing”, “employees only” (a sign on the shanty), or “shanty”. The split is about 50-50 on lighted or unlighted. I use the brute force method on eBay by searching all the new listings on a daily basis when I’m looking for a particular piece. 

The box is kind of funny showing the gateman out on the road stopping traffic when in reality he’s pinned to the inside of the shanty door. Frequently the stop sign in his hand is missing. However, a replacement part can be bought on-line. Other parts that can be bought on-line are the plastic gate, watchman, watchman pin, gate arm/counterweight, track activator, and smoke stack. Disassembly to fix anything else would be difficult to impossible. 

 

Good luck with your search.

Papa D

 

[traindaddy1]

Papa D: Appreciate your reply and pictures. The three that are currently listed on eBay are unlighted. The search for a lighted one continues. Thanks, so much.