Track I.D. [?]

[Anonymous]

Picked these up at a second hand store great price $20.00 but I don't know who made them. There O-gauge and not home made. There aren't any Identifying marking or name. Any clue?......
Thanks
Rich

[ChiefEagles]

I want to watch this one. Good question. Hope we get an answer soon.

[trigtrax]

They sure look home-made to me!
If I had to guess I'd say the wye's were made from Lionel track and Marx switch parts.

[Anonymous]

Ask Daan, he knows!
When I visited him, he showed me two of these switches in his layout. The nice thing of these Y-switches is that they make it easy to create yards on confined spaces.
I believe that he explained me that they were old Märklin switches and hard to get. Besides the 2 armed Y switch there is also a 3 armed switch.

[choochin3]

Looks like Marklin track to me.

Carl T.

[alton6]

The ties look to be full O size, but the rails seem 0-27. Which might these be?

[daan]

These are Märklin tracks. The Y switches should read "12" somewhere on the ties, the normal switch should read "8". It's about 054 for the "12" switches and 031 is the "8".
BUT Hornby made exactly the same switches without the indications on it. On the underside of the tracks it then should read "Hornby meccano".
If it are Márklin switches, then these are the early prewar types because the later ones (around 1935) have a bigger plate where the switchtrower is and they have tongues instead of the one piece unit ( in Europe we call it a "boat" or schuitje.)

The indication of the buider is stamped in the throwers and reads probably GM (not general motors, but Gebrüder Märklin) or H for hornby.

Anyway, these are original switches, with a european history. (like Ulphard said.)

[phillyreading]

Hard to say who made it unless you would post a close more of a close-up and back side photos. Lionel had many companies competing with them, both pre-war and post-war, here are a few names; Ives, Marklin, American Flyer(pre-war three rail), Marx, American Models Corp, Atlas three rail(the H.O. company). There have been a couple others to compete with Lionel but not worth mentioing as they went out of business in less than a year.
Lee F. in south FL

[alton6]

Daan,

Do you have any knowledge about the reliability of these switches? They look pretty cool, but I wonder how well they worked, especially a three-armed wye!

These were sized as full O gauge, not o-27, right?

Thanks,

Carl

[thor]

They look like Hornby to me, the upcurve on the ties edge is for a spring steel locking clip and the holes in the ties are useful for attaching Meccano to - also made by Hornby well actually vice versa. As for how they work very well, they're solid and take a good pu***o throw against the powerful spring but they're positive. Used for clockwork powered trains NOT electrical.

[palallin]

If they're for clockwork, why to they have the (electrically isolated) third rail?

[daan]

QUOTE: Originally posted by alton6

Daan,

Do you have any knowledge about the reliability of these switches? They look pretty cool, but I wonder how well they worked, especially a three-armed wye!

These were sized as full O gauge, not o-27, right?

Thanks,

Carl

Carl, in europe there is no such thing as 0-27. After the second world war 0 scale vanished into smoke because the houses where getting too small and the trains too expensive. h0 was the new scale. The only tracks here are full scale.
The Y switches work well, but due to the S curve in it, a lot of trains derail. Also none of the switches can be driven from the other side when the tongues are not in the right position.
I use Märklin track and switches on my layout, some pickup rollers have troubles with the newer ones, but these old switches are very relyable and work perfectly.
There is another one, a one piece Z switch, also made by Märklin.

This is a very hard to find Z switch, I sold mine, since I didn't had a use for it anymore.
Both switches work simultaniously by one switch thrower.

This is the Y switch you also have

These are other Märklin switches in 0 gauge.

[alton6]

Very interesting. I know very little about European products. What time frame saw production of these switches? Only post-war? There isn't any new Marklin O gauge, is there?

Carl

[Anonymous]

Carl, These switches would be prewar. As daan said, after World War II, O gauge rapidly disappeared from Europe and HO became the gauge of choice. In the case of Marklin, their prewar O gauge line was simply outstanding in terms of superb quality and variety. After the war, however, their O gauge line was barely a shadow of its former self and its focus was now on clockwork trains, not electric ones. 1950 was the last year Marklin manufacturered O gauge, by which time the line was down to just very basic starter sets. There were some other manufacturers making O gauge in Germany, but these trains were cheaper and more toy like. O gauge fared a bit better in Britain, France and other European countries, but HO/OO trains were still far more popular and definitely the winners of the battle, unlike North America, where O gauge was just as popular in the postwar era as it was in the prewar years.

So, no, there isn't any new Marklin O gauge. However, from 1969-1972, they produced a line of trains called Minex. These were O scale models of narrow gauge trains that ran on HO track. It wasn't a very large line (there was just a steam engine, diesel engine, gondola, boxcar, dump car and passenger car, although they were available in different colours) and, as can be seen from the short production time, wasn't very successful. These trains are now highly sought after by collectors.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for all the info

[daan]

QUOTE: Originally posted by alton6

Very interesting. I know very little about European products. What time frame saw production of these switches? Only post-war? There isn't any new Marklin O gauge, is there?

Carl

As sask said, the 0 gauge died in the fifties. But there is another, very sought after version of Márklin prewar track. They look very similar on the model rail of K-line and had the name "Modellgleise".
The postwar tracks are normally JEP or Hornby, both made 0 gauge 'till far in the 60's.
The track on my layout is about 75 years old and still performs great.

[alton6]

Are European-made track and switches a good fit with those from the US? I understand that the Japanese firm Sakai made switches (I think) somewhat wider that American gauge, and these sometimes made for operating glitches when American engines and cars were run. Is this a problem with the metric products from the Continent?

Carl

[BR60103]

They look like Hornby to me. I have a circle of Hornby 3-rail from about 1950, and I've seen other bits at our club shows. (I'm not familiar with the Maerklin track.)
The Hornby track looks very much like Lionel O. The notable differences are that the pins in the rails are plain and there are 2 in one end and 1 in the other. The control mechanism looks like Hornby as well.
Hornby tracks are quite compatible with Lionel cars and Locos.

[daan]

@David, it could be Hornby as well, both manufacturers (Hornby & Märklin) had the same design. The Y made by hornby has the spacing of the tracks on the double side fitting to their double track rail system. I had both Märklin and Hornby and the only difference was the stamp on the switch thrower and the rail distance on the double side. (I don't know what the excact measurements where, though)