A PostWar Item I've Never Seen Before....

Looks pretty neat. Good news is that you have the box - does it say where Merco is located?

Merco toys are still in business and is a company in Brazil. They seem to import allot of plastic toys.  

Thanks fellows.......when I think of things like this, I think of Colber.....This was a new one on me.....It goes to show that learning and discovery never really stops.

Peter

Peter this looks like a good find, but I don't think you should place the light poles in the middle of the track like it shows on the box!

It's a Gomez Addams kinda' thing!

Simon

Thank you.......I'll check out the TCA Quarterly.

Peter

Hmmm...us TCA guys are not completely worthless and DECREPID?  Hold the SHOVELS LOL!  Using TCA Quarterlies for research instead of toilet paper...you guys are catching on!

The TCA Quarterly is a great resource for research. 

The Quarterly alone is worth the price of TCA Membership!

Art Poole  TCA 91-33599   (1974-1984) & (1991 - present)  33 years and counting!

Life does not end at 40???

This model lamp post is based on the wooden lamp posts that adorned the parkways of New York City, Long Island, and upstate NY from about the 1930s through 80's. The lone prototype "survivor" in NYC is a variant located on the westbound Sunrise Hwy ramp over the Belt and Laurelton Parkways. A few originals remain scattered on Ocean Parkway on Long Island, and even a few "retro" wooden posts have sprung up on LI parkways.

http://forgotten-ny.com/2011/03/the-last-woody/

Yes, Lou.....i remember them on the Cross Island.

Peter

Is there an index for the topics in the TCA Quarterly. I picked up a box of early 1990's copies at York and find them fascinating.

Sam

Peter,

As a fellow NYC nut, you should know the 221 is a Dreyfuss, not a Commodore Vanderbilt!   Sorry. couldn't help it!

I also remember similar ones on the Grand Central Parkway.

Aren't they still present on the roads down to Jones Beach?

When they were cutting them down, my father-in-law took a few to create wood beams for the living room ceiling.

Jon

Skip.....you're right.......I'm embarrassed........ Red-faced with embarrassment! .

Peter

They wooden posts of the NY parkway system were made of Western Red Cedar by the Ryther Purdy Lumber Company of Connecticut, which is still in business today.

C.W. - yes, there are replica wooden lamp posts on the parkways around Jones Beach. There may be a few original short-arm posts on the service roads, but a few were destroyed during hurricane Sandy.

Here is a short film clip from 1963 of traffic on the Cross Island Parkway showing the original "woodies" (along with the Throgs Neck and Bronx Whitestone Bridges).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRU9CfhLDJo&list=PL62658479094FF117&index=2 

Wow, Lou.....that was great. I could see both bridges from my bedroom. My apartment building was 2 blocks up from Brunckner Blvd, south facing on Middletown Rd.....I had an unobstructed view of both bridges. I wish I had taken pics of the Throogs Neck bridge as it was built.

Peter

Peter, it appears this Merco was Mercury Models out of Brooklyn, not sure if that company is related to the modern Merco mentioned above.

I have seen these going on ebay for $15 each lamp.

There is a set of three on EBay right now.

Until I saw the auction listing. I didn't realize that they were working lamp posts. I guess I should have known by the original price.

Other than this company and Colber, what other small manufacturers were putting out O gauge items during the period?

AMT started out making streamlined passenger cars and then morphed into Kusan and then KMT. Here is a decent review.

www.tcawestern.org/amt.htm

Peter

How about the Minitoy Trolleys which later were acquired by Bowser.  Here's a photo.

Lew Schneider

Peter,

I recently came across three of these myself. I had never seen them before.

Thanks for showing the boxes they came in, and to all for the additional info.

Andrew,

One other company that comes to mind is the Junior Bridge Company - various bridges, signal bridge, etc.

Jim

Jim....as Lou said last September they make you think of the old Parkway lights like on the Cross Island or Hutchinson River Pkwys.

Peter

Didn't AMT also make large boxcars before Lionel brought out their 6464 series?
General Models came out with an SW-2 before Lionel.

How about Plasticville and Littletown - plastic buildings

Authenticast / Comet Metal Products - cast metal people and small items like fire hydrants, signs, etc.

The AMT boxcar and cattle car molds still survive and are used by Williams. The AMT tank car mold was used by K-Line. 

I always admired those wood lamp posts. I also love the arched stone bridges on some of the parkways. I thought they were redwood, but now I'm enlightened. 

Don

Some others not yet mentioned were Skyline, Model Structures Company, TRU-SCALE, H&H, Hoge and of course, Gargraves.

Bill

Quickly paging through Toy Trains magazine, I found a lot of small companies....

1954 issues:

Railroad Accessory Company

Bayville NJ

made flexible roadbed and over/under trestle sets

1952 issues:

Leroy Toy & Novelty Company

Philadelphia PA

model buildings

Bob Peare Engineering Corp

Clifton NJ

flexible O & S gauge track

Dinkyville Trolleys

Monroe Hobby Products

rubber passenger car diaphgrams

Peter

FWIW, I found an ad (for fishing tackle) from "MERCURY MODEL CO, 920-E Utica Ave., Brooklyn 3, NY" in an old Brooklyn Eagle (online) newspaper from May of 1951. I know of no other toy train accessories from this company, but would like to know more about it.

That is where I saw them, driving from Hollis to Jones Beach with my family in the late 1940s.

The last time I was there, they were. It's been a few years though.

Don

http://forgotten-ny.com/2011/03/the-last-woody/

According to this link, there's only one left in operation.

The Forgotten NY site is focused on NYC. I don't think it covers Long Island. The roads that have been mentioned are in Nassau County (Long Island).

Peter, were the wood poles like that also on the Southern State Pkwy? I seem to remember them when I was very young living in Westbury and going to Jones Beach.

Cool stuff - thanks for sharing.

Paul