Bing Signal????

Stev,

I do not recognize it but it looks more British than German I would say. I will have a further look in the books etc.

I assume some rods to operate it are missing?

Regards

Fred

Good one Steve.  The thing here is the solid square masts which are painted (litho) to look like lattice work.  That's not a Bing thing - Bing either had real lattice or if they used solid square masts they were just painted white.  I know that both Distler and Heinrich Wimmer (HWN) did painted-on lattice in a style like this, but I can't find a signal resembling yours.

I agree with Fred it has a bit of a British feel to it, but it's not Hornby, which would suggest a possibility of Bassett-Lowke, but I don't know.  The thing is, if I saw that base all by itself, I would say Bing definitely, that yellow-orange center with the green foliage painted around the edges is very Bing.

My hunch is we're looking at one of the smaller, lesser-known German toy makers, but this will take more investigation.

david

I think it is German made, but for the British market. Probably a lesser make, sold through Bassette-Lowke.

Here's a guy over in England selling one as "German made by Fischer" that has similar litho mast, and the arms also match; looks like a single-mast version of yours.  Doesn't prove a thing,  just more info. It's the first one I've found with that mast pattern. Heinrich Fischer made a lot of litho tinplate toys prewar, hard to find info on them.

Here's a Bassett-Lowke, which is obviously a completely different beast:

Chuck,

   Good example of the Fischer, and I do believe that is what Steve's really happens to be.  At any rate it is definitely cool original Tin!

PCRR/Dave

sncf231e posted:

Stev,

 

I do not recognize it but it looks more British than German I would say. I will have a further look in the books etc.

I assume some rods to operate it are missing?

Regards

Fred

Fred, both activating rods are there. one works freely, the other will need some work.

Steve

nice fins Steve.

Steve, I can't see any activation rods either.  Do the control rods run up INSIDE the tinplate masts?  Looks like that may be the case on the pic I posted also?  If so that would be quite unusual!

david

An interesting item. Any educated estimates on the age?

looks Wimmer-y or Fleischmann-y or Keim-y to me but I have no photos to support that.

hojack posted:

Steve, I can't see any activation rods either.  Do the control rods run up INSIDE the tinplate masts?  Looks like that may be the case on the pic I posted also?  If so that would be quite unusual!

david

David

Yes, the rods are internal.

Steve

Steve,

According to my Dutch collector friend Hans van Dissel this is a signal by Bub from 1935; see attached picture. This shows the electrically lighted version, but there was also a version without lighting which is the version in your pictures.

Regards

Fred

Bub made signals with real lattice-work masts - but those were earlier, 1910's and 1920's.  It would make sense that they switched to solid masts later to save production costs.  Like Hornby did: early production lattice, late production solid painted.

It is also known that Bub took over the assets of Gebruder Bing in 1933, which would explain the Bing-like base.

Fischer was a big litho tin toy maker, but very little in trains. Of course, it is not impossible that Fischer produced train items for toy train companies. But with the combined production facilities of Bub and Bing, it seems unlikely Bub in 1935 would be subcontracting these out. I'm betting there is no Fischer connection, just a mislabeled eBay entry, not unusual as we know.

Late production Bub has my vote, but I never would have guessed it without the catalog page.  Nice going, Fred – that's pretty solid documentation!

I really like the internal control rod detail, that's cool.

david

Thanks Fred & Dave. Great info.

Steve

There is a document on a European web site by Fred Van Der Lube, who is a tinplate collector.  He catalogues a lot of stuff in the document and he shows a number of different signals with painted on lattice work.  Nothing definitive about Steves signal, but interesting.  http://traincollector.co/tin-t...f-fred-van-der-lubbe 

Bill

ogaugenut posted:

There is a document on a European web site by Fred Van Der Lube, who is a tinplate collector.  He catalogues a lot of stuff in the document and he shows a number of different signals with painted on lattice work.  Nothing definitive about Steves signal, but interesting.  http://traincollector.co/tin-t...f-fred-van-der-lubbe 

Bill

Fred's document is stored in my computer and is on of my research resources.

Based on some comments I made a new version of my tinplate document, it includes now also a index of manufacturers. The document can be downloaded in large or small size from here:

http://traincollector.co/downl...-tcs-document-folder

Regards

Fred

Thanks again Fred.

Steve