Hi,
What price would you put on this? I'd imagine it's sort of rare. Right?
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I don't know what it's worth, but that is very cool!
Is it One Gauge? It's two rail. Could be O gauge for windups.
George
George S posted:Is it One Gauge? It's two rail. Could be O gauge for windups.
George
It's two-rail O Gauge for windups.
This is Bing 14035/0, was made only 1910-1915. Is very rare.
Arne
What is even more impressive is that it retains the detachable switch indicator lights.
Arne: THANKS for that clarification! ☺ ELGAUCHO: That is WAY COOL! Also waiting for Fred or Daniel to chime in!
Would anyone know how to use this piece?!! In a layout?! (lol) It's such a strange piece. I'm trying to imagine it for a simple windup layout that can keep some continuous loops going. But I can't!!
Would people agree it's USD$140 cool? (more?)
Elgaucho posted:Would anyone know how to use this piece?!! In a layout?! (lol) It's such a strange piece. I'm trying to imagine it for a simple windup layout that can keep some continuous loops going. But I can't!!
It could be fun.
The triangle in the middle would be your section.
You would need three more switches or wyes to make this work.
George
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George S posted:Elgaucho posted:Would anyone know how to use this piece?!! In a layout?! (lol) It's such a strange piece. I'm trying to imagine it for a simple windup layout that can keep some continuous loops going. But I can't!!
It could be fun.
The triangle in the middle would be your section.
You would need three more switches or wyes to make this work.
George
I think this layout would only supply "single-loop" continuity (Not combined-circled) Am I right?...
Elgaucho posted:George S posted:Elgaucho posted:Would anyone know how to use this piece?!! In a layout?! (lol) It's such a strange piece. I'm trying to imagine it for a simple windup layout that can keep some continuous loops going. But I can't!!
It could be fun.
The triangle in the middle would be your section.
You would need three more switches or wyes to make this work.
George
I think this layout would only supply "single-loop" continuity (Not combined-circled) Am I right?...
Windup the train and get it going. To switch loop, you need to manually throw the switch before the train gets back to your three-way switch. This is not an automatic layout, but it can be fun throwing switches to advance the train from loop to loop.
George
On the real railroads that switch combination (called a turning Y) is used to reverse the direction of a train when there are no turntables present (three point turn). You can also treat it as a junction of two roads which allows trains coming from any direction on one line to either continue on the same line or switch to the alternate route and for the trains on the alternate route to go in either direction on the secondary route.
During the period when Bing made this piece they also made basic short Y switches, three way switches, a parallel symmetrical switch, single and double crossovers, crossing switches and your configuration which they called a star switch. They also made stop/start pieces of track (they called them brake rails). The idea was to be able to build a complete clockwork layout.
Elgaucho posted:Hi,
What price would you put on this? I'd imagine it's sort of rare. Right?
I'd frame it and hang it on the wall in the living room.
And to heck with what the wife says, that's true antique art!!! 
.
Great suggestions Robert. I’m now getting ideas in my head.
Paul, it certainly is a work of art. I even make interesting wall-designs made of old Eractor girders. These toys have such unlimited imagination.
Love that wye track! Marklin, Bing and other makers had a variety of fascinating special trackwork, my other favorites are the double cross-overs. I have a Bing single cross-over on my layout, but am still hunting for an affordable double cross-over, some internet photos on my wish list:
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Elgaucho posted:Great suggestions Robert. I’m now getting ideas in my head.
Paul, it certainly is a work of art. I even make interesting wall-designs made of old Eractor girders. These toys have such unlimited imagination.
Look here at the on/line toy/train/track museum of Charels Cooper:
https://www.railwaypages.com/toy-train-track-museum
Regards
Fred
Tracks are wonderful to look at... (works of metal-art) even by themselves. You can't help but imagine the possibilities.
Elgaucho posted:Hi,
What price would you put on this? I'd imagine it's sort of rare. Right?
if you look at it close it's a simple Y, there is NO path for a third circle.
Popi posted:Elgaucho posted:Hi,
What price would you put on this? I'd imagine it's sort of rare. Right?
if you look at it close it's a simple Y, there is NO path for a third circle.
I don't see what you are seeing. There are three switch stands. A wye switch only has one switch stand. In order to have the three circles, you need to add three wye switches facing away from the triangle switch.
George
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Elgaucho posted:I think I'm starting to see the possibilities!! I especially like the fact that for a toy-like clockwork layout, having curves is always more fun!!
That's looking like fun!
George
Great, now WHO is actually going to make ELGAUCHO an offer?
I think he has discovered he has a unique opportunity to put together a clockwork layout that will be the envy of anyone who has ever wound up a clockwork toy train and let 'er rip. I hope he chooses to keep it, build the layout he has diagrammed, and update us periodically with respect to construction and, of course, the fun of running trains on that layout.
Robert S. Butler posted:I think he has discovered he has a unique opportunity to put together a clockwork layout that will be the envy of anyone who has ever wound up a clockwork toy train and let 'er rip. I hope he chooses to keep it, build the layout he has diagrammed, and update us periodically with respect to construction and, of course, the fun of running trains on that layout.
I agree. If not, I will take it off his hands. However, I need a clockwork train...
George
One can theoretically make this crossing with three short “v” switches, right? (Sorry, I’m new to the terminology)
Elgaucho posted:One can theoretically make this crossing with three short “v” switches, right? (Sorry, I’m new to the terminology)
Yes. Those are wye switches you are referring to. I think you would need some curves in between the switches to get them to fit right. It depends on the radius of the wye switch.
George
Interesting. I tend to agree with George frst off, but I think maybe it boils down to track mfg. ordering "names" we are used to vs prototypical use. I.e. does a prototypical wye consist of three point sets ...I think it does (so Popi would be right). Or does it refer to equal division of 2 turnout exit angles; a Y ...
I think there might be an inconsistency. Easy to note Y and wye may not be as interchangeable as one might suspect. I've not come across the this before to know for sure.... interesting. Kinda like switches are what you do with cars, turnouts are where the track splits 
Adriatic posted:Interesting. I tend to agree with George frst off, but I think maybe it boils down to track mfg. ordering "names" we are used to vs prototypical use. I.e. does a prototypical wye consist of three point sets ...I think it does (so Popi would be right). Or does it refer to equal division of 2 turnout exit angles; a Y ...
I think there might be an inconsistency. Easy to note Y and wye may not be as interchangeable as one might suspect. I've not come across the this before to know for sure.... interesting. Kinda like switches are what you do with cars, turnouts are where the track splits
I see what you mean. I have always seen the major manufacturers call the switches with equal turnout angles, wye switches. You can check Ross, Lionel, and Atlas for examples. However, a wye in real railroading is exactly as described and what Popi is seeing. Here's a great reference source on the real railroad 'wye'.
George
Wikipedia has taken on an extemely European flavor when in comes to railroads and modeling. I take the vernacular there with a grain of salt and a grin.
It also described other turnaround methods and the roles they played here & there. Interesting read but 'why (rail)" seems like it should have been a sub topic of "reversing a train" imo.
Merriam-Webster's has it as a noun, #1.. a Y-shaped part or object. Or #2.. the letter Y.
Hope this isn't to far off topic, but here are a couple of interesting O gauge clockwork switches from my collection.
A wye - this one had a loose rail, and needed a bit of careful soldering to make it functional again. It works very well, and I love the design of the switchstand. It is now used in the engine terminal on my clockwork layout:
This is a 3-way switch that was obviously in need of heavy repairs:
And the same switch after much work. The switchstand and headblock are homemade replacements. Because the switch had "aftermarket" parts and a lot of soldering done to it, I opted to paint it to give it a uniform look. It could always be stripped and plated with tin or nickel if desired. Unfortunately, I don't have a place for it on my railroad, so it just hangs on the wall as a display:
Collecting track for clockwork trains can be a hobby all by itself!
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The Wikipedia cite comes back with a "bad page" note. However, if we go to that ancient toy train bible - Bantam's Model Railroading Fourth Big New Edition Revised by Lionel Experts - we find on page 26 a switch configuration which matches the the intent of the Bing switch assembly that started this thread and it is called a wye. On page 39 are some diagrams of small freight yards and on page 38 are descriptions of the various yard track components. The same configuration of switches is called a wye and the text states "The locomotive moves to one of the standpipes F and takes on water, then to the wye and the ashpit marked I. From I it can proceed to track J and await orders; the wye will serve as a turnaround."
Robert S. Butler posted:The Wikipedia cite comes back with a "bad page" note. However, if we go to that ancient toy train bible - Bantam's Model Railroading Fourth Big New Edition Revised by Lionel Experts - we find on page 26 a switch configuration which matches the the intent of the Bing switch assembly that started this thread and it is called a wye. On page 39 are some diagrams of small freight yards and on page 38 are descriptions of the various yard track components. The same configuration of switches is called a wye and the text states "The locomotive moves to one of the standpipes F and takes on water, then to the wye and the ashpit marked I. From I it can proceed to track J and await orders; the wye will serve as a turnaround."
That's odd. The link feature keeps changing the text. Here it is a different way...
"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wye_(rail)"
You may need to copy and paste it in. Anyway, as Adriatic wrote above, the article is more about the use of the wye for turning trains than about the wye itself. It's very interesting that track manufacturers have taken the same name to be a different type of switch. Fastrack-o72-wye-switch-6-16832
George
Robert S. Butler posted:The Wikipedia cite comes back with a "bad page" note. However, if we go to that ancient toy train bible - Bantam's Model Railroading Fourth Big New Edition Revised by Lionel Experts - we find on page 26 a switch configuration which matches the the intent of the Bing switch assembly that started this thread and it is called a wye. On page 39 are some diagrams of small freight yards and on page 38 are descriptions of the various yard track components. The same configuration of switches is called a wye and the text states "The locomotive moves to one of the standpipes F and takes on water, then to the wye and the ashpit marked I. From I it can proceed to track J and await orders; the wye will serve as a turnaround."
I had to remove a " [ " or" ] " from the link address. Likely "spell-wreck" helped out the copy/paste process. Why everyone hasn't complained enough to get MS and Google to actually shut off the automatic portion is beyond me. I hasn't worked well on any OS nor last 5 devices Ive used; what's the point in leaving a disruptive feature in place? I think weve come to far for accepting "works sometimes".
Putting those "parking spots" in the wye to use like that seems very convenient if not somehow more efficient..... I guess it would eliminate uneeded stops and starts overall at least, so wear is saved at least.
