Does anybody remember Erector sets?

They can still be found at swap meets etc. The name is still in use today by Meccano but the set are not the same as they were back in the day

 

Meccano Erector Sets

Erector sets, tinker toys, Lincoln Logs all played a part in my early days with Lionel trains.  Those were the days that linked your imagination with your hands kind of like the trains themselves.  Today there is Lego and other plastic construct sets but there was nothing like the rugged feel of steel and wood when building something.

 

Steve, Lady and Tex

I remember that the edges of the square nuts were too sharp and tore up my fingers. So, I grabbed some of Dad's wrenches and took my bicycle apart instead.

I had an Erector Set as a kid, got it for Christmas in 1959, and loved building things with it.

 

If you go on ebay, you will find old original sets for sale.

When my daughter was in elementary school (she is now 19), she had a project which we constructed with an erector set. According to the teacher, th best part of the display was the interlocking gears, running from the motor, to the rotating item.

Here's a small society devoted to nothing other than AC Gilbert products, mostly Erector.  They have a quarterly newsletter with lots of old parts and whole sets available for sale:

 

http://www.acghs.org/

I had an Erector set as a kid, but no O gauge trains to build stuff for. 

 

Built a lot cool stuff though. One thing I did was build a set of Erector legs for a GI Joe who was wounded "in battle" out in the back yard.  He became our "bionic man!"

lol

In the past Erector sets were found in every toy dept/store.

Yes, I had a set.  I never used it to make O-gauge accessories, though.  That motor outlasted the small parts after they were gone here and there.  I used it as a small grinder, and it lasted a long, long time before it finally quit.

They're still around, I just bought one for my daughter. I also picked up a Meccano set last time I was in the UK.

Thanks guys,

 

You guys must have had quite some good times! Unfortunately, my Erector set was put away when I was 10 (in the attic) I have seen it in 47 years, you think it's in good condition, I just found the original tube it came in. Was it rustproof?

 

Mike Maurice

I still have mine from the 70's Man me and my brother were obsessed with those things.We had motors,pulley wheels all kinds of things.Nick

I don't think they were rustproof Mike, you should be able to tell us when you get it out.

 

We had a small set and I used to dream about the big ones with the parachute drops and the like...

Mike do a search in this forum on erector sets there are a couple of fairly recent post one bridge and one with light towers..

Gave my complete 1954 (except for the box and electric motor to my grandson a few years ago.

 

Wish I still had it.

Used to enjoy playing with my Dad's 1950's Meccano set. Always remember building a working model based on the Middlesbrough transporter bridge with my Dad. Very cool.

 

Always wished we had enough bits to build the giant block setting crane.

 

Had my own Meccano 3000 set that I got for Christmas which had an electric motor.

Some good models but I sort of preferred the 50's stuff. Still have it somewhere in the loft.

 

Nick

Oh yeah.  I loved mine.  AS I said on another thread recently about them, I played with mine all the time and my parents considering it "learning" so I could often wangle a extra half hour before bedtime if I were playing with it.  

 

The tiny bolts and nuts were the modern equivalent of the smallest legso: they would turn up in the oddest places, and if you stepped on one barefoot on the hardwood floor . . . 

Certainly; never heard of "Meccano" back then, though (still not really familiar with it). I only know of the AC Gilbert Erector line. Gilbert produced this large line of sets before

he bought American Flyer of Chicago and moved it East to New Haven, so far as I know.

 

Strangely, from my set (1950-something) I still have the box and the motor - and one

pulley. Nothing else. My parents were smart people and did not put such things in the

trash, so I'm thinking that it may have gone to a charity, along with my Tinkertoys,

etc. 

 

Thankfully no charity got my Lionel stuff; charity does begin at home, after all. I wish

that they had kept the Erector set.

 

They also kept all my big pressed-stell trucks, graders, earth movers, etc. Bless 'em.

Well-used but not abused. 

We just covered this a week ago or so.....but yes...I do remember....

I still have my 1950s era set no. 10062, the steam engine set, with which you could build a walking beam engine. It is fairly complete. I got it in 1958.

 

Present from a brother-in-law last Christmas.

 

I inherited an Erector Set from my big brother when I was 10 years old and later I received a new set for Christmas. I also had a set of Erector Bricks. These were approximately 1-1/2 X 3/4 inch Clay bricks and accessories. These were among my favorite toys.

 

 

 

How true.

Miller Engineering just released a very nice sign with an Erector set

parachute tower.

 

I still have my Erector set although I have robbed it for parts over the years.  Interesting this thread came up because just yesterday I had the electric motor out running it and re-greasing its gears.

.....

Dennis

I believe that the original erector sets used AC current to drive the motor.  When I purchased one for our children over 20 years ago, it was battery powered and had some plastic parts.  I recall the originals having lots of metal gears to make more intricate designs (but maybe my memory is playing tricks on me).  I also played with tinker toys as a youngster, but the modern-day version did not stay together well-- either the holes were too small or the dowels were too large.  All in all, they were great toys for creativity.

I buit this Erector set from the early 1990s.

Dan

I missed out on this one issued new a couple of years ago for which I am still kicking myself for.

 

Meccano made some really cool ones..

 

 

 Someone made a Garratt..

 

GG-1fan,

 

You are correct.  The motor I have has a cord and plugs in for AC current.  And the set has all kinds of extra pulleys and gears to make up operating systems for what you build.

.....

Dennis

Thanks for the memories.  I had an erector set and remember using my dad's tools with it.  That little wrench was difficult to work with.  Mine did not have a motor either.  Many of my toys were bought second hand.  My mom always seem to find these things.  

 

It was great fun though.

 

David56

Great memories!  I loved all the construction type toys, Lincoln Logs and American red plastic bricks. 

 

Art

Me and the Boys built the Erector Empire state Building set it was a fun project for all of us

 

Hey Jim

 

I'd like some info on those shelves you built for those locomotives.

I had Lionel construction sets, not Erector.  The advantage is that they are aluminum, not steel, so they wouldn't rust.  I had a big one and at least one additional small one.  Gave it away to a friend for her son.  Great memories.

In my attic is a wooden box like a small suitcase containing almost all of an Erector(?) set from the late 1940s or early 1950s. It has smooth rivets(?) and rubber grommets. I know the rubber cannot have survived. A few years ago I looked at it and there was no rust. I think the pieces are aluminum. Memories have grown dim.

I am in the early stage of a perpetual project to clean out an attic which is packed like a suitcase. I will have to check it out when I get to (find) it.

The Lionel construction sets used rivets and rubber grommets, rather than the screws and nuts of an Erector set.  The Lionel sets had square aluminum tubes rather than flat steel plates.

My Dad made new grommets for me by slicing a windshield wiper hose.  Just find an appropriate tube for the rivet diameter at the auto parts store and then slice off rings with a razor blade or knife.

For those that have not seen I built my elevated railway out of Erector set parts. 2 bulk lots bought and several week later I was done. Marx light towers support the structure.

I never had an erector set growing up and to tell the truth at the time I wasn't too interested in them.  I chalk that up to a definite lack of patience at that point in my life.  No question but that they were a great teaching and learning vehicle, pun attended.

 

I don't mean to hijack this thread but I noticed in ENP1976's post a photo of a couple of American Plastic Brick containers.  I love American Plastic bricks.  They are also a very instructive toy.   My wife had several large containers of these as a little girl and after we were married and purchased a house she brought them home.  Our first Christmas in our new home way back in 1974 she and I built a rather large village and train station on out first Christmas layout.  A great memory.  Now my Grandchildren are building things with those same American Plastic bricks.  They enjoy them so much I purchased a few more containers on E-Bay and last Christmas they helped construct a few small houses for our 40th straight Christmas layout.  The tradition continues.

Mighty good Jeff.  I had an Erector set, and built a lot of things with it back in the '60s, then tore them down to build something else.  I never thought to build something for my trains with it however.  I never was a visionary.

Hello, I had a erector set when I was younger but it is long gone now.

Had a great time building things that I thought up in my head instead of the instruction book.

Spent lots of hours in the winter months playing with that kit.

 

Also remember when my mom would make us pick up our toys and how mad she would get when she heard the screws and nuts going thru the vacuum cleaner.

 

Oh good times!!

 

Mark Strittmatter

TCA # 14-69917