Multi-_Plex sectional O scale track late 1930's

Carey,

An interesting puzzle, indeed!

M.M.C. still exists as Crispin Valve in Berwick, PA , also an interesting place.

This company has a rich history and essentially was a 1:1 railroad car manufacturer in the late 1800's at it's beginning.

Having been an armored tank builder for WWI and a railcar builder perhaps earned the company the commission to build the Railroads at work exhibit track.

I'll ponder the track plan.

Hello Carl 

thank you for your reply and great link to all things about the NYC 1939 World's Fair ... a very impressive display of trains  big and small. 

There were two big O scale displays at the World's Fair ...Multi-Plex received  the contract to do both of them ...one layout had Walthers pieces and the other Alexander ... .... 

When the fair closed the "Railroads at Work " layout went to Macy's for Christmas of 1941 ..and was sold of piece by piece the following spring ...any World Fair trains out there ?  Any good high quality photos  of the layout ? 

Cheers Carey 

Very neat post.  I think I've seen some of this in the old magazines.

Carey, you and I both seem fascinated by older track pieces. I have some old brass code 198 rail on my outside 3rd rail layout and some bulk aluminum code 160 rail. Both are sizes that Lobaugh sold before WWII, not after, but only in steel. Would you happen to know who could have made mine?

Incidentally, off topic, I have an old NMRA standards book which mentions Q scale. 

Hello Fred 

The early days of O scale are a fun and interesting period with  rapid growth in technology and refinements among the models. 

Many folks offered rail in steel and brass ... before the war . Brass rail disappears early 1942 as part of the conservation of war materials . 

I have yet to make a study of the various rail codes that were available .

I'll post some photos of an outside 3rd rail layout, I was very fortunate to purchase 

cheers  Carey 

Here is one ad for early rail

Carl Auel with special offer for 132 rail

cheers Carey

Hello O scale world 

 In my building of a period library of magazines and catalogs ...a new arrival of  February 1939 Model Railroader  containing a new ad for MMC.... seems to have my layout pictured ...  or a very similar layout .... I'll use the photo as a guide to help in the reconstruction of the layout .  

Cheers Carey 

I have never heard of it before but it is beautiful track.  Seems way ahead of its time!

Moonman posted:

Carey,

An interesting puzzle, indeed!

M.M.C. still exists as Crispin Valve in Berwick, PA , also an interesting place.

This company has a rich history and essentially was a 1:1 railroad car manufacturer in the late 1800's at it's beginning.

Having been an armored tank builder for WWI and a railcar builder perhaps earned the company the commission to build the Railroads at work exhibit track.

I'll ponder the track plan.

Carl.

I think you may have Multiplex tied together with Jackson and Woodin Manufacturing in Berwick which in 1881 became American Car and Foundry. The Multiplex Manufacturing company started in 1905. They held the first patent for air valves developed by the owner Clarence Crispin.(thus the name change now) They have produced a myriad of products. From Automobiles in 1919 to Hot Dog makers as well as a second attempt at cars in the 50's. During WW2 Multiplex made airplane pistons. They are still owned by the original family. I believe the original factory burnt down at some point.

Thank you for the additional information regarding the Crispin / Multiplex Co. .....several generations of train enthusiasts ran in the family .   

Carey,

I thought I'd given everything away but last night I found another stash.  In said stash was a catalog from M.M.C dated 1938.  Cool to look through.  They even offered a double slip.

Jay

Jay, It would be great to see scans or photos of the catalog pages (someone could save them for posterity)

Hi Jim,

I'm sending the documents to Carey.  He says he will scan & share.  History shows he's proficient at doing just that.

I simply don't have the time.

Jay

Hello Jim and Jay 

Jay thank you very much  for sending the paperwork ....Jim once received , scanning  and posting will commence ! 

For the rest of the world ......does any one out there have any sections of Multi- plex track   .?  two or three rail ?     any extra you would consider selling ? 

Thank you 

Cheers Carey 

Hello Jay , Jim and the world ...  here is the 1938 MMC  Multi-Plex track catalog ...very kindly provided by Jay ( thank you ).....as mention Multi-Plex is still very much in business......but NOT the train track business so orders will not be filled .   However if you have any Multi-Plex track that you are not using ...I'm very much interested. 

I'll have an example of the Multi-Plex track on display at the up coming Indy show .

Cheers Carey 

Hello all ....some progress on the layout ..not running yet ..but yesterday I laid out the layout in the basement ...and it will fit ....   as a collector of vintage O scale .. one needs to be able to run both 2 rail and outside 3rd rail .....so the classic shelf layout is outside 3rd and the free standing layout in the center is the  Multiplex  2 rail.   With the help of the 1939 ad showing the layout  scroll up for ad and image  I was able to do a better job of connecting the dots ....much more fine tuning once up on a table fitting the pieces together .   Looks like a few pieces are missing ..but nothing major ... all the switching is there including the slip switch .  Layout is a folded 8 ( around up around and down ) ..and add additional small  center loop  by using the slip switch ..or run two trains independently ...or run one on the 8 and switch and build up a train .... and set it on the passing siding till crew change .   There will be a learning curve to climb on wiring it all up the way it was originally.... all part of the fun .   With luck this weekend start to build some frame work to set it on .   There will be some careful fitting of the layout  as to have a walk way around most of the layout for access to the shelf layout  and shelving.  Overall size   12' wide at far end , 10'  wide and near end  roughly 20' long , in a basement  27'x21' .....need to move hot water heater and sink  to slide over washer and dryer to maximize open clear space.   

Cheers Carey 

Now that track was way ahead of the times. I’ve never seen it. Thanks for the great post.

perhaps you don't need a table - Bob Anderson rebuilt his LCJ & I lines of YouTube fame and took a similar approach as the muilti-plex.

I think Micro-engineering track or MTH ScaleTrax flex would be good for fabricating missing sections.

I really appreciate your efforts with this historical track system.

Thank you for your kind words ...vintage O scale has been a fun adventure ..and I'm very fortunate to have been able to find the Multiplex layout ... to run the period pieces on ... a win win ....    

Bob Anderson's layout is a unique design ..very high tech and beautiful wood work..  but I'm going for more a period piece .... and I need table space as I collect  vintage buildings etc ....any one have some Model Structure buildings they want to get rid of ? ..

I'll post more photos as progress continues ....

Cheers Carey 

Hello all ....we are going up in the air .... fun connecting the dots ...

Hello all ... the Multiplex layout is rolling ... first test run of the up and over loops this morning .... .. still lots of little issues to deal with ..but very happy to see something gliding across the rails .....why yes that is a steep climb and descent .... 2% ...unfortunately that's the grade it worked out to be with the length of track available and high enough to clear a Mini-Scale 17/64ths  Pullman ...( my tester for clearance , over hang and height)  

Cheers Carey 

If you want a real eye-opener, plug some of those prices (especially the switches) into an inflation calculator

---PCJ

Hello world ...up date on the Multiplex layout ....

flipping through Model Craftsman February 1941 .... Albert Sigg of Philadelphia is standing in the middle of my layout ..... full description of the layout .... wish I had this photo when I first got the pile of track ....but then that would have taken all the fun out of the project ... please note I added the roundhouse only "additional track" from original layout ...which caused the sidings to the coal tower to flip to the other side of the turn table ... Albert also had a Model Structures water tower and coal tower!!! still lots of work to do ... but fun to add a bit more of the back story to the layout . In the text of the article it mentions the fully automatic switching .... something I have to still work on ...

Cheers Carey 

Carey,

   Nice topic. Thanks for enlightening some of us who never heard of Multiplex before. I didn't see how you came across everything, if you can mention. Glad to see you are progressing nicely.

Tom 

That does bring it full circle. Having the manufacturer not far away, well, at least in the same state for that time, would make the product accessible.

I really like how he mad the circular area look like strip mining and the TT facilitated the mining operation. Coal as fuel was still used extensively at that time. It is a nicely designed layout!

I really appreciate that you shared your continuing historical research.

Dear Lionel, please make this in FasTrack...Rich Murnane

RailRide posted:

If you want a real eye-opener, plug some of those prices (especially the switches) into an inflation calculator

Not really!

In the Nov 1938 price list, the "basic" switch, unpowered, designed to fit in a 48" radius curve, goes for $5.28. According to the first inflation calculator I found, that is right about $95 in today's money.

Ross' unpowered O-96 turnout is $85. Of course, that is without any roadbed, so you have to add another $7.50 for the RossBed, which puts you at $92.50 - and you get to do your own ballasting.

Both are top of the line, ready to use, American made products of their respective time periods. And, adjusted for inflation, both cost about the same. Fancy that!

What a great find this was and a fantastic job of restoring it.

What brand of track did you use to replace the missing pieces?

Hello all thank you for your kind words ..it has been a fun project ..and will continue ..now to make it look pretty and figure out all the automatic switching ... 

A gentlemen on ebay in the Pittsburgh area listed some outside 3rd rail shoes ..which I purchased ...I asked if he had any other old O scale  pieces ...he replied "why yes a whole layout ....".....   the pile of track was 45 pieces.... 7  pieces were  missing to complete it as original....fortunately... 4 of those were straights ..... the double track curve was going to be a nightmare ..( I thought).....tow months later I purchase a huge pile ( made up of several old layouts) ..outside 3rd rail track ...of various brands  ....bits and pieces ...plus enough to do my shelf layout ( double track main on all 4 floors ) .....plus more switches than this cowboy can figure out where to place ... .... luckily within the bits of odd ball stuff were pieces I could cut and fit for the voids in the Multiplex   including the double track curve section ....  fate and timing were shining bright upon me ... 

The new tankless water heater just arrived ..... once installed the last corner of the shelf layout can go up ... ... it's fun to be crazy ..as it keeps me from going insane ... 

Cheers Carey 

Carey Williams posted:

....it's fun to be crazy ..as it keeps me from going insane ...

 

 

 

Cheers Carey 

 

A short time ago, I posted that the O3r track of a post had the 3rd rail lower than what I saw while visiting Gramps pals in the 60s-70s. This is the track type; 3rdrail that looked like gaurd rails, fat pins, crumbling corners and all.

When we had trouble with Turtle motors moving too slow for good anti derail, we explored other options and I think two of these linear motors were used for at least a while. But I think they remained at two critical turnouts, and another choice was used elsewhere.

I have to thank you again for sharing your many elusive finds Carey. Without them I'd have forgotten about some days I’d prefer not to. 

...and for the big "crazy" grin caused by your golden one liner