I just bought a couple of these block signals at a garage sale. I cannot find any info on who produced these. Only marking is "made in Japan." Any info is appreciated.
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Made in Japan? Mebbe the Marx knockoff from there?
They don't look like any Marx items I have seen, and they sure don't look like anything by Lionel as the base is very odd looking.
Lee Fritz
Possibly Sakai?
Nairb Rekab posted:Possibly Sakai?
http://www.binnsroad.co.uk/railways/sakai/index.html
Not exactly the same, but certainly similar.
Saki
Sakai...never heard of them before. This forum always finds the answers.
Thanks for the replies.
My dad bought the three-lighted signal at a train show for I think $20. Is that a good price?
Paul
I paid $35 for the two signals at a garage sale. They were asking $20 a piece. Hard to price these due to the limited info out there. There is one on ebay right now starting bid of $9.99. I need to replace the bulbs in mine.
Scott
They are Sakai, made in Japan right after WW2. I did a short article on them in the TCA Quarterly maybe 10 years ago. From the physical attributes, you can tell that they were built in a "cottage industry" setting. Note the hand-made and hand-assembled metal parts. The era is easy to determine, from the type of plastic insulation on the wire leads inside the signals.
They are interesting from an electrical standpoint, in that they operate using a relay that is built into the base. The relay is a bi-stable one, meaning that it has two steady states, like a headlight dimmer relay in some foreign cars. The entire kit comes with the signal, and two or three insulated rail overlays, depending upon the type of signal. The overlays snap over the outside rail, and have a lead soldered onto them. The leads go back to the signal and operate the relay.
The range and variations of the series is quite extensive. There are both 2- and 3-lamp signals, in both short and tall versions. (The tall versions are roughly the same height as the Lionel #153 signal.) There is a semaphore in both heights, and a crossing gate. There is also a very whimsical crossing signal, "in the style of" the Lionel 154, with a strange electrical feature: It has one red and one green lamp and operates the same way as the block signal. It does not operate prototypically, with alternating red lamps.
I also have a much smaller version of the 3-lamp block signal, which I have always assumed was an attempt to offer an H0 version. I have found no documentation on that little fellow, though.
Hope this info helps.
Arthur,
That information is terrific! Thanks. I am missing the overlays with these. I suppose I could recreate this somehow.
Thanks for the reply!
Scott
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