Bing O-gauge

winced36 · Post by **winced36** » Sat Oct 19, 2019 7:05 am

Wandering the halls at York, found this little Bing mechanical "set" that needed a new home:

1920s vintage, nice shape, strong spring...I need to find a key for it.

Paul II

javinda · Post by **javinda** » Sun Nov 03, 2019 7:06 am

What amazing condition this is in.

winced36 · Post by **winced36** » Sat Nov 16, 2019 5:38 pm

Yes, it's in pretty decent shape considering 90+ years old. A lot of times you find old mechanical trains with broken springs. I've been fortunate to have a clock shop in Gettysburg, Pa., that's willing to repair them for me. It's not an inexpensive proposition, but it's beyond my skill-level to make the repairs myself.

A No. 2 clock key will wind it, so I found one on eBay that will work. That'll be handy.

I have some really old two-rail Marklin track that I will use with it. I was short two pieces to complete an eight-piece circle, but I was able to pick up a couple from a guy in the Netherlands. Marklin track is pretty nice, as it includes a track-clip on each piece which will hold the sections together:

Leave it to the Germans, lol.

Paul II

winced36 · Post by **winced36** » Sun May 17, 2020 8:21 am

I found a "3rd Class" coach to go with the Bing clockwork set:

: Bing coaches.jpg (160.5 KiB) Viewed 30921 times

An early version, similar to the "1st/2nd Class" coach that came with the set. Both need a few minor repairs along with a good polish.

javinda · Post by **javinda** » Mon May 18, 2020 7:12 am

Wow! I am fascinated with clockwork trains. Lucky you!

winced36 · Post by **winced36** » Tue Jun 30, 2020 7:49 pm

I had been looking for a nice little clockwork set for the longest time, but I was a bit nervous about acquiring one. So many of them have broken springs, and a couple mates of mine that collect mechanical sets tell me one has to be especially careful when winding them. One hundred year-old springs can be brittle.

Close to forty years ago, my wife gave me a couple books featuring artwork from popular magazines of the early 20th century. When I saw the little Bing set at York it reminded me of one of the illustrations in the book, one from a seasonal issue of the Saturday Evening Post:

: Christmas toys; SEP.jpg (176.17 KiB) Viewed 30350 times

Trains from German manufacturers were quite commonly sold in the American market during the late 19th century and the first couple decades of the 20th century. While the Bing I acquired is not an exact match to the toy in the illustration, it looks pretty darn close. That's a lucky kid in the picture...Santa treated him well.

Paul

javinda · Post by **javinda** » Sat Jul 04, 2020 6:03 pm

What a beautiful illustration. I was prompted to see more info on the artist https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Stilwell_Weber

Sarah Stilwell Weber

winced36 · Post by **winced36** » Tue Jul 21, 2020 11:36 am

I decided to add one more car to the consist for the Bing mechanical set. Found this Postal-Baggage car online and decided it would work:

: Bing postal-baggage; Bing Postal-Baggage b.jpg (161.81 KiB) Viewed 29122 times

I don't know the number for this car, but I suspect it is of more recent vintage than the two coaches. Best I can tell, it's all original. Makes the coaches look a bit shabby; might paint the roof of the 1st Class coach.

Anyway, that's it for my Bing collection (at least for now).

Paul II