Accessories - Overview

Accessories are generally the prewar items hardest to find.  Some of them were probably produced in very limited numbers.  There was also evidently a supply of Chicago accessories on hand to sell off.  So my collection has a lot of holes in it.

  
O/S ACCESSORIES

A large number of Gilbert accessories in the prewar catalogs were carried over into S gauge after the war with little or no change.  Examples are shown below.

In the case of electrical accessories, it is generally thought that prewar production can be identified by the earlier cloth insulation on the wires.

577 Whistling Billboard

This is the first version, with four prewar wires:

This is probably a post-war version, with three rubber-insulation wires:

579 Single Streetlight

580 Double Streetlight

581 Girder Bridge

582 Automatic Blinker Signal

583 Electromatic Crane

This is the original version with four-position reverser and SPST control button.  Has prewar wiring.

584 Bell Danger Signal

585 Tool Shed

Prewar versions of buildings such as this were painted yellow and brown, in contrast to the postwar scheme of red and white.

586 Wayside Station

587 Block Signal

This signal is much smaller and more in 3/16" scale than the postwar semaphore.  The mechanism inside the base is a very clever and compact design.

587 (on right) compared to postwar 761 semaphore

From an online auction.  On the right are two 577 track trips.

587 mechanism with original (faded) color filters

Same mechanism with new filters

588 Semaphore

Similar in size to the 587.   On my wish list.

591 Crossing Gate

593 Signal Tower

Prewar versions of buildings such as this were painted yellow and brown, in contrast to the postwar scheme of red and white.

594 Animated Track Workers

Very rare.  As goofy as it is, it's in high demand by collectors.  A modern repro:

595 a-Koostikin Talking Tool Shed

One with a partial mechanism, and in the prewar paint scheme, from an online auction:

596 Water Tank

597 a-Koostikin Talking Station

An incomplete prewar version, in the yellow and brown paint scheme, from an online auction.

This is the postwar version in red and white, otherwise unchanged.  This one actually works.

611 Trestle Bridge

TRANSFORMERS

Gilbert introduced a new line of transformers in 1938, numbered 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9.  The most obvious difference from Chicago designs is that they all had three posts: base, 7-15, and 15V, instead of the earlier four and five post designs.

Models 5A and 6A were wired for 25 cycle current, and there were also the #10 inverter for DC and the #11 circuit breaker.  By 1941 the 12B had been added.

All of these were produced after the war and appeared in the 1946 catalog without change.

I have never seen a #10 inverter offered for sale anywhere.  DC house current was limited to New York, I believe.