Bridges and Blocks, Part 4 - Kenner Girder and Panel

Once again my dad roped me into giving a presentation for the Capital Miniature Auto Collectors Club (you can read about my other adventures with the CMACC here). At their monthly meetings, the rotating host is expected to come up with a theme. Members who have things that tie in with the theme bring them and present them, providing background information about the items.
This July the subject was building sets and roadways. The group is focused around the appreciation and collection of toy cars and car models, so the idea was to present building sets and roadways that were (or could have been) used with toy cars.

Some of the members brought some of the same sets they did last time (see: Kenner Sky Rail Project, Part 10). I however, chose to focus on a couple of vintage roadway sets. One very well-known, one quite obscure. Below are some of the set other members brought.

Kenner Girder and Panel

The "girder and panel" building by Kenner first hit the market in 1957 -- and after passing thruogh several hands -- is still being sold today by Bridge Street. The last time I talked at the CMACC, I showcased the Kenner building sets (see: Kenner Skyrail Project 7). This time I presented an example of the roadway sets. Kenner offered their "Bridge and Turnpike" sets from 1958 through 1960.

Since the girders were uniform in both the roadway and building sets, you could mix and patch them to build all kinds of structures -- in fact, the 1960 sets were a combination of the two.

We only had a limited amount of time to set up the displays, and the Playskool Teach-A-Tot Road System (see Part 3), took up most of it. Nevertheless I did manage a representative suspension bridge. I owned the No. 4 Bridge and Turnpike set. I used the pieces from that set to construct the display.

The traffic were vehicles from my Matchbox car collection -- all of them I've owned since I was a boy. Yes, they really are in near-mint condition -- I knew how to play nicely with my toys!