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!

Kenner Sky Rail Project Part 10 - Anchor Stone Blocks, Stanlo, et al.

The Kenner Sky Rail Restoration Project is technically over. the Capital Miniature Auto Collectors Club held their July meeting. The program featuring building sets used with toy cars was well-researched -- and well-received. For those who are interested, below are the sets that were presented and discussed. Parts 7 and 8 feature the sets my dad, er, volunteered me to bring in, assemble, and give a brief history of. Parts 9 and 10 feature sets other members brought in. It was quite a night! (click on images to enlarge)

Read all the posts about this project here.

Other members brought vintage building sets to the meeting. (click on images to enlarge)

Anchor Stone Blocks

Anchor Stone Blocks were introduced in the 1880's and are still in production today. The blocks were made from limestone, sand, and linseed oil and made very convincing-looking brick, marble, and concrete blocks. A variety of sets have been offered through the years (centuries?) with a limited range of block shapes and colors. The set brought to the meeting was made around the turn of the century, and included metal parts for the bridge construction.

Bilt EZ
In the 1920's, the Scott Manufacturing Company of Chicago, Il. came out with the Bilt EZ metal construction sets. The sets consisted of metal wall panels connected by tabbed metal floor plates. In theory, one could build impressive-looking Art Deco skyscrapers. In practice, the metal was a little thin and tended to bend when forcing the tabs together. Nevertheless, the finished models built for the meeting looked pretty impressive.

Stanlo
In the 1920's, the Stanley Tool Company had an idea. They were making a variety of hinges. Would it be possible to make a building toy with them. Thus Stanlo was born. The sets were basically triangular hinges joined by pins. The pins were difficult to insert without hammering, and even harder to remove. In the end, Stanley returned to their forte, and still make tools (and hinges) to this day.

Kenner Sky Rail Project Part 9 - Girder and Panel, Block City

The Kenner Sky Rail Restoration Project is technically over. the Capital Miniature Auto Collectors Club held their July meeting. The program featuring building sets used with toy cars was well-researched -- and well-received. For those who are interested, below are the sets that were presented and discussed. Parts 7 and 8 feature the sets my dad, er, volunteered me to bring in, assemble, and give a brief history of. Parts 9 and 10 feature sets other members brought in. It was quite a night! (click on images to enlarge)

Read all the posts about this project here.

Other members brought vintage building sets to the meeting. (click on images to enlarge)

Girder and Panel

The Hydromatic Building Set was first introduced by Kenner in 1961. It featured a battery-powered pump and various types of pipes, valves and joints that you could pump water through. The plumbing was supported by the same girder frames as the other sets.

The example below is the current iteration of this toy. Kenner Toys passed through many hands. First to General Mills (1974-1979), then to Irwin Toys (1979-2004), and now Bridge Street Toys (2004 - ). Bridge Street wisely modified the base of the Hydromatic Set so that it now is molded into a tub to ensure the water stays in the system and not all over the floor!

Block City

I had brought an early example of Tri-State Plastic Molding's Block City. Another member had some of the later iterations. By the late 1960's the sets were shipped in boxes rather than tubes (which meant the roofing material could finally lay flat when used). Color was added to the door and window frame pieces. And the doors and windows were updated from a late 1940's style to a more modern look.

Tri-State also made an unusual set that created an entire downtown area. This set had storefronts, signs and other unique pieces for these structures. Below is the supermarket (without its sign) from that set.

Kenner Sky Rail Project Part 8 - American Bricks, Lino, and Block City

The Kenner Sky Rail Restoration Project is technically over. the Capital Miniature Auto Collectors Club held their July meeting. The program featuring building sets used with toy cars was well-researched -- and well-received. For those who are interested, below are the sets that were presented and discussed. Parts 7 and 8 feature the sets my dad, er, volunteered me to bring in, assemble, and give a brief history of. Parts 9 and 10 feature sets other members brought in. It was quite a night! (click on images to enlarge)

Read all the posts about this project here.

American Bricks

American Bricks were building toys originally made by Halsam, beginning in the 1950's. Each brick was made of pressed wood, with six pegs on the top, and six corresponding holes on the bottom. The bricks look like flattened Lego bricks (which they predate). The bricks had almost the same dimensions as a domino -- and that's no accident. Halsam was one of the premier manufacturers of dominoes, using the same pressed wood technique.

Included in the sets were embossed cardboard roofs and embossed window and door inserts. These inserts had small tabs that fit into slots in the bricks. Needless to say, with continual play, the tabs eventually gave out. In the model I built, I had to prop up the panels from behind to keep them from blowing in every time someone passed the display!

There were only a few different types of brick: long bricks in red, with a smaller number in yellow for accent, half-sized red bricks, and triangular pieces for the roof line. Nevertheless, the scored sides of the bricks made for a very realistic finish to the structures.

Lino, not Lego 

Lino bricks were made by the Deluxe Game Corp in the early 1960's. Although they were basically a Lego knock-off, there were some unusual features with their sets. The church I built, for example, was with Lino bricks and accessories. The steeple originally had a blue rubber cross (now missing), matching the blue plastic arched windows, arched wooden door inserts, and town clock. The roof pieces remind me of terracotta tiles. And while Deluxe Game may have been in the US, the distinctively European look to this structure suggests Lino was imported rather than developed here.

Lino was offered through the major department stores, along with the more expensive Lego sets. I believe mine came from Montgomery Wards. In the process of building this structure, I discovered that there were slight differences between the Lino and Lego bricks. Although they looked the same, the Lino bricks were slightly smaller, making the two systems incompatible.

Block City

The history of Block City is long and varied. The Tri-State Plastic Molding Company started with Block City in the early 1950's. My set comes from that era, and you can see the post-war styling in the structure, especially with the window treatments. Over time, Block City would evolve into Brick Town (more on that in part 9). Block City sets originally came in long tubes, with roofing paper rolled up inside. One cut the roofs to size for each model, which meant unless you built the same thing over and over, you soon ran out of material. For our display I substituted an old file folder.

Kenner Sky Rail Project Part 7 - Girder and Panel

The Kenner Sky Rail Restoration Project is technically over. the Capital Miniature Auto Collectors Club held their July meeting. The program featuring building sets used with toy cars was well-researched -- and well-received. For those who are interested, below are the sets that were presented and discussed. Parts 7 and 8 feature the sets my dad, er, volunteered me to bring in, assemble, and give a brief history of. Parts 9 and 10 feature sets other members brought in. It was quite a night! (click on images to enlarge)

Read all the posts about this project here.

Kenner Girder and Panel Sets

The "girder and panel" building system was developed by Kenner, and they used it in over thirty different sets between 1957 to 1965. I brought three of the four I owned to the meeting. What I left out was the No. 4 Bridge and Turnpike set. This set constructed bridges, cloverleafs, and other raised roadways for use with 1/87 diecast vehicles. Later this year the club will be having a presentation on roadway sets used with toy cars, which is when I'll display the No. 4.

The No. 3 Girder and Panel Building Set (1957) had side panels and roof panels. When placed on the girder frame, one could easily make modern-looking (for 1960) skyscrapers and office building. I built one of the models pictured in the instruction book and was taken with how convincing the finished model looked. My set had almost all the pieces, including the accent signs. Note the "Space to Let" sign on the building front.

The No. 16 Build-A-Home Subdivision Set (1962) introduced a diagonal I-beam for the pitched roofs of homes. New roof panels were included, and the wall panels simulated either wood or brick facades with colonial-style window and door treatments. Again, I made one of the models from the instruction book, but it occurred to me I could have easily built a row of overpriced modern townhouses. The set included a variety of accessories, including two pools, several Styrofoam trees, barbeque pits, and climbing vines. Perhaps I should have built a gated community!

And of course, I presented the No. 18 Sky Rail set. Which did indeed work during the presentation.

And here's the instruction sheet I used.

Kenner Sky Rail Project Part 6 - The Results

I've been tasked with getting my old Kenner Sky Rail set back into working order. It has to be ready for an event my dad's hosting, so time is short. Can a toy be brought back to life after a half century of neglect?

Read all the posts about this project here. 

Although I was able to get the Sky Rail cars to operate after a fashion, I wasn't satisfied. I needed to be sure they would work on demand -- like when we gave our presentation to the Capital Miniature Auto Collectors Club.

Additional cleaning of the track and contacts didn't seem to make much difference, so I began to look for other factors -- and found them. As I've noted in earlier posts, it's a very fragile circuit that runs through the track. Pins don't fit snugly into slots, so contact is hit or miss.

And in this case, it was mostly miss. The problem turned out the be the "sky hooks" -- the brackets that attached the rails to the girders. The hook snaps onto the girder, and is basically held in place by the tension.

As the sky car passed over the rails, the weight of it pulled slightly on the track as it traveled. After a few circuits around the loop, some of the sky hooks (especially those connected to the top of the girders as in fig.14, left ) had slipped downwards.

Of course, they didn't do it at a uniform rate, which caused small kinks at the rail joints, which sometimes broke the circuit. Even when it didn't, the slippage sometime widened the gap just enough between rails to prevent the sky car's pickup shoe to maintain contact with the metal part of the rails -- which stopped the car dead at the joint.

The solution turned out to be simple -- and temporary. I had to make sure all of the sky hooks were perfectly aligned to ensure a smooth ride for the sky car and to maintain a good current flow. And I had to remember that I could run the sky cars around their loops no more than three or four times before the rails would get out of alignment.

So for the presentation, I double-checked the sky hooks right before the talk, and only ran the sky cars for two circuits before powering them down.

It was a huge success.

Kenner Sky Rail Project Part 5 - Making Connections

I've been tasked with getting my old Kenner Sky Rail set back into working order. It has to be ready for an event my dad's hosting, so time is short. Can a toy be brought back to life after a half century of neglect?

Read all the posts about this project here.

The layouts in the Kenner Sky Rail construction book all looked pretty attractive. I chose one with two closed loops. A point-to-point layout requires operator attention. I would have to stop the cars when they reached the end of the line, back them up through the line, stop them at the other end, send them forward and repeat. With closed loops, I could (in theory), just set the power level, and let the sky cars travel in endless circles around the track.

Building the model was great fun -- and frustrating. I discovered that Kenner had cheated a little with their beautiful photos. I could indeed match what was shown in the photographs, if I left the unphotographed sides incomplete. In the end, I modified the design slightly to get something that would look good at all angles.

Then came the test -- would the sky cars travel merrily along their rails?

Yes. No. Almost.

As the cars traveled along the rails, the shifting weight causes some of the contact pins to wiggle slightly. And that broke the circuit. Plus, with the longer, more elaborate loop there seemed to be some voltage drop in the far reaches of the layout.

I had carefully cleaned the track and the contacts on the sky cars with a number of cleaners. I started with Brasso, which took a lot of the grime off, then switched to DeoxIT Liquid, which is designed to improve conductivity as well as remove tarnish. The before and after video below shows the results.



So yes, it kind of works -- and with the presentation just days away, the only question remains is this: will it work well enough, and long enough?

Kenner Sky Rail Project Part 4 - Power

I tried replacing this connector, but I couldn't construct
one that fitted tight enough into the rails.

I've been tasked with getting my old Kenner Sky Rail set back into working order. It has to be ready for an event my dad's hosting, so time is short. Can a toy be brought back to life after a half century of neglect?

Read all the posts about this project here.  

By hooking a wire through this loop, I could run power
from a transformer and use the existing connector.
I insulated the two leads with electrical tape.

The over-and-under arrangement of the circuits on the monorail created something of a problem. The sky cars' contacts bracket the rails. Power wires have to be carefully placed to stay out of the way of the passing car.

The power packs that came with the sets used a double U-shaped design that joined two sections of track together. The leads were then snugly pulled together (insulated from each other), going out through the very small clearance the passing sky car afforded.

Unfortunately, the plastic toggle switches in in the packs had become brittle with age. When I turned them, they fell apart. Using the original power packs was no longer an option.

I tried twisting wire into the shape of the connectors, but I couldn't get the gap between the rails tight enough. Only the original connectors would do. I was reluctant to strip them off the power packs. As the Sky Rail set is a vintage toy, I thought it best to leave everything in its original condition.

The original power packs. Unfortunately,
these were toast, so I had to improvise.

So I created a temporary solution. The connectors had loops on the ends where the power pack wires were soldered on. I threaded new wires through those, and crimped them closed. A little electrical tape insulated the wires from each other, and I was set. I could then run the wires to a pair of DC toy train transformers.

And so I did. Trying the sky cars out on my small test loop proved it a successful solution. So now I was ready for the next step. Construct the actual layout we would have for the presentation and make sure it operated as anticipated.

Another page from the Sky Rail Book of Dreams
(also known as the instruction book)

Kenner Sky Rail Project Part 3 - Contact!

The instructions do mention the importance of
keeping the rails clean -- if you read the fine print.
(click on image to enlarge)

I've been tasked with getting my old Kenner Sky Rail set back into working order. It has to be ready for an event my dad's hosting, so time is short. Can a toy be brought back to life after a half century of neglect?

Read all the posts about this project here. 

An electrical circuit can be a fragile thing -- especially when dealing with toys. In the case of the Sky Rail, there are all kinds of ways to interrupt the flow of electricity. The rails are connected by long pins. If the hole isn't a tight fit, contact can be interrupted as the car travels along the track. And since the car often wobbles slightly as it travels, just running the thing will cause the rails to pull apart -- at least enough to break contact.

After decades in storage, the rails are coated with dirt, tarnish, and in a few spots, rust. All of which degrade power transfer to the sky car. And the copper pickups of the sky cars themselves are also dirty and tarnished.

I rigged up a little test track to see how well the cars ran. They ran poorly.

So the first step was to thoroughly clean the rails, the pins, and the contacts. I chose Brasso to get most of the grunge off the rails and the pins. I wanted to be careful not to strip any finish off the rails that they may have. I scrubbed the rails until they were smooth. then worked on the the pins.

The most difficult task was cleaning the copper contacts of the sky cars. If I could have disassembled them, it would have been simple. As it was, I had to scour away with a Q-Tip at a less-than-optimal angle.

Now it was time for a more ambitious test on a full-sized set up. Just one problem -- how to supply reliable power to the rails?

Two more pages from the instruction book. They make it
look so easy!

Kenner Sky Rail Project Part 2 - Testing, testing

So far, so good. Running two leads to the pickups,
I determined that the motors were operational.

I've been tasked with getting my old Kenner Sky Rail set back into working order. It has to be ready for an event my dad's hosting, so time is short. Can a toy be brought back to life after a half century of neglect?

Read all the posts about this project here. 

The first step, of course, was to determine if the sky cars were even functional. These were toys designed for the short-term. The plastic car bodies consisted of two halves, glued together. So it will be impossible to service the motors. Either they still work, or they don't, and the project's over.

I used a small H0 transformer as a power source and tested each car with two exposed wires. The cars had an ingenious pickup system. The monorail has two metal rails crimped over a fiber frame. The car has two copper plates to pick up the current from the rails. The bottom one is bent to ensure it presses against the lower rail to maintain contact. The upper has bent panels in the front and back to help guide the place over the gaps between rails so it won't snag.

This diagram from the original instruction sheet
shows how the car connects to the track.
They weren't kidding about keeping the rails
and contacts clean!

The test proved partially successful. The motors on both cars worked. Initially, they were quite slow, but as I continued to up the current they were soon spinning free. Each car has a headlight in front. Unfortunately, they failed to light in either car. And there seems to be no way to replace them. So we'll have to settle for just motion with our sky cars.

Now that I know the cars work, it's time to do some cleanup.

Ideas from the instruction book. I wonder if
I can get them to look that good.

Kenner Sky Rail Project Part 1 - The challenge

Instructions for the Kenner No. 18
Sky Rail Set.

Dad has started me off on yet another oddball adventure. He's a member of the Capital Miniature Auto Collectors Club. The tradition is that the rotating host come up with a program (related to toy cars, of course).

Long-time readers may recall that when Dad hosted in 2012, he decided the theme should be Japanese tin toy vehicles of the postwar era. Since most of the toys were mine originally, yours truly was designated the guest speaker -- and started my frenzied investigation to quickly become an expert in the subject.

This time, Dad's decided the theme will be building toys often used with toy cars -- and since most of the building sets residing in his collection were originally mine...


Here we go again.

The plan is to hold the meeting at a facility with several tables where these sets could be assembled. And there are a bunch of them. Just among the Graves collection are:
1) American Brick - pressed composite flat Lego-style bricks.
2) Block City - plastic locking blocks that created mid-1950's-style homes and structures
3) Legos (other members will probably bring examples of those -- we'll focus on the more exotic building sets)
4) Kenner Girder and Panel sets

Just a few of the many things you could build by combining
Girder & Panel sets.

Girder and Panel Sets
Kenner made over thirty different girder and panel sets from 1957 to 1965. After that, Kenner assets passed through several hands, ending up at Bridge Street Toys and are still available (after a fashion) today.

I was the recipient of four different sets; the No. 4 Bridge and Turnpike set, the No. 3 Girder and Panel Building set, the No. 16 Build-A-Home Subdivision set, and the No. 18 Sky Rail set. They also made a Hydromatic Building set, but Mom wasn't about to have model waterworks (with real water) keeping her basement damp.

All the sets could be used together, so it was possible to create some elaborate structures and roadways. Most of the sets were compatible with H0 scale vehicles, so my Matchbox cars and trucks had an instant urban environment to drive in.

Here it is, my No. 18 set -- opened for the first time
since 1968.

The challenge
For the car club presentation, it will be my task to build something with each of the already mentioned sets to show as examples. The real challenge will be the Sky Rail.

The Kenner Sky Rail was a fairly ambitious toy. It was a monorail that operated on direct current, supplied by two "D' cell batteries. Like the Japanese battery-operated train sets I've worked with (see the Straco Express series), operation was marginal at best.

So the goal is to take this play set that has remained in storage since 1968 and restore it to operating condition (if possible) in time for the meeting next month. This will be a challenge.

Read all the posts about this project here.