Category:Bing Table Railway (display)

Star Exhibit
Bing Table Railway (display) Bing Miniature Railway set, lineart, detail from a 1935 advert (i)
location:
Arch Three , Area 48 Bing Table Railway (display)

A wallcabinet with a collection of very early Table Railway sets, made by Bub, and by Bing for the UK market, including clockwork and electric versions.

These "tabletop railway" sets were imported into the UK by Bassett-Lowke, and were instrumental in launching the new 00-gauge format in the UK.

The cabinet is at the rear of the Museum, in Arch Three, near the large 00-gauge layout, and facing the displays of lead figures.

History

When Hornby Trains started eating into Bassett-Lowke's share of the UK's gauge 0 market, Bassett-Lowke decided that it was finally time to launch a new idea that a few people had been thinking about - railway sets that were small enough to be run indoors.

The specifications of the new "Table Railway" format were thrashed out between BL's and Bing's people, and the new rail width, half that of the existing gauge 0 track, became "double-0" or "00-gauge" format.