Up for auction is this nice looking pre-war era Bing 1 gauge operating trackside single blade semaphore signal with ladder. The semaphore operates manually via a lever attached to the lower part of the metal tower and can change the single blade flag at the top of the semaphore tower from a red position to a green position. It has been tested and is fully functional. Bing was a German toy company founded in 1863 in Nüremberg, Germany. They went out of business in the 1930’s. This item bears a sideways “B” next to a “W” (for “Bing Works”) embossed on the baseplate dating it as being produced between 1924 to 1932. The semaphore would look terrific on any model train layout, especially any Standard gauge layout that has trains by Lionel, American Flyer, Dorfan or Ives. In 1907, as a newcomer to the toy train market, American Flyer initially was not making their own accessories.  The first accessories cataloged by American Flyer c. 1909-1910, were of German origin, as the catalog pictures show items similar to those offered by Bing and other German manufacturers.  The 1914 American Flyer catalog shows the German manufactured items and lists a single blade semaphore as M208. That american Flyer catalog item appears to look exactly like this semaphore.
This 90+ year old item is being offered at a very modest starting price. Please examine the photos carefully and place your bid accordingly. No warranties are being provided. Use the photos to determine the condition. Please e-mail me using the contact eBay seller feature if you have any questions. The shipping cost for this item will be based on the actual location of the winning bidder and varies. Please use the shipping calculator to determine what the actual shipping costs will be to your zip code.