Subject:
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Re: Lego® train motors from 1966 till now...
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.general, lugnet.trains
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Date:
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Sat, 17 Jun 2000 18:47:03 GMT
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Viewed:
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3296 times
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Reinhard "Ben" Beneke wrote ...
> in lugnet.general, Mark Haye writes:
> > I have seen pictures of a 60s-era motor and battery box that were made with clear parts.
> > There is a scan on Joe Lauher's "The Construction Toy Homepage" web site:
> > http://www.chem.sunysb.edu/msl/LEGO/60s_c1.jpg
> > Is this the earliest known LEGO motor? Was it before you started collecting?
>
> This catalog is not dated, but I suppose it might be from before 1966. If
> that's the case, this would be indeed the very first Lego® motor. But anyhow:
> it was a US-only set from the samsonite era. These have had some parts we never
> got here in Europe. For e.g. we have never had these extra large gear wheels.
> Our gear wheels (invented in 1972 in only 3 sizes) have had other numbers of
> teeth and different colours to.
> http://members.xoom.com/legoit/m72de-06.jpg
Yes, I remember having a set of the gears also. I think I would have preferred the European
version since they used cross-axles instead of the wheels with smooth metal axles, which would
slip under the slightest stress.
> Maybe someone of the experts is able to tell exaclty from which year this
> catalog is: on page two I see a tow bar: that's a part which was invented in
> 1965. So this catalog might be from the same year.
> http://www.chem.sunysb.edu/msl/LEGO/60s_c2.jpg
You are correct that the set in the picture was US-only, but perhaps there was a European
equivalent?
> > You say that the 4.5v battery box grew between the '69-'75 version in set 103 and
> > the '76-'89 version in set 107 in order to accomodate larger batteries. I have a motor
> > and battery box from set 310 (Motorized Trucks) which I received for Christmas in '69
> > and I have a set 107 which I purchased in '85. The only difference I see between the
> > battery boxes is that the newer one has a thicker lid (two plates thick instead of one).
>
> Yes, and batteries grew in diameter: if you put todays type C (I hope that's
> right?) into the old boxes, the walls bend alot.
>
> I once bought an old battery box, still filled with batteries from the middle
> of the 70ies: the really have been somewhat smaller in diameter! And a friend
> of mine is sure that all batteries have been in that smaller size in his youth
> and he even remembers that the size was oficially enlarged. I think that was
> possibly only a German/European problem to change size to international
> standard?
The C batteries that I have today still fit perfectly in the battery box I've had since 1969. I don't
ever remember the battery size changing in my lifetime. It must be a European-only change.
> BTW: what's the set number of the clear samsonite motor?
> Ok, just searched myself in Pause: it's 002, but no year is given :-(
>
> But next questions: does the box have a switch? And how do you fix the wheels?
Excellent questions ... are you sure you don't want to expand your page to include the answers? ;-)
>
> Surftip for old Lego® paperware:
> http://buerger.metropolis.de/legoit/lego.html
--
Mark Haye, mark_haye(@)tivoli(.)com
IBM TSM Server Development, Tucson, AZ
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Re: Lego® train motors from 1966 till now...
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| In lugnet.general, Mark Haye writes: Thanks Mark, for your reply and good hints and questions! (...) This catalog is not dated, but I suppose it might be from before 1966. If that's the case, this would be indeed the very first Lego® motor. But (...) (26 years ago, 17-Jun-00, to lugnet.general, lugnet.trains)
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