Model - Bing 00 Gauge Engine Shed
Production date
Circa 1923
Country
Germany
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Object detail
Description
An 00 Gauge tinplate one track engine shed. The shed has 3 walls arranged in a U shape, with the mouth of the U serving as a door for rolling stock to pass through. A section of 3 rail track is mounted on the rectangular tinplate base. The shed has a saw-tooth roof, with a series of 4 ridges with dual pitches either side. The rear 3 pitches have a small capped cylinder in the middle that represent chimneys. The tinplate walls and roof of the shed have 2D printed details representing brickwork, roof tiles, windows and skylights. There are grey bricks at the base of the shed and orange bricks from the base to the roof line. There are 4 arched windows depicted on each side and 4 triangular skylights between where the brickwork ends and the roof begins. The roof edges facing the door are printed to look like tiles. The roof edges facing the back of the shed are printed to look like skylights.
Classification
TRANSPORT Railways model
Maker
Production date
Circa 1923
Production place
Measurements
L110 x W60 x H80
Media/Materials description
Tin
Paint
Paint
Signature/Marks
Int. reg./ TRADEMARK/ BAVARIA
History and use
This 00 Gauge Engine Shed was produced by Bing Werke in the 1920s as part of their Bing Tabletop Railway range. The Bing Table Top Railway system was the first commercial 00/H0-gauge system ever produced, and as such can be considered the ancestor of all modern 16mm-gauge model railways. It is manufactured from tin sheeting folded and pressed into shape. It is from the collection of Tinplate Trains owned by Clive McTaggart.
At the beginning of the 20th century the German company Bing was the world’s largest toy manufacturer and exported across Europe and America. Bing also provided toy train products for the British market and worked closely with Bassett-Lowke – a toy business based in Northampton in England’s East Midlands. Bassett-Lowke assisted Bing with research and design work to produce models that more closely reflected British railway practices. In the lead up to the First World War the two companies began working on a more compact model railway system aimed at consumers with less space for setting up a model railway. At this time, even the smallest model railway gauge – O gauge – took up a significant amount of space for a basic layout and usually had to be run on the floor. As house sizes shrunk, demand for more compact toy trains grew. Bing began plans for a railway system half the size of O gauge.
Design of the range was stalled during the First World War, but resumed when hostilities ceased. The first products came onto the market in 1922. Despite the innovation of its design, the system only experienced moderate success. The size of the locomotives pushed the design of electric and clockwork motors to their limits, but the manufacturing processes used meant the rolling stock lacked the detail and accuracy achievable in larger scales. The post war period was a challenging time for Bing. Products imported into Britain from Germany had to prominently display their origin on items and packaging. Anti-German sentiment limited the appeal of the range to British consumers. The economic, industrial and political turmoil in Germany after the war also contributed to a significant downturn in the success of Bing. By 1927 the company was in financial trouble and the beginnings of the Great Depression bought further debt. No German Banks would loan the Bings - who were Jewish – money amidst the rising antisemitism of 1930s Germany. By 1932 the company was in liquidation and the Bings fled to England as Adolf Hitler rose to power. When Bing closed down for good in 1933, much of its tooling was acquired by rival toy companies. Manufacturer Bub purchased the table top range and continued to manufacture it – mainly for the German market as rising inflation made exporting goods even more challenging.
Clive McTaggart was born in Brisbane on the 16th of February, 1921. A pilot with the RAAF during World War II he worked ferrying aircraft between America and Australia, as well as flying combat and air/sea rescue missions. After the war he pursued his keen interest in model railways, organising displays and exhibitions, as well as operating one of Australia’s first dedicated model railway stores Austral Modelcraft out of his home in Ekibin. Whilst Clive had little spare time to build a model railway of his own he did collect O gauge tinplate trains produced between the 1920s and 1960s.
Clive passed away on 29 May 1989. His business, Austral Modelcraft was sold to his friends Ray and Eileen Nunn who continued the business from a shopfront in Brisbane suburb Mount Gravatt East.
At the beginning of the 20th century the German company Bing was the world’s largest toy manufacturer and exported across Europe and America. Bing also provided toy train products for the British market and worked closely with Bassett-Lowke – a toy business based in Northampton in England’s East Midlands. Bassett-Lowke assisted Bing with research and design work to produce models that more closely reflected British railway practices. In the lead up to the First World War the two companies began working on a more compact model railway system aimed at consumers with less space for setting up a model railway. At this time, even the smallest model railway gauge – O gauge – took up a significant amount of space for a basic layout and usually had to be run on the floor. As house sizes shrunk, demand for more compact toy trains grew. Bing began plans for a railway system half the size of O gauge.
Design of the range was stalled during the First World War, but resumed when hostilities ceased. The first products came onto the market in 1922. Despite the innovation of its design, the system only experienced moderate success. The size of the locomotives pushed the design of electric and clockwork motors to their limits, but the manufacturing processes used meant the rolling stock lacked the detail and accuracy achievable in larger scales. The post war period was a challenging time for Bing. Products imported into Britain from Germany had to prominently display their origin on items and packaging. Anti-German sentiment limited the appeal of the range to British consumers. The economic, industrial and political turmoil in Germany after the war also contributed to a significant downturn in the success of Bing. By 1927 the company was in financial trouble and the beginnings of the Great Depression bought further debt. No German Banks would loan the Bings - who were Jewish – money amidst the rising antisemitism of 1930s Germany. By 1932 the company was in liquidation and the Bings fled to England as Adolf Hitler rose to power. When Bing closed down for good in 1933, much of its tooling was acquired by rival toy companies. Manufacturer Bub purchased the table top range and continued to manufacture it – mainly for the German market as rising inflation made exporting goods even more challenging.
Clive McTaggart was born in Brisbane on the 16th of February, 1921. A pilot with the RAAF during World War II he worked ferrying aircraft between America and Australia, as well as flying combat and air/sea rescue missions. After the war he pursued his keen interest in model railways, organising displays and exhibitions, as well as operating one of Australia’s first dedicated model railway stores Austral Modelcraft out of his home in Ekibin. Whilst Clive had little spare time to build a model railway of his own he did collect O gauge tinplate trains produced between the 1920s and 1960s.
Clive passed away on 29 May 1989. His business, Austral Modelcraft was sold to his friends Ray and Eileen Nunn who continued the business from a shopfront in Brisbane suburb Mount Gravatt East.
Associated person
Registration number
R6711
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