A roundhouse of a different shape...
Jul 29, 2015 11:02:59 GMT -5
wildecoupe and catfordken like this
Post by Deleted on Jul 29, 2015 11:02:59 GMT -5
During my annual family reunion picnic trip to Chicago last weekend, I paid my respects to my long-time HO haunt. It's been tenuous there for far too long: every year I say I won't be surprised if it's finally gone the next. Well this one was bad and bittersweet, because the owner has been holding things aside for me as he finds them, and had a big surprise waiting this time. He sent me and his wife to the back since he was having a bad day mobility-wise, and told me to look next to the boiler in a closet he'd never before let me into.
We'd talked about my interest in the small Tyco merchandiser he'd re-purposed years ago... he wasn't ready to part with it, and it was still on his counter as we walked past. So I didn't have any idea that was was waiting for me in the boiler room, was this:
The bigger, 18x30" #7006 merchandiser from 1975. Complete with the sign which is all too often missing!
I never even realized it, but the merchandisers were different in subtler ways. For instance, the sign for the smaller display featured a tongue on the bottom that went into a slot on the cabinet. On the larger display, the sign is reinforced with a chord of square wood, and secured to the cabinet with bolts and wingnuts.
The display also has a crude locking mechanism: when the rear doors are shut, a wire lever is moved that raises a flag in front of the acrylic panel so it can't be opened. If you slide the doors open, you can flip the wire which lowers the flag in front.
The steps were not pre-labeled for any particular stock numbers and I could not see any adhesive residue to indicate how those may have been affixed. Lengths of trimmed brass flextrack are still secured to the steps with double-sided tape.
At any rate... it's a pretty interesting piece I'm lucky to have and even more honored to have acquired in such fashion. Now I just wish I had a place to put it...!
We'd talked about my interest in the small Tyco merchandiser he'd re-purposed years ago... he wasn't ready to part with it, and it was still on his counter as we walked past. So I didn't have any idea that was was waiting for me in the boiler room, was this:
The bigger, 18x30" #7006 merchandiser from 1975. Complete with the sign which is all too often missing!
I never even realized it, but the merchandisers were different in subtler ways. For instance, the sign for the smaller display featured a tongue on the bottom that went into a slot on the cabinet. On the larger display, the sign is reinforced with a chord of square wood, and secured to the cabinet with bolts and wingnuts.
The display also has a crude locking mechanism: when the rear doors are shut, a wire lever is moved that raises a flag in front of the acrylic panel so it can't be opened. If you slide the doors open, you can flip the wire which lowers the flag in front.
The steps were not pre-labeled for any particular stock numbers and I could not see any adhesive residue to indicate how those may have been affixed. Lengths of trimmed brass flextrack are still secured to the steps with double-sided tape.
At any rate... it's a pretty interesting piece I'm lucky to have and even more honored to have acquired in such fashion. Now I just wish I had a place to put it...!
But the aesthetic has changed a bit since then and I have other stuff in the way as well. 
