HORNBY DUBLO 3 RAIL POINTS

I know that there is a part of the forum that deals in permanent way, but I thought it belonged in this area as it is the only one where we are discussing vintage material. The Permanent Way section of the forum is more about current methods and materials, and this post would get lost there. Of course, if the moderators feel it doesn't belong where I posted it, it can be moved elsewhere.

I recently picked up a pre-war Hornby Dublo point fairly cheaply. I probably won’t use it on my layout, but it is an interesting addition to my collection.

Pre-war Hornby Dublo points are, of course, non-isolating, as isolating points weren’t introduced to the Dublo range until the 1950s. I knew that pre-war Dublo points looked different, in that they had sleepers painted on them, rather than being painted a plain colour and that the frogs were different, being much more realistic but also much more fragile. Putting it next to a later example, it becomes evident that there are some other differences too. The main ones are that the rails and the tongues for the third rail are brass and that the switch blades on pre-war points are each in one piece, but the post-war ones are made from two pieces, with only the pieces at the toe end of the point moving.

I realise that the frog design was changed to the less realistic solid casting because, as Dublo was aimed at the toy market, it needed to be robust, but why did they decide to paint their points and crossings in one colour instead of having a representation of sleepers?

For the benefit of those who are not familiar with three rail Dublo points, here are some photos of the pre-war point and, for comparison, a group comprising, left to right, pre-war, post-war non-isolating and post-war isolating points: