About This Item

Every Stalin-era and Khrushchev-era train set produced by the Soviet Union in the 1950's and 1960's included 15 extra track pins, 6 extra lamps and 5 meters of extra wiring with insulation having various colors. That information is noted in the list of items toward the bottom on page 1 of the instruction manuals. In addition, a few sets have surfaced with extra brushes for the engine but it is unclear if they were included by the factory or purchased separately as spares. The spare parts were listed in the 1951 instruction manual and all subsequent manuals. Presumably the box of spare parts were still available as late as 1969 along with other Soviet items still being made.

Excerpt from 1958 Instruction Manual -- Page 1
BELOW: Extra bulbs & connecting track pins plus original box
BELOW: Five meters of extra wire and the brown wrapping paper

Variations

The track pins measure 1 5/8 inches long. The lamps are clear, small-globe, 13.5-volt, screw-base light bulbs. Both the track pins and the lamps came in a small white box and may have been wrapped in paper to protect the bulbs. The original box -- which is very rare -- is constructed of soft beige cardboard which is covered with a cream colored paper that may have had an adhesive backing or may have been applied with glue. In any case the box is small and fairly delicate and few have survived. The box is square and measures 2 1/4 inches wide by 2 1/4 inches deep by 3/4 inches high with the lid on. There are no identification marks or other printing on either the box or the lid.

The extra wire came with insulation having five different colors: red, white, blue, yellow and green -- each a meter in length. These five wires came wrapped in brown paper.

There are apparently no differences in the spare parts that were included with the Stalin-era sets versus the Khrushchev-era sets. However, there were two different lamps made over the years -- an early version with a brass base and a later version with a nickel base. It is not known when the Soviets switched to the later version.

Soviet Light Bulbs
Left: brass base ~ Right: nickel base

The Soviets only used 13.5-volt bulbs for the train set. As shown in the following chart, 27 light bulbs were furnished with every set -- 21 for the applications listed and 6 spares.

This page is an information document only; nothing on this web page is being offered for sale. This page and all of the other pages from Our Soviet Archives were developed to assist you in understanding the components of the train sets produced in the Soviet Union during the 1950's and 1960's. These sets are known today as "Stalin-era" sets and "Khrushchev-era" sets. We have used pictures from our old files and personal collection to construct this area of our website. If you are interested in buying something, please view our inventory listings to see what we currently have for sale.

This web page was last updated on September 9, 2005. If you have suggestions for improving this page or if you see any errors, please contact us.