About This Item

Every Stalin-era and Khrushchev-era train set produced by the Soviet Union in the 1950's and 1960's included a pair of manual switch tracks -- a left hand turnout and a right hand turnout. The construction and quality are similar to Lionel's early "027 gauge" switches -- lightweight with stamped-steel bases. The bases were painted various colors, including black, tan, gray and olive green. The turning lever knobs were painted black, gray or red. Each switch requires an area of approximately 14 by 11 inches. (The turnouts are part of the track sequence -- "16" is the number for the right hand turnout and "23" is the number for the left hand turnout. The numbers are either stamped on the underside of each base or are stamped into metal tags which are attached to the underside of each base.) The switches were first made in 1951 and along with other Khrushchev-era items, may have been produced through 1969.

Photos of Soviet Turnouts
ABOVE: Switches with black bases
ABOVE: Switches with tan bases
ABOVE: Switches with gray bases

Variations

The Stalin-era sets and the Khrushchev-era sets utilized the same type of switch. There are no markings to identify the items as to era. Therefore the only variations will be due to color.

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 11, 2005. If you have suggestions for improving this page or if you see any errors, please contact us.