A preliminary bit of info on the track and Country of Origin markings.
This is a 3706 9”R 1/8 (as I’ve said before, there is no known 30## for this track piece, so I use the retail number). It is a lined first gen. It has a raised panel with an origin of HK. Notice the pier lugs. Smaller than typical and not necessarily compatible with the 7849, 7850, or 7851.
Here are four examples of the 3016 9” turn-out. The bottom one is made in the US. The other three are HK, and have different ways that the origin was projected. The US made example is lined.
Similarly here are three examples of a 3012 9” straight. All have wildly different origin markings. All are HK, and unlined.
The 9”R 1/4” 3014’s I have either were US made with lines, or HK or US made without. I would have assumed the US made parts were all lined, but the fact the one 3014 was plain negates that. Of the couple dozen I checked they all followed the same origin markings respectively. There is a difference in the tabs, as discussed below.
Here are four 3016 turn-outs. Each varies in how the tab release instructions are cast/molded. I’d like to call attention the the one furthest right. It has no writing.
I mentioned the tabs and the print because I noticed this when rearranging parts in sets to put all my best parts in my most valuable sets. I had mixed examples and it kinda triggered an OCD moment.
I find this stuff interesting, and it is fun to imagine what was going on in the production plants that were churning this stuff out by the ton.
Knowing a bit about injection molding, there are plates/molds that are put together, and liquid plastic is injected into the mold at moderate high pressure. The molds are then released, and the product is sent to its next process.
There are divots on the track top where it was released, with possibly a small sprag that was broken off. On the bottom is a bump and this is more than likely where the plastic was injected at.
Just speculating, but I’d say there were two molds, top and bottom. The bottom mold was fixed, and it made the top of the track. The top mold was lowered down and the plastic was injected. It would then lift off and two extractor pins would eject the track out of the lower mold, which probably tilted 90 degrees to let the track slide down a chute where the rails would be installed. You can see on the rail bottom where a notch was pressed into the rail so it would not easily come out of its slot.
Also, the 6”, 9”, 15” straight, squeeze track, 9R 1/4, 9R 1/8, 12R 1/8, and lane changer all have 58## item numbers as these are all molds from their black racing sets. There were no US-1 specific molds for this track.
The terminal tracks (3010/3025), turn-out (3016), 3445/3456 base (3018), 3040 single lane, and both double turn-outs (3031/3032) do not have 58##’s because these are all US-1 specific. Any other accessory uses it’s item number, i.e. 3440 for the dump bin base. Interestingly the 3475 G.I. Joe rocket base is built off a modified 3440 base, and it uses both 3440 and 3475 item numbers.
This is a 3706 9”R 1/8 (as I’ve said before, there is no known 30## for this track piece, so I use the retail number). It is a lined first gen. It has a raised panel with an origin of HK. Notice the pier lugs. Smaller than typical and not necessarily compatible with the 7849, 7850, or 7851.
Here are four examples of the 3016 9” turn-out. The bottom one is made in the US. The other three are HK, and have different ways that the origin was projected. The US made example is lined.
Similarly here are three examples of a 3012 9” straight. All have wildly different origin markings. All are HK, and unlined.
The 9”R 1/4” 3014’s I have either were US made with lines, or HK or US made without. I would have assumed the US made parts were all lined, but the fact the one 3014 was plain negates that. Of the couple dozen I checked they all followed the same origin markings respectively. There is a difference in the tabs, as discussed below.
Here are four 3016 turn-outs. Each varies in how the tab release instructions are cast/molded. I’d like to call attention the the one furthest right. It has no writing.
I mentioned the tabs and the print because I noticed this when rearranging parts in sets to put all my best parts in my most valuable sets. I had mixed examples and it kinda triggered an OCD moment.
I find this stuff interesting, and it is fun to imagine what was going on in the production plants that were churning this stuff out by the ton.
Knowing a bit about injection molding, there are plates/molds that are put together, and liquid plastic is injected into the mold at moderate high pressure. The molds are then released, and the product is sent to its next process.
There are divots on the track top where it was released, with possibly a small sprag that was broken off. On the bottom is a bump and this is more than likely where the plastic was injected at.
Just speculating, but I’d say there were two molds, top and bottom. The bottom mold was fixed, and it made the top of the track. The top mold was lowered down and the plastic was injected. It would then lift off and two extractor pins would eject the track out of the lower mold, which probably tilted 90 degrees to let the track slide down a chute where the rails would be installed. You can see on the rail bottom where a notch was pressed into the rail so it would not easily come out of its slot.
Also, the 6”, 9”, 15” straight, squeeze track, 9R 1/4, 9R 1/8, 12R 1/8, and lane changer all have 58## item numbers as these are all molds from their black racing sets. There were no US-1 specific molds for this track.
The terminal tracks (3010/3025), turn-out (3016), 3445/3456 base (3018), 3040 single lane, and both double turn-outs (3031/3032) do not have 58##’s because these are all US-1 specific. Any other accessory uses it’s item number, i.e. 3440 for the dump bin base. Interestingly the 3475 G.I. Joe rocket base is built off a modified 3440 base, and it uses both 3440 and 3475 item numbers.
