The 156 is an O gauge station platform with bakalite base and roof, diecast pillars and plastic fence with clip on litho signs. It was made from 1939-42 and then again from 1945-49 when it was replaced with the plastic 256 platform.
All stations had green bases and red roofs. Color variations are likely due to fading rather than variations. The earliest and postwar stations had aluminim colored posts like the two below:
Upper station is prewar, lower is postwar as the Fleer bubble gum sign second from left was only made in the postwar period.
In 1940 the posts became gray due to the war in Europe raising prices for aluminam paint. Two versions with gray posts are shown below:
The upper station in the photo above has black finials. These are very rare. Here's a comparison of the two types of finials:
Lots of different signs were made. The picture below shows signs from the different platforms. The signs on the left are postwar and may not have come on the 156 station platform originally.
Prewar stations come in corragated boxes with inserts. Postwar stations after 1947 came in orange classic boxes without inserts. All stations were originally packaged with an extra fence section to put between stations in a brown envelope.
