Scarce Lionel refrigerator and cattle cars

Scarce Lionel refrigerator and cattle cars are still out there. I know because I found a couple of them; being helpful put me in contact with the owners. 

It was an April evening when I returned home to find this message on my answering machine: “I have a train set that was purchased in 1941. Can you tell me what it’s worth?” I recognized the voice as belonging to an acquaintance that knew I collected Lionel trains. “Nice of the guy to call,” […]

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Reviewed: O gauge Interurban set by K-Line by Lionel

After reading the following review, be sure to watch streaming video of this set in action. YOU CAN STILL SEE THE TRACES HERE AND THERE. A section of back road with the unmistakable appearance of a tree line and a long-gone grade crossing; perhaps a concrete overpass converted into a bike trail years ago; or […]

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Reviewed: O gauge Premier line Flying Yankee by MTH Electric Trains

PASSENGER TRAIN PATRONAGE DECLINED SHARPLY DURING THE GREAT DEPRESSION, but a few forward-thinking railroads had the vision to try revolutionary ways to boost ridership, while reducing some of the overhead costs of train operation. After reading the following review, be sure to watch streaming video of this set in action. Fielded by the Budd Co., […]

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Lionel diesel horns

Q: I’m having problems with my postwar Lionel diesel horns. One is in a no. 2343 Santa Fe F3 and the other is in a no. 2331 Virginian Train Master. Both locomotives are in like-new condition, and though I know I can buy a replacement horn, I’d like to keep them original and get the […]

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MTH O gauge Premier line DASH 8-40C

SIXTY YEARS AGO, if you’d lined up Alco, Baldwin-Lima-Hamilton, Electro-Motive, Fairbanks-Morse, and General Electric diesels and tried to pick which would rule 21st-Century railroading, few would have guessed it would be GE. After all, General Electric was a late-comer to the locomotive business and was chiefly known for supplying electrical components to other locomotive builders. […]

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O gauge boxcab electric by K-Line by Lionel

INEXPENSIVE IS NOT BAD. Cheap is bad, but not inexpensive. Cheap means flimsy material and poor reliability. Inexpensive means “I’ll take two, instead.” Lionel seems to be steering the K-Line product line in a specific direction – and that direction appears to be smart, economical trains, rather than the high-dollar super-spectacular locomotives we came to […]

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