A unique tender for a Lionel No. 1587 Girl’s Train I couldn’t have imagined the excitement that year would bring to me as a collector and a new father. Chasing after postwar Lionel trains for about four years, I had amassed a decent collection. [Anthony’s superb collection was profiled in the special Kalmbach publication, All-Star […]
My greatest find occurred in 1957, when I was 13 years old. Before I tell you about it, let me share some memories of my growing up in northeast Philadelphia. Second-hand trains My family wasn’t wealthy, so my trains were mostly what I scrounged up using my allowance. One example was my Lionel GG1 (a […]
One night in 1992, I was in Bombay (now Mumbai), India, waiting for a plane. Bombay is about as far away as a person can travel from Little Silver, N.J., where I grew up, and just as far from the Lionel fun factory where my greatest find was manufactured. But because one day I asked […]
My greatest find could also be known as the one that almost got away. This Lionel outfit was sitting on a shelf of a local pawnshop for quite some time, collecting dust with many other items that no one was interested in buying. Enter my wife, who had worked for a large telecommunications company that […]
The Lionel 2065 Hudson is not uncommon, and it isn’t particularly valuable. What makes it so important to me is all that I remember because of it. This middle-of-the-road Lionel steamer from my youth has left me with so many wonderful memories. I was born in January 1953, and my brother Steve came along 4 […]
The Lionel Scout locomotive has been for many an entry point to the toy train hobby. For me, it was the little engine that got me back into it. I’ve been in the toy train hobby for many years and have amassed an impressive collection of Lionel’s postwar F3s, Berkshires, Turbines, and other locomotives. But […]
Also in this issue: EDITOR’S DESK, pg. 4 PHOTO ALBUM, pg. 8 LETTERS, pg. 12 NEWS & PRODUCTS, pg. 14 Atlas O container, weathering materials MODERN ERA NOTES, pg. 17 QUESTIONS & ANSWERS, pg. 20 COLLECTIBLE CLASSICS, pg. 22 VIEWS FROM THE UNDERGROUND, pg. 23 S GAUGE THEN NOW AND THEN, pg. 24 GREATEST FIND, […]
In the September 2021 issue of Classic Toy Trains, prolific author and modeler Stan Trzoniec shows how to observe real railroads and add details from them to our layouts to increase realism. We’ll also visit two O gauge layouts. The first is built by a northerner and models the Southern Ry.; the other uses traditional […]
Also in this issue: EDITOR’S DESK, pg. 5 LETTERS, pg. 6 MODERN ERA NOTES, pg. 8 PHOTO ALBUM, pg. 10 NEWS & PRODUCTS, pg. 14 Collectible cars, Frank Ellison repro building, Plasticville, U.S.A. book VIEWS FROM THE UNDERGROUND, pg. 17 QUESTIONS & ANSWERS, pg. 18 GREATEST FIND, pg. 29 A colorful Lionel set from J.C. […]
In the pages of CLASSIC TOY TRAINS magazine you’ll find information about building, operating, and enhancing toy train layouts; track plans, repair and maintenance tips, profiles of collectible postwar and prewar trains, and more. SUBSCRIBE | RENEW | DIGITAL EDITIONS | GIVE A GIFT | BUY THIS ISSUE Features 50 GREAT IDEAS! By Roger Carp […]
In the pages of CLASSIC TOY TRAINS magazine you’ll find information about building, operating, and enhancing toy train layouts; track plans, repair and maintenance tips, profiles of collectible postwar and prewar trains, and more. SUBSCRIBE | RENEW | DIGITAL EDITIONS | GIVE A GIFT | BUY THIS ISSUE Features Year-long Christmas on a great O […]
In the pages of CLASSIC TOY TRAINS magazine you’ll find information about building, operating, and enhancing toy train layouts; track plans, repair and maintenance tips, profiles of collectible postwar and prewar trains, and more. SUBSCRIBE | RENEW | DIGITAL EDITIONS | GIVE A GIFT | BUY THIS ISSUE Features A classic approach in a large […]
