Amazing how an idea can take off and conquer a segment of the toy industry in the blink of an eye. In 1950, three manufacturers introduced oil derricks. No big deal except that, even though toy manufactures had been producing miniature oil cars since the very first years of the 20th century, there were no […]
The trend of motorized accessories replicating activities associated with railroading began at the Lionel factory in New Jersey. Let’s spotlight the revolutionary No. 97 coal elevator, which made its debut in 1938. Prototypical – not always accurate The idea of a vertical loader with buckets on a chain that lifted coal from a receiving bin […]
The world of animated O and S gauge toy trains accessories was, for all intents and purposes, a fairly serious one during the postwar era. Operating freight loaders, stations, and other facilities sought to imitate the activities associated with big-time railroading and industrial labor. There wasn’t time for frivolity. Where animals were concerned, however, all […]
Joshua Lionel Cowen had adopted a firm stance on the need to avoid manufacturing “war toys.” Even on the eve of World War II, when Lionel was already producing precision instruments for the armed forces, Cowen refused to bend, unlike his peer and rival, Louis Marx. Everything changed in 1955, probably because the mood of […]
Improving a basic model: 1949-56 Lionel did not immediately fill its postwar line with a true searchlight car – just a work caboose equipped with a floodlight (No. 2420). The presence of a searchlight car in the rival American Flyer catalog, beginning in 1946, makes this omission more glaring. In 1949, Lionel brought out the […]
When you reach a certain age, every birthday deserves to be called a big one .Among other things, my celebration in July got me thinking about the toy trains that happened to be available when I was born in 1951. Specifically, I wondered what my dad might have bought for his infant son if he […]
WASHINGTON – A new short line is seeking regulatory approval to build a rail and highway bridge over the Rio Grande at the Eagle Pass, Texas, gateway. Green Eagle Railroad, a subsidiary of Puerto Verde Holdings, aims to build a new 19.12-mile secure cross-border corridor that includes 1.335 miles of double track between Union Pacific’s […]
Railroading tools Railroads are fixed-guideway systems for transporting goods or people. Its basis is the low friction, and hence high efficiency, of a hard wheel rolling on a hard surface. They are made up of many elements: people doing different jobs, and hardware for them to use. The jobs range from laborer to strategic planner. […]
CANCÚN, Mexico — The first section of Mexico’s Tren Maya, or Maya Train — a tourism project on the country’s southeastern tip championed by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador — is slated to open today (Friday, Dec. 15), just five years after it was announced and years ahead of initial projections. But the project remains […]
WASHINGTON — Amtrak is seeking applications for 11 scholarships it will award for full-time undergraduate and graduate students with rail interests under a series of programs, the company has announced. Applications are due by the end of Jan. 31 for scholarships including: — Women in STEM: For those pursuing an undergraduate or master’s degree majoring […]
MISSOULA, Mont. — Wildlife conservation groups have sued BNSF Railway, saying the railroad’s trains are violating the Endangered Species Act by hitting and killing grizzly bears. The lawsuit filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Missoula by WildEarth Guardians and the Western Watersheds Project says 63 grizzly bears have been killed by BNSF trains in […]
HARRISBURG, Pa. — The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation has awarded $42.5 million to help fund 25 freight rail infrastructure projects on short lines and with shippers within the state, the agency announced on Wednesday. The state’s share in the projects ranges from $7.6 million to $84,000 and will be funded through the Rail Transportation Assistance […]
