Some careers are more than just a way to make a living. Sometimes they represent history itself. The trick is to recognize that about yourself and plan appropriately. Anyone who cares about railroading in general over the past half-century, or about motive-power technology in particular, can be grateful that Preston Cook came to that realization […]
Simulated concreted-block retaining wall In real life, large concrete blocks (2′ x 4′) are often used to build retaining walls above and below roadways. To represent such a wall, start with a 1″ x 5″ gray colored piece of Trex or similar “plastic” wood. Cut it to your required width and length. With a table […]
Lionel brought out its first No. 6464 near-scale boxcars in 1953. The models it developed were strongly influenced by what Athearn, a manufacturer of O scale trains, had already been doing, especially with a Rock Island prototype. Little wonder that toy train enthusiasts of every age praised the four new 6464 boxcars. Experienced O gauge […]
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This article was originally published in the December 1990 issue of Classic Toy Trains. John Grams was a longtime contributor and author of CTT’s Q&A column. He also wrote a number of toy train/hobby books. He died in 2011. How do you think this article holds up today? Leave a comment about the “characters” you’ve […]
With sunny skies and warm temperatures, there was only thing to do around Milwaukee this past Monday: chase (as best you could) the high-flying Canadian Pacific 4-6-4 No. 2816, deep into its closely watched “Final Spike Anniversary Tour,” organized by CPKC to celebrate the April 2023 merger of Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern. The […]
Lionel’s postwar 44-ton diesels may be the most overlooked O gauge locomotives of the era. Collectors focus, instead, on the firm’s models of F3 cab units by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors and the Train Master road diesels made by Fairbanks-Morse. Operators also like those powerful diesels as well as the big and small […]
Like some railfan contemporaries, in recent weeks I’ve been going through decades of railroad stuff, seeing what I can get rid of and what I simply can’t live without. Tough choices. In the “can’t live without” category, anything with David P. Morgan’s name on it, or anything labeled “New York Central” or “C&EI.” In the […]
My middle son owns a landscaping business under the name of PLM (Professional Lawn Maintenance). I decided to kitbash a structure on my garden railway based on his business. I had found a rather beat up PIKO America stone building. The walls were unattached and it was missing a roof. It also had glue residue […]
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Lionel No. 151 Semaphore signals made their debut in the cataloged lineup for 1947 and remained popular members right through 1969, the final year of the post-World War II era of production. During that two-decade span, Lionel must have produced tens of thousands of the out-of-proportion trackside accessories. Collectors and operators of O-27 and O […]
Lionel’s perfect postwar train set features a classic steam engine and a whistle tender pulling five different and very colorful freight cars or five streamlined passenger cars. How, you may be wondering, do we at Trains.com and Classic Toy Trains know this fact? Because a good number of loyal and experienced readers, familiar with the […]
