COAL IS TO LIONEL what ground beef is to McDonald’s. Where the fast food giant transforms its staple product into patties, melts cheese over it, and stacks it higher and higher on sesame seed buns, Lionel lifts, dumps, slides, and drops the bits of shredded plastic it has called coal since the late 1930s. During […]
IS IT A DEAD-RINGER for a postwar powerhouse – a husky pair of handles riding over raw electricity – or is it high-tech instrument funneling digital strings of 0’s and 1’s to rolling receivers? Lionel’s new ZW transformer set is both. It is a conventional and command control device that allows you to operate trains […]
IF YOU ASK collectors and operators of postwar Lionel trains which accessories they prize, most will put the no. 264 Operating Forklift Platform high on their list. They like its reliability, compact appearance, and neat action. Lionel cataloged the 264 for only four years, from 1957 through 1960. That fact and the fascination this accessory […]
HOW OFTEN I CAN remember the late Frank Pettit complaining about how quickly Lionel had pulled the plug on what he insisted was among his greatest inventions. Frank, who served as a one-man research and development department at Lionel during the postwar period, was talking about the no. 38 operating water tower. According to an […]
ON MY VISITS to O gauge layouts I see more and more amusement parks and carnivals. On both railroads that fit the definition of hi-rail and on those that are toy-like, I see the rides, shows, animals, and performers associated with these wonderful attractions. Custom building a carnival or circus is great if you have […]
A POWERFUL BEAM of light piercing the nighttime sky and the mournful cry of a foghorn. These sensations are familiar to anyone who has been near a lighthouse. You never forget the sight of that blinding light emanating from the crown of a tall, sleek tower. Lighthouse-related collectibles are hot these days, and thanks to […]
AMONG THE LATEST in Lionel’s LionMaster line of traditional-sized locomotives is an exceptionally sharp rendering of a Union Pacific-style 4-6-6-4 Challenger, painted and lettered for the Western Maryland Railroad. Although in real life that Appalachian coal hauler used a different style of 4-6-6-4 locomotive, Lionel’s model will probably please everyone but the most die-hard, rivet-counting […]
ONE OF THE MOST recognized American locomotives is the bullet-faced Norfolk & Western J-class 4-8-4 Northern. Between 1941 and 1950 the railroad, which stubbornly supported steam locomotives while other roads embraced diesels, built 14 J and J-1 class locomotives, keeping them on the active roster until 1959. The notable exception to retirement was no. 611, […]
I HAVE A CONFESSION to make: I have a bias regarding steam locomotion. My favorite steam locomotives have the wheel arrangements 2-8-2 and 4-8-4. Everything else is “too big,” and the rest are “Weak Willies.” My bias began to crack with the MTH Premier line 4-4-2 Atlantic steamer (CTT, May 2001) and that crack has […]
I’VE PROBABLY evaluated more than 100 locomotives for Classic Toy Trains, but I can’t recall being as pumped up as when I popped open an orange and blue Lionel box and pulled out a black and gray New York Central SD80MAC. Yes, yes, I know. Despite being a die-hard New York Central fan, I am […]
WITH A LIST PRICE OF $649.95, the no. 31902 Pennsylvania K4 Freight Train set is by no means a child’s basic starter set. It’s an outfit for the grownup who wants to jump back into the hobby, but doesn’t want to go the entry-level $150 “New York Central Flyer” route. Included in this “return to […]
TO CROSS THE Rocky Mountains, the Union Pacific railroad was always looking for the next big thing. This eye toward innovation gave rise to such notable giants as the 4-8-8-4 Big Boy, the 4-12-2 Union Pacific, the massive DDA40X diesel, and the turbines. In 1952, the Union Pacific received the first of 10 4,500-horsepower turbine […]
