Lionel Prewar Layout

[FJ and G]

In Feb05 CTT---

Very nice and colorful trains and structures, albeit semi-scale.

Would be kinda interesting to see a pre-war layout someday with hi-rail scenery.

But nice to see the trains running in any case, not collecting dust on a shelf.

[Dave Farquhar]

I don't know that hi-rail goes all that well with prewar, unless it's the really late 3/16-scale Flyer or Marx or the semiscale Lionel from the late 1930s/early 1940s. I read a prewar book once that said prewar was about impressionism, rather than realism. I like that philosophy. Realism is nice, but the illustrations in a good children's book and a very good black and white photograph are two examples of things that can be striking, even breathtaking, in spite of (or maybe because of) not looking exactly like what you would see in the real world.

I'm sure the tinplate look got tiring until John Allen and the like came around and introduced striking realism with weathering and such, but now it's almost like the pendulum has swung the other direction.

[prewardude]

CTT has featured some layouts that combine Standard gauge with scale-like scenery over the past few years. Personally, I prefer to see Standard gauge trains in a toy-like setting. Although, at this point, it's nice to see prewar trains in ANY setting in the pages of CTT! I really enjoyed that article. [:)]

[FJ and G]

pre-war,

Agree, not too many prewar out there. Certain charm to these.

[Anonymous]

I haven't got the February CTT yet, but this sounds like a good article. I love prewar trains and agree that they look rather out of place in a scale/hi-rail setting. Prewar/tinplate layouts are their natural environment. I love that quote of Dave's about prewar trains being impressionism rather than realism. I've always loved prewar trains and the types of layouts they're usually seen on. My own layout follows this style. It has postwar trains and accessories as well as prewar. Everything is set up on green carpet, there's no roadbed and any scenery was manufacturered by the toy train companies themselves. There's a charm and personality about layouts like these. Scale layouts are very nice, too and both are valid approaches to the hobby, but just represent different styles and philosophies. It's good to have this variety. It would be very borng if all layouts were the same.

[prewardude]

Sask,

I agree with you about the "impressionism" line. That sums up the appearance of the old trains perfectly. As has been said many, many times before, prewar trains are industrial works of art... the ghostly voice of a bygone era, if you will.

[Anonymous]

We must remember that PreWar trains were/are the "scale
models" of their era. Remember that technology was not as
advanced and that fine detail was usually only made by a
museum-type modeller. Older magazines like Kalmbach's
'Model Trains' and Lionel's 'Model Builder' featured scale/
hi-rail types of layouts and prototype operations using the
Lionel trains of the period. I have seen (and have a few) a
good many photos of priod layouts that used tinplate trains
and they look prety darned good!

Yes, the tinplate trains look good on a "tinplate/toy" layout,
but they also were the "scale models" of their day.

Lionel's NYC S-2 copies are pretty good copies, so are the
different iterations of the MILW Bi-Polars. Many modellers
repainted their tinplate rolling stock in subdued colors to
better imitate the real thing. Even the idea of putting extra
ties under the three rail sectional track is about 70 years old.
As the saying goes..."What is old is new again." And no
matter whether they are scale, hi-rail, or just tinplate layouts,
they are all FUN!!! :)