New Forum Members

[Algonquin]

It would be nice to know where other forum members live and what your particular interests in toy trains are.

I am located in Algonquin Illinois

I collect primarily Lionel postwar and modern O-gauge trains. I have some MTH, K-Line and Industrial Rail

I have a basement layout. The layout covers about 350 square feet. I still have a lot of scenery work to do.

Tim P.

[JFermani]

I'm from Malvern, Pennsylvania. I collect and operate current issue Lionel and LTI era trains. I just moved into my single home last year (from a townhouse) and am actively planning a basement layout. Until the layout is up I have been trying to increase my locomotive power (All Pennsy), rolling stock and accessories.

Joe

[reedhe]

I am from Oneonta NY and collect and operate both postwar and modern era O guage. I am building a layout in my attic which is about 12x14. I am into TMCC and plan to operate all power blocks and switches through that system. I have been working on the layout for about a year.
Howard R.

[Anonymous]

I'm from Chester Springs, Pa. I just finished my basement and will start building a 12x27 hirail layout very shortly. I run mostly MTH and Lionel scale steam engines although some diesels are on the roster. Joe, your very close to me if you would like to e-mail me please do at [e-mail]
Dave

[turbine682]

Hi Tim,

I believe you replied to my earlier question regarding Postwar Smoke Units.

I live in Atlanta GA. My hometown is Greensburg PA, outside of Pittsburgh. I grew up in the Poconos.

I recently started acquiring Postwar Lionel and am planning a basement layout. I intend to run heavy steam freight. (Your layout sounds awesome!)

I'd really appreciate any advice regarding power systems and wiring. I am familiar with block wiring / cab control, but AC is all new to me.

Thanks,
--Ed

[Algonquin]

Hi Ed,

Yea, that was me repling on the smoke units.

I think the best way to get information on wiring and powering a three-rail AC system is to start reading some of the many books that have been published covering benchwork, tracklaying, wiring specifically written for three-rail trains. Kalmbach has many of them listed here on this web site. However, I would recommend stopping by a Lionel Service Station so that you can thumb thru the many books available. Many are written for the newcommer to three rail. Others include advanced projects.

Also don't hesitate to throw out questions along the way. We enjoy talking trains here.

I have had my 681 turbine since I was a kid. It was my Uncle's. He gave it to me when his kids lost interest in trains. It was in pretty bad shape when I got it, but it has always been a fabulous runner. I had it completely restored by my local Lionel Service Station about 15 years ago when I pulled my trains out of storage. Since then I have been collecting postwar and modern Lionel trains. You mentioned you have a 682 turbine, those are fairly rair. Was this one of the trains you had as a child?

Regards,

Tim

[turbine682]

Hi Tim,

I purchased the 682 off of eBay last January. I did not even run it until this past month. I lubed and oiled her down and presto - runs and smokes like a champ! Pulls better that the 2056 and 736 (both these guys pull good, too!)

In addition to the 2056 and 736, I have purchased postwar rolling stock on eBay. The roster includes 6464-900 NYC Boxcar, 6468 B&O Boxcar (Blue), 2 tankcars, and a 6462 Penna gondola. I have never been disappointed by eBay. The items that I have received have always been "better than described" and very well packaged.

I use the 100th Anniversay Edition Lionel Illustrated Price Guide and History (Toy Train Revue # 15) by Tom McComas and Charles Krone for reference.

I am not a collector (but do like high-quality items), and can't wait to get the "railroad" off of paper and onto roadbed. I have stacks of reference books - many Kalmbach publications (2 books by John Armstrong including "Realistic Track Planning" - great!), etc.

I have enough N-Scale (packed and stored) for 5 people to operate. However, I am definitely spoiled by the big trains. Unfortunately, all of my grandfather's lionel "went away" many years ago before I could get a hold of it. I remember he had a 671. I opted for the 682 because of its rarity.

If you are looking to expand your roster, check out eBay. If you have any questions, let me know. Feel free to contact me - I look forward to forward conversations. I really enjoy this forum.

My email is: [e-mail]

Best Regards,
--Ed

[bnfoat]

I'm from Long Beach, CA. I am just now getting my Postwar Lionel out of boxes and beginning a new layout. Unfortunately I have only about an 8x6 area that is shared with a PC and printer, so I need to do a lot of planning to get a good layout design. I have just purchased and installed some RailRax shelving and put the trains up on two opposite walls. Boy, they sure look good!

My biggest concern is roadbed and noise and I have been reading the many suggestions in these forums. I plan on using Lionel O and 072 track with as many 022 switches as I can fit along with some operating accessories.

[Anonymous]

I just wanted to pop in here and let you know that you can update your profile to display your location. Located under the section that's titled "Community Profile / More About Me (optional)" there is a location field where you can also put that information. The location text appears on the left column (next to your message).

[Anonymous]

I'm from Yorktown Heights, NY. It's the northern most town in Westchester County, which is the county immediately to the north of the Bronx.

In O gauge, I've got a post-war era set I inherited from my dad with a 44-ton diesel switcher, a tank car, a box car, a flat car with two 1957 or so cars on it, and a caboose. I've also got the 4-6-4 Josua Lionel Cowen Hudson from the 80s (no road name on it; it's brown & black with gold trim) and the new 2-8-0 Consolidation in Pennsylvania livery. Then there's my son's Great Train Robbery set, which came with O-27 track.

I've also got a Rivarossi 2-8-2 Mikado HO gauge locomotive (this is a fragile beast!) and an old Tyco HO "Silver Streak" set. And then there's the set of Z trains my wife gave me for Christmas a few years ago, not to mention the single N scale steam locomotive a friend gave me the same year. I have nothing else N gauge, so it hasn't even been out of the box.

We're planning to add an addition to our house next year, and the plans include a 20' x 10' "hobby room", where I will build a permanent O guage layout & display my collection of R/C cars. I'm not yet sure how big the layout will be, since I've dabbled at designing one but haven't finalized anything. It's going to be close to 2 more years before I can build anything, so I've got lots of time to plan!

I also plan to start collectng O gauge equipment after the room is done.

Anyone else in the northern NYC suburbs area into O gauge?

Tony

[Anonymous]

Hi,
I'm from Langenburg, Saskatchewan (population 1000) and am a collector of almost any prewar or postwar O or S gauge item. I'm only 16 right now, so I'm quite young when compared to most other train collectors. Despite my age I have quite a large collection. I have Lionel, Marx, American Flyer, Hafner and many items from European manufacturers such as Hornby, Bing, Bub, Distler, Brimtoy, Mettoy, etc., etc. I also collect Tri-ang OO gauge and simmilar HO/OO gauge items from the postwar era. In addition I have a lot of more modern HO items, nearly all bought second hand, but my real passion is for the older stuff. I like modern era O gauge , but don't own any other than a few odd cheap MPC items. They don't quite have the same charm, character or nostalgia that the prewar and postwar items do (they can also get pretty pricey). I have two layouts, one HO and the other which I run all my O and S gauge on. (I actually have 3 layouts because there is also a 4x10 for my Tri-ang). The O gauge would be considered a tinplate type layout. It is just track layed out on indoor-outdoor carpeting with operating accessories and Plasticville and various tinplate buildings. Porbably half of my collection is on shelves, simply because I can't fit it all on the layout. Since my first small HO layout when I was a kid I've gradulally been taking over our basement and except for a few small areas I've pretty much done so. The reason my collection is as large as it is is because most of it has come from me hunting for bargains at antique stores, pawn shops, flea markets, garage sales and ebay which has yeilded some excellent results. My family would be dead broke if I had to pay the full value on many of the trains I have! I'm really enjoying the forums on trains.com and regret not having signed up sooner!
Mitchell

[Anonymous]

I don't have a layout,where i live,run my train at train store"tracktrains.net",the layout you see, is 58 by 34 feet in "L" shape,it will be setup in hobby hall of puyallup fair 2004,puyallup washington,in sept., we have a small layout just built in,store not about 15 or 16 foot long by 12 or 13 foot wide,two main loops & yard & tunnal's,have track connecting both mains,have a trolly ,will be running in "U" shape, thru town, when completed.....

[clinchfieldfan]

Hello,
I live in Lebanon, Virginia. I strictly operate everything! I'm not biased, I run MTH, Lionel, K-Line really anything that catches my eye. I have a "J" shaped layout in a 24' X 24' room I built above the garage with the sole purpose of being my layout room. The layout has been in the construction stage for about five years. I run two trains on separate main lines with three passing sidings to park trains. I have three spur lines where I have a coal mine, grainery, and freight transfer station. The trains pass through two towns and through and over mountian ridges. I am in the process of adding a loop with twin reversing loops around the back of the layout so I can run a third train. As you can see from my forum name my favorite railroad is the Clinchfield, although I also run Southern and N & W trains on the layout. The only bad thing about modeling the Clinchfield is the lack of attention that the CRR gets from manufacturers, some items are finally being produced but it is tough to find motive power. I recently bought k-Line Candian Pacific F-7's and had them custom painted in the grey and yellow painy scheme. The engines look great but my budget cannot stand many custom jobs! Fellow O gaugers are rare in my part of the state so its nice to be on the forum and learn from others. I look forward to visiting.

[Anonymous]

Hee hee. I'm a Brand New Member. I went through a box of my dad's postwar trains over Christmas. The track was all bad or nonexistant, though. My brother had a train too, he took apart as much of it as he could. I found parts of that over Christmas too.

Finally, I have a train: Well, mystery train pieces, anyway. I like odd cars and scenery. Tankers, flatbeds that I can put marzipan in...
(Maybe the Lego monorail I had as a kid almost counts as a train, it was human powered though.)

I visited Germany and brought back a water tank and a "german-looking" building. That was cool. At some train stations there you could put in a "quarter" and then make a model train go.

I have no layout and nothing runs. But I'm tempted by some of the wacko Bachmann cars I saw on their German site. Beer cars, ha!

[Anonymous]

Hi everyone.

I'm currently in Louisville, KY but my O-27 layout is in Owensboro at my parents home. When I get a house I'll probably build a new layout of my own. In the meantime I'm looking for ways to update the Owensboro layout and will post a few questions on the board (with a new thread) here soon. The need for updating comes from growing up in the MPC era in a town devoid of hobby shops only to find out that the O gauge train world was not built on a 27' radius.

My father got me my first engine (MPC Burlington) when I was 3. About ten years ago he got his old 681 turbine from my grandfather. I've picked up various engines at antique/hobbyshops and auctions since then. I have all Lionel other than an anheiser bush Kline boxcar...MMM.... Beer, and a non-working 70's Marx set.

Thanks to everyone for posting, & I look forward to everyone's insight.

[Anonymous]

I'm from Princeton Jct., NJ. I'm interested in old and sort of chesssy HO, like R-T-R. I model the New Haven, mid '50's period.

Bob B.

[Anonymous]

Hi everyone,

Although Classic Toy Trains magazine is headquartered in Waukesha, Wisc. (a western Milwaukee suburb), I actually live farther west in a small town called Oconomowoc. My home layout is shaped like a wobbly "T", 16 feet across the "T" and 20 feet from top to bottom. My home is 125+ years old, so the T-shape is a reflection of my basement. Most of my personal rolling stock is prewar or reproductions of prewar O gauge, with a few European oddball tinplate pieces thrown in. As CTT's editor, my home layout is also one of our test layouts for our product reviews, so it regularly sees contemporary power. Track is ballasted Lionel O-27 but all curves are either 42 or 54 inches in diameter (no 27 inch). I use Ross and Lionel switches. Scenery is very non-prewar, with plenty of Woodland Scenics trees and other products although most of the structures are prewar Lionel, Flyer, etc., tinplate buildings. There also are numerous tinplate bridges. The main line has MTH catenary, which is almost finished. I've got two independent control systems selected by a toggle switch: TMCC with a TPC and two 135-watt PowerHouses and MTH DCS powered by a Lionel 180-watt Powerhouse.

Neil Besougloff
editor, Classic Toy Trains

[Anonymous]

I'm from Kingsport, Tennessee. I just registered for this forum today, so I'm new here. I'm mostly into HO Scale Trains, but I do have a Lionel O27 Gauge Set. My layout which has one HO Scale train running and the one Lionel O27 Gauge set, is on a 4 x 8 piece of plywood. My dad has talked about putting another piece of plywood above that, so I can run my Bachmann HO Scale set, and another HO Scale Train.

Aaron

[Anonymous]

Hello Tim and Others,

I am using CTT as a means of repair tips and improving the operation of a 1957 two 4X8 table Layout. Originally, I am from Long Island (LIRR). Now I live in the south near Charlotte, NC. My interest is in nostagia Lionel Post War and Post Modern Toy Trains items. By the way are there any other Repair and Improvement Forums.

Sincerely,

F. H. Duncan

[Algonquin]

Welcome F. H. Duncan,

Feel free to ask any question you like and we will try to help. O-Gauge Railroading also maintains a nice forum.

Regards,

Tim Pignatari

[Kaufu2]

Hi there. I am a new member, and I live in Mississauga, Ontario, a suburb of Toronto. I do not have a layout right now, until I finish renovating the kitchen and the laundry cave to make room in the basement where the construction material is stored.
I run S and O guage, ( and some HO ), right now in the living and dining rooms on the floor, with the odd loop through the kitchen. Except for some pre-war American Flyer, Ives and Lionel pieces, it is all post war Lionel, Marx and American Flyer. Nothing more modern than 1966, due to, until recently, lack of space and now, funds that must be directed elsewhere.

[Algonquin]

Hi Kaufu2 and welcome to the forum.

Until about 7 years ago, when I finally bouhgt a house, I only had floor layouts. Even now, I put floor layouts up a couple times a year with my son. We enjoy running the train as far as we can through as many rooms as we can. Floor layouts seem to have some benefits over a permanent layout. My son (age 8) can interact with me more when we put a layout on the floor. He loves to help on the permanent layout too, but many of the activities are too difficult for him at this age. But he loves to design floor routings and lay the track.

Regards,

Tim Pignatari

[Anonymous]

My name is John Harding and I live in Eastern North Carolina. I have a 15 by 25 foot around the walls doubletrack layout based on the Atlantic Coast Line in Southside Virginia and Eastern North Carolina but on this road the Seaboard, The C&O and the Southern have trackage rights. The layout is almost a year old and resides in a train room that was built as part of my new home here in North Carolina. I've been back in 3 rail for about 8 years. I look forward to the goings on here. John

[Algonquin]

Hi John,

Welcome to the forum.

Regards,

Tim Pignatari

[Roger Bielen]

This is my first time onto the new CTT forum. This is GREAT, much improved over the old format.

Roger B.

[krump]

Salmon Arm, BC
signed up tonight

[Anonymous]

Hi, I just signed up, but am a long time CTT subscriber. I'm in Little Egg Harbor, NJ. I'm one of those unlucky slobs with no room for a year-round layout. I do get to take over about 1/3 of the living room at Christmas time, and set up track on the carpet every month or so. I got interested in Postwar Lionel just about the time that the Postwar Celebtation Series came about, so I've spent my limited money on new reproductions. I'm a fan of conventional operation, but I have gotten a few TMCC Lionel and Weaver engines which I mainly run at the club I belong to, so i can run trains on same loop as other members. As soon as we get a new house, I will get started on the dream layout I am hording equipment for, which will be filled with operationg accessories. To heck with scale and scenery!

[Anonymous]

Hi, I'm from Warren, Ohio, and like "GermanG"--I have no room for a year round layout.
I'de like one real bad, but not enough to give up my basement rec. room for.
Therefore, I only do a Christmas time layout.

I inherited a very early post war train set, from my Dad, who got it from his Dad.
I have been trying to solve the mystery involved in this "Set" for some time now.
It's a "O" gauge Lionel set, in which the manual that came with it is copywrited 1947.
Whats confusing is the fact that its made up of cars with all different years.

For example: the #2457 red Pennsy illuminated caboose is dated April 1941,--yes--1941.

The #2454 Yellow "Babyruth" boxcar, (Pennsy) is not dated. the box says its 2454, but the boxcar is marked: X2454.

The #2452 Gondola car (Pennsy) with 4 barrel load is dated Dec. 1945.

And the #2411 flat car (lionel lines) with 3 log load isnt dated either.

This set according to my Dad was bought as a set, and the original steam engine was discarded because it stopped working, and replaced with a 1957 Wabash GP-7 Diesel engine.

According to the manual, there are 6 steam engines that could have came with this set that also included the #315 illuminated tressel bridge, a pair of manual sitches, and a "R" type transformer. I've narrowed it down to 4.
#'s 2020, 671, 726, all 3 being a 6-8-6 type, or the #2025 2-6-2.

I long to find out what he set number was as I dont have the set box. All I have is the individual boxes. I also wi***o find out the original engine number. I have other clues but wont drag this "off-topic" story out further.

Any ways I ended up getting an MTH 464 Wabash hudson (protosounds 1) with 12 passenger cars --(2 sets) and now have 2 trains.

I plan on staying with MTH products, because most of what I've been buying over the last few years has been MTH. They seem to be cheaper and have very good stuff. I think the DCS system is simpler, cheaper, and does more than lionels TMCC, and besides --I already have the Z-4000 transformer!

Our Christmas layout is getting out of hand. We have WAY too much stuff now. (Accessories, buildings, etc.) for just an annual layout, and it takes me weeks just to set it all up.

What makes it worse is the fact that our tree gets put in the upstairs formal living room, and since we dont use it much--I'm allowed to use the whole room at Christmas time. (12X16).

We have fun with our Christmas village. (or should I say: Metropolis).

I will move or re-arrange something, or add a new item, and challenge the family to find out whats been changed.

I'm in the process of building a website with pictures of the layouts from the past and will post it when its done.

I'm an operator, and believe trains should be run, instead of being put on a shelf. I wouldn't buy anything to just display. If I fork out all that money, - I'm gonna run it.
Since I have no interest in selling anything, I'm not worried about keeping trains in Mint condition.

One of these days, when I hit the lottery- (yea,right), I'll be able to afford to live in a bigger house that offers the space required to have a nice layout. I doubt that I could ever settle for a little one.

I've already got plans to expand my fleet to include Nickle plate RR, More Pennsy & Wabash, and now with the release of the MTH Railking Big-boy, perhaps some Union pacific trains too. Befor long, I may have to rent some storage space to keep it all.

[lionelsoni]

Don't take the dates on the cars literally. They often indicate when the car was first made, but were not normally changed over the years and so could be seriously out of date.

[Anonymous]

Yea, Lionel did some pretty crazy stuff back then, and its hard to inteligently, determine anything.

I'm inclined to go by the manuals copywrite date of 1947, to date the set. There's the possibility that the set may have been made in 47, but released in 48, too.

The manual states, that this train set's production year is the first issue for the "New smoke unit".
Sets produced before this one used the heat from the light-bulb, to melt the smoke pellet, and this one was from the first year that the new coil type heat element was used.

The manual also indicates that a "multi controller" type "S" transformer came with the set, However, Dad said that the set actually came with the "Trainmaster" type "R".

My Dad, who's now 63, can't remember if the original steam engine was an 6-8-6, or a 2-6-2.

A few things he does seem to remember:

The E-unit's switch was on top of the engine, instead of the wire/plug type inside the cab.
However, he can't remember if the switch was in the front, behind the smoke stack, or in back in front of the cab.

The Tender had a whistle.

The motor was mounted on a "Slant", inside the cab.

I like a mystery now and then, but this one seems to hard to solve.
I could spend a fortune in books, befor ever finding any answers.