"Typical" Late Pre-war Layout

[Major]

I was not uncommon for pre-war layouts to have a number of trains and accessorys from a variety of manufacturers.  Bing, Ives, Marx, American Flyer and Lionel all traveled together on the average home layout.  Remember that the less expensive items were more likely to be found in a typical household. The depression was still on in the late 30's early 40's.    Marx and to a lessor extant American Flyer were the trains for the average income families of the day.

[Penny Trains]

How far do you want to go?

My favorite prewar layouts were the scenic railways Lionel produced in the 20's, especially the ones that came on furniture grade tables.  They had very simple but extremely charming scenery made from paint, sawdust and rope.  Mountains were felt or painted fiberboard (although the bases were usually steel), roads were just painted on, flowers were bits of sponge or loofah.  Most often they had one station, a smattering of villas and/or bungalows, a bridge, a few telegraph poles and maybe a semaphore.  I've been studying Lionel's construction techniques for some time with the hopes of building a small representation of my own, which I may do this summer.

To bring it closer to the transition timeframe like you want, I'd add a gateman, a water tower and some other kind of operating accessory like a log loader or a coal loader.

Becky

[balidas]

You might consider adding some Marx accessories also. They have some nice buildings, crossing gates and trains.

[overall]

I am thinking about building a Lionel layout that could have existed in 1941 just prior to the nation's entry into WW2. I want it to be something that an adult hobbyist or a fortunate child of that time frame would have owned. Obviously, all the trains and related items would be pre-war. I do not know my pre-war Lionel items as well as I do post war. If you were going to build this project, what would you include on it? I guess I am trying to re-create the atmosphere of that era. I do plan to use re-production items as well as late model power sources. This will be a concession to cost and ease of operation.

Thanks,

George