I would like to know what your favorite o gauge or o gauge compatible accessory is!
In 2014, I wrote for Classic Toy Trains a special publication about Lionel accessories over the past century. That publication can still be obtained--all new material and excellent photos.
In there, I made clear my preference above all the many innovative and entertaining accessories Lionel has developed for the automatic gateman. It is everything an accessory should be: fun, magical, path-breaking, and animated. The gateman, regardless of vintage, looks great on any layout, no matter how big or small or how sophisticated or simple.
Indulge yourself and pick up a prewar, a postwar, or a modern-era version of the animated gateman and see what makes it a true classic.
Happy New Year,
Roger Carp
Senior Editor
Hi Mr. Carp,
I would ever suspect talking to you! It is a pleasure! Also I do happen to own a prewar gateman that had almost mint paint but sat in some sunlight for to long and is now starting to flake off, unfortunatly.
My favorite accessory among the ones I own in my personal collection is ye olde 145 gateman. I like them all, but there's something about the plastic shack postwar version that makes me smile a bit wider.
However. My favorite accessory that I don't own is the bascule bridge. Oh, that bridge!
Becky
Trains, trains, wonderful trains. The more you get, the more you toot!
Very hard to pick one. But one I do use almost all the time and like a lot is the K-Line Operating Sawmill with smoke and operating saw # K-42450 Just looks so nice. You can never go wrong with operating gate crossings.
Joined 1-21-2011 TCA 13-68614
Kev, From The North Bluff Above Marseilles IL.
Not to derail the thread, but want to include American Flyer Accessories?
Either the 97 coal loader or the 3356 horse corral
415 diesel fueling station
Life's hard, even harder if your stupid John Wayne
http://rtssite.shutterfly.com/
Lionel 6-12862 remake of the American Flyer Operating Oil Drum Loader.
Pete
"You can’t study the darkness by flooding it with light." - Edward Abbey -
Talk about your Sophies choice.
If we don't consider the 3620 rotating search light car an accessory, then my favorite is the 395 floodlight tower. My Dad and Mother bought this for my set one Christmas. It added a degree of decortive realism to my layout in either on or off state. When lights burned out, as they do, and I could scare up the pennies to buy new lights then I was a railroad worker doing maintenance my line.
Ted
I like them all, some work better than others. What most visitors seem to like is the sawmill.
"IT's GOOD TO BE THE KING",by Mel Brooks
Charter Member- Tardis Train Crew (TTC) - Detroit3railers- Detroit Historical society Glancy Modular trains- Charter member BTTS
Sturgeon-Phish Not to derail the thread, but want to include American Flyer Accessories?
Thank you all for sharing your opinions of accessories that you like!! This thread is still open as well!
We were talking about this last night and the list would go like this
1- Drum Loader
2-operating stockyard
3- Talking Station
4-Sawmill
5-Log Loader
Jim
Sturgeon-Phish We were talking about this last night and the list would go like this 1- Drum Loader 2-operating stockyard 3- Talking Station 4-Sawmill 5-Log Loader Jim
Rotating Airport beacon. Looks so cool with red and green reflecting off walls as it turns in a dark room even when trains are not running, especially with christmas tree set up and it's lights on.
Hielsie
I have a Lionel Gateman on each of my layouts, including the anniversary edition, so that is certainly high on my list. However, I think I'd have to go with my North Pole Pylon. I love seeing Santa flying above my Christmas tree layout.
Honorable mention goes to my Marx Automatic Gateman. I love the bright colors on old Marx accessories, and the Gateman was the best. Sadly, in my clumsiness, I knocked the gate off of it while working on the layout. About broke my heart.
scrambler81 I have a Lionel Gateman on each of my layouts, including the anniversary edition, so that is certainly high on my list. However, I think I'd have to go with my North Pole Pylon. I love seeing Santa flying above my Christmas tree layout. Honorable mention goes to my Marx Automatic Gateman. I love the bright colors on old Marx accessories, and the Gateman was the best. Sadly, in my clumsiness, I knocked the gate off of it while working on the layout. About broke my heart.
hielsie Rotating Airport beacon. Looks so cool with red and green reflecting off walls as it turns in a dark room even when trains are not running, especially with christmas tree set up and it's lights on. Hielsie
My favorites are both the coal dump car
and log dump car.
The log dump is great with the conveyor lumber loader
while the coal dump is great with the coal elevator.
Unfortunately they both have drawbacks. Moving the coal up the elevator usually results in a bit of a mess, while the log dump car has a tendency to drop it's light load before it gets to the unloading area. (Some log dump cars have high stakes to hold their loads in place as seen in the picture of the conveyor log loader.) I still have a lot of fun with them. (Sometimes the logging and coal gods have to lend a hand or finger to make the operations successful.)
I would love to have a lift bridge.
That brought to mind something I found amusing. Years ago I went to the Lionel Visitor's Center and Gift Shop. While there, I had a great time checking out the big layout they'd built. The funny thing I noticed was they had a lift bridge with regular truss bridges on either side of it.
It looks fine that way. However in real life that would never happen. The whole reason lift bridges came into being was to move them out of the way when tall ships needed to get through. What good is it to move one bridge out of the way when there are others standing their ground? Recently, I was viewing a DVD about the 1949 layout. Also included were short clips of various other Lionel display layouts including an updated Visitor's Center layout. The funny thing is the Lift Bridge was moved to be on the innermost track.
However the trestle bridges alongside the outer section blocked any potential ships from floating through. I know, I'm a toy train fan so I shouldn't expect prototypical accuracy. I'll tell you what I would have done. Rather than use trestle bridges, I would have used one or more bascule bridges (the kind Penny mentioned)
and drawbridges.
Then all would be raised when ships needed to get through, or lowered when there weren't any.
I don't have a Bascule Bridge, but I believe that black frame under the bridge is only for use on trackwork that hasn't been secured to the base (such as a floor). That frame keeps the bridge and the track it connects to in alignment. It looks like it may also be used to connect power to the track. (Please correct me if I'm wrong.)
phrankenstign ...The funny thing I noticed was they had a lift bridge with regular truss bridges on either side of it. It looks fine that way. However in real life that would never happen...
Only the navigation channel has to be cleared overhead. Here is a bridge over the Genesee with a fixed truss bridge on the West approach:
Rob
Here's a better example in Portland:
Check out the Wiki page for even more examples. Most of the bridges have fixed approach spans.
Now that I've been able to post pics of the Lionel Visitor's Center layout in its original form and its revised form, I'm sure you'll see both were impractical.
phrankenstign Now that I've been able to post pics of the Lionel Visitor's Center layout in its original form and its revised form, I'm sure you'll see both were impractical.
"Artistic License"
You left out the part that the fixed spans were upstream & downstream!
The water appeared to be stagnant!
If anyone needs those bascule bridge frames, I've got a couple you can have. My bascule bridges span the entrance to my around-the-walls layout.
As manufactured, they're useless for that purpose, since they rise only about 45 degrees and are not very long to begin with. I extended the bridge by several inches, which required me to install a substantially heavier counterweight. I also rotated the gear segment by 45 degrees to get the bridges to go completely to the vertical. Fortunately, the gear has a full 90 degrees of teeth, only half of which are normally used.
I also completely rewired each bridge. I control it with a single wire to the DC motor, with one polarity for up, one for down. (The return is the layout common.) Each controller is an SPDT-CO switch that connects an AC voltage to the control wire through either one of two diodes to get half-wave DC. Each of the bridge's limit switches removes a shunt to place a diode in series with the motor, stopping further motion against the limit switch but still allowing motion away from it.
Bob Nelson
lionelsoniI also completely rewired each bridge. I control it with a single wire to the DC motor, with one polarity for up, one for down. (The return is the layout common.) Each controller is an SPDT-CO switch that connects an AC voltage to the control wire through either one of two diodes to get half-wave DC. Each of the bridge's limit switches removes a shunt to place a diode in series with the motor, stopping further motion against the limit switch but still allowing motion away from it.
I understood your first two paragraphs, but then the non-electrician that I am couldn't make heads or tails out of the rest. Will you please explain each step, what you did, and why?
This draw bridge is located in Zanesville, Ohio. The bridge was needed so that navigation on the canal could continue.
Celebrating 18 years on the CTT Forum.
Buckeye Riveter......... OTTS Charter Member, a Roseyville Raider and a member of the CTT Forum since 2004..
Jelloway Creek, OH - ELV 1,100 - Home of the Baltimore, Ohio & Wabash RR
TCA 09-64284
The builders of the lift bridge heard that a new battle ship factory was being built upriver and decided to protect their investment seeing as the new ships were going to have to blast their way out to sea.
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