EPA Toy Train News

[1688torpedo]

 Happy April Fools Day to you Alex!   Say hi to Stan & Ollie for me. Take Care. I'm sure glad they did not choose to ban Corvairs from the roads either.

[lionelsoni]

"Rubber bands pose no threat to the environment."  This is true; but ozone in the environment does pose a threat to rubber bands!

[Anonymous]

Happy April Fools day to you too, Olli!

[kpolak]

I couldn't find this on the EPA site...??  I searched for 'toy trains', and 'electrically-operated toys'

If it hasn't been released, how can it be effective immediately?

Can you provide more information on where this came from???

Thank you,

Kurt

PS  My wife said she is in kahoots, with the other wives...

'They are on the forum all the time, buying trains, and hiding in the train room....can we just ban these things???'

[otftch]

"They can have my toy trains when they pry them from my cold dead fingers"

                                                                                   Ed

[bfskinner]

Olli Raopf, eh?

Swedish, I betcha!

[Anonymous]

Dr. Paul Wassermann, another prominent member and former president of
the Train Collectors Association, commented that most PULLMOR motor-
equipped trains were manufactured prior to 1985 and are already in
the hands of consumers; few (other than Lionel PWC) are being sold at
retail today.

EPA officials responded that they are well aware that the worst ozone-
emitting toy trains are now changing hands in private transactions
between collectors. The new regulations will be applicable to such
transactions.

Only trains that contain an open-frame motor and/or a liquid-type smoke
unit are affected by the ban. Therefore, enthusiasts are free to
continue to collect any steam locomotives that are equipped with
pellet-type smoke units and can motors.

Nice. I'm sensing April is involved here.

[Birds]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[alexweiihman]

 

 I just Got this email

 

Dateline: Washington, D.C.

Environmental Protection Agency will unveil new regulations on the
sale of electrically- powered toys, according to Stephen L. Johnson,
EPA administrator.

The measures are designed to improve air quality and therefore to
improve the health of millions of Americans who are affected by
respiratory diseases.

For over a century, toy electric trains have been powered by universal
motors that are usually operated by low-voltage alternating
current from a transformer. These toys emit copious sparks, both due
to poor electrical contact between brushes and commutator within the
motor and also due to the pickup rollers that collect power from the
middle rails of typical three-rail toy tracks.

Electric sparks have been shown to cause a chemical reaction that
converts harmless ordinary oxygen (O2) in air to toxic ozone (O3).
Ozone is an atmospheric pollutant that is of particular concern
in large urban areas such as Los Angeles. It causes respiratory
difficulties and is particularly a hazard to emphysema patients
and the elderly. Southern Californians are frequently advised to
remain indoors on days when the ozone levels are dangerously high.
Since electric trains are most frequently operated indoors, they
contribute directly to ozone in household air.

Therefore, effective immediately, toy trains that contain open-frame
electric motors may not be sold or distributed in the United States.
This restriction applies not only to toy locomotives that use motors
for propulsion, but also motorized accessories such as tenders that
simulate the whistle sound of a steam locomotive using a motor-driven
fan to blow air through a set of chimes.

A legislative assistant for Johnson was quick to point out that most
toy trains currently being imported from Chinese manufacturers are
exempt from the ozone regulation because they contain sealed can
motors. The EPA restriction applies only to toys with open-frame
motors. Few such motors have been manufactured in recent years, due
to their greater manufacturing cost, and also because can motors are
more energy-efficient. However, some toy train aficionados insist on
collecting engines "like they used to make them", and therefore
Lionel LLC continues to offer open-frame motors (now called PULLMOR)
in its so-called "Postwar Celebration Series", which is aimed at
adult hobbyists who seek to re-create the nostalgia of a 1950s toy
store.

One such customer is Gordon L. Wilson, a former president of the
30,000-member Train Collectors Association. Wilson, a retired school
teacher, has amassed an extensive collection of Lionel O-gauge trains
from the late 1940s and 1950s. One of his prized possessions is a
large blue and orange diesel, lettered "Jersey Central Lines", which
most toy train buffs call the "Trainmaster" . Wilson says it was
manufactured only in 1956 and that only a few thousand were made.
Unfortunately, the Trainmaster is among the biggest ozone emitters
targeted by EPA regulations, because it contains TWO Pullmor-style
open-frame motors.

Michael L. Marmer, one of the country's most avid collectors of
Gilbert American Flyer trains, says that PULLMOR was a Gilbert
trademark that has been co-opted. Lionel acquired American Flyer in
the late 1960s after Gilbert's bankruptcy. "PULLMOR wasn't a type of
motor; it was just rubber bands around two of the drive wheels," said
Marmer. "Rubber bands pose no threat to the environment. "

Dr. Paul Wassermann, another prominent member and former president of
the Train Collectors Association, commented that most PULLMOR motor-
equipped trains were manufactured prior to 1985 and are already in
the hands of consumers; few (other than Lionel PWC) are being sold at
retail today.

EPA officials responded that they are well aware that the worst ozone-
emitting toy trains are now changing hands in private transactions
between collectors. The new regulations will be applicable to such
transactions.

It turns out that one of the most active exchanges of toy trains in
the United States is at a semiannual members-only swap meet hosted by
the Train Collectors Association' s Eastern Division at the York Expo
Center in York, Pennsylvania. EPA inspectors will be on hand to
enforce the new rules at the upcoming event on April 19-21, 2007.

But ozone is not the only atmospheric pollutant emitted by toy
trains. Since 1946, deluxe locomotives have emitted simulated
smoke. A Lionel device invented by Frank Pettit in 1947 used solid
pellets of meta-terphenyl. The white, waxy substance was melted by a
heating coil and then vaporized; when the vapors mixed with cooler
room air, they deposited and formed a fine white dust that resembled
smoke. This dust soon settled on the train or the table and thus
posed little threat to the atmosphere. However, in 1957 Lionel began
substituting a new device that converted smoke fluid (a liquid
hydrocarbon) into a fog. This type of locomotive is now banned
because it emits volatile organic compounds (VOCs) into the
atmosphere. VOCs contribute to photochemical smog and global warming.

Lionel's chief competitors during the 1940s and 1950s were Marx and
American Flyer. Only Lionel used a solid smoke pellet; Marx and
Flyer always used smoke fluids. Furthermore, all so-called "modern
era" train manufacturers (including Atlas, Lionel LLC, MTH Electric
Trains, Weaver, Williams and the now-defunct K-Line) use smoke fluid.

Johnson is confident that banning ozone-emitters and VOC-emitters
will significantly improve the quality of the air we breathe, and
therefore will dramatically reduce the incidence of lung cancer and
emphysema. He said that the rules are simple and easy to
understand. Further, he emphasized that the regulations were
flexible and left many viable options for collector-operators . Only
trains that contain an open-frame motor and/or a liquid-type smoke
unit are affected by the ban. Therefore, enthusiasts are free to
continue to collect any steam locomotives that are equipped with
pellet-type smoke units and can motors.

Olli Raopf
Special legislative correspondent