July 1999

July 1999

By Angela Cotey | October 19, 2020

| Last updated on November 3, 2020

In the pages of CLASSIC TOY TRAINS magazine you’ll find information about building, operating, and enhancing toy train layouts; track plans, repair and maintenance tips, profiles of collectible postwar and prewar trains, and more.

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Features

BUILD THE “IDEAL” LIONEL LAYOUT

By Carl Swanson , Robert Heffner

Toy train research brings a classic 52-year-old postwar layout drawing to life.

HOW TO SPOT REPAINTED LIONEL TRAIN MASTERS

By Len Carparelli

Identifying original Train Masters from repaints can be easy using these tips.

KEEPING TWO FLYER TRAINMEN HARD AT WORK

By Jeff Faust

American Flyer’s Smitty the Walking Brakeman car and Action Caboose both feature animated crewmen that are simple to repair.

THE ROAD OF ANTHRACITE

By George Hall

The Lackawanna Railroad inspired John Scully’s stunning hi-rail layout.

NEVER A TRAIN COLLECTOR – WELL, SORT OF

By Stan Merritt

Accessories, not the trains themselves, were the start of Stan Merritt’s well-rounded prewar collection.

LIGHTS AND A SMOKING CHIMNEY FOR COLUMBIA STATION

By Lee Vande Visse

Realistic lighting and a smoking chimney are simple additions that give any railroad structure an added dimension.

MARX OF DISTINCTION

By Fred Pauling

A few twists in Marx lithography created a world of variations for tinplate toy train collectors.

LIONEL’S BLACKENED TRIM MYSTERY

By Stuart Armstrong

In the late prewar years Lionel replaced nickel-plated trim with blackened steel trim on its tinplate rolling stock. Was it a move toward realism or just a material shortage?

UNION PACIFIC: UNLIMITED POWER

By Carl Swanson

The wide open West is great for big-time toy train modeling.

Departments

Editor’s Desk

Correspondence

News & Notes

Point of View

Product News

Weaver GP38, Marx New York subway cars, Ryobi cordless rotary tool

Questions & Answers

Product Reviews

MTH RailKing Commodore Vanderbilt Hudson

Lionel culvert loader

Williams E60 electric

Hartland Locomotive Works Large scale 2-4-0

Atlas O interlocking tower kit

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