About Us

Classic Toy Trains Logo

Classic Toy Trains celebrates the fun of collecting, playing with, and displaying toy trains, especially from the 1930s to the 1960s and 1970s. The first issue was published in Fall 1987 and has since grown a loyal following of readers eager to read and share stories about childhood, Lionel, American Flyer, Marx, among other toy train topics.

Classic Toy Trains features articles written by such notables as Roger Carp — a.k.a “Professor Carp” a toy train aficionado and holder of a Ph.D. in American History; a regular Questions & Answers column; track plans you can build; how to stories; product reviews of the latest from the toy train industry, as well as helpful tips and advice on maintaining decades-old toys.

Here's just a selection of products we offer online:

Track Plan Database

A searchable index of PDFs and plans for trains and track primarily in O and S gauges.

Retro Railroad you can build – original

Layout videos

Video recordings from Classic Trains staff and contributors as well as submissions from readers of toy train layouts from around the country — many of which are rarely seen publicly.

David and Kent with their model layout.

Archives

Read our very first issue from Fall 1987 — online. With a new website, we’re able to offer PDF-versions of our entire catalogue of regular issues.

Digital