Name: Terry Johnson
Forum User Name: tibet99
Railroad Name: Lionel Postwar Layout
Location: Michigan
Scale: 1/48
Theme: Classic Lionel postwar trains
Description: I have a decent high rail layout but got the urge recently to run my Lionel postwar trains.
I dug out my Kalmbach book “Classic Lionel Display Layouts You Can Build” by Roger Carp as well as his “Lionel Showroom Layouts”.
Seeing those neat vintage layouts reminded me of being a kid and how I enjoyed turning out the lights and just running the trains.
Free from realistic scenery, banked curves and Command control, I sought out to create what might be a typical layout of my dreams as a 10 year old.
I found out those dreams are still active some 50 years later.
In hope you enjoy my 4K video into the past!
TJ
Forum User Name: tibet99
Railroad Name: Lionel Postwar Layout
Location: Michigan
Scale: 1/48
Theme: Classic Lionel postwar trains
Description: I have a decent high rail layout but got the urge recently to run my Lionel postwar trains.
I dug out my Kalmbach book “Classic Lionel Display Layouts You Can Build” by Roger Carp as well as his “Lionel Showroom Layouts”.
Seeing those neat vintage layouts reminded me of being a kid and how I enjoyed turning out the lights and just running the trains.
Free from realistic scenery, banked curves and Command control, I sought out to create what might be a typical layout of my dreams as a 10 year old.
I found out those dreams are still active some 50 years later.
In hope you enjoy my 4K video into the past!
TJ
Nice layout. Looks exactly like something that would be in a department store window in the 1950s. I like the Santa Fe switcher with the ringing bell.
Hi James,
I’m sorry I have taken so long to answer you.
The table is 5′ 6″ by 14′.
Terry
Thank you for your replay. Can you tell me what size board you used for this layout?
Thanks
James
Hi James,
I started with a tentative track plan drawn to scale to get an idea of what track I needed to buy. Of course, as it is being laid, I came up with better ideas or solutions to problems like where I needed to place the supports for the upper track without interfering with the lower tracks.
I don’t have a final track plan but it may help to know that I used 0-54, 0-42 and 0-31 for the concentric tracks on the lower level. The upper loop and trolley segment use 0-31 tracks. I used the long 40 inch straight tracks where possible.
A lot of the fun was taking the initial track plan and modifying it by playing with different sections of track to come up with a pleasing plan. That process was gratifying and I felt like a kid again because I had no rules to follow.
Thanks for your comments and I hope you have fun with your project!
I very much have enjoyed watching your video. Is there a track layout for your layout available. I am designing a similar style layout, and yours would be a great help in incorporation some of your ideas.
Thanks for sharing your layout.
Hi Joseph,
I am impressed and glad that a younger person has embraced the “good old days” of someone their father’s age!
John Chambers…I’m glad you enjoyed the video. I agree with you.
I can’t think of any modern locomotive that can sit in an attic or basement for 60 years and run as well as these do.
Great Vid. I appreciate seeing the catalogued sets as referenced in your video. I’m in my late 30’s with two young children. Started collecting post-war Lionel two years ago. This is the type of layout for me.
I enjoyed your video of your classic Lionel layout. I too enjoy running the older Lionel engines and
accessories. I agree they are easier to both wire and maintain than many of the newer high tech
trains that are offered today.
What a great video! It brought back some good memories of when I used to drool as kid over those catalogues and the layouts that they had every year at our local Sears and Roebuck in Paris, Texas. Man, I’d be happy to have just one of those train sets, much less all that you have. The juxtaposition of the catalogue pages with the running trains was a nice touch as was the voice over. Thanks for sharing. It was an enjoyable “ride” back to the past.
Thanks for the nice comments everyone!
It’s always fun to share our trains and stories while discovering both the similarities and differences we enjoy in this diverse hobby.
Excellent!!! You made my day! I love Lionel trains. You captured the wonderful memories of “the best years”. My layout is 10X10 Post War Lionel with 5 independent loops a “Magic Mountain” and many postwar accessories. Enjoy! Happy Holidays.
Why does the Lionel video work, i.e., you can view it, but the Flyer clip doesn’t, and even the related Flyer articles don’t function either?
Terry, you have just proven that you “can go back”. Well done.
We share the same fascination with postwar sets, I have shelves under one leg of my layout with “recreated” sets from the 40’s and 50’s. Can’t run them at home (TMCC only), but four get taken to our local mall where a group of us have layouts in a storefront which is opened one Saturday each month for the public.
Terry, I enjoyed your video, and I see you and I think alike. Unfortunately my wife and I collect Gilbert postwar American Flyer from 1953 to 1960. We have shelves and a 4×8 foot display layout that we would of had as kids with all the Plasticville village, street lights, etc. I collected my trains by doing as you did reliving my youth and eventually replicating the sets. I don’t have all the set contents, boxes, etc, but who cares. My wife and I are having fun. Happy railroading.
What a nice respite from all the electronics of today!!. I’m only 65 yet most of todays digital wiring and systems are already over my head. I could wire the postwar stuff with my eyes closed haha. Makes me want to make another layout like yours just for the sheer pleasure of running trains.
Hi Joseph,
I’m glad I was able to help you go back to ’51 for a while.
I have several videos on YouTube. Search for TJ’s Trains….here is the link to my first one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDoSE3nzI00&t=190s
WOW! It’s Christmas 1951 on my grandparent’s small farm north of Dallas in Farmers Branch, Texas. Santa brought me a brand new Lionel 027 train set. Thanks Terry for bringing back so many fond memories of my youth. Love the contrast of your video presentation between the black and white beginning to living color on your post-war layout. Where can I find your hi-rail layout?
Very nice layout! Enjoyed very much. Looking forward to doing the same on my new layout in progress!
Hi Jim,
Yes, the roadbed is just cardboard like I may have had in the ’50s.
The hobby table that the layout is built on is used for everything from slot cars to Star War character scenes to Tonka Truck dioramas.
I didn’t want to change out the indoor/outdoor carpeting for this layout as it will probably be taken apart someday so I just used cardboard which will be easily removed.
Thanks for the comment!
TJ
Very nice classic layout! What is your roadbed, cardboard?