Every six months, photos of O gauge trains traversing the snowy hills and quaint villages of a sprawling layout arrive at the office. What a treat! And they represent the outstanding modeling done by Gordon Hough with help from his mother, Jeannie, who finishes the scenery and paints the backdrops. No matter fast I try […]
The Lionel 2024 Big Book catalog is here! At 228 pages, there’s a lot of products to sort through. I’ve given it a good luck and have thoughts and observations. Maybe you do too. If so, leave a comment or send an email to editor@classictoytrains.com Roger Carp explained the history of when Lionel releases catalogs […]
We’re always adding new content to our website. Here are some recent items you may have missed. What is zinc pest? How does it affect my trains? Learn more in this article. High-rail versus traditional toy train modeling What should you consider when designing a train layout? Roger Carp explains more in his article. […]
Locomotives & rolling stock Mr. Muffin’s Trains has several custom-run items for sale. The first are MTH 50-foot Waffle Boxcars in two paint schemes with two road numbers each: Louisville & Nashville No. 101635 (20-99372), Louisville & Nashville No. 101640 (20-99373), Milwaukee Road No. 4307 (20-99374, shown), and Milwaukee Road No. 4311 (20-99375). Price: $69.95 […]
Jack Hedge, a lifelong O gauge enthusiast and talented layout builder, created the fictitious city of Hedgerton for his three-rail display. His layout features four loops and includes contemporary steamers and diesels from just about everybody, including Atlas O, K-Line, Lionel, Right-of-Way Industries, 3rd Rail, Weaver, and Williams. Jack outlines what he installed, beginning with […]
In the July 2005 issue of Classic Toy Trains, I wrote a story about adding MTH’s Digital Command System to medium- and large-sized layouts. Here are some other tips and tricks I learned when planning and physically installing wiring for DCS on my 19- by 19-foot O gauge layout. First, you should design your wiring […]
Glancing at the catalogs put out by the A.C. Gilbert Co. and the Lionel Corp. from 1952 or ’55 or ’58, you notice how similar the product lines were. Both Gilbert, which developed the American Flyer line of S gauge trains, and its rival marketed train sets at various price points to entice households with […]
No doubt about it, trains run better when you keep the rails clean. There are many commercial products on the market that get the job done, but when I clean my O gauge layout (see “Postwar gem in 55 square feet” in the November 2012 issue of Classic Toy Trains), I reach for my homemade […]
The age of miniscule computer chips has delivered sweet sounds to modern toy train locomotives. But such systems can add a sour note when they start acting “funny.” MTH’s original ProtoSound and ProtoSound 2.0 systems can create great anxiety when the systems backfire. The culprit is often a component that’s hardly hi-tech. It’s the battery. […]
In the October 2005 issue, I explained how to build a large terminal building for your O gauge layout. But the actual building is only part of a terminal complex. Whether it’s a terminal (with stub tracks ending next to it), or a station (with through tracks beside it), there’s almost always a train shed […]
Menards fictional city of Cripple Creek has expanded to include Sooty’s Coal Tipple (275-9271). Historically, coal tipples were located near mines. Small loads of coal would be brought up from the mines and dumped into a larger hopper car. Coal would be carried up into the tipple via a conveyor belt. Many tipples had a […]
One of the common drawbacks of tubular track, particularly older pieces, is inconsistent electrical conductivity. This is caused primarily by corrosion inside the rails interfering with the flow of power through the track pins. I tried a number of solutions, including soldering track together (bad idea), running jumper wires from center rail to center rail, […]
