Our preferred method of transferring a track plan to a flat tabletop uses a computer to download and print out the full-scale template of the Readers’ Choice Railroad so we can easily tell how track, accessories, and some scenery elements work on our 4 x 8-foot perimeter. Download the template here. […]
The first maxim in train collecting is that a train is worth exactly what someone is willing to pay for it. That said, price guides give some guidelines on current values for trains. In general, the Train Collectors Association has established several categories of condition that help in determining a train’s value: Mint or New […]
The Lionel Corp. used a four-digit number to identify its postwar rolling stock. In some cases cars also carried a one, two, or three-digit suffix. Though many times cars with the same number exhibit slight differences, or variations, Lionel usually assigned a new number if a car received major changes. While Lionel’s numbering appears haphazard, […]
Layout designer: Peter H. Riddle Scale: O Layout size: 5 x 12 feet Track type: Lionel O gauge tubular Minimum curve: O-31 Originally appeared in the February 2009 issue of Classic Toy Trains. Track plan Schematic Parts list Click on the link to download a PDF of this track plan. […]
Layout designer: Kent Johnson and Dana Kawala Scale: O Layout size: 5 x 10 feet Track type: Atlas O Minimum curve: O-45 Originally appeared in the February 2008 issue of Classic Toy Trains. Click on the link to download a PDF of this track plan. Track plan Schematic Parts list […]
Layout designer: John Penca Scale: O Layout size: 17 x 29 feet Track type: Atlas O Minimum curve: O-54 Originally appeared in the September 2009 issue of Classic Toy Trains. Click on the link to download a PDF of this track plan. Track plan Schematic Parts list […]
Layout designer: John Rusterholz Scale: O Layout size: 12 x 16 feet Track type: Lionel O Minimum curve: O-31 Originally appeared in the July 2008 issue of Classic Toy Trains. Click on the link to download a PDF of this track plan. Track plan Schematic Parts list […]
Layout designer: Kent Johnson Scale: O Layout size: 12 x 16 feet Track type: Lionel FasTrack Minimum curve: O-60 Originally appeared in the October 2009 issue of Classic Toy Trains. Click on the link to download a PDF of this track plan. Track plan Schematic Parts list […]
Lionel 2353 Santa Fe diesels and two streamlined passenger cars purchased through a Dutch website caused Daniel Biessels gave up HO scale modeling for O gauge and focus on postwar and modern-era models. Then he built a layout set in the Rocky Mountains that he calls the Glenwood Springs & Colorado RR. The arid scenery […]
Timken launched an advertising campaign showing rolling stock of the day decorated in Timken colors. Rectifier! This is a Conventional Classics-series reproduction of the Lionel no. 2505W Super O Virginian Rectifier freight outfit from 1958. Without the Super O track, of course. Frankly, this isn’t a set that would have wowed me as a kid. […]
Shark from Eddystone In a once-in-a-lifetime steam-to-diesel transition period, the Pennsylvania RR had enough money and enough traffic to buy groups of locomotives from all the manufacturers to test their mettle. Though the locomotives of Baldwin came up short, the Eddystone, Pa., firm made some distinctive models. I’m a sucker for just about any Baldwin […]
Dennis Brennan’s article on taking great photos of your layout (May 2011 issue) gives you the information you need to take the best pictures possible of your home railroad. […]
