Q: I’m having problems with my postwar Lionel diesel horns. One is in a no. 2343 Santa Fe F3 and the other is in a no. 2331 Virginian Train Master. Both locomotives are in like-new condition, and though I know I can buy a replacement horn, I’d like to keep them original and get the […]
Scale: O Scale
MTH O gauge Premier line DASH 8-40C

SIXTY YEARS AGO, if you’d lined up Alco, Baldwin-Lima-Hamilton, Electro-Motive, Fairbanks-Morse, and General Electric diesels and tried to pick which would rule 21st-Century railroading, few would have guessed it would be GE. After all, General Electric was a late-comer to the locomotive business and was chiefly known for supplying electrical components to other locomotive builders. […]
O gauge boxcab electric by K-Line by Lionel

INEXPENSIVE IS NOT BAD. Cheap is bad, but not inexpensive. Cheap means flimsy material and poor reliability. Inexpensive means “I’ll take two, instead.” Lionel seems to be steering the K-Line product line in a specific direction – and that direction appears to be smart, economical trains, rather than the high-dollar super-spectacular locomotives we came to […]
Atlas O Industrial Rail Starter Set video

Watch Bob’s video introduction of Atlas O’s Industrial Rail starter set. Only from Classic Toy Trains. […]
MTH Diesel Starter Set video

Here is a video of the MTH RailKing diesel freight set. […]
MTH Premier line P5a Electric locomotive video

ALTHOUGH THE SHAPE OF THE P5a BOXCAB bears a strong resemblance to a plastic cheese storage box, don’t let that fool you. This model illustrates the high level of detail that can go into a die-cast metal diesel or locomotive shell. […]
Atlas O Industrial Rail Starter Set video

Watch Bob’s video introduction of Atlas O’s Industrial Rail starter set. Only from Classic Toy Trains. […]
MTH Diesel Starter Set video

Here is a video of the MTH RailKing diesel freight set. […]
MTH Premier line P5a Electric locomotive video

ALTHOUGH THE SHAPE OF THE P5a BOXCAB bears a strong resemblance to a plastic cheese storage box, don’t let that fool you. This model illustrates the high level of detail that can go into a die-cast metal diesel or locomotive shell. […]
O gauge SD70ACe by Lionel

I’M VERY PLEASED TO NOTE that if I was mildly disappointed in Lionel’s scale-detailed GP7 (see November 2008 reviews), the firm’s O gauge rendering of a pinnacle of modern locomotion, the EMD SD70ACe, has more than made up for it in the Department of Wow. The prototype has plenty of detail points to model, and […]
Colorado & Southern Ohio Creek Extension

Name: Colorado & Southern Ohio Creek Extension Scale: On3 and On21/2 (1:48) Size: 28′-3″ x 29′-8″ plus 28′-0″ branch (Ruby-Irwin) Prototype: On3 Colorado & Southern with freelanced On2½ Elk Mountain Timber Co. Ry. Locale: Gunnison County, Colo. Period: late summer of 1942 Style: walkaround Mainline run: 100 feet Minimum radius: 37″ with easements Minimum turnout: […]
Somerset County Traction System, Easton & Amboy RR, and Harter Felsen Quarry Co.

Name: Somerset County Traction System, Easton & Amboy RR, and Harter Felsen Quarry Co. Scale: O (1:48) and On21/2 Size: 32 x 40 feet with 10 x 20 foot extension in crawl space Prototype: freelance Locale: north central New Jersey Period: September 1957 Style: walkaround Mainline run: 350 feet (SCTS), 225 feet (E&A), and 35 […]