COMPETITION HAS always brought out the best in toy train manufacturers. Just consider the fantastic accessories that Lionel and A.C. Gilbert brought out during the postwar era that represented similar but not identical answers to what the market wanted. Kids loved pretending that their trains hauled logs and coal, so each company created operating loaders. […]
THE EMD F3 DIESEL is the most recognized diesel engine, ever. Its image is a fixture from book jackets to advertisements for trainload carpet sales! And the locomotive also makes for a terrific S scale model from S-Helper Service. Between 1945 and 1949, more than 1,700 A and B units were sold to North American […]
SOME OF THE FINEST American Flyer accessories that the A.C. Gilbert Co. developed in the late prewar and postwar eras fit as nicely on O gauge layouts as they always have on S gauge railroads. For that reason, many of you should consider one or both of the animated Flyer stations being reissued by Lionel. […]
THE NEW REISSUE OF the American Flyer no. 787 log loader proves that, at least for toy train enthusiasts, the best things in life fit O and S gauge. Thanks to Lionel’s ingenuity, an accessory that began life as an S gauge item is now adaptable to O. I predict you’ll see plenty of these […]
BACK DURING THE HEYDAY OF Gilbert’s American Flyer S gauge, the Connecticut train-maker added a diesel switcher to its lineup. Over the years, the switcher, which debuted in 1956, was offered in Chicago & North Western, Seaboard, Minneapolis & St. Louis, and Texas & Pacific road names, often with a dummy unit. Today, Lionel has […]
S-Helper Service S scale EMD SW1 diesel switcher S-Helper Service has added to its Showcase Line of ready-to-run S scale equipment this good-running and nice-looking SW1 switch engine. The engine comes ready to run on AC power with hi-rail wheels, but the parts are included to convert it for scale track and DC operation. General […]
