Prewar predecessors Cranes that can lift miniature cargo, rotate as they hold it, and lower it into a tray or a piece of rolling stock have been toy train staples since the first part of the 20th century. Perhaps the first such accessory made in America – certainly, the most celebrated of the prewar era […]
Starting in 1935, Lionel cataloged six models based on the Commodore Vanderbilt. None had a 4-6-4 arrangement, yet the look of the Nos. 264E, 265E, 289E, and 1689E (2-4-2s) and 1508 and 1511 (0-4-0s) made it clear these O and O-27 toys were derived from the sleek, curved design of America’s first streamlined steamer. Louis […]
Lionel’s separate-sale items and accessories for 1959 Readers of our article on Super O and O-27 outfits cataloged in 1959 (September 2009 issue) will remember that the company experienced some earth-shaking changes in 1959. The turmoil started at the top, as Joshua Lionel Cowen sold control to Roy Cohn, his great-nephew. This confounding move by […]
Established as American Model Toys in 1948, AMT had challenged Lionel in three areas. First were streamlined passenger cars designed to be pulled by Lionel’s F3 diesels. Second, AMT brought out O gauge diesels, called F7s but more closely resembling F9s. The final niche AMT sought to fill was the one occupied by near-scale freight […]
For toy train collectors looking to up their game to include more and collectible pieces without breaking the bank, consider Lionel’s 2227W from 1954. Set No. 2227W, which had a retail price of $69.50 ($795 in 2023 dollars), relied on an iconic A-A combination of Santa Fe F3 diesels as its motive power. The […]
After Gilbert acquired the assets of American Flyer in 1938, it set out to develop a line of 3/16-inch scale models that ran over three-rail track. The firm announced the debut of a die-cast metal 4-6-4 Hudson and tender the next year. The men assembling Gilbert’s first S gauge line for 1946 were eager to […]
In the years after World War II, Lionel strengthened its presence in Canada by working closely with the heads of its sales office in Toronto. Roy Clarke and his son, William, represented the toy train giant and made sure Lionel had a significant presence in department stores and retail chains across Canada. Evidence of Lionel’s […]
Overlooked during the prewar era and for the first decade of the postwar, it inspired four O gauge diesels and an operating boxcar in the space of four years in the second half of the 1950s. Let’s focus on the No. 2240 F3s. Introducing the Wabash The Wabash Ry. was one of several lines crossing […]
Lionel no. 2460 crane car During the prewar decades, crane cars became one of the hallmarks of the Lionel roster, with the No. 500 derrick car added to the 2 7/8-inch gauge roster in 1903. However, the Standard gauge line that followed did not boast a crane until the No. 219 made its debut in […]
Lionel’s engineers reached greater heights in 1959 when the firm introduced the No. 44 U.S. Army mobile missile launcher. Lionel offered an example of motive power that could pull cars and carry out a task worthy of a separate toy. To this moment in Lionel’s history, the best that its locomotives could offer were lights, […]
Lionel’s automatic refrigerated milk car model No. 3672 is an updated version of the path-breaking car that Lionel enthusiasts of all ages loved when it debuted as the No. 3462 in 1947. The evolution of the milk car that culminated with the 3672. It is known among collectors of postwar trains as the “Bosco car.” […]
Quality Craft’s Bob Weaver produced a lot of brass O gauge models in the early 2000s. One that had never been done up until the time it was released (and maybe not since) is Milwaukee Road’s F6-a Baltic in 2009. What’s a Baltic? It’s a 4-8-4, more commonly known as a Hudson thanks to the […]
