I decided that the three-rail layout was going to have an industrial theme. I wanted lots of smokestacks, guys in hard hats and safety vests, and tall cranes. Because my full-time job takes me into many facilities associated with a wide variety of industries, I already had good ideas and firm plans for how the layout should look. Specifically I desired realistic settings with certain types of structures and landscapes, all to provide the right environment for the contemporary diesels I enjoyed running.
My roster of locomotives remains exclusively Lionel. Most of the engines can be controlled by Legacy command control; two are LionChief Plus models. I have taken a slightly broader approach with rolling stock. Lionel models run with freight and passenger cars cataloged by MTH. My modern-era trains occasionally get coupled to some of the postwar cars from my father’s collection.
A typical operating session sees me operate two trains at the same time and doing so quite comfortably with my CAB-2 controller. A Lionel 180-watt brick supplies power to the track, switches, and uncoupler track.
See more in the Spring 2024 issue of Classic Toy Trains.
