'TIS THE SEASON FOR A ONCE AGAIN POST OF MY LIONEL ELECTRIC TRAIN LAYOUT

[chief38]

I originally posted this non professional video of my Lionel Electric Train Layout about 6 years ago when I completed it. Last year I did not post it, but I am doing it again this "train season". I know in the past some have given it likes and some new members here who have not seen it may be interested. I no longer live up North and no longer have a layout, and believe me, I miss it dearly! Feeling nostalgic, I am posting it here once again for those who would like to spend about 1/2 hour watching it. BTW, that is a friend of mine in the video who had helped me build the layout - not I.

We moved to Florida 3 years ago and my home here has no room for a layout as we downsized from over 5,000 sq. ft. to 2,500. Even if it did have the room, I don't have another 20 some odd years to devote to it once again. I auctioned off almost my entire collection as it would have taken me a decade to sell individual pieces off one by one and would have been too painful anyway. The auction company drove from Indiana to Long Island to pick up my collection. They went through the entire collection, photographed it and in one weekend sold every last piece. They took 20% but I guess it was worth it to do it this way. I did keep the original Lionel set that my Dad bought on the way home from the Hospital the day I was born - that will be handed down to my Son.

Anyway, here it is once again and I hope you guys can sit back this Holiday Season and enjoy it. PS: if you watch it on Youtube it will be a better viewing experience.

Regards,
Chief38


[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVSPq71i5gI[/ame]

 

[Eric300]

Pardon me, boys, is that he Chattanooga Choo- Choo?

Quite the impressive labor of love!

 

[desi2358]

Very nice!

 

[Martyk]

Very impressive! Thanks for sharing.

 

[llowry61]

I recall seeing it but had to watch it again. Really impressive.

When I was a kid there was a friend of my dads who worked as a farm manager for a wealthy owner. The owner had an entire pole barn set up for his train collection / layout. He had a raised platform in the center with all of the controls. Once a year we would go down and Carl would let me run some of the trains. For a kid in the 60's who had a little oval track one engine, a cargo car and a caboose it was like dying and going to heaven.

My grandfather was a railroad engineer, and my dad got a job working for the same RR P/T. He took me down one day and I sat on his lap while he drove a diesel electric engine in the yard. I can still remember it to this day. I was about 5 years old.

Trains do not seem to be as popular today as they were at one time.

 

[ameridaddy]

That left me smiling. When I was a kid, I lusted after some of those trains and especially the functional accessories. We couldn't afford them, but I could dream. Thanks for sharing -

 

[walkin jack]

I was just thinking about this recently. Your most excellent layout rekindles a long ago passion of my own. I could never have achieved your level of life-like realism but it is a great pleasure to see yours. Thank you for giving us a peek.

 

[JET4]

very nice, thanks for sharing

 

[Golddollar]

I recall seeing it but had to watch it again. Really impressive.

When I was a kid there was a friend of my dads who worked as a farm manager for a wealthy owner. The owner had an entire pole barn set up for his train collection / layout. He had a raised platform in the center with all of the controls. Once a year we would go down and Carl would let me run some of the trains. For a kid in the 60's who had a little oval track one engine, a cargo car and a caboose it was like dying and going to heaven.

My grandfather was a railroad engineer, and my dad got a job working for the same RR P/T. He took me down one day and I sat on his lap while he drove a diesel electric engine in the yard. I can still remember it to this day. I was about 5 years old.

Trains do not seem to be as popular today as they were at one time.

You just brought back a similar memory for me. My paternal grandfather was a railroad dispatcher in Punxsutawney, PA. I got to go to his office a view times and see all that was going on. I was just a little boy and just blown away seeing all of the telegraph keys and particularly the teletype machine. Granddad used to carry a copy of a railroad order in his wallet and one day he showed it to me. It was a pretty long drawn out directive, and he would have had to tap that all out letter by letter on a telegraph key.

 

[Jebus35745]

Loved trains as a kid, thanks for taking me back to my childhood. That's quite a layout, very impressive.

Played Santa on the Cuyahahoga Valley Scenic Railroad "Polar Express". Loved working so closely with the trains when we boarded to play Santa. We were literally 3' from the train, I would watch out of the hut door as the trains approached, living my childhood with real trains.

Actually got to ride with the engineer up front he was hanging out the window driving it. It was a bucket list thing I never thought i would have experienced. Larry

 

[boykinlp]

chief38, that's an extremely COOL setup! I must admit that I started out to watch SOME of your video, never imagining that I would watch the whole thing. But, I was fascinated by it, especially all the different accessories and how they worked! I have a few questions. First, and this may be impossible, but do you have a favorite piece? Second, was it difficult to wire it up the first time you put it together? Lastly, since I have NO clue as to value of this setup, what would you guess it cost to put it together? I would imagine that it was a painful experience getting rid of it! Thanks for sharing it with us.

I remember my younger brother getting a train setup for Christmas one year. His whole thing fit on a table top about the size of a ping pong table, and obviously, his trains were much smaller in size. I'm not sure what brand it was. I think he enjoyed it for a while, but lost interest, and I have no idea what happened to it.
Larry

 

[smitholdtimer]

"chief38" Exquisite Display of.........

Skill, Patience & Love, you have pegged the Ata Boy Meter with your display, thanks for posting and Happy New Year!

 

[chief38]

chief38, that's an extremely COOL setup! I must admit that I started out to watch SOME of your video, never imagining that I would watch the whole thing. But, I was fascinated by it, especially all the different accessories and how they worked! I have a few questions. First, and this may be impossible, but do you have a favorite piece? Second, was it difficult to wire it up the first time you put it together? Lastly, since I have NO clue as to value of this setup, what would you guess it cost to put it together? I would imagine that it was a painful experience getting rid of it! Thanks for sharing it with us.

I remember my younger brother getting a train setup for Christmas one year. His whole thing fit on a table top about the size of a ping pong table, and obviously, his trains were much smaller in size. I'm not sure what brand it was. I think he enjoyed it for a while, but lost interest, and I have no idea what happened to it.
Larry

Larry,

I had a bunch of highly collectible pieces worth thousands of dollars. As far as what the entire layout cost I stopped keeping track of that many years ago - didn't want my wife to freak out - lol. The 30 x 40 foot extension on the house itself was hundreds of thousands of dollars alone. There was also a basement dug out and finished under the train room that was my workshop. When I sold them I only got part of the costs back, but then again I never got into this hobby to make a profit. The good news is that I got to live my childhood dream of owning a railroad empire (LOL) and I got $200K more for my house than any other comp's in our neighborhood when we sold.

As far as my favorite trains..... it would have to be the original Lionel set my Dad bought me when I was born. That set I still own and would never sell it. Monetarily it is probably not even worth $1,000 now but to me it is priceless and something I could never replace.

I did use over 6,000 feet of wire, mostly 16 and 18 gauge, but did use 12 gauge wire for the main feeder lines. Wiring under the layout was difficult at best. Every single wire had to be stapled up on the wood and labeled so I knew what it was. I used an automotive creeper when I could but always had to work upside down when soldering connections, crimping connections and dark lighting conditions always required extra extra lamps under the layout. Navigating under all the uprights was not easy, especially having done most of the wiring in my late 60's.

The layout was "finished" when I made the video, but as every train collector and operator knows, it's always being tweaked, modified, improved and added to. It cost me a bundle to extend the house, build the room and layout - not even counting the cost of the trains. Oh - BTW, that train room also had a 15' x 20' cigar room balcony with exhaust and they required a separate electrical panel and electrical upgrade. After everything I know now would I do this again you might ask? If I was younger as when I bought that house - you betcha!

Some might say I wasted a lot of money - that has crossed my mind from time to time. What some will never know is the enjoyment, the challenges and fun I had building it, collecting it, operating it with a houseful of guests, the party's, we had and the perfect place for my cigar buddies to have a drink smoke a good stogie and relax. Don't know if I could put a price in that.

Thanks for watching the video, I know it's a bit lengthy.

The pictures below are cigar room as it overlooked the layout. I had a special exhaust fan installed in the ceiling (not a filter - an actual exhaust) not only for the cigars, but for all the smoke the trains produced when I ran 8-10 steam loco's at the same time! The next morning no one would ever know what happened in their the day before - no smell at all!

Regards,
Chief38

 

[BKLooney]

Outstanding Chief!

I best stick with guns...just seams cheaper that way!

 

[jeffsmith]

Impressive is the Operative Word

Not a "Waste" of $$ @ all
You enjoyed building it
I just had a Very Enjoyable 30+ minutes watching it

 

[Narragansett]

My father gave my lionel set away. It was basic, but I am sure worth something

 

[Baxter6551]

Thanks Chief for the memories!!
So THATS what happened to my cigar smoking Grandfathers pedestal ashtray from the lake house - it had lived alongside the identical leather chair (except in green leather) with the exact same butt depression in the cushion. I always looked forward to Christmas when I would trot down to the drugstore and buy the White Owl 5 packs to wrap for Grandpa for Christmas. And he always made it a point to tell everyone what I got him for Christmas. Mind you I had no trouble buying cigars between ages 8-15. They didn't card you then.
My Uncle was a Railroad Conductor on the Wabash Railroad. His pocket watch was handed down to my Father and then to me.

 

[pasound]

Very nice. Brings back stories of my maternal grandfather, who was an engineer on a small freight hauler for a trunk line of the C&O, and her brother, who was a repairman on a large C&O freight yard outside Ashland, Ky. He lived next to the yard and the ground shook when the big steam engines fired up. Was like cannon fire when one rolled out.

 

[smithman 10]

My Dad gave my older brother and me a basic set when we were boys.

Damn if I know what happened to it. I'll have to call Bob (my brother) and see what we did with it. Dad's been gone some 20 years now - I think about him every day.

But that video brings back memories of being a tyke and having fun with the train.

 

[llowry61]

Thanks Chief for the memories!!
So THATS what happened to my cigar smoking Grandfathers pedestal ashtray from the lake house - it had lived alongside the identical leather chair (except in green leather) with the exact same butt depression in the cushion. I always looked forward to Christmas when I would trot down to the drugstore and buy the White Owl 5 packs to wrap for Grandpa for Christmas. And he always made it a point to tell everyone what I got him for Christmas. Mind you I had no trouble buying cigars between ages 8-15. They didn't card you then.
My Uncle was a Railroad Conductor on the Wabash Railroad. His pocket watch was handed down to my Father and then to me.

This post reminded me that my grandmother used to give me a pocket watch at least once a year. Being the inquisitive little monster I was, none survived once the back was removed with a butter knife. I feel bad about that now because she quit giving them to me.

I do have my wife's grandfathers fobs he used. He was a heavy equipment operator, and they are all brands of tractors. Pretty cool.

On another note, Chief 38 you could have had an indoor range and a small train setup up for what you had in that!