POSTING MY LIONEL TRAIN LAYOUT AT A MORE APPROPRIATE TIME OF THE YEAR.

[chief38]

You better not change your mind, and decide that you like airplanes more than you like trains!

LOL!! If I were a pilot I'd love to get my hands on a DC-3 and a P51 Mustang. That said, I know both would be money pits as far as restoring them. At 67 in a few weeks, my Trains, Tools, as well as this hobby is enough!

 

[Kurusu]

Glenn Miller and his Orchestra

It's appropriate.

 

[Kinman]

That is quite an accomplishment, it must be very satisfying to get it all together at last. I've known a few guys that were very interested in trains, one had a layout so large that he needed openings in the middle to service or get access to something. His layout was the second floor of his garage, he had been in the railroad business as a kid. Another guy simply collected Lionel trains, no layout. He collected and rebuilt engines and cars and had all of the wall of his basement covered with trains. His wife would give him grief and his reply was "That is your retirement down there". When he died he left a few numbers for her to call, she sold everything to a couple of guys for over $100K at least that was the story. Both guys knew each other, I'm sure its a close knit group.

 

[bgrafsr]

That is quite an accomplishment, it must be very satisfying to get it all together at last. I've known a few guys that were very interested in trains, one had a layout so large that he needed openings in the middle to service or get access to something. His layout was the second floor of his garage, he had been in the railroad business as a kid. Another guy simply collected Lionel trains, no layout. He collected and rebuilt engines and cars and had all of the wall of his basement covered with trains. His wife would give him grief and his reply was "That is your retirement down there". When he died he left a few numbers for her to call, she sold everything to a couple of guys for over $100K at least that was the story. Both guys knew each other, I'm sure its a close knit group.

My brother-in-law has his train layout on the 2nd floor of his garage. I have not seen it, but according to my Wife it's something else.

 

[Kinman]

I have to appreciate what some of the guys go into with messing around with electric trains. The guy I knew that had the big lay-out showed me locomotive train kits in the boxes that were all die cast metal and incredible in detail, right down to exposed steam lines and tiny fittings, tons of moving parts. They were never intended to be put on an electric track, just minutely detailed engineering. Very impressive, hats off.

 

[pawngal]

Good job there!

For you model train buffs. This is a video of the set up at the local county fair grounds. It was started in 1947 by the then owner of the local radio station KICD-AM. The radio station has a building on the fairgrounds and that is where it is housed. Attracts thousands of visitors each year during the fair.
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwYkBiBDTZQ"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwYkBiBDTZQ[/ame]

 

[Eric300]

I've never been a 'train guy', I was more into HO & Slot Cars. But, I have to say, your set-up is pretty darn impressive!

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kS-vk9mPR8[/ame]

 

[RodD]

Did I see an Alco FA trio in there?

 

[soFlaNative]

Wonderful! I saw some Plasticville pieces that have been packed away for years and others I would have never dreamed existed. Thanks for sharing.
In the spirit of some of the shipping rants on this forum I'm guessing the drum and milk jug loaders were surplus USPS equipment?

 

[chief38]

Did I see an Alco FA trio in there?

YUP - you sure did!

 

[chief38]

Wonderful! I saw some Plasticville pieces that have been packed away for years and others I would have never dreamed existed. Thanks for sharing.
In the spirit of some of the shipping rants on this forum I'm guessing the drum and milk jug loaders were surplus USPS equipment?

Many of the Plasticville structures on the layout are old - but there are a few that I had to buy again because the originals were too far gone and missing pieces. Thankfully, the Plasticville buildings are pretty much identical to the originals (same interlocking joints) and so they look the same.

 

[chief38]

I just want to say this for anyone who is wondering about the "look" of the layout............

Everyone in the Toy Train hobby (like the gun hobby as well) has different aspects that they enjoy over others and so their priorities as to what their layout looks like is totally different. Some model their layout after where they live, some go for ultra realism, some for perfect scale and some for specific seasons or events.

My personal focus is on the Accessories! I've always enjoyed the trains but without the working accessories I think the layout would have been boring. Realism (for me) took a back seat to the working accessories and I was also not concerned that I was using Lionel 3 rail "tin-plate" tracks and switches instead of the more realistic track and switches they now manufacture.

I just wanted to mention that because I do occasionally get questioned about the track or something out of scale. To me it's a toy train layout that was built to be enjoyed and played with - not meant to be super realistic or mimic any particular scene or place. I basically used my childhood layout (that was way smaller and less sophisticated) as a basic model or start to what I built. I just wanted to mention that!

BTW some of the trains, locos and accessories are the originals from the set my Dad bought on the way home from the hospital the day I was born! They still run and operate perfectly - and we did not baby them either!

 

[chief38]

Thank you all for your kind words and I hope watching my video brought you back to happier times for a few moments!

Merry Christmas

Happy Hanukkah

Regards and best wishes for a Happy New Year!!

Chief38

 

[rkittine]

I still have my dads Lionel Standard Gauge trains, my O gauge Lionel Trains from my first birthday in 1949 (we lived less than 5 miles from the Lionel Plant at the time) my HO Gauge trains from my teens and my N gauge from my early adulthood. Never did anything that elaborate. Your layout is great.

Bob

 

[HorizontalMike]

I just want to say this for anyone who is wondering about the "look" of the layout............

Everyone in the Toy Train hobby (like the gun hobby as well) has different aspects that they enjoy over others and so their priorities as to what their layout looks like is totally different. Some model their layout after where they live, some go for ultra realism, some for perfect scale and some for specific seasons or events.

My personal focus is on the Accessories! I've always enjoyed the trains but without the working accessories I think the layout would have been boring. Realism (for me) took a back seat to the working accessories and I was also not concerned that I was using Lionel 3 rail "tin-plate" tracks and switches instead of the more realistic track and switches they now manufacture.

I just wanted to mention that because I do occasionally get questioned about the track or something out of scale. To me it's a toy train layout that was built to be enjoyed and played with - not meant to be super realistic or mimic any particular scene or place. I basically used my childhood layout (that was way smaller and less sophisticated) as a basic model or start to what I built. I just wanted to mention that!

BTW some of the trains, locos and accessories are the originals from the set my Dad bought on the way home from the hospital the day I was born! They still run and operate perfectly - and we did not baby them either!

Hey thanks Chief! I recognize many of your layout's gadgets that remind me of mine, back in the 1950s. Much fun and memories!

 

[arjay]

LOL!! If I were a pilot I'd love to get my hands on a DC-3 and a P51 Mustang. That said, I know both would be money pits as far as restoring them. At 67 in a few weeks, my Trains, Tools, as well as this hobby is enough!

There's always large scale RC,though the learning curve can be expensive lol
(Dropped a lot of money back in the day,but it was fun [emoji16])

 

[rkittine]

I got my type in a DC-3 back in the mid 60s and was fortunate enough to transition to a Cavalier P-51D Conversion in the late 60s, but fortunately that was paid for by Uncle Sam. Would love to have enough money to own and operate either, which I might then be smart enough to use that money for more useful stuff.

Bob

 

[HorizontalMike]

Flying Large RCs and Hang Gliders!

There's always large scale RC,though the learning curve can be expensive lol
(Dropped a lot of money back in the day,but it was fun [emoji16])

Yes it was! I only did RC Sailplanes too! The largest was 137in wingspan, and I flew that in between flying my hang glider. An inadvertent crash was easily in the $500 range, IF and only if the radio electronics survived (most of the time it did)...


Click link, if you have PowerPoint:
https://horizontalheavens.com/Hang Gliding.ppt