Classic Toy Trains - Electric Trains From A to Z 2016

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100 YEARS OF TOY TRAINS

Electric Trains From A to Z

FROM A to Z ClassicToyTrains.com •

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100 STORIES THE TRAINS, PEOPLE, AND MANUFACTURERS THAT MADE THEM GREAT!

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FROM THE EDITOR ▶

HISTORY FROM A TO Z

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elcome to Electric Trains From A to Z! This special publication from Classic Toy Trains magazine takes a decidedly different approach. We think of it as a series of snapshots of the companies, industry leaders, and products that have made the electric train hobby so special to all of us. This volume contains 100 short essays covering an incredible variety of toy train topics from more than 100 years of toy train history – everything from A to Z! Here are capsule histories of companies that have become legends in American industry, such as Lionel, American Flyer, and Marx. Here also are stories of visionary leaders who shaped the hobby, men like A.C. Gilbert and Joshua Lionel Cowen. Just as intriguing are companies that once shone brightly and have now been forgotten, including Authenticast, Dorfan, Hoge, Kusan, Minitoys, Unique Art, and others you will find in these pages. The secret to success in publishing is finding the right authors, turning them loose, and staying out of their way! That’s certainly true here. This special publication was written by

Roger Carp and Bob Keller of the CTT editorial staff. If you need to tackle a project of this magnitude, these are the guys you want. Roger is a nationally known expert in the history of American electric train production. Bob has been reviewing new products and interviewing industry leaders for CTT for more than 20 years. Simply put, these are two of the most respected voices in the hobby. Even for these superstars, this publication proved a daunting project. How do you briefly sum up a subject as broad as “accessories” or as narrow as the obscure and long-vanished Yank Model Research? Now multiply that by 100 different articles! That being said, we had a lot of fun putting this together. From the Blue Comet to the Girl’s Train, Plasticville to the Noma talking station, Scout sets to State sets, the articles in Electric Trains From A to Z reflect the dazzling variety of electric trains like the facets of a diamond.

Carl Swanson Editor [email protected]

RETAIL QUESTIONS

Phone: 800-558-1544 Outside U.S. and Canada: 262-796-8776 Ext. 818 Fax: 262-798-6592 Email: [email protected] Web site: www.Retailers.Kalmbach.com Outside the United States and Canada, call us at 262-796-8776. Editor Senior Editor Associate Editor Editorial Assistant Art Director Photography Supervisor Production Coordinator Art and Production Manager Ad Sales Manager Ad Sales Representative Circulation Manager Single Copy Specialist

Carl Swanson Roger Carp Bob Keller Rene Schweitzer Elizabeth M. Weber William Zuback Sue Hollinger-Yustus Michael Soliday Paul Steinhafel Martha Stanczak Cathy Daniels Kim Redmond

Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing Daniel R. Lance Vice President, Content Stephen C. George Vice President, Consumer Marketing Nicole McGuire General Manager Brian J. Schmidt Corporate Advertising Director Scott Bong Corporate Art Director Maureen M. Schimmel Electric Trains from A to Z (ISBN 978-1-62700-468-8) is published by Kalmbach Publishing Co., 21027 Crossroads Circle, P.O. Box 1612, Waukesha, WI 53187-1612. Single copy price: $12.99 U.S., $13.99 Canadian and international, payable in U.S. funds drawn on a U.S. bank. (Canadian price includes GST.) BN 12271 3209 RT. © 2016 Kalmbach Publishing Co. Title registered as trademark. All rights reserved. Printed in U.S.A. Lionel and Gilbert catalog art reprinted with the permission of The Lionel Corporation.

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INSIDE A

Alco PA 5 Accessories 6 American Flyer 8 American Model Toys 9 American Models 10 Anniversary Set 10 Atlas O 11 Arttista 11 Authenticast 12

B

Blue Comet 13 Baby Ruth 13 Buddy L 14 Boxes 14

C

Carlisle & Finch 15 Chemically altered cars 16 Circus set 16 Clockwork 17 Club car 18 Colber 19 Command control 20 Conventional control 21 Cowen, Joshua Lionel 22

D

Department store special 23 Die-cast 24 Display 25 Diorama Studios 26 Dorfan 27

E

E-unit 28 Electric Set 29 European 30

F

F3 locomotive Fallen flags

G

GarGraves General locomotive Gilbert, A.C. Girl’s train

31 32 33 34 35 36

H

Hafner 37 Hell Gate Bridge 38 Hertz, Louis 38 Hi-Rail 39 Hoge 40 Hudson locomotive 41

I

Industrial Rail 42 Ives 43

J

J-Class locomotive Junior Bridge Co.

44 45

K

K-Line 46 Kris Model Trains 47 Kughn, Richard era 47 Kusan 48

L

Lithography Lionel Corp. Lionel LLC

49 50 52

M

MTH Electric Trains 54 Madison Hardware 56 Magne-Traction 57 Marx 58 Mickey Mouse handcar 60 Minitoys 61 Modern Era 62 Model Builder magazine 64 Motorized unit 65

N

New Haven (Flyer) 66 Noma 66

O

O gauge 67 Operator 68 Outfit 69

P

Paint sample Paper train Postwar era Prewar era Plasticville

T

3rd Rail 86 Train Master locomotive 87 TCA (club) 87

U

Uncataloged Unique Art

88 89

V

Variation 90 Voltamp 91

W 70 71 72 74 76

Q

QSI 76

R

Right-of-Way Industries 77 Ready Made Trains 77

S

Scout 80 Separate sale 81 Showroom layouts 82 State set 83 Standard gauge 84 Super O 85

S gauge 78 S-Helper Service 78 Scale vs. gauge 79

Weaver Models 92 Wide gauge 93 Williams 94 Wolf, Mike 95

X

X marking on boxes

Y

Yank Model Research

Z

ZW transformer

96 97 98

ALCO PA-1 DIESEL Advertising suggested the Alco PA-1 was a giant hunk of steel propelling a train quickly and safely. The carbody design seemed to be more fortress than passenger locomotive. The long, tall nose looked like a cinch to brush off damage from a grade crossing collision. It was big and brawny, and under the right circumstances, smoked like a steam engine. Powerful and eye-catching, they accelerated faster than the PA-1 was introduced after other brands; and they used World War II, just when railless fuel and lubricants. While roads were hungry the PA is now deemed a to buy anything failure, many of the with a diesel problems arose engine! from air-cooled The PAs The turbochargers were so large PA-1/ developed and smokey that PB-1 was for World railroad enthusiasts available War II aircraft dubbed them as 2,000(later these honorary steam horsewere replaced locomotives. power cab by liquidA unit or B cooled models). unit with no On the Santa Fe, crew cab. A later the PAs required three version, the PA-2/PB-2 protimes more maintenance duced 2,250 horsepower. down time than other pasSixteen railroads bought senger diesels. Even so, the the PA new, with the top five Santa Fe kept them on presowners being the Southern tige trains for nearly 30 years. Pacific (64 units), Santa Fe To a kid, these locomotives (44 units), Missouri Pacific (36 exuded class and power, but units), New Haven (27), and it was a decade before an S New York Central (20). or O gauge manufacturer Operationally, dynamomeintroduced a model. The A.C. ter tests on the Santa Fe conGilbert Co. took the leap in cluded the locomotives gen1950 with a two-motored unit erated more horsepower and for its American Flyer line of S drawbar pull at every speed; gauge trains. That model

used just four wheels per truck (unlike the real PA’s six wheels per truck), though it used a sideframe that made it appear to be a six-wheel job! Road names included Santa Fe (both the red passenger warbonnet and the blue freight livery), Missouri Pacific, and Union Pacific. In the modern era, Lionel has

continued to release the Alco PA as part of the American Flyer line. American Models introduced its own PA-1, with scale detailing and using sixwheel trucks. The O gauge market saw two PA-1 models introduced in 1991: Right-of-Way released a brass version while Williams Electric Trains offered a plastic model. K-Line, Lionel, and MTH made versions of the PA-1 in the later 1990s. The Alco PA is a historically notable diesel locomotive that you can find in S or O gauges in a variety of price and detailing ranges.

www.ClassicToyTrains.com

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Lionel 356 Operating Freight Station

ACCESSORY An accessory is, from a literal perspective, any object used with a toy train to simulate elements associated with railroading. A signal, a bridge, a station, a freight loader, a light tower, and a tunnel stand out as among the best-known and most common examples of accessories made and sold by toy train manufacturers in America and Europe. Each is a miniature version of a machine or facility full-size railroads depend on to function. Yet from a different angle, an accessory is a thing of magic, enjoyment, and wonder. It helps a model railroad, no matter what its dimensions, take on new life and pleasure. Every ancillary item used to enhance the appearance and operation of a toy train engages and deepens a commitment to that plaything. Little wonder manufacturers have been developing and promoting a range of animated accessories since the 19th century. German toy makers understood first the importance of designing replicas of the buildings and equipment used on railroads as a means of enticing enthusiasts to keep buying their playthings. Amer6 Electric Trains From A to Z

ican firms followed suit in the early 20th century, with Ives and Lionel bringing out passenger terminals, bridges,

Lionel 76 Warning Bell and Shack

switch towers, crossing gates, and semaphores to enable youngsters to create rail empires in their attic or

the floor of their bedroom. Eventually, designers at Lionel and its rivals used electrical devices, such as weightsensitive contactors and insulated track sections, to animate signals and stations so Standard and O gauge layouts became hives of activity without the touch of a finger. A breakthrough occurred in the mid-1930s with the introduction of Lionel’s gateman. Perhaps the most famous accessory ever, it entranced people from the get-go. A golden age in the history of accessories in the U.S. burst forth in the years immediately before World War II and continuing into the late 1950s. Tinkerers at Lionel and the A.C. Gilbert Co. found more ways to use solenoids, electromagnets, and vibrating motors to animate a host of freight loaders, floodlights, space-oriented facilities, magnetic cranes, water towers, and massive bridges. Children responded with enthusiasm, insisting their layout include many of them.

Lionel 182 Magnetic Crane

American Flyer 107 Station

Marketers at the principal American toy train producers capitalized on the creativity of their engineering departments as well as outside contributors to herald expansive lines of accessories. They did so to deepen the loyalty of their customers and thus ensure that the boys and girls receiving a train set remained committed to the hobby for a number of years. Indeed, accessories proved to be essential toward strengthening model railroading. Recent decades have witnessed domestic train makers, notably K-Line and MTH

Electric Trains, reviving classic accessories from the postwar decades by outfitting them with improved motors and more reliable mechanisms. As important, Lionel has taken significant strides to develop new and more elaborate accessories reflective of the contemporary rail scene. Operating models of massive cranes and repair facilities delight today’s layout builders while introducing a new generation of hobbyists to the marvels and magic of operating accessories.

Gilbert 23796 Sawmill

Lionel 45N Automatic Gateman WANT MORE INFORMATION? Further reading: Lionel Trains: Accessories (special-interest publication from Classic Toy Trains, 2014).

www.ClassicToyTrains.com

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AMERICAN FLYER What a perfect name for a toy train! The name conveys

enthusiasts appreciated the scale detail perfectly the blend of speed and patriotism that young boys find and realistic track over which replicas of Alco PA diesels and 4-8-4 Northern so intoxicating. No wonder American Flyer has in some fashion steamers led freight and passenger played a prominent role in the domestic toy train market for trains. The best parts of the line included refrigerator cars, tank cars, and streammore than a century. lined coaches and dome cars, along with The roots of American Flyer go back to innovative accessories, such as coal and Financial difficulties drove the Cole1908. William F. Hafner, who had started log loaders, animated light and water man family to abandon the Wide gauge making O gauge mechanical trains three towers, and contemporary stations. field in 1936. In 1938, they sold the O years before, joined with William O. Cole- gauge line to the A.C. Gilbert Co., a Declining demand undermined the Gilman to expand his operation. In 1910, bert Co., and it went out of business in respected toy firm in New Haven, Conn. they named their enterprise in Chicago 1967. Lionel obtained its assets, but no Naturally, the American Flyer name American Flyer Manufacturing Co. After new S gauge trains reached the market. remained an asset to Gilbert. Hafner left to establish his own toy train That changed in 1981. Lionel (under The Gilbert Co. took a step forbusiness, Coleman broadened his prodthe control of General Mills) ward in 1938 by introducing 3⁄16-inch scale trains operuct line in 1918, when his firm manufacrevived the Flyer line. Ever ating on three-rail track. tured its first electric trains, some with since, the rejuvenated list American Flyer It continued to produce battery-powered lights and bells. of sets, motive power, entered the toy train those models, but American Flyer reached its peak and rolling stock has after World War II between 1925 and 1936. Highlights of pleased S gaugers. market in 1908, modified them to run the company’s catalog during that Lionel, initially conand it has remained over two-rail track. decade included a number of beautiful tent with reviving moda presence in Along with new rolling Wide gauge passenger sets led by eleels from Gilbert, began some way stock, those steam gant, powerful electric-profile engines. bringing out entries with ever since. engines became the Among those classics stood the Presinew road names. Soon, its foundation of American dent’s Special and the Pocahontas. engineers were creating new Flyer S gauge. Gems in the O gauge roster, notably locomotives and cars. The marFrom 1946 through 1966, the Amerimodels of well-known streamliners such ket took notice, rewarding the effort can Flyer line remained an important as the Zephyr and the Hiawatha, also while pushing Lionel to keep expanding segment of the toy train hobby. S gauge delighted model railroaders. its American Flyer catalog in recent years. 8 Electric Trains From A to Z

AMERICAN MODEL TOYS Even though it was based in a small town in Indiana and was in existence for less than a decade, American Model Toys (eventually to be renamed Auburn Model Trains) still managed to change the development and marketing of miniature electric trains in postwar America. AMT continued the tradition, seen in every field in economic and financial history, of upstarts leaving a mark because they altered how business was done. Led by Jack Ferris, AMT was another of the newcomers that found a niche thanks to a clever product. The key to success for AMT was to accomplish what every producer of electric trains had made it their mission to do: replicate in miniature what was seen on fullsize railroads. After World War II, lines large and middling were converting their passenger trains from old-fashioned heavyweight cars to beautiful, almost futuristic stainless-steel streamliners. Leave it to the ingenious Ferris to observe the evolution and bring out O gauge versions in 1948. Smart guy that he was, Jack made sure his couplers were compatible with Lionel’s. Ferris and his chief engineer, Carter Collier, searched for other trains missed by Lionel. In 1952, AMT brought out a series of near-scale freight cars with realistic paint schemes. The O gauge models made a huge

In1952, AMT announced a series of near-scale freight cars with realistic paint schemes. The O gauge models made a huge splash.

splash, notably boxcars with multiple-color designs. The next year, the firm challenged Lionel with a group of diesels patterned after the F7. The ambitious Ferris aimed in 1953 to use his diesels as the motive power for train sets packed with straight and curved track he was now producing. Even so, competing against Lionel, which had been quick to imitate what AMT was manufacturing, proved next to impossible. Jack looked to get out of the field and, before the end of 1954, had sold his firm’s diverse assets to Kusan Inc., a toy maker in Nashville, Tenn.

WANT MORE INFORMATION?

Further reading: “The Story of American Model Toys,” Classic Toy Trains, September 1994, pages 90-96 and CTT, December 1994, pages 66-72.

www.ClassicToyTrains.com

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AMERICAN MODELS

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merican Models, based in South Lyon, Mich., makes a full line of S gauge trains. The company offers locomotives, freight and passenger cars, a transformer, and a track system. Company founder Ron Bashista started the business because he was upset with timely delivery of products and their limited availability in S gauge. The company, widely known for attractive and durable S gauge products, began modestly in 1981. Over time, however, it expanded to

include 15 types of diesel and electric locomotives, three steam locomotives, and a wide range of freight and pas-

senger cars, including dieselera Budd streamliners as well as an Amtrak Superliner. American Models produces

ANNIVERSARY SET Any business able to last half a century in a highly competitive market should be saluted. That was the attitude at Lionel in 1950, when its leaders surveyed what the firm had accomplished since its founding in 1900. Publicity in mass-circulation magazines represented a great way for Lionel’s leaders to remind people of their dominance in the electric train market.

a big line of flexible and sectional S gauge track, switches, and specialty track sections.

Lionel cataloged for 1950 the no. 1464W O-27 passenger outfit with Alco FA diesels and three cars all painted bright yellow with a gray roof.

What would Lionel add to its line to commemorate its golden anniversary? Today, a business would mark such a milestone with an avalanche of products. Back in 1950, Lionel took a modest approach. About all the public saw was a new and eye-catching passenger train whose colors led collectors to since nickname it the Anniversary Set. The no. 1464W outfit featured the new no. 2023 models of the Alco FA diesel painted in a yellow scheme with red and gray highlights. The hue reminded consumers of gold – a color associated with 50-year anniversaries. The A-A duo led three O-27 streamlined passenger cars cataloged in yellow for only that year. The elegance of the train has been pleasing enthusiasts since 1950.

ARTTISTA ACCESSORIES

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ATLAS O The Atlas Model Railroad Co. prides itself on

maximum realism. Originating as the Atlas Tool Co. in the 1920s, the firm shifted to model railroading in the late 1940s under the direction of Steve Schaffan Jr. The company set high standards for producing quality products in both HO and N scales. In the early 1970s the firm flirted with O scale, but the three-rail market was nostalgia based and there was little commercial demand for two-rail scale trains, so the company retreated. Fast-forward to the 1990s and the three-rail market was booming. Atlas saw the potential for growth, announcing Atlas O with a one-two-three punch: They were going to offer scale structures, a realistic track system, and locomotives and rolling stock with unparalleled levels of detail. The Atlas 21st Century Track System comes with a base of ties that are textured and spaced prototypically, and the rails are made in the shape of actual railroad rails. Locomotives are immaculate in their detailing. The first model launched was the AEM7 electric that faithfully detailed the body extrusions, exterior lighting, and pantographs. The line expanded with diesels by Alco, Electro-Motive, FairbanksMorse, and General Electric. The detail of their rolling stock rivals the best artisanbuilt products. The Atlas O wood-side refrigerator cars have created their own base of collectors, and the firm’s California Zephyr passenger set may be the most highly detailed cars made in O scale. To totally embrace the O gauge market, Atlas also launched the Trainman line of scale sized and detailed trains with less complex detailing for the mid-range market. Its Industrial Rail line serves the entry-level portion of the hobby.

ou can have a layout with worldclass scenery, handcrafted structures, and $1,000 locomotives. But if you don’t have people – walking down the street, sipping a bottled drink, or cleaning a locomotive’s headlights – your railroad lacks the spark of life. That was what Dennis DiBattista encountered when his son, Brian, rekindled his interest in O gauge trains! The choices to populate Traintown were limited to figures made to populate Marx or Plasticville structure kits. After experimenting with creating plastic figures, DiBattista decided metal castings would deliver the best results. He worked with Bowser Manufacturing and found perfection in the figures they created. Thus Arttista Accessories was born. Since then, Arttista has produced an extensive line of metal figures and detail pieces in O and S scales available fully painted or unpainted to allow you to personalize your scale model population. Key marks of the figure line are realism – scaleproportioned human beings doing common things: firemen on the job, train crewmen, and railfans shooting pictures. With the wink of an eye, Arttista mixes in humor as well: Dogs tugging at a mailman’s pant leg, a Big Foot for your forest, or the couple smooching in a car are just a few examples. From a small cottage industry, Arttista Accessories has grown and taken up an important place in the realm of layout scenery and decoration. www.ClassicToyTrains.com

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AUTHENTICAST

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iniature figures – laborers, travelers, conductors, and baggage handlers – were essential for layouts. But figures were next to impossible to come by until late in the prewar era. The situation improved after World War II. For a few years, modelers could populate their railroads with Authenticast sets. Comet Metal Products opened its Richmond Hill, N.Y., factory in 1919. Abraham Slonim established his business to mold pieces from an alloy of lead and zinc, including toy soldiers. His sons Joseph and Samuel expanded the offerings after they patented a better method of casting metal. Representatives of the A.C. Gilbert Co. saw the benefits of using the improved technology and contracted with Comet in 1939 to create painted figures for its accessories. That arrangement had

12 Electric Trains From A to Z

to be postponed during World War II. But Comet thrived producing replicas of ships, tanks, and aircraft for the American armed forces. Once peace had returned, the Slonims resumed molding railroad figures and soldiers. Decoration was done by a firm in Ireland known as Authenticast: Comet Gaeltacht Industries. Respected sculptors of miniatures expanded the list of figures

Sets of miniature travelers and laborers, along red-whitewith highway signs blue packand railroad structures, ages filled out the labeled for Authenticast Authenticast. catalog. Comet did so

Comet made, a turn of events that gratified the Gilbert Co. Yet while sales of figures for the American Flyer line rose, the Slonims were weighing the advantages of marketing their own sets. They brought out sets of figures as well as railroad and highway signs in

without missing a beat in its work for Gilbert and Minitoys. The Slonim brothers brought out in 1951 small structures made out of pressed wood with paper details: a newsstand, a hot dog vendor, and a waiting station. New items made up for the setback felt in 1950. A fire had shut down the Comet facility in Ireland, putting an end to the production of figures and signs. Weak sales drove Comet Metal Products to abandon model railroading later in the 1950s. The structures hardly lasted. Neither did HO scale trestles and rolling stock. But the wonderfully crafted and hand-painted figures served as the legacy of Authenticast.

Lionel introduced a Standarg gauge outfit in 1930 that was inspired by the Blue Comet train on the Central Railroad of New Jersey.

BLUE COMET In the second quarter of the 20th century, when passenger travel in the U.S. was at its most glamorous, the introduction of a new train made headlines. Such was the case in 1929, when the Central Railroad of New Jersey heralded an express in an attractive two-tone blue paint scheme. The Blue Comet ran between Jersey City and Atlantic City, N.J. Toy train makers soon followed with miniature versions of the grand trains. Magnificent sets bearing the name Blue Comet arrived shortly thereafter. First came a superb Wide gauge fourcar train led by a 4-6-2 Pacific decked

out in dark blue and black. Boucher, a company based in New York City, announced its set in 1929. Lionel responded just a year later with the no. 396E, the first of three basic iterations of its Blue Comet. Top-of-the-line

BABY RUTH

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tarting in 1936 and continuing for most of the next 22 years, Lionel made boxcars with the name of a candy bar. An agreement with the Curtiss Candy Co. of Chicago made it possible for O-27 models to promote Baby Ruth. That chocolate-covered treat with peanuts, caramel, and nougat hit counters in 1921. Boxcars with lithographed images of a sliced Baby Ruth bar atop a plate offered

something sweet. Lionel churned out hundreds of thousands of nos. 1514, 1679, and 2679 cars before World War II erupted. Then issues of Model Builder magazine released during the war advertised Baby Ruth. A year after resuming production of electric trains, Lionel was back to promoting candy. Gone was the picture of a Baby Ruth bar ready to be munched. Instead, only the name appeared across

steamers always pulled the three-car outfit, which remained in the catalog through 1939, making it the longest running of Lionel’s Standard gauge sets. Cheered by interest in the 396W, Lionel painted three of its O gauge no. 600-series passenger cars in a two-tone blue scheme and paired them with a matching no. 263E steam engine and tender in 1936 to create set no. 283W, nicknamed the “Baby Blue Comet.” A later version, the no. 194W, featured rolling stock with updated couplers. Both Blue Comet sets lasted in the cataloged line through 1939 (the final year Lionel advertised Standard gauge trains). Two years later, the Jersey Central curtailed service of its Blue Comet.

from a Pennsylvania RR herald on nos. X2454, X4454, and X6454 boxcars cataloged between 1946 and 1949. The same was true on the models with non-opening double

doors placed in Scout sets between 1948 and 1952. Similar Baby Ruth boxcars molded in white, red, or orange plastic became the rule through 1958.

BUDDY “L”

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hat youngster hasn’t dreamed of being able to ride in his or her toy train, feeling the rush of the wind and breathing in the smells of freshly cut grass and fragrant flowers? Young Arthur Lundahl experienced something simimotive parts his business lar almost a century ago. He made, he designed a miniacould ride on the massive ture truck in 1920 large steel locomotive and rolling enough for Buddy to straddle. stock his indulgent Within a year, kids yet ingenious in East Moline, Ill., father made were asking for for him. Fred their own The 1:20 scale Lundahl, trucks. Fred trains made by the founder of launched Moline Pressed Steel the Moline mass-proCo. took the name Pressed duction and Buddy “L” after the Steel Co., soon young son of the wanted betswitched to firm’s founder. ter toys for toys excluhis son, nicksively. The line named Buddy. So, grew to 38 items in addition to the autoby 1926, including what

Lundahl named the Outdoor Railroad System. Thus was born the Buddy “L” line of large and durable pressed steel trains capable of being used outside. Lundahl and his chief engineer, Erick Erickson, expanded the Outdoor Railroad System until at its peak it boasted a 4-6-2 Pacific steam engine and tender, 14 types of rolling stock, and sections of straight and curved track (3¼ inches between the rails) laid across a backyard or field to create a rail empire. All a kid needed to get the 1:20 scale train

moving was a sturdy set of legs – and a family with a sizable pocketbook. Alas, the Great Depression undermined sales of all the trucks and trains. Fred introduced a slightly smaller train in 1929, the year before he died. Nothing helped, not even a lightweight pulling model of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy’s streamlined Zephyr brought out in 1935 and carried through 1939. Ownership of the company changed hands about that time, and Buddy “L” survived as a producer of toys.

BOXES Cardboard boxes have

been the preferred method for packaging toy trains for at least the past century. Light containers fashioned out of wood gave way to paper products in the early years of the 20th century. That change meant the packaging was far less durable; therefore, many boxes ended up ripped or damaged in another way and often discarded.

Too bad because boxes served purposes beyond protecting a train during shipment. Ives, for example, printed attractive landscapes on its boxes, thereby encouraging consumers to collect them to form backdrops for layouts. Lionel pasted illustrations of kids enjoying its trains on prewar set boxes. Ever since, train makers have designed boxes with pleasing colors and fonts the public associated with them. Yellow and blue served the American Flyer line during the early postwar era. Orange, blue, and white conveyed the image Lionel cultivated from the 1930s through the 1950s. Boxes took on a more functional role during the past halfcentury. Consumers wanted to view the trains they were con14 Electric Trains From A to Z

sidering buying. Clear cellophane panels and perforated openings became standard. Manufacturers relied on inserts and Styrofoam pieces to secure trains and prevent damage. Children once paid little attention to the boxes holding their engines and signals. Their indifference translated into the loss of many packages. So, collectors find matching the right box with their train to be expensive and time consuming. Take the Lionel no. 2367 Wabash F3 diesel A-B duo cataloged in 1955. Models in excellent condition without original boxes can be obtained for around $600. Yet only a box used to hold the B unit sold over the Internet for $750. The top bidder felt fortunate to win it, even without the model!

CARLISLE & FINCH The business established in Cincinnati in 1894 to produce what were then referred to with awe and amusement as “electrical novelties” should not be extolled as the birthplace of the American electric toy train. An enterprise in New Jersey generally earns that distinction. Still, the Carlisle & Finch Co. deserves to be remembered for what it accomplished and how it played a major role in the burgeoning market in the last years of the 19th century and into the next. Anyone studying the history of our hobby is advised to pay attention to Carlisle & Finch and its achievements. Morten Carlisle and Robert Finch collaborated to capitalize on the magic of electricity by producing motors, searchlights, and military items. Toys tempted them as well, but hardly seemed lucrative. Still, the two inventors brought out in 1896 an electrically powered replica of an ordinary trolley that operated over three-rail 2-inch gauge track – a wet-cell battery provided the power. It could be purchased with a non-operating version. Positive responses from customers motivated Carlisle and Finch to broaden their line in 1898 with a miniature mining train running over the same 2-inch-wide track now with only two rails and still depending on wet-cell batteries for the direct current. Their company introduced an 0-4-0 steam-profile locomotive and tender in 1899, along with a baggage car and passenger coaches. New freight cars numbered two: boxcar and gondola. Carlisle & Finch stood out as the first U.S. company to produce in volume electrically powered models of trains. The roster grew in the opening decade of the 20th century, with a stockcar, a crane car, and a caboose added. Its locomotives and railcars delighted with their painted details, fetching colors, and lithographed paper labels carefully pasted on the car sides. Even as competition in the domestic toy train market heated up after the turn of the 20th century, Carlisle & Finch went on innovating. Improved versions of the firm’s interurban and steamer arrived in 1903. More impressive was the steam engine making its debut a year later – the handsome no. 45 4-4-2.

WANT MORE INFORMATION? Further reading: “Carlisle & Finch” in Greenberg’s Guide to Early American Toy Trains (1993).

The large roster of locomotives and interurbans, rolling stock, and track sections welcomed accessories. Rudimentary yet attractive stations provided more for kids to do with their train; so did the truss and suspension bridges shown in

came to life in the city of Cincinnati. How long Carlisle & Finch might have remained a player in the market tantalizes. Sales were steady through the 1910s. Once the U.S. entered World War I in 1917, the firm prodded by federal

the Carlisle & Finch catalogs. Yes, someone besides Lionel did catalogs. Also, Carlisle & Finch recognized the advantages of combining a train with track and an accessory in the same package to create what the toy industry universally refers to as a set. The notion of offering everything necessary to build a miniature railroad empire therefore

authorities abandoned toy production in favor of military contracts. It never returned to trains. Carlisle & Finch remains in business to the present day in Cincinnati as a manufacturer of searchlights and maritime products, more than a century after quietly bidding good-bye to the world of miniature electric trains. www.ClassicToyTrains.com

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CHEMICALLY ALTERED CARS

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he search for rare and unusual toy trains never ends. Hobbyists hunt for unique items to distinguish their collection and boost their ego. Match a guy desperate to have what no one else has with a greedy dude lacking scruples and you set the stage for fraud. In the early 1980s, a pair of

unethical dealers discovered they could take common Lionel models from postwar days and, by dipping them into a chemical solution available at dry cleaners, change the color of the unpainted plastic body or the heat-stamped lettering. A great example was the no. 3562-50 yellow operating barrel car. Chicanery blended with Chemistry 101 to trans-

form that ordinary piece into a one-of-a-kind white model. Then the dishonest buddies looked for collectors with ample wallets, promising a rare variation picked up from an old-timer who had formerly worked at the Lionel factory. The scheme proved as smooth and successful as hoped by the con men. The two kept finding gullible buy-

ers, and their supply of unique Lionel models somehow kept increasing. Skeptical collectors investigated the so-called rarities, uncovering the truth. Their vigilance and research put an end to an episode of intended fraud. But the factors behind the incident haven’t disappeared. So don’t think bad guys ever quit trying.

CIRCUS SET Youngsters love the circus – almost as much as they love

electric trains. Therefore, an insightful marketer would conclude, it would be brilliant to combine them. Create a set painted in bright colors and lettered for “The Greatest Show on Earth.” Include flatcars with cages for tiny animals and wagons for the sideshows, plus cars for the performers.

16 Electric Trains From A to Z

Ives broke ground with a terrific yet largely forgotten Wide gauge circus set cataloged during its final years in business. Less than 10 years later, Lionel went further when it capitalized on the popularity of Mickey Mouse to develop an O-27 set with a train and loads of circus-oriented paraphernalia. The next ringmaster was A.C. Gilbert, whose toy company decided to revive the concept in 1950 with the American Flyer no. 5002T Circus Train. That landmark S gauge set, which Gilbert cataloged for only another year after, featured a no. 353 red-painted 4-6-2 Pacific steam engine and tender, two no. 643 yellow flatcars with trucks pulling red and blue cages, and a no. 649 yellow passenger car. Also included in the set box were figures of trainers and clowns plus four cardboard sheets with die-cut items to be punched out and assembled into a tent, a hot dog stand, three rings, and circus wagons.

CLOCKWORK TRAINS

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ay clockwork today and people might think of their grandfather’s Big Ben alarm clock by Westclox. But an often forgotten part of model railroading is the use of a clock mechanism to propel trains along an otherwise unpowered railroad. The reasons were simple. Back in the days before easy access to electricity (or the financial resources to buy an early locomotive powered by electricity), people would rather see their train move on its own than by hand power. In the 1890s, clockwork layouts could be complex and operate with a timetable using several locomotives. The next level up involved live steam-powered model railroads and, generally not considered,

layouts with trains powered by toxic batmine how to have your train slow and teries. In the United States and Europe, stop right at the station, rather than fall locomotives powered by electrified track short or shoot past it. eclipsed clockwork trains, but keyU.S. rural electrification didn’t hit the wound trains didn’t have anything to 90 percent range until the 1970s, so apologize for. there were still plenty of kids who The concept was easy. The loved trains but didn’t have length of a spring in a power to run one. AmeriU.S. clockwork mechanism can Flyer, Hafner, Ives, electrification could dictate how long and Marx embraced didn’t hit 90 the locomotive would clockwork trains for at percent until ’70s, run. Surprisingly, 40 or least part of their there were still plenty 50 feet was not product line. Clockof kids wanting beyond their reach. work trains are a bit of trains but didn’t After governors were a novelty today, but have power. developed to help conthey have a proud histrol their speed, there was tory of bringing train opera bit of a science to deteration to hobbyists. www.ClassicToyTrains.com

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CLUB AND CUSTOM-RUN CARS Perhaps unique to the electric train world, large manufacturers will entertain the task of producing custom-painted freight cars, passenger cars, and even locomotives for private customers. Oh, it is a business transaction, with the manufacturer charging for design time, production, and decoration of the items, and shipping to the buyer. The buyer then sells the car at a price it determines. While customers are most often model railroad clubs, individual hobby shops, businesses, social organizations, and tourist attractions often have special cars made to commemorate conventions, anniversaries, and other celebrations. For example, Classic Toy Trains magazine had special commemorative cars made for its 5th, 10th, 15th, and 20th anniversary years – each made by a different manufacturer. Motives can simply be to salute a particular railroad road name, vintage product brand, or even a sports team. There were at least 18 Electric Trains From A to Z

two cars commemorating the car or be pure fantasy. The sky is departure of 1999 and the arrival the limit. Most club cars are made of the year 2000. and decorated by the car’s manuThere can be a collectible edge facturer, but occasionally cars are to it as well, since the Train Colbulk purchased and decorated by lectors Association has another company. special cars made up As with many things (often in multiple in the world of elecAs with many gauges) for its tric trains, buy one annual convenbecause you like things in the world tion. it, not because of electric trains, Designs can you anticipate a buy one because run from rise in value. you like it, not authentic to Club cars are a because you garish. Some fun (and unpreanticipate a rise may emulate a dictable) aspect of in value. fictitious railroad model trains.

Colber designed its boxes to imitate what Lionel was using – until a threatened lawsuit caused Colber to develop its own look.

COLBER

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he market for toy trains boomed so ferociously after World War II that dealers and technicians looked for ways to grab their share of the pie. One of the little guys seeking to beat the big boys at their own game was the Colber Corp. Between 1948 and 1955, it put a wide array of accessories on the market. And did so a stone’s throw from Lionel’s plant. The tale opened in 1946, when Anthony Collett and William Berke went into business repairing refrigeration units and appliances. They added toy trains by launching Train Center of America. The two made a few ancillary items out of the parts in stock. They duplicated street lamps first and then cobbled together an inexpensive challenger to Lionel’s gateman. Tony and Bill combined three letters from their surnames to call

their business Colber Manufacturing Co., 1950 many of the products from Miniwhich soon had a plant in Irvington, N.J. toys. As a consequence, Colber could A metal truss bridge made its debut in add a metal footbridge and painted die1949. In 1950 came the nos. 108 water cast metal figures. Also worthwhile was tower and 109 Oklahoma oil gusher. encouraging an employee named Cosmo Both relied on heat from a light bulb to Gabriele to devise a wigwag flasher, cause the liquid in a clear plastic tube in which entered the market in 1952. the center to warm up and bubble. Profits dwindled in 1953 and ’54, Good news arrived in 1950, when the thanks to pressure from Lionel and the Gilbert Co., striving to beef up the loss of contracts from Gilbert. In 1955, accessories in its American Flyer line, Colber left toy trains and shifted to makasked Colber to build items for it to ing electronics components. About the package and market. Thus time Collett and Berke were debating arose Flyer’s nos. 772 water tower and 773 oil derrick. For 1951, WANT MORE INFORMATION? both Colber and GilFurther reading: “A visit to Colberville,” Clasbert heralded a floodsic Toy Trains, July 1993, pages 50-55 and “Colber’s impact on S gauge railroading,” CTT, light tower; by 1952, September 1993, pages 76-81. they were selling competing rotary beacons. The deal with Gilbert collapsed after 1952, whether to scrap their tooling and dies, but Colber went on making Marx bought that hardware. But the only its accessories. One smart Colber pieces transferred to the Marx move involved acquiring in line were a girder bridge and streetlight. www.ClassicToyTrains.com

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COMMAND CONTROL Back in the day, every kid knew how things would be done in the future … you’d simply press buttons and things would happen. In a sense, this is what command control is. If conventional control is running your locomotive through a power transformer, command control is using the transformer (or power supply) for electricity and using a second device to control the movement and actions of the train. 1994 – LIONEL’S TRAINMASTER The Lionel TrainMaster Command Control system is a product that changed O and S gauge railroading forever. Developed by Liontech, a partnership between Lionel’s owner, Richard Kughn, and singer Neil Young, the system gave model railroaders the power to control locomotives and switches, change engine numbers, build locomotive teams, and more. TMCC was introduced in 1994, long before Lionel even cataloged a locomotive the new system could operate. The initial value of TMCC was in controlling conventional locomotives with lower starting speeds, thanks to the pulse power the system used. Anyone who witnessed the basic demonstration of TrainMaster realized this was great for train operation.

2000 –

MTH’S DIGITAL COMMAND SYSTEM (DCS/PROTOSOUND 2.0) 20 Electric Trains From A to Z

So in 2000 when MTH announced the arrival of the Digital Command System, many hobbyists who liked MTH trains but disliked the original “clinks-of-doom” ProtoSound control system, breathed sighs of relief. ProtoSound 2.0 is totally different, being based on two-way communication between the handheld unit and the locomotive, while the original ProtoSound is based on control handle movements. The new system allowed you to operate and track data on each DCS locomotive down to the level of how many hours of running time you had on an engine. While the handheld LCD screen eased operators into running DCS equipment, the well-labeled and larger control buttons helped take away some of the anxiety that operators may have had.

2007 –

LIONEL LEGACY

Lionel’s Legacy system is a qualitative improvement over TrainMaster Com-

mand Control. It enables operators to access new features offered on Legacyequipped locomotives while still running a decade’s worth of TMCC locomotives in the marketplace. The system differed in that locomotive data was loaded into the handheld unit, thereby enabling you to store a large body of unique data. Legacy-equipped locomotives had a significant improvement of already great sound reproduction, and flexibility in train operation.

2013 –

LIONCHIEF/LIONCHIEF+

As a means of introducing new customers (think kids) to the wonders of command control, Lionel developed the LionChief Plus system. The concept paired a locomotive with a specific handheld controller that allowed one to control the speed, direction, horn/bell, and, if so equipped, remote coupler operation. Then a funny thing happened. A lot of adult operators decided they liked LionChief, too! The LionChief system was tethered, so to speak, to a constant 18 volts of track power. This prevented conventional running. Enter LionChief Plus with the same features in command mode, but with a flick of the switch you get a well-made, terrific-sounding locomotive that can also respond to conventional transformer command.

CONVENTIONAL CONTROL

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f you picked 1900 as the starting date of the electric train world, you could say that basic hand-on-thetransformer operation has dominated how we’ve run our trains. This is called conventional operation. The power supply controls forward and reverse operation of the locomotive (often with controls for horn/whistle/bell activation) and that is that. Train running in its most simple form. Why do people advocate conventional running? Simplicity in itself. One locomotive, one train, and the satisfying sound of the click of the wheels over the rail

joints. If you want to run more than one train, simply incorporate a power block system on your railroad. A block system creates electrically isolated sections that allow independent locomotive operation. It makes wiring a bit more complex, but still, you don’t need additional electronic components. Another factor is that the vast majority of locomotives built for O and S gauge layouts well into the 1990s had simple forward-neutralreverse or forward-reverse operation. There were no fancy features available to run, so the case could be made asking, “why buy the

Transformer

additional components” when than a product made in 1955. you are only operating in forThe downside is you can’t ward-reverse and triggering a trigger remote sound features horn or bell? or easily create responEven later model sive multiple-locolocomotives motive pairings. equipped So long as Why buy the with Lionel’s most of the additional compoTrainMaster locomotives nents when you are or Legacy and motoronly operating in systems or ized units in forward-reverse and MTH’s Prothe markettriggering a horn toSound place are 2.0/3.0 will conventional or bell? function well in runners, there a conventional will be a sizable environment. You get number of operators the respective sound packwho use them that way. Conages and, where applicable, ventional running can be the lower starting speeds and most basic – and satisfying – better engine performance class of train operation. www.ClassicToyTrains.com

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COWEN, JOSHUA LIONEL The gentleman holding one of his early models

earned the respect of his peers and a permanent spot in the pantheon of toy entrepreneurs by creating an innovative business capable of convincing Americans their happiness depended on owning one of his trains. He transformed a luxury item into a necessity. The man whose middle name became synonymous with the product his firm made surpassed his rivals because he knew how to present that toy to gratify kids and the adults who bought trains. He proved to be as masterful a promoter as a tinkerer. Born in 1877 when the age of electricity was about to explode, Joshua Lionel Cowen learned through experimentation and schooling how to utilize that novelty. Beginning with a motorized model

22 Electric Trains From A to Z

intended to display consumer goods for merchants, the young New Yorker realized almost immediately after co-founding his firm in 1900 that what people wanted was the replicas of railcars. Thus by 1906 handcrafting trains assumed greater importance at Lionel than the creation and sale of window displays. The decades following Cowen’s decision to focus on producing trains witnessed financial and cultural achievements. He set out to gain control of the market, and that goal became a reality in the 1920s. Lionel matched and then surpassed whatever Ives and American Flyer did with their Wide and O gauge models. Indeed, by the eve of the Great Depression, Cowen had driven Ives into bankruptcy. He bought what he desired from the assets of that venerable toy producer and incorporated it into Lionel. Surrounding himself with bright and industrious men, J.L. Cowen survived setbacks in the 1930s to reach unparalleled levels of success and honor by the eve of World War II. His catalogs revealed how fun toys shared three-rail track with magnificent scale models of locomotives and recognizable cars. Cowen turned over day-to-day control of his enterprise to his son, Lawrence, once peace returned in 1945. Yet his touch continued to be felt while serving as chair of the board of directors. The elderly gentleman remained a steady and increasingly beloved presence at the corporate headquarters in Manhattan. The dynamic, often self-serving magnate at the helm during the prewar period relaxed as he aged in the 1950s. Sales figures and dividends gripped Cowen even after he retired in 1958. When, a year later, declining profits exacerbated his fears about the future, he sold his stock and transferred control of the firm from his son to a grandnephew. Joshua L. Cowen died in 1965. Reconciliation with Lawrence never occurred, and Lionel struggled to retain a place in the toy field throughout the 1960s. Yet his legacy grew as the trains he made became collectibles and hobbyists explored the history behind them. Curiosity about the individual whose firm made the toys they had treasured as kids and prized as adults inspired collectors to keep vibrant the memory of the man who had shaped them.

Lionel, along with other domestic producers of electric trains, assembled special sets for large department stores.

DEPARTMENT STORE SPECIAL

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uyers for department stores sought an edge in the cutthroat toy market. Each of them wanted the emporium they represented to have items with an air of exclusivity. Something new or unlike anything shown at their major competitors. The challenge seemed especially great during the prewar era, when Fair Trade Laws mandated that producers of consumer goods, even electric trains, establish the prices at which their sets and separate-sale items would be sold by large and small merchandisers. Only by leveling the field might the littlest guys survive. Occasionally, however, toy buyers for department stores enticed Lionel, Ives, and other domestic train makers into creating unique sets for them to promote as specials to boost sales. The trend, which can be traced back to the 1910s, typically involved packaging

a group of freight or passenger cars with regular-production Standard or O gauge engines that differed from the combination sold with those engines in cataloged sets. Clever manufacturers also used those specials to get rid of leftover or out-of-date inventory The exclusive uncataloged, or promotional, sets boisterously advertised by retail giants, notably R.H. Macy & Co., Gimbel Bros., Wanamaker’s, F.A.O. Schwarz, Kaufmann’s, and N. Snellenburg & Co., fall under the rubric of department store specials. Count as the most famous and prized of these prewar trains Standard and O gauge sets Lionel made available through Macy’s between 1925 and 1933. Some of those colorful and desirable outfits, as shown here, had railcars painted unlike their cataloged peers and lettered as “Macy Special.”

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DIE-CAST METAL PRODUCTS Die-casting is a method of injecting liquefied metal

Die-cast metal GG1 shells 24 Electric Trains From A to Z

into steel tooling. Four metals are most often used in this process: aluminum alloys, brass and bronze, magnesium alloys, and zinc alloys. In the world of electric trains, virtually all modern O and S gauge steam locomotives have die-cast metal shells. Diecasting has also been used for accessory components, freight cars of all types, and trackside figures. Die-cast metal products are durable and can be very economical to produce.

DISPLAY

A

train races over a circle of track notice and purchase. During the prewar items merchants might order. Annual listnext to a picture window in a and postwar periods, every major manuings helped accounts decide which disdepartment store. Vintage facturer of electric trains created display would be best. models sit on illuminated plays available to retail and wholesale American Flyer and Ives created disshelves in a museum. The latest sets accounts. Many of those pieces were plays during the prewar era, typically dash through tunnels, going by static – shelves on which meroperating layouts developed to meet the signals and light towers chants placed new trains and requirements of specific customers. Simwired amid miniature accessories. Often, howilarly, executives at the A.C. Gilbert Co. Displays featuring lakes and stations. All ever, firms designed and realized the benefits of static and anifast-running three examples are built compact model mated displays showing what was new trains and exciting called displays. railroads to demonin their postwar line of S gauge trains. accessories proved You have a display strate how their locoA golden age emerged in the 1950s. any time a merchanmotives could pull and Lionel introduced countertop displays to be great ways for diser orders a customclimb, their railLionel and its made layout in hopes cars might be competitors to of increasing sales, a counted on for sell trains. WANT MORE INFORMATION? charitable organization beauty and action, Further reading: Lionel Trains: Best Layouts constructs a model railroad and their accessories and Store Displays (special-interest publication from Classic Toy Trains, 2015). to raise donations, or a television would amaze and amuse. program or movie features trains. Leading the way from the 1920s Displays have occupied a central spot into the 1960s was Lionel. Superviin the history of toy trains for more than sors conscripted carpenters at the comand operating layouts with accessories a century. Lionel began by offering to pany’s factory in New Jersey to conwired to run and enough independent merchants loops of track on which batstruct the shelf displays and operating loops of track to accommodate as many tery-powered gondolas ran, holding railroads requested by customers. Evenas three trains over two levels landitems consumers were supposed to tually, Lionel advertised standardized scaped in simple yet effective ways. www.ClassicToyTrains.com

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DIORAMA STUDIOS

J

oseph Hanson, advertising manbeen working with Sherman; and Arthur ager at Lionel after World War II, Zirul, newly hired for his electrical skills. was inundated by requests for The trio got their feet wet building operating displays. Not only mermodels and dioramas for a pioneering chandisers but also producers of motion television series featuring Lionel trains, pictures and representatives from public Tales of the Red Caboose. In late 1948, relations firms and charitable organizathey were asked to handle what was the tions were contacting him about purmost important assignment given to chasing or having donated Lionel layouts Diorama Studios: the 16 x 32-foot O during the late 1940s. gauge layout at the Lionel showroom in Lionel had been using Hazell, SchleinNew York City. ing, an advertising agency in New York After that landmark display opened City, for assistance with its annual fullearly in 1949, the crew at Diorama, soon color consumer catalog. Now Hanson to be joined by Steve Paganuzzi, consulted them regarding displays. In devoted their energy and creativity to an the fall of 1948 they created Diorama array of tasks. Every variety and comedy Studios to design, construct, and install program on TV seemed to want a Lionel the compact and large operating layout. So also did plenty of railroads being ordered. department stores located Diorama Studios conthroughout the Northeast. sisted of Robert SherA contest sponsored by Bob Sherman, man, on the payroll at General Mills and the Bill Vollheim, and Lionel as a model Pullman Co. in 1951 Art Zirul handled the maker and illustrator; needed 25 displays. vast majority of William Vollheim, a Among the key projassignments given to photographer who had ects credited to

Diorama Studios.

26 Electric Trains From A to Z

Diorama Studios was the group of four separate yet connected O gauge railroads sponsored in 1950 by the local Police Athletic League for underprivileged kids in Rochester, N.Y. At the same time, the crew kept constructing small operating layouts for a host of pamphlets and mail-in offers used by Hanson to promote Lionel trains and accessories. Paganuzzi left Diorama Studios first, after writing an introduction to the hobby of model railroading for Lionel published by Bantam Books in 1950. Sherman and Vollheim went next, lured away by other opportunities. Zirul carried on well into the late 1950s.

DORFAN By 1923, when Julius and Milton Forchheimer emigrated from Germany to the U.S., the cousins had already launched one toy train manufacturer named after their doting aunts, Dora and Fanny. Why change a good thing? The business they established the following year in Newark, N.J., to produce clockwork and electric trains became known as Dorfan.

one car had eight wheels. Dorfan sold five passenger cars with four wheels and seven with eight. Multiple-hued coaches and baggage and observation cars were nicely fitted with enamel nameplates. Dorfan produced the only lithographed freight cars ever offered in Wide gauge: magnificent replicas of a boxcar, caboose, gondola, hopper, lumber car, and tank car. Passenger cars treated purchasers to fetching color schemes,

The Forchheimer brothers and their necessary for a handful of accessories. chief engineer, John Koerber, focused Dorfan broke into the Wide gauge marfirst on the O gauge market. Steam and ket in 1926, heralding its no. 3930 replica electric-profile locomotives pulled sheetof a 4-4-4 electric inspired by metal passenger and freight cars. a Pennsylvania RR prototype. Besides capitalizing on the advantages A second electric made its WANT MORE INFORMATION? lithography on tinplated surfaces offered, debut a year later. Further reading: “Dorfan” in Greenberg’s Guide Dorfan won adherents by declaring its Both the O gauge and the to Early American Toy Trains (1993). trains were truly “educational.” In Wide gauge rosters bulged addition, the materials used by with detailed freight Dorfan set it apart from and passenger cars featurbrass and nickel detailing, and human domestic rivals. Collaboing eye-catching lithografigures in the seats. Dorfan rating with the New phy superior to any Accessories included a crane, signals, manufactured Jersey Zinc Co., it other company. a crossing gate, and circuit breakers. some impressive relied on a new alloy Consider the group Despite supplementing the basic rosaccessories in Wide combining zinc and of O gauge freight ter nearly every year, the Forchheimers gauge. The best of copper when casting cars. The 10 models struggled to overcome the effects of the them were the nos. the bodies of steam included three boxcars, Great Depression. Sales declined 70 crane and 427 and electric motive a tank car, a derrick car, steadily after 1930 until Dorfan had no station. power as well as parts and two cabooses. All but choice but to cease production in 1934. www.ClassicToyTrains.com

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Headlight lamp

THE REVERSE UNIT

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ack in the earliest days of the hobby, if you wanted to change the direction your three-rail locomotive was running, you needed to pick it up and turn it around! Lionel’s solution (thanks to its having acquired Ives, and its patent for a three-position reverse unit) the electro-mechanical reverse unit, or the “E-Unit.” This is generally replaced by an electronic version called a reverse unit. The E-unit is a rotary, solenoid-operated double-throw switch. One position is forward, the other reverse, and on three-position E-units, “off” is in the middle. The

28 Electric Trains From A to Z

mechanical movement changes the connections of the motor’s brushes in relation to the motor field, reversing the motor’s rotation and the direction of travel. The reverse unit consists of a coil, a plunger equipped with a hook-like pawl, a ratchet-tooth drum having electronic contact bands, and two sets of finger contacts, all contained in a sheet-metal enclosure. When power is applied, the plunger rises and is held inside the coil. When power is cut, the plunger drops and the pawl engages the next tooth on the drum. When power is applied

again, the E-unit plunger rises into the coil and Motor the pawl rotates the drum 45 degrees. This Roller pickup drum movement positions the finger contacts onto different drum contact Modern electronic reverse bands, placing the motor in units shortcut the process the next sequence mode. with forward and reverse You also hear the time-hon- action and can be installed in ored buzz and click as well as many vintage conventional the forward-neutral-reverselocomotives. neutral-forward sequence. The postwar-style reverse When well maintained, the units can still be found E-unit functions most reliably. through parts retailers, but They can be repaired, but this their place in life is as is not recommended as a replacement parts for fatally first-time project. damaged vintage units.

ELECTRONIC SET First point The full and correct name of Lionel’s revolutionary, break-thebank O gauge outfit cataloged for five years right after World War II was the Electronic Control Set. Second point The number assigned to the amazing set changed during its years in the cataloged line, going from 4109WS in 1946-47 to 4110WS in 1948-49 to 4333WS in 1950. Third point Lionel played with the contents as a ploy to increase sales. The basic consist remained the same: a 6-8-6 steam turbine and whistle tender led a boxcar, ore dump car, gondola, and caboose. However, the 4110WS offered its owners a no. 97 coal elevator, a no. 151 semaphore, and a pair of switches. And plans existed to add a crane car and tanker! Fourth point Chief Engineer Joseph Bonanno deserves credit or blame for developing

installed in the tender and on each of the cars proved to be too doggone finicky.

Sixth point Dependability, Lee and his fellow salesmen knew, was necessary if consumers were going to ignore the mind-boggling a set so far advanced from what else retail prices tacked on to the set. Lionel was on the market in the late 1940s. The listed the original set at $75 and brilliant if domineering head of then priced the expanded the Engineering Department version at $199.95. at Lionel received U.S. The product According to the Conpatents for a miniature number and retail sumer Price Index, that electric train controlled price of Lionel’s figure translated to via radio signals. Electronic Set changed, $2,431 in 2016. Radio waves got the There you have the tale train moving and but the freight train of the Electronic Set, a enabled an operator led by a turbine failed postwar experito couple and uncouremained about ment that bore fruit only ple the cars, blow the the same. 50 years later. Bonanno’s whistle, and unload coal. folly laid the groundwork for systems of command control Lionel Fifth point and MTH Electric Trains introduced on Operation seldom reached the levels of the eve of the 21st century to transform consistency and reliability Bonanno the O gauge hobby. No one can minimize believed possible. As Lee Price, a Lionel his contribution to the toy train hobby. salesman recalled, the radio receivers www.ClassicToyTrains.com

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LNER A4-class 4-6-2 by Ace

LMS 4-6-2 by Bassett-Lowke

Swiss Crocodile electric by MTH

EUROPEAN O GAUGE

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uropean trains have always been a boutique interest for American train enthusiasts. Broadly speaking, if you exclude Thomas the Tank Engine wannabes, few Americans have seen a great deal of British, German, or French train operations, let alone had the chance to become intrigued with their history. European-outline three-rail trains have, however, experienced a nostalgia-based resurgence, as have their American counterparts. As the American market

30 Electric Trains From A to Z

becomes saturated with scale Hudsons, Challengers, and Big Boys (and all their diesel counterparts), some hobbyists are taking a look at modern production of some of the classic European trains. European three-rail trains generally focus on pre- and immediately post-World War II operations (similar to many American hobbyists) where steam is king. Trains produced in the past 20 years by four companies (Ace, Bassett-Lowke, Darstaed, and ETS) have focused on prewarstyle stamped and pressed

Few Americans have seen a great deal of British, German, or French train operations, let alone had the chance to become intrigued with their history.

steel trains, the first three firms making predominately British trains. The Czech company, ETS, does make some British trains; their product line also features Continental and American trains. ETS and American company MTH Electric Trains have moved their product lines beyond 1945, though ETS is more traditional, while MTH’s European trains are scale size and have scale

detailing. The largest drawback for operators who want to test these mysterious European waters is the limited North American distribution of all but the MTH product lines. But most who do add a Flying Scotsman or an LNER A4 4-6-2 to their roster will often be motivated to hit the books to discover what other foreign trains have come to these shores – and then to see what may be available in O gauge.

F3 DIESEL Introduced on the cusp of World War II, the FT from the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors demonstrated the power and economics of a locomotive with diesel engines that produced 1,350 horsepower. Wartime restrictions prevented any evolution of the FT design, but once the war had ended GM introduced a new model: The F3. The F3 diesel had similarities in the carbody design, but the model’s capabilities did move forward and the result was a 1,500-horsepower diesel with a covered wagon shape, a rounded

face, and a no-nonsense ability to move freight. From 1945 to 1949, more than 1,800 units were built for more than 50 North American railroads. The F3 was designed for flexibility, and it could perform in heavy-duty freight service,

The flashy diesels represented postwar optimism. They were something new and shiny to pull freight or speed passengers along the way.

high-speed passenger operations, or mediumduty and medium-speed freight service. The four-wheel trucks ensured the locomotive could go anywhere a freight car could pass. The F3 was visited upon the toy train world when Lionel began making deliveries from the 1948 catalog in early 1949. The model came in two liveries: The stately gray lightning-stripe of the New York Central, and the flashy red, silver, yellow, and black warbonnet of the Santa Fe. Both

versions had a major impact beyond O gauge threerail trains, and the design has been replicated in Z, N, HO, S, O, and G scales. In a world of steam locomotives, the flashy diesels represented postwar optimism. They were something new, something shiny to pull freight or speed passengers along the way. The Lionel models also featured two powerful horizontal motors that wrung the most pulling power possible from the design. Indeed, the Santa Fe paint scheme on the Lionel F3 made the design an electric train icon welcome and familiar in places 500 miles from the nearest Santa Fe station agent! This is one locomotive that left a lasting imprint in the world of electric trains. www.ClassicToyTrains.com

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FALLEN FLAGS SERIES

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ailroading changed at an accelerated pace between 1950 and 1980. National and regional lines disappeared, due to mergers and bankruptcies. Familiar nicknames vanished, taking with them attractive heralds and memorable slogans. In the middle 1980s and early ’90s, Lionel cashed in on the nostalgia O gauge fans felt. Once-common paint schemes and rolling stock promoting beloved names might be gone from full-size networks, but they could live on in three-rail modeling. Thus was born the Fallen Flags Series of Lionel sets. The term from Trains magazine, referred to railroads no longer in existence. The Atlantic Coast Line and Rock Island were fallen flags. So

32 Electric Trains From A to Z

were the Northern Pacific and Erie Lackawanna. Designers and marketers with Lionel Trains, then a division of Kenner Parker Toys, brought out in 1986 an O gauge set dedicated to a fallen flag. The locomotive and every model in that midrange outfit, as was true with the pieces in the companion Famous American Railroad Series, carried the name of a railroad from the recent past. First was the Wabash. Inaugurating the series was a passenger train with six matching short heavyweight cars from the no. 9500 group. A 4-6-2 steam engine and tender pulled the coaches, combo car, observation, and more. By the time the second set honoring the Milwaukee Road arrived in 1987, ownership of Lionel had changed. Lionel

Trains Inc. returned the The fifth set in the series Wabash passenger set and was also a six-car freight added a six-car freight train train, it commemorated the led by the no. 18500 MilwauSt. Louis-San Francisco, kee Road GP9 road diesel. known everywhere as the A six-car freight Frisco. A red-anddecorated for the white GP7 diesel Great Northern burst ahead in Almost every entered the 1991 with series in two boxyear between 1986 1988. On cars, a and 1992, Lionel decoits point stockcar, a rated and marketed was a no. coil car, an excellent O gauge 18302 EP-5 and more. set recalling a Fallen electric-proCulminatFlag railroad. file unit, remiing the Fallen niscent of the Flag Series in postwar no. 2358. 1992 was the lonThe fourth set, new in gest and most impres1989, paid tribute to the sive of the sets. LTI coupled a Western Maryland. Its no. powered Nickel Plate Road 18501 NW2 diesel switcher GP7 diesel to a non-powered led six cars, including a tank twin and asked them to move car, a flatcar with trailers, a six freight cars. A doublegondola with coal load, a door boxcar, refrigerator car, boxcar, and a caboose. and hopper starred.

GARGRAVES For most of the past

century, three-rail electric trains largely ran on one type of track: shiny tinplated O or Standard gauge track mounted on metal crossties. But as modeling became more serious, hobbyists sought to keep the electrical advantages of three-rail track while making the center rail “disappear.” In 1940, Eldyn S. Graves decided to make some track for his son’s O gauge railroad. He created his own technique for making the rails and adding wooden crossties. His neighbor, Earle A. Gardner, who owned a hobby shop in Rochester, N.Y., liked the track and offered to sell it in his store. They entered a partnership and before long, word of this new-style track began to spread.

The track, made of cold-rolled steel, is tinplated. The Phantom rail’s distinctive dark center rail is blackoxide coated. The track offers superb electrical connectivity and can be easily bent or custom-cut to fit unique layout dimensions. A product line that began with one product in one gauge with two styles has greatly expanded. You can buy GarGraves track in No. 1 Gauge,

Standard, O, S, and OO gauge. It comes in regular or Phantom finish, rigid sectional or flexible track, and the firm offers a full range of switches and special sections. In recent years there has been an explosion of proprietary track systems in the O and S gauge markets, but even after 76 years, GarGraves Trackage Corp. still sets a standard for realistic appearance. www.ClassicToyTrains.com

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THE GENERAL

B

ack in the 1950s and ’60s, flickering black-and-white televisions carried an endless stream of shows like The Tales of Wells Fargo and Casey Jones with robbers stealing mail from the express, drovers moving cattle to the railhead, and Mosby’s Rangers being up to no good in particular. And, of course, in 1956 The Great Locomotive Chase hit movie theaters around the nation. Westerns on TV and movie screens squarely captivated kids. Meanwhile, as

34 Electric Trains From A to Z

the centennial of the start of the Civil were made with different components, War approached in 1961, new interest such as Magne-Traction and a smoke arose in the conflict, and by extension, unit. The General-style 4-4-0 was a sta“old timey” Wild West trains. ple of the Lionel catalog for many years. The model train world was a bit slow MTH added its own General to the to react. Lionel’s first O gauge RailKing line in 2004, and it has model of the 4-4-0 General appeared in many liveries. didn’t hit stores until 1959, But what about the real as did A.C. Gilbert’s S 4-4-0 named General? A Walt Disney gauge Frontiersman In 1891 the engine movie may 4-4-0 and the O gauge was placed on display have propelled this Wm. Crooks by Marx. at the Chattanooga historic 4-4-0 However, a trend was Union Depot, where it locomotive into the staring to develop! was removed a few world of electric Best known was Liotimes to be displayed trains. nel’s General. It was a at public events. In 1959 good model, but the it was restored to operatdesign was based on one of ing condition with a new rear many post-Civil War re-buildings coupler and modern air brake of the locomotive. Over time it had a new system, and it was converted to burn oil. pilot, boiler, and smokestack added and Since 1972 it has been on display in the one of its three domes on top of the Southern Museum of Civil War & Locoboiler was removed. Several versions motive History in Kennesaw, Ga.

GILBERT, A.C. If all you can associate with the name A.C.

kits filled the company’s toy line. Second were different Gilbert is American Flyer S gauge toy electric household appliances. trains, then you barely know the remarkable In 1938, Gilbert acquired from the Coleman family the gentleman who rose to become the toughest assets of the American Flyer competitor Lionel confronted in the postwar Manufacturing Co. He transdecades. But there is more to learn about ferred production to his plant Alfred Carlton Gilbert and the exciting and in New Haven, Conn., and brought out 3⁄16-inch scale inspiring life led by a true Renaissance man. trains designed to operate over three-rail track compatiWhere did Gilbert, born in ble with what Lionel was putat the steel girders and tow1884 to a clan with roots in ting out for O gauge. ers carrying overhead wire for colonial times, excel as a The Tru-Model items availelectric locomotives on the young man? Academically, he New Haven RR, he gave the able from Gilbert secured the studied medicine at Yale Unicompany’s spot in the world the Erector Set versity. Athletically, he set a market before in 1913. world record for consecutive World War II. The Gilbert chin-ups in 1900 and shared A.C. had once Co. later A.C. Gilbert the gold medal in pole-vaultmore sucexpanded established a toy ing with another American at ceeded in into two company known the 1908 Olympics. entering a fields that around the world for Gilbert decided to pursue a new market occasionits Erector Sets, along career not in medicine but in and rising to ally overwith American Flyer magic. He would teach tricks prominence. lapped. S gauge trains. to youngsters by launching a Greater First came business producing magic things awaited playthings kits. Mysto Manufacturing led Gilbert once peace aimed at educatto the A.C. Gilbert Co. had returned. Erector ing children and preMagician yielded to entreSets and Mysto-Magic Sets paring them to become hardpreneur in 1907. That role proved to be popular with the working and scientifically soon drove Gilbert toward generation coming of age in minded adults. Chemistry becoming an inventor. Gazing the late 1940s and ’50s. Kids sets, microscopes, and tool

also liked the impressive array of science toys being sold. For model railroaders anxious about realism and uncomfortable with the oversized details on Lionel models and the three-rail tracks they used, the 1:64 scale American Flyer locomotives and railcars made by Gilbert were the perfect antidote. They voted overwhelming for S gauge as the best around and scorned whatever Lionel cataloged. Gilbert, pleased with the public’s perception of him as a benevolent advocate of science and engineering for youngsters, believed his lifelong enterprise was in good hands when he retired in 1954. He handed over control of the company to his son and namesake, Al. Now the elderly A.C. felt free to travel overseas, trading in his hunting rifles for cameras. With assistance from Marshall McClintock, he wrote an autobiography, The Man Who Lives in Paradise, which was published in 1955. Six years later, Gilbert, who never objected to assuming the role of kindly grandfather to the boys of America, died in New Haven. www.ClassicToyTrains.com

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GIRL’S TRAIN

F

or 1957, Lionel offered an O-27 steam freight outfit with models painted in the soft, warm pastels it assumed girls preferred over the somber blacks and grays or dull browns and reds typically used on its trains. Set no. 1587S made its debut in the catalog and returned in 1958 for a final year. The freight, consisting of a 2-6-4 steam engine and nonwhistling tender with four cars plus a porthole caboose, was announced as the Lady Lionel. Hobbyists referred to the 1587S as the Girl’s Train. They considered it emblematic of everything going wrong at Lionel in the late 1950s. Fairness to Lionel demands

36 Electric Trains From A to Z

taking a slightly more measured approach. Theoretically, every set Lionel and its competitors had ever released could have appealed as powerfully to girls as to boys. Children were familiar with trains and might have wanted miniature versions. Nonetheless, domestic toy train producers directed their advertising to boys and their parents as much as firms fashioning dolls and packing junior nurse’s kits aimed theirs at little girls. The American toy industry remained widely segregated by gender, and few companies, especially before World War II, assembled a line expansive enough to include toys for both boys and girls.

That attitude shifted gradually times prodded them to take in the 1950s. Businesses risks, with the goal being to hoping the playthings they broaden their market. made might win sales from That brings us back to the families with sons and Girl’s Train. Decision daughters makers had adopted an merely to obvious if instruct The Lady Lionel, unproven supervisors in spite of being method: at the Liodesignated an O-27 They relied nel factory set, was the first cataon colors to take loged outfit to have traditionally items two no. 6464 nearassociated already scale boxcars. with genders. being proExecutives at duced and Lionel scarcely color them differcared about who ently. Thus the no. bought their trains when 2037 locomotive, normally times were flush. By the secdipped in black paint, was ond half of the 1950s, howbathed in pink. Near-scale no. ever, they acknowledged 6464-series boxcars emerged profits were declining. Difficult decked out in pastel shades of blue and yellow (and doors with the opposite hue). Add in a pink gondola with white canisters, a lilac open quad hopper, and a Pennsylvania RR caboose painted sky blue. Would girls fall in love with an electric train intended to touch their softer and more delicate sensibilities? Evidently not! The 5,000 examples of the Lady Lionel sold poorly, a fact motivating disappointed executives to catalog leftover inventory for a second year.

HAFNER William Hafner was determined to make toys from the day he launched his first company in 1901. To this native of Chicago, toys operated best when kids pushed them across a floor or, better still, when the release of a tightly wound clockwork motor propelled them forward at an entertaining speed. Hafner turned up his nose at electrically powered items, deeming them appliances and not toys. What some might see as neglect of a form of energy with unlimited possibilities served as the foundation of Hafner’s philosophy as a toy maker. He started with mechanical automobiles in 1901 and, a year after establishing the W.F. Hafner Co. in 1904, expanded to trains. Mediocre sales led him to join with William Coleman in 1910. The partners set up the American Flyer Manufacturing Co., only to have the disgruntled Hafner part ways with Coleman in 1914. Hafner, convinced the market would support windup toy trains for O gauge track, founded the Hafner Manufacturing Co. in 1914. Fortunately, World War I locked German imports out of American stores. Soon came a line of models of steam loco-

motives and passenger cars looking like those Flyer produced. Windups never seemed to go out of fashion, not with families living on tight incomes or in homes lacking household current. Hafner offered inexpensive yet colorful trains in the 1920s and ’30s. Streamliners inspired by Boston & Maine and Union Pacific stalwarts broadened the line in the mid-1930s. Lithographed tinplated steamers distinguished the roster before and after World War II. John Hafner, son of the founder, WANT MORE INFORMATION? assumed the reins Further reading: “Hafner” in Greenberg’s after his father’s Guide to Early American Toy Trains (1993). death in 1944. Seven more years of effort in a changing market where windup trains seemed like quaint antiques led the younger Hafner to sell the business in 1951 to All Metal Products Co., already a presence in the field as the manufacturer of Wyandotte toy trucks and cars. All Metal Products spent the next five years exhausting the unsold inventory of Hafner trains and making new stock. Then it threw in the towel and negotiated with Louis Marx & Co. to buy the tired tooling in 1956. Marx did so, shipping those assets to plants in Mexico to spit out cheap windups while removing a longtime rival. www.ClassicToyTrains.com

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HERTZ, LOUIS Everyone who

cares about the heritage of American toy trains owes a debt to Louis Hertz. So much of what we know today about manufacturers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries was gathered by this New Yorker, who authored more than a dozen books on that subject.

HELL GATE BRIDGE

H

obbyists love speculating about the inspiration for every bridge Lionel made. They ponder about which prototype spans influenced the bascule and truss models. Of course, collectors have absolutely no need to guess about one classic. They know all about the no. 300. That awesome accessory, originally painted cream and light green and later decorated in ivory and red, joined Lionel’s Standard gauge line in 1928 and was carried through 1942. It was based on a landmark span with an unforgettable name: Hell Gate Bridge. The official opening of the 1,017-foot steel through arch bridge in March 1917 made

38 Electric Trains From A to Z

headlines across the Northeast. The project launched in 1912 linked New York and the Pennsylvania RR with New England and the New Haven RR. The four-track bridge was one of three connected structures engineered to cross Hell Gate, a treacherous strait of the East River. Executives at Lionel had followed the news and viewed trains as they headed into the bridge. They predicted a miniature version of what was then the longest steel arch bridge in the world would attract buyers. To buttress those hopes they devoted an entire page in the consumer catalog for 1928 to heralding the new 300. Designers wanted the steel construction

of the Lionel Hell Gate Bridge to simulate girder, concrete, and stone. They added suspension-style sides between ornate towers with open archways. The flat steel base made it possible to plop the 28¾-inch-long and 10½-inch-high accessory down on a floor or a tabletop and use it without the need for any ramps. Even though Lionel promoted the Hell Gate Bridge as a member of its Standard gauge roster, the model’s 11-inch width made it suitable for O gauge trains. Layout builders long craved a 300, which has pushed manufacturers since the 1980s to offer reproductions, including one widened to accommodate parallel O gauge tracks.

Born in 1922, Hertz developed a fascination with miniature trains not long after graduating from short pants. He learned to read, or so he later claimed, by perusing Ives catalogs. The boy who treasured Ives and Lionel trains like so many of his contemporaries proved unique in striving to learn who made those models and why. Correspondence with executives yielded replies filled with invaluable information. By time Hertz reached adolescence, he was writing about vintage trains and their manufacturers and analyzing current releases. Essays Hertz published in Model Craftsman magazine ended up collected in his book, Riding the Tinplate Rails (1944). Then Hertz put out a monograph on what was the first important maker of windup and electric toy trains in the U.S. Messrs. Ives of Bridgeport (1948) remains essential reading. Book after book followed. Among those noteworthy volumes related to toy trains were The Complete Book of Model Railroading (1951) and Collecting Model Trains (1956). But Hertz considered the entire toy industry his field of study. Personal collections of antique toys accumulated. The history of toy trains stayed closest to Hertz’s heart. He contributed to Railroad Model Craftsman, along with Model Builder and Classic Toy Trains. Hertz was instrumental in founding Electric Trains magazine in 1951 and, after its demise, would write for Toy Trains magazine. The output generated by the time Hertz died in 1997 was staggering. His books and essays are still worth reading and owning.

HI RAIL

A

s the story goes, the term “hi-rail” with ballast. The trains are vintage or originated as shorthand to idenreproductions of prewar or postwar O, S, tify who was an O scale operaor Standard gauge trains. Vintage accestor versus an operator who ran sories are used, and the buildings are three-rail, O gauge trains. The non-scale old-style Lionel, Marx, or Plasticville. rails of the toy train track, the reasoning went, were higher than those of the Toy rail: Scenery driven, with more modscale operator. While the term can corern modeling techniques (trees, rivers, rectly be used that way today, it has and rocks) for greater realism. Fewer vinmorphed into being a “description of a tage accessories; those that are used layout” philosophy. are well integrated. Trains, however, can Until there are model railroad inspecbe anything from the latest highly tors evaluating everyone’s layout, you detailed diesels to the Lionel no. 2046 should build your layout to suit steamer you spray-painted red in yourself – not someone else 1955. These are the trains or just to fit in with what is you love in the setting you popular. Most layouts see in your mind’s eye! You should can be categorized into build your layout one of three groupings. Hi-rail: The goal of the to suit yourself – scenery is totally realnot someone else Traditional layouts: istic, perhaps based or just to fit in Flat surface and oldon actual trackside with what is style scenery techscenes. The trains are popular. niques. Track is tubular authentic and scaleand may or may not have detailed, with the excepextra ties added or be used tion of oversized couplers

and wheel flanges. Buildings are scratchbuilt, kit-built, or modified preassembled structures. No vintage accessories, and the only modern accessories are realistic and functional. But there is a loophole. Josef Lesser, the intellectual godfather of the hi-rail movement, kept the focus on realism, but acknowledged that fun should still be a goal. Lesser said “hi-railers run their trains on three rails. We don’t want to give up the fun, practicality, and memories of our traditional O gauge trains, and we like having the flexibility of still being able to pull an old favorite train out for a romp on the rails.” www.ClassicToyTrains.com

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HOGE When Hampden Hoge (pronounced HO-gee) established the Hoge Mfg. Co. in New York City in 1909, he intended it to make office supplies. Playthings were far from his mind. The business survived after its founder left in 1919. Twelve years later, someone at the helm decided to expand the inventory. How? Toys seemed worth trying. To manage the new division, Hoge lured Henry Katz, a veteran in the business. Aware of how American Flyer and Lionel were struggling as the Great Depression dragged on, he viewed low-end electric trains

40 Electric Trains From A to Z

as an untapped field. He envisioned Hoge as a designer of sets aimed at undercutting its rivals. An outside firm – Mattatuck Manufacturing Co. – would handle production. Over the next eight years, Hoge introduced a few O gauge sets with vivid lithography. Most stylish were the gleaming replicas of streamliners. Electric and windup versions hit toy stores.

Hoge broke in with its nos. 881 and 990 Tom Thumb Railroad passenger sets. Cautious about the fickle taste of consumers, Katz didn’t feel sufficiently secure to expand the line until 1934. Then Hoge announced the no. 990 Tom Thumb Railroad freight set. Nice as the Tom Thumb trains were, when Hoge enters the discussions of collectors these days, the topic almost always is streamliners. Men employed by Katz created a handful of stunning O gauge models now highly sought by prewar enthusiasts. The parade of classics from Hoge began in 1934 (the same year Lionel released its first streamliner) with the no.

900 streamliner. Next was a streamliner based on a train on the New Haven RR. The electric train introduced in 1935 had sound effects: a buzzer and a bell activated by a section of five-rail track. The parade ended with the no. 750 Circus Set in 1935. But sales of that colorful train were dismal. Production ceased in 1939. Mattatuck Manufacturing Co. bought Hoge’s assets only to convert the tooling and dies for other purposes. The name changed hands until, accompanied by little more than its history, it became the property of a collector who shares the surname but no family roots with Hampden Hoge.

THE HUDSON

F

or much of the 20th century, when America’s two largest and most influential cities were New York and Chicago, trains were how they were connected. Before 1958 or so, the New York Central’s 20th Century Limited was how plutocrats and tycoons made the journey, while lesser mortals rode the Pennsylvania RR’s Broadway Limited or the Baltimore & Ohio’s Capitol Limited. The 20th Century Limited was a long, heavy, luxurious train on an almost impossible timetable. The 4-6-2 Pacific steamers owned by the New York Cen-

tral had a tough time handling the load and speed, so a new locomotive with a larger firebox (for greater speed and pulling power) and a weight distributed over seven axles (not the Pacific’s six) was ordered. The line ordered another 274 in a variety of sub-classes and indirectly created an image that suggests fast and safe train operation to this day. Hudsons, as the 4-6-4 locomotives were named, soldiered along to the end of steam on the Central. Later, the line bumped them from premier passenger trains to locals, and freight service. It did

not, unfortunately, preserve any of them. In the model world, Lionel’s no. 700E (cataloged from 1937 through 1942) set a standard for scale detailing and quality construction. It was a faithful replica down to the steam and sand pipes and the rivet heads all over the body. It was hailed as America’s first scale model locomotive. While many Hudsons have been offered in S and O gauges, the quality of design and excellence in manufacture may not have been equaled by anyone until Lionel released its no. 18005 Hudson in 1995. www.ClassicToyTrains.com

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INDUSTRIAL RAIL In the 1990s O gauge was hot and the market seemed to expand as more baby boomers became empty nesters or approached an active retirement. As the main train brands aggressively produced more detailed, more technologically complex (and more expensive) locomotives and finely detailed rolling stock, a gap seemed to appear. The underserved population consisted of traditional modelers and entry-level customers who didn’t want re-runs of 50-year-old trains. They wanted well-made products with crisp detailing and artful deco-

42 Electric Trains From A to Z

ration … at modest prices. United Model Distributors (UMD) of Champaign, Ill., introduced the Industrial Rail product line that offered a range of freight cars. They were smaller than most O gauge rolling stock, but could be found at hobby shops for under $20. The line eventually included a motorized handcar and a trolley car. In 2001 Hobbico purchased UMD, and the Industrial Rail prod-

uct line seemed to start winding down. In 2006 Atlas O purchased the Industrial Rail line, and it has expanded the line to include a 4-4-2 locomotive (shown above) as well as passenger cars.

IVES

T

he 64-year history of the Ives Manufacturing Corp. can be bisected. Between its founding by Edward Ives in 1868 and 1900, the firm in Bridgeport, Conn., rose to become a preeminent maker of toys in the U.S. Paper dolls, toy cannons, and windup animals dominated the line. Mechanical toy trains edged their way in, but still played a minor role in the development and growth of Ives in the late 19th century. During the second half of the company’s history, however, windup and electric toy trains reigned. Ives held sway in terms of dollars earned and social impact into the first quarter of the 20th century. Windup trains impressed Ives as the most lucrative entry into the market in the 1900s because many households lacked electricity. To compete against less-expensive German imports, Ives promoted its Gauge 1 and O gauge windup trains, plus track, bridges, and stations. The year 1910 proved pivotal. Men at the top, nervous about the lower prices charged by

American Flyer, felt pressure to innovate. The path forward, as Lionel was showing, involved designing trains run by household current or dry cell batteries. The first electric O gauge models left the Ives factory in 1910, with Gauge 1 trains following in their footsteps just two years later. Ives made a superb variety of steam and electric-profile locomotives for its two lines The 1920s carried forward before World War I. Consumthe best and the worst for ers also liked the structures, Ives. The firm abandoned tunnels, signals, and bridges. Gauge 1 for Wide gauge to The picture at Ives when its compete with Lionel. Specfounder died in 1918 and his tacular sets made a lasting son, Harry Ives, took impact. Think of the over was mixed. National Limited, Ives still occuthe Prosperity Ives Wide pied the peak Special, the gauge classics of the AmerOlympian, included the National ican toy the Black Limited, the Prosperity train marDiamond, Special, the Olympian, ket. Howthe White the Black Diamond, ever, the Set, and the White Set, and the challenge the Circus Circus Train. from Lionel Train. threatened that Unfortunately, supremacy. Lionel continued to Besides introducing its forge ahead in sales first O gauge models in 1915, and influence. Its toughLionel promoted its models minded approach to capturby comparing them with Ives ing a bigger chunk of the marpieces. ket overwhelmed the genteel Ives. Even the development of a three-position reverse unit on Ives motors, among other breakthroughs, failed to hold back Lionel. As frustrating for Ives, its trains, superior to all others, cost more to produce. Harry Ives stepped down from the presidency of the firm in 1927, hoping Charles Johnson might calm the financial turmoil at Ives. It did not. Ives filed for bankruptcy in 1928 after being sued by its largest creditor. Assets, patents, and equipment went on the

auction block late in 1928. To the dismay of Ives, Johnson, and other executives, the buyers represented Lionel and American Flyer. Those two businesses operated Ives as a joint venture until 1930, when Lionel bought out Flyer and moved production of all remaining Ives trains to its factory in New Jersey. Lionel went on making Wide and O gauge sets identified as Ives into 1931. Terrible sales resulted in an end to production and the scuttling of inventory in 1932. About all that seemed possible was for Lionel to flood stores with the low-end trains Ives had rushed into development during its last years. Even that strategy met with failure. The saga of Ives thus concluded on a mournful note. Magnificent trains overlooked and then forgotten. Except by collectors, above all, Louis Hertz. A tightly knit group of Ives enthusiasts kept the flame burning after World War II. Their homage inspired newcomers to chase after originals and encouraged American manufacturers to put out reissues. Earning thanks for stoking an Ives revival by producing the greatest of its great trains are, in alphabetical order, MTH, Pride Lines, Rich-Art, and Williams. www.ClassicToyTrains.com

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J CLASS In the universe of toy trains, J can mean only the famous Lionel no. 746 model of Norfolk & Western’s elegant class of steam passenger-service locomotives. Let’s travel back to 1941, when the Norfolk & Western Ry. built in its shops the first of a group of powerful and eye-catching streamlined steam locomotives with a 4-8-4 wheel arrangement (four leading wheels on two axles, eight drive wheels on four axles, and four trailing wheels on two axles).

What Lionel proclaimed as “The Grand Daddy of All Steamers” is both a beauty queen and a mechanical marvel. Not a scale replica, the 746 is a harmonious blend of components dressed up in the N&W’s beautiful passenger colors. Five outstanding Super O sets depended on the 746 as their motive power between 1957 and ’60. So did one sizable promotional set available from Sears, Roebuck Co. in 1960. Pick your favorite O gauge manufacturer in the modern era and the odds are good it has brought out a replica. Each locomotive leapfrogged ahead of its predecessors, thanks to improved motors and new sound systems. Better yet were

That configuration, because the pilot, and moving the drive the Northern Pacific Ry. rod to the second wheel. was the first to use it, He also painted red The streamlined was called a Northern. stripes along the sides. 4-8-4 steamers built The Norfolk & WestVan Dyck sent his by the Norfolk & ern completed 14 of one-of-a-kind steamer the steamers (numbers to Lionel. He hoped it Western Ry. inspired 600 to 613) by 1950. would spur the coman outsider to craft The streamlined locopany into enhancing an O gauge mockmotives went to work on its line with a J. up for Lionel. the point of the Cavalier, That’s precisely what the Pocahontas, and the the toy maker did. WANT MORE INFORMATION? Powhatan Arrow – trains at the The 746, a duo of locoFurther reading: “The making of Lionel’s zenith of the railway’s schedules. motive and tender measuring 21½ no. 746 streamlined J,” Classic Toy Trains, Northerns were absent from Lionel inches long, rose as one of the stars May 1994, pages 56-61. catalogs. An O gauge enthusiast named of Lionel’s line for 1957. Noteworthy John Van Dyck, enamored by the J-class mechanical features included a thoroughbreds he had watched, refused worm-geared motor with Magne-Traction models with command control. to be held back. Starting with a Lionel and a three-position reversing unit, operO gaugers should remember the J 2-8-4 Berkshire, he refashioned it in ating marker lights and a headlight, twoclass and how a classic model from 1955 to resemble a J by creating a bullet tone whistle in the tender, and an postwar days advanced the legacy of nose for the boiler, adding two wheels to improved liquid smoke unit. that N&W warhorse. 44 Electric Trains From A to Z

The 401 Signal Bridge

JUNIOR BRIDGE

F

or individuals eying Why not, Norman asked the toy train arena, the himself, use scrap pieces of fast track to success steel at his plant for bridges? was picking up what That was how he founded Lionel had missed – and Junior Bridge Co. He parthat’s what Norman Kanor layed interest in his bridges at and his Junior Bridge Co. did. Macy’s into a deal with its Managing a factory in Manrival, Gimbel Bros. Both hattan in the early 1940s, stores ordered thousands of Norman aimed to support his green-painted bridges for the family in tough circumholiday season of 1942. stances, but still wished to Production resumed in give his young son a Lionel 1945. A catalog directed at set plus a few accessories. A the toy trade in 1950 revealed metal trestle bridge the company had silstruck Norman ver-painted trestle as a terrific and girder From a trestle addition to bridges. bridge in 1942, his son’s Additional Junior Bridge Co. three-rail items eventually expanded empire. shown its line to include Lionel had included a other bridges, one in its contactor catalog, too. designed to signals, and But the salesoperate any tunnels. man at Macy’s kind of electrical Department Store light or operating had to inform Norman no unit and an automatic red bridges were available. and green signal light.

The top accessory Junior Bridge Co. ever manufactured was the no. 401 signal bridge. The silver-painted 401 relied on two of those automatic bridge builder, preferring to lights to simulate the red and dabble successfully in real green lights controlling rail estate for the rest of his long traffic on full-size main lines. life. His son, Steven, traced With the signal bridge, those footsteps years after Junior Bridge brought out building a reputation in medisheet-metal tunnels. Only Marx could claim at WANT MORE INFORMATION? Further reading: “Junior Bridge Co. conthe time to be nected three generations in innovative toy offering similarly design,” Classic Toy Trains, October 2016, eye-catching pages 40 to 43. tunnels for O gauge trains. Junior Bridge Co. chugged along into the cine. Doctor Kanor invented 1950s, but Norman never marvelous toys for youngsters again expanded his line, and with severe physical limitaeventually demand grew too tions. Neither gentleman ever soft to continue producing the again paid much attention to bridges, tunnels, and lights. Junior Bridge Sadly, they died Accepting the no-win situawithout knowing how its tion, he abandoned the train accessories went on being field in the middle 1950s. wired to layouts while delightThe senior Kanor quit as a ing O gauge operators. www.ClassicToyTrains.com

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The Procter & Gamble series of train sets made for regional grocery chains; their uniquely decorated Alco switchers are still avidly sought.

K-LINE The most notable business failure in the modern electric train world might have been the least expected: K-Line Electric Trains. K-Line traced its roots back to the late 1970s, when owner Maury D. Klein operated a part-time mail-order train business. Incorporating as MDK, he set up a factory to produce O and O-27 profile track for retail sale. The track was so successful that in 1980 Klein added O-42 switches. Later K-Line had the opportunity to acquire tooling going back to American Model Toys/Auburn Model Trains/Kusan Trains, and molds as well as tooling from the venerable Louis Marx & Co. K-Line took considerable effort in cleaning and improving the vintage tooling to better satisfy the expectations of its customers. Over the next few years a significant output of trains emerged. Some came from reworked tools, others, notably die-cast metal freight cars, MP15 switchers, and F7 diesels, came from new tools. MDK added Lionel’s TrainMaster Command Control system as well as sounds, which met with hobby approval. The North Carolina firm managed to cater simultaneously to entry-level hobbyists with simple trains and sets as well as reworked Marx structures and to 46 Electric Trains From A to Z

experienced operators with scaledetailed passenger cars and locomotives like a Lima Shay and 2-8-4 Berkshire. Hobbyists focusing on specific areas such as circus trains and beverage and food brands, also enjoyed K-Line sets and rolling stock. The Procter & Gamble series of train sets made for regional grocery trains; their uniquely decorated Alco switchers are still avidly sought. As the 1990s wrapped up, K-Line was making a move toward more realistically detailed high-end locomotives, top-ofthe-line passenger sets, and an interesting array of commuter trains. The demise of K-Line was rather sudden, with Lionel filing suit against it for theft of trade secrets. K-Line

filed for bankruptcy protection, and MDK was over before you knew it. Lionel briefly the MDK line as K-Line by Lionel for several years before dropping it altogether. Now K-Line Trains is another “Fallen Flag,” like Marx or Kusan, whose tooling helped launch the MDK product line.

KUGHN ERA Mall developer and lifelong Lionel enthusiast Richard Kughn lived the ultimate dream of every O gauger. From 1986 to 1995, the affable, sharp as nails businessman everyone calls Dick owned Lionel.

KRIS MODEL TRAINS

A

vid collector Andy Kriswalus entertained no illusions about getting rich when he bought tooling from Kusan Inc. for its O gauge freight cars in 1967. The resident of Endicott, N.Y., would use that resource to produce boxcars and refrigerator cars unlike those made by the Lionel Corp. Operators proved grateful for the efforts of what Andy named Kris Model Trains,

WANT MORE INFORMATION?

Further reading: “Kris Model Trains,” in Greenberg’s Guide to Kusan Trains (1987).

keeping him busy and comfortable for the next 14 years. Once Kriswalus had obtained the machinery to churn out blank shells, he had to answer two

questions. First, where was KMT going to find suitable frames and trucks? Inventory purchased from Kusan and then Lionel. Second, how would KMT decorate them? Painting with hobby brands of railroad colors followed by screenprinted graphics. Later, KMT used special decals known as “electrocals.” The list of railroads, civic organizations, retailers, hobby associations, consumer goods, and businesses represented on KMT boxcars was vast. Major railroads got their shot at immortality, as did many of the short lines in the Northeast. Andy relied initially on dies originally made by Auburn Model Trains and then Kusan-Auburn. Before long, however, he had made his own so he could fabricate boxcars with smooth sides; they were, after all, easier to

Kris Model Trains got started by making use of tooling and dies developed by Auburn Model Trains and then Kusan-Auburn.

decorate. Then, again building on the Kusan foundation, KMT released many gondolas, refrigerator cars, and stockcars. Production concluded around 1982, which probably was the time Kriswalus hammered out deals with Williams Electric Trains and K-Line for the tired yet still functioning AMT and Kusan tooling. Those nascent businesses launched their lines on Andy’s shoulders. Today’s O gaugers should, as a consequence, never forget the enthusiastic hobbyist who died in 1990.

Kughn bought the line from General Mills and launched Lionel Trains Inc. to earn a profit. The best way was to offer high-quality items while enhancing the roster through innovation. Breakthroughs began with RailScope in 1987. A tiny camera on a railcar transmitted moving pictures to a screen. With RailSounds in 1990, engines generated sounds of authentic whistles, horns, and more. The Kughn Era was characterized by O gauge replicas of sights on contemporary railroads, notably, SD60M and Dash 8-40B road diesels, enclosed auto carriers and TTUX spine cars, and intermodal cranes. LTI invigorated the accessory line. Until 1995, when Kughn sold LTI to Wellspring Associates, the pace of change kept accelerating. Innovation peaked in 1994 with TrainMaster Command Control, a new system of operating trains using wireless digital technology. Yet during Dick’s tenure, he buttressed Lionel’s heritage with modern versions of prewar classics (no. 700E scale Hudson) and postwar operating cars and accessories.

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KUSAN Kusan seemed destined to be a formidable player in the toy field since its birth in 1949. Founders William McLain and Earl Horton saw the advantages of injection-molded plastics and began producing blocks, furniture, and other items for preschool-age children. Indestructible, colorful playthings, sold cheaply, helped Kusan (named for a small Native American tribe living in Oregon) expand rapidly in the 1950s. Creative leadership nurtured ambition at Kusan Inc. McLain and Horton wanted to cash in on the popularity of trains. So they struck late in 1954, when Auburn Model Trains quit the game. The two partners bought AMT’s inventory and tooling as the foundation of a subsidiary they called Kusan-Auburn. More than marketing old stock and reissuing established models, the enterprise was going to manufacture new trains at its plant in Franklin, Tenn., under the gaze of design engineer George Dunbar.

48 Electric Trains From A to Z

Blowing open the future of electric trains represented one tactic. A second way of reaching O gauge enthusiasts involved resuscitating the AMT roster. The aluminum streamlined passenger cars made a comeback, often decked out in stunning paint schemes. Old dies and tooling enabled KusanAuburn to revive the freight cars AMT had pioneered. Out of the factory in TenKusan-Auburn accomplished its goals. nessee rolled boxcars, gondolas, refrigThe firm wrote a meaningful chapter in erator cars, and stockcars. Meanwhile, the history of postwar toy trains. The reloriginal tooling let Kusan-Auburn ative youth of the men at the broaden its roster with the KMT helm, both of whom were series, which included hopfathers, paid dividends. pers and tank cars. Train McLain and Horton, like sets reflective of what Credit for many Dunbar, believed kids was happening in the of the innovative and were as fascinated as world, up-to-date pascolorful locomotives their parents with senger and freight and operating items rockets and satellites. cars, and improved developed by KusanIn 1957, Kusanversions of the F7 dieAuburn belonged to Auburn released its inisel crafted by AMT – George Dunbar. tial set, the no. KF-110 Kusan-Auburn seemed Atomic Train. Military colto have done everything it ors and atomic insignia decocould to rack up sales in the rated the components, all of which electric train niche in 1957 and ’58. boasted a special effect or removable But kids were losing interest in trains. load. Who cared if the set validated the A survival instinct led Kusan to vacate fun of World War III! the market, after transferring production The same space and military theme in to a plastics molder in Mexico. came forth in the no. KF-119 Satellite Plasticos Leon, as it was called, did its Train. Another O gauge set led by a diebest for a few years, and engines and sel and including animated cars with cars with Spanish wording left its factory extra play value, thanks to tiny motors in the early 1960s. The final page was blowing air or flashing lights. Nothing written a few year later in 1967, when close emerged from the Engineering Andy Kriswalus acquired the tooling to Department at Lionel until years later. launch another KMT – Kris Model Trains.

LITHOGRAPHY

L

ithography is a process for printing colors, letters, and images on a variety of materials. In the electric and windup train realm, tinplated sheet steel was one of the media used. Louis Marx & Co. was not the only train maker using lithography, but the scale on which it produced metal lithography for its varied product line was staggering: If you’ve seen a miniature auto garage, dollhouse, play set, mini-arcade game, mechanical tank, or robot, you have probably seen a Marx toy. Sheets of tin, roughly 2 x 3 feet in size, would be printed with an image from a master plate. Depending on the size of the end product, a number of designs could be printed on each sheet. Next, a tool would stamp out the shape of the product. Most train cars were designed to have the top, sides, and

ends form one piece. The frame was the second piece. The car was formed into shape, and tabs were slipped into slits cut into the frame, and tightly bent over to secure the pieces together. By the way, those tabs were never intended to come apart, so if you need to repair a car, be gentle with those tabs, lest they break off. Occasionally the master

Louis Marx & Co. was not the only train maker using lithography, but the scale on which it produced metal lithography was staggering.

would give out or need repair. Some tweaking would be done with the original (changing a color, a font, or a car number) and you’d have a similar piece, but with some subtle (or not so subtle) variation. It was also common that if

a sheet had a defect, Marx would simply turn it over and feed the blank side through the press again. Marx attempted to capture realistic details their customers wanted and was able to succeed due to the lithographic process.

Engine shed by Darstaed Trains (2014)

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LIONEL CORPORATION Joshua Lionel Cowen, in a technical sense, only co-

settle for second place. As for Ives, it surrendered in 1928 by declaring bankfounded the toy train manufacturer that rose to become an ruptcy. Lionel bought its key assets. everyday presence in the life of so many Americans in the 20th Challenges galore awaited the Lionel century. Yet in every other sense, thanks to his powerful, even Corp. in the wake of the stock market overbearing personality and genius as a marketer, the enterprise crash in 1929 and the onset of economic depression. Survival became the goal of that bore his middle name deserved to be associated with him. Cowen and his aides as they struggled to hold off creditors and provide enough For nearly the first couple of decades dominant segment. Into that vacuum oxygen for the train line to keep breathof the firm’s existence, until the waning raced Ives and Lionel. In the 1920s, ing in the first half of the 1930s. months of World War I, its full name was J.L. Cowen determined to Two landmark products the Lionel Manufacturing Company. overtake all rivals. helped the business turn Challenges Toward the end of 1918 Cowen changed And Cowen proved the tide in 1934: an O galore awaited the name to Lionel Corporation. That victorious, due in large gauge streamlined pasentity endured for 75 more years, though part to his collaborasenger set based on a the Lionel Corp. in it largely disappeared after 1969, when tion with Mark Harris Union Pacific protothe wake of the stock leaders leased the rights to make its and then Arthur type and a windup market crash in trains to Model Products Corporation, a Raphael managing handcar with Mickey 1929 and the onset division of General Mills. sales programs and and Minnie Mouse of economic The Lionel Corp. increased the size of Mario Caruso supervisbased on no prototype! depression. its market share and its profits steadily in ing engineering and proComing back from the the years after peace returned. German duction. Lionel’s innovative dead, leaders set out in the imports, so vital a part of the domestic Standard and O gauge trains next few years to achieve two market before yet locked out of the U.S. became the top choice of youngsters goals that might seem contradictory but during the war, never recaptured their across the U.S. American Flyer had to really complemented each other.

50 Electric Trains From A to Z

One goal involved carrying forward the trend launched by the UP streamliner: O scale replicas of contemporary trains. Realism would be paramount so Cowen and the individuals advising him could build a legacy among participants in the burgeoning hobby of model railroading. The second goal involved nourishing the trend launched by the Mickey Mouse handcar. Whimsy and fun had to remain important to retain the love of kids for whom electric trains were the best toys. Maintaining a balance between realism and fancy was uppermost at the Lionel Corp. until a wartime mandate from the federal government forced it to cease toy production in 1942. Leading executives renewed their subscription to that corporate philosophy once they were permitted to resume electric train production in 1945. Yet intense public demand tipped the scale between those two extremes toward whimsy in the late 1940s. The corporation increasingly viewed itself as a toy manufacturer as it prepared to commemorate Lionel’s golden anniversary in 1950. Other companies, smelling opportunities to erode Lionel’s supremacy, did so by bringing out models they avidly promoted as more real and contemporary. The A.C. Gilbert Co. publicized its American Flyer brand of S gauge trains as superior because they were built to scale proportions and operated over two-rail track. American Model Toys, though newer and smaller than Gilbert, made inroads by introducing streamlined passenger cars, near-scale freight cars, and a brand-new diesel. Lionel responded aggressively during the middle 1950s by creating an outstanding roster of locomotives and rolling stock that appeared to blend beautifully realistic features and fine detailing

assembling promotional outfits for a wide array of special customers. Time seemed to be running out for Lionel. Children no longer begged for electric trains for their holiday and birthday gifts, and no one at the company really knew how to change youngsters’ tastes or sufficiently revamp what Lionel produced. The course out, as charted by Ronald Saypol and his peers at the helm, boiled down to leasing the rights to manufacture and market the trains with toy-like color and to a conglomerate sinWhimsy and animation. Success cere in its belief that fun had to remain could be measured by electric trains would fill important if the Lionel rising annual profits. a noteworthy gap in its Corp. were going to Lionel became in the product line. General retain the love of minds of consumers Mills stepped forward in youngsters. synonymous with elec1969 to negotiate a deal. tric toy trains. Lionel trains lived on Until children began in the while the corporate entity late 1950s to deride those playevolved into a holding company things as slow, boring, and old-fashspecializing in toy stores. Growth alterioned. Engineers answered with novel nated with weakness for the chain of operating cars and motorized units that, outlets for the next 24 years. while influenced by widespread As a legal entity, the Lionel Corp. interest in outer space and miliceased to exist in 1993. However and tary forces, looked so much Very fortunately for collectors and operalike toys that Lionel’s reputators of new and vintage Lionel trains, tion among scale modelers dynamic and far-sighted business leadsuffered. Youngsters, meaners were investing heavily in the legacy while, refused to be won over, of Mr. Cowen so Lionel could continue to despite Lionel diversifying its line produce the greatest electric toy trains. with science kits and slot cars. Corporate strategies that had worked for so long backfired and stalled during the 1960s. By then, worsening finances had led a fretful Cowen to sell control of the business to a grandnephew, Roy Cohn. The latter, focusing only on driving up the value of the stock so he might make a killing, failed to achieve that goal and left Lionel weaker than before. Subsequent leaders won only a temporary reprieve in the middle to late 1960s by slashing costs, eliminating entire departments at the factory, and www.ClassicToyTrains.com

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LIONEL LLC If the period which Richard Kughn owned Lionel Trains Inc. (LTI) saved the firm from obscurity, the next epoch of corporate management, the Lionel LLC era, is when the company reorganized and re-tooled to face the future. The company overcame a turbulent period of litigation with MTH and K-Line, along with the challenges of shifting production to Asia. It triumphed in maximizing the integration of new technology and produced some of the most remarkable O gauge trains ever offered. Gone were the stamped-steel handrails; arriving were steam exhaust and moving bells! Here is a “Top 20” list of Lionel LLC production since 1996.

1

The Lionel Legacy system (May 2008 CTT): Expanded the functionality of TrainMaster Command Control with a powerful, easyto-use interface offering operators more choices than ever.

2

The LionChief Santa Fe 2-8-2 (July 2015 CTT): Combining the simplicity of the LionChiefPlus system with a well-built steam freight engine.

3

The Union Pacific FEF 4-8-4 (Sept 2008 CTT): This superbly performing model of a legendary locomotive may be Lionel’s

52 Electric Trains From A to Z

finest modern era product.

4

Union Pacific Genset (February 2011 CTT): This beautiful model with rising stack caps and rugged looks easily qualifies as a third-generation diesel. It

captures the look of a prototype focusing on economics and environmental impact.

5

The Union Pacific 4-88-4 Big Boy (May 2000 CTT): The first Lionel model of the largest, most powerful steam locomotive to operate on American rails.

6

The Atomic Reactor accessory (May 2001): This reprise of a neverproduced postwar design showed that Lionel has a sense of whimsy and was not afraid to create an unusual and fun accessory. Operators liked the lights and action.

7

Union Pacific Veranda Turbine (November 2002 CTT): A monster locomotive that reflected the Union Pacific’s fascination with jumbo diesels and turbines in the 1960s.

8

Standard gauge New York Central Commodore Vanderbilt set (February 2003 CTT): Lionel demonstrated it wasn’t afraid to challenge MTH in the market of pre-war-style Standard gauge with a new creation.

9 New York Central 4-6-4 Hudson

Northern Pacific Alco S-4 switcher (November 2003 CTT): A superb

model of a ubiquitous firstgeneration diesel switcher.

10

Southern Pacific 4-8-8-2 Cab-Forward (May 2007 CTT): An eccentric concept and functional success. Lionel’s model captured the spirit of the Cab-Forward!

11

Union Pacific SD40-2 (May 2003 CTT): The SD40-2 is as close to a universal design as you’ll find among second-generation diesels. This version was a Union Pacific livery saluting company veterans.

12

New York Central S-2 electric locomotive (July 2006 CTT): A die-cast metal box proving those prewar-style O gauge electrics were closer to reality than many kids thought!

13

Chesapeake & Ohio 2-6-6-6 Allegheny (February 2000 CTT):

A later steamer to be put into service, it was a good design, but it was too late and could not overcome the economics of the diesel locomotive.

14

Chesapeake & Ohio 2-10-4 (May 2002 CTT): Excellent model of an often overlooked freight engine – powerful runner with a distinctive look.

15

Southern Ry. E6 (March 2003 CTT): This model looks better than most O gauge passenger power. The rakish angle of the nose and the rare paint scheme made this diesel a keeper for any fan of fast passenger power.

pressed in size (and price!) to enable a wider audience to own this late steam era icon.

17

ZW-L transformer (May 2013 CTT): Building on the reputation of the postwar ZW transformer, the ZW-L updates the electronics, adds illuminated meters, and is designed for easier integration with the Lionel Legacy command system.

18

Phantom diesel (December 1998 CTT): Winning the electric train equivalent of the Miss Congeniality award, this fantasy piece showed Lionel’s

16

LionMaster Pennsylvania RR T1-class 4-4-4-4 (March 2003 CTT): Lionel deserves praise for making a LionMaster model of this Pennsylvania RR locomotive. The basic steamer was selectively com-

ZW-L Transformer

product developers had a sense of humor and were willing to take a chance on creating the trains we might have envisioned “in the future.”

19

New Haven Fairbanks-Morse H-1644 diesel (November 2003 CTT): Train Master diesels are everywhere, but this version of the four-axle H-1644 has a softer edge to it and even has rounded cab windows. Later F-M diesels adopted the body design of the Train Master, which makes this version uncommon.

20

New York Central scale 4-6-4 Hudson (October 2011 CTT): Still a great American locomotive that packs a ton of detail. Hobbyists have tended to shy away from the gray version, instead going for the black version. The gray, however, lets you see more of the exquisite detailing of this wonderful model! www.ClassicToyTrains.com

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MTH ELECTRIC TRAINS

M

TH Electric Trains would probably not exist if Jerry Williams had never hired Mike Wolf. Jerry, owner of Williams Reproductions, took him on at age 12 to help assemble trains. A decade later Mike had a home-based train dealership (Mike’s Train House), and he purchased Jerry’s Standard gauge tooling and set out to make his own trains. Wolf made Standard gauge trains while continuing to work at Williams, which was expanding its O gauge line.

54 Electric Trains From A to Z

In 1985, Wolf linked up with Se Yong Lee, president of Samhongsa, a Korean manufacturer. The goal was to have the company make Standard gauge trains and accessories for Mike’s Train House. Lionel later approached Samhongsa, but Lee refused to deal with the company unless they utilized Wolf, with whom he already had an established business relationship. In 1987, Mike became a consultant with Lionel, acting as middleman between Lionel and Samhongsa. Wolf proposed prewar-style products

for a new Lioposed, Wolf nel Classics greenThe Challenger series, lighted the was a milestone, which diesel as a setting a tone of expanded product for accuracy, quality, into a ColMTH. Wolf and performance. lector line, reasoned starting with a that SamReading T-1 hongsa had 4-8-4 steam lococommitted to cermotive. This relationship tain production levels continued until 1990. and he felt obligated to keep According to Wolf, Lionel the factory busy. had been approving fewer When Lionel discovered Classics and Collector projthis, it canceled its business ects, and when the firm relationship with Mike and declined to move forward terminated his Lionel dealer with a Dash 9 diesel Wolf pro- status. In the wake of the

decoupling with Lionel, the MTH staff determined it would remain in the manufacturing side of the business. If they were going to be serious they would need a signature die-cast metal steam locomotive to prove their point. The team agreed to tackle the Union Pacific 4-6-6-4 Challenger. Though initial orders were soft, once a sample was available to be viewed by hobbyists, demand for the Challenger took off. The model was a milestone in MTH history, setting a tone of accuracy, quality, and performance that became a hall-

mark of Premier line products. Also in 1990, MTH arranged a cooperative partnership with Weaver Models to make the Gold Edition product line with Samhongsa. Production was distributed to Weaver Models, Frank’s Train House, and Mike’s Train House for retail sale. This line included 21 brass steam locomotives and seven plastic diesel and electric locomotives. MTH later acquired the tooling for the diesel locomotives. Over the next 20 years MTH produced key steam locomotives from the classic years of American railroading and extensively covered elec-

trified railroading as well as the latest products from General Electric and EMD. It produced a line of classic and modern accessories as well as assembled structures.

The firm has also gone into HO, S, and Number One gauge (1:32 Large scale), and offered many Premier line locomotives with the option to run on two-rail O scale track and be commanded by the open framework DCC system. Through 2005, MTH Electric Trains had offered 10,000 line items from 992 unique sets of tooling of which 796 were totally original and 196 were reproductions. By 2016, the firm’s line item count has grown to more than 27,000. This isn’t bad for a firm whose founder once assembled trains for Jerry Williams for $7 an hour. www.ClassicToyTrains.com

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MADISON HARDWARE Not the oldest establishment to stock Lionel trains – merely the most famous. Madison Hardware Company, located only blocks from the corporate headquarters and primary showroom of America’s premier manufacturer of electric trains, catered to families in search of their first outfit as well as legions of dedicated collectors during its long history. Documents revealed Guy Gest set up show business. He went so far as to a business listed as Madison Hardware adopt the surname Shaw to help. in 1909. The supply business changed Madison plodded forward for the rest hands five years later. Then in June of the prewar era, expanding its inven1922, there were new owners: Abram tory of trains with quantities of Standard Shur and his elder son, Louis. By and O gauge parts. It had a serthe end of the 1920s, Lou vice department, where cushad assumed daily mantomers brought ailing and agement, definitely cardecrepit models. A cure Lou Shur and rying Lionel trains. was available, and the later his younger The hard-working, technicians toiling brother, Carl Shaw, Lou contrasted with beyond the counter supervised Madison his younger brother, became legendary. Hardware Co. from Carl, who later Good fortune smiled 1924 until they sold became a fixture in the on Lou and Carl after it in 1989. store. During the 1930s, Lionel suffered setback Carl pursued a career in after setback in the late 56 Electric Trains From A to Z

postwar period. Demand for vintage items swelled as baby boomers hunted for sets they had formerly run or only dreamed of owning. They descended on the tiny outlet in Manhattan with want lists, often to be ordered to wait, pony up more cash, or get out! In 1989, the elderly brothers decided to retire. Richard Kughn, owner of Lionel Trains Inc. and an avid collector, negotiated with Lou and Carl to buy their huge yet untapped inventory. He had the con-

WANT MORE INFORMATION?

Further reading: “Behind the scenes at Madison Hardware Co.,” Classic Toy Trains, October 2003, pages 60-66.

tents of Madison trucked to a facility in Detroit, near Carail, where he displayed his splendid horde of antique cars and trains. Soon, Dick had opened a new Madison Hardware, inviting his fellow hobbyists to hunt for treasures.

MAGNE-TRACTION

I

t’s 1948. You’re 12 years old and are ready to run some trains. You want to run them fast, and you want to pull as many cars as your O gauge loop or figure-eight of track can hold. Plus, you don’t want the locomotive to fly off on a curve (well, mostly). If only somebody could do something to solve this conundrum! In 1949 the answer rolled into Lionelville: Magne-Traction. The next year, after equipping virtually its entire fleet with the new feature, Lionel breathlessly assured little railroaders that MagneTraction-equipped locomotives had “more speed, more pull, more climb, and more control.” Setting aside the hype, those locomotives did adhere to the rails better, which allowed them to climb steeper grades with longer trains. Magne-Traction functioned by having an Alnico magnet positioned between a locomotive’s sintered-iron drive wheels (either within the axle or right above it). The magnetic flux was carried from the axle, through one of

the drive wheels, down to the steel rails, across the steel ties to the other running rail, and back up through the wheel to the axle. The circuit of magnetic force helped a locomotive hug the rails. The downside is that Magne-Traction doesn’t work on non-ferrous rails, or rails that aren’t connected with steel ties. This wasn’t a problem when virtually all O gauge track

N

S

Non-magnetic axle

in the market was Lionel track with steel rails and ties. When other types of tie systems (plastic or wood) and non-ferrous rails came into the market, however, Magne-Traction users got less bang for their buck. Though a tremendous success, the importance of Magne-Traction waned as locomotives N improved. S More powerful can-style motors and traction tires (and especially speed Non-magnetic axle management systems) allowed for the running of long trains with no operational limitations. Magne-Traction did, however, establish certain performance expectations N S in the minds of operators that live on today. It is a memorable success story from Lionel’s engineering department!

Location of magnets for Magne-Traction

N

S N

Non-magnetic axle

Location of Magnet N

S

N

Location of Magnets For Magne-Traction N

S

Location of Magnets For Magne-Traction

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MARX If you were a kid of a certain age, you played with Marx toys. If you wanted toy soldiers (large or small), lithographed dollhouses, mini-arcade shooting games, windup tinplated tanks, plastic Presidents of the United States, or electric trains, Louis Marx & Co. had something for you. Marx toys could be found at the local five-and-dime as well as in catalogs issued by large mail-order houses. Louis Marx was a major figure in the American toy industry – the Henry Ford of child’s play. His goal was to make good-quality toys at affordable prices, and have them available just about everywhere. And the business model worked! During the Great Depression, the company’s revenue actually increased! Marx offered a range of trains, starting with conventional tinplated and lithographed models, some steamers with die-cast metal shells, novelty “automatic trains” and even a Flintstones play set

58 Electric Trains From A to Z

that had more in common with a train than your typical D-Day or Blue & Grey play outfit. Marx offered trains powered by transformers, batteries, and clockwork motors. While owners of Lionel or American Flyer trains often looked down upon Marx operators, the latter need not feel like second-class operators. The signatures of most Marx productions were simplicity in design that allowed for economical production, and a clear attempt to capture a degree of realism in spite of the less-complicated designs.

The lithography on freight and passenger cars often had seams, bolts, doors, and even shading on the windows. On later plastic cars, there was an attempt to hide the fact that a given car had only four wheels by placing them behind a façade of a four-wheel truck side frame. Marx knew kids wanted cars and engines that looked like the real thing, but also suspected there were more young Johnnie Does out there than little Ritchie Riches. Marx produced both O and HO trains and sets and initiated production of its first plastic trains in the late 1940s. Marx also offered a line of accessories that included signals, crossing gates, and operating models. Marx made an extensive line of buildings to populate a train layout. Similar in size and design to the Plasticville U.S.A. brand, the molded plastic kits were produced in a wide range of color combinations and were, of course, compatible with Lionel layouts.

A Flintstones clockwork handcar Marx tried to court several sectors of the electric train market simultaneously: Children who were new to the hobby, older children who might be more serious model railroaders, and kids who were interested in toys. Kids who were interested in trains simply as toys could be pleased with just about anything, but the seven-inch car line of four-wheel rolling stock and products like the Mickey Mouse Meteor filled the bill for fun. Marx’s plastic four-wheel cars with their façade featuring pretend four-wheel trucks could be fun, but were rock bottom in quality. Children who were new to the hobby were well served with the Marx line of metal rolling stock, plastic steamers, and metal diesels. The trains were colorful, the lithography could be interesting, and there were equally fun and more realistic trains in their future. More serious railroaders could be happy with tinplated and lithographed rolling stock and the Marx line of steam locomotives. The line of eight-wheel plastic cars earned praise for trying to

Mickey and Donald clockwork handcar create variety on a budget. Commendable as well was the deluxe line; Its autocarrier boxcars, trailer-on-flatcars, open framed auto carriers and depressed center cars possessed solid play value. Better locomotion included E7 diesels,

Alco S2 switchers, and a General Electric 70-ton switcher with four drive wheels but simulated four-wheel trucks. As fate would have it, a changing environment and fierce competition broke the company and it went bankrupt in 1976. Ownership of patents and tooling has changed hands at least twice since. While other manufacturers were able to access some of the vintage Marx tooling, the branded product line was dead until it was resurrected in 1993. Jim and Debby Flynn re-launched it, manufacturing newly designed locomotives and rolling stock in the vintage tinlitho-style. Sadly, the Flynns sold Marx in 2004 and the new owner branded the line Ameritrains. There was only limited Ameritrains production thereafter and the line faded away after 2007.

MICKEY MOUSE HANDCAR

W

hat a monster story for a publicist in 1935: “Mouse Saves Wounded Lion!” And don’t think newspaper writers and advertising men didn’t take advantage of the marvelous image of a puny little mouse pulling a weakened, prostrate lion out of harm’s way. Lionel had all but hit rock bottom by 1934, rocked by financial losses during the Great Depression. Collapse had seemed imminent when

decision and ultimately approve or reject what corporate chiefs wanted to do. Cowen was working on a deal for the holiday season of 1934. Lionel released amid fanfare the no. 1100 Mickey Mouse handcar. Ironically for a business whose reputation from its earliest days had been erected on electricity, the forerunner of the delightful motorized units of the 1950s depended on a clockwork motor. You used the metal key packed with each handcar to crank up the mechanical toy and set it WANT MORE INFORMATION? loose on a Further reading: “Handcars in history,” Classic Toy Trains, January 2000, pages 118-21. circle of tworail track. Painted Joshua Lionel Cowen agreed figures of Mickey and Minnie to put his company in an Mouse fashioned out of “equality receivership.” Desig- “composition” (an aggregate nated outsiders would be able material toy companies had to evaluate every financial been using since the 19th

60 Electric Trains From A to Z

century) moved up and down as though they were pumping their 7¾-inch-long four-wheel handcar, which was priced at $1. Lionel ran short of models despite having manufactured 250,000 of them. Lionel probably sold each Mickey Mouse handcar to wholesalers at 55 cents each, which totaled earnings of less than the $300,000 the firm owed creditors. So the story of a low-priced item saving the mighty toy maker from catastrophe simply didn’t add up. But the myth has lived on. Evidently, Lionel benefited more from the new no. 751E Union Pacific streamlined passenger outfit. People had been reading about the pathsetting train, which was the reason Lionel made certain it had introduced an O gauge replica by the autumn of that critical year. More dollars flowed into Lionel’s coffers

from sales of that set than from the handcar. Lionel, thrilled to escape receivership, expanded its roster of windup handcars and trains capitalizing on the growing renown of Mickey Mouse. Over the next three years, similar mechanically driven units appeared featuring Donald Duck, Santa Claus, and Peter Rabbit. None managed to repeat the great success of the Mickey and Minnie car. Meanwhile, Mickey Mouse prepared to join the circus! Again collaborating with Walt Disney Studios, Lionel announced the no. 1536 Mickey Mouse Circus Train Outfit in its consumer catalog for 1935. A red-painted steam engine stoked by Mickey pulled three beautifully lithographed cars decorated with animals, musicians, and Disney characters.

MINITOYS Next time you’re strolling down the aisles at large train shows, study the ancillary items available. Not the vintage train sets and locomotives, but what we might generously call the “oddballs.” We’ll bet several of these items come in orange or yellow boxes identifying them as products of Minitoys.

Pittman Electrical Developments Co. They bought parts to assemble trolleys to market under the Minitoys brand. Out came the nos. 102 Public Service and 103 Rapid Transit cars painted yellow with red and black lettering. The Vescos bought out Ajello in 1950. But they had no intention of remaining unattached. Anthony Collett and William Berke, owners of Colber Corp. (making toy train accessories) recognized the advantage of augmenting their catalog with Minitoys sign sets and details. They liked as well its sheet-metal footbridge. Minitoys helped expand the Colber line in the early 1950s, even though Collett and Berke dropped the O gauge trolley. They did, however, get the A.C. Gilbert Co. to buy their die-cast metal signs, benches, and more for its American Flyer list in 1951 and ’52. Once that deal evaporated, Colber cut back on producing anything from Minitoys.

Frank Ajello had built up a small retail trash cans, mailboxes and traffic signals, outlet he named Hobby-Land. Besides park benches and fire hydrants, gasoline selling Lionel and American Flyer trains pumps and baggage carts. He worked to New Yorkers, he dreamed in 1946 of with Comet Metal Products, and by early dominating niches in the market 1947 his Miniature Automobile overlooked by big firms. Corporation of America was Ajello knew miniature placing advertisements in The Minitoys automobiles wired to Model Builder for dieline of signs and run over roads could cast metal figures and details was first steal traffic from train details. A year later, die-cast by Comet makers. Unfortunately, ads for Minitoys highMetal Products, the technology for slot lighted sets of railroad known for cars needed another and highway signs. decade of improvement Authenticast When Frank needed a before it would race off. new supplier, Joe and items. Frank resumed his hunt for John Vesco, who owned a lucrative playthings. plant in New Jersey, Modifying his plans, the enterreached out. Then the brothers prising storeowner decided what model hunted for what they could use to WANT MORE INFORMATION? railroaders wanted were the infinite numexpand the Minitoys line. Further reading: “The Story of Minitoys,” in ber of details necessary to bring a layout The Vescos settled on a kit for an More All-Star Electric Trains, pages 24-29. to life. Ajello had in mind street signs and O gauge trolley made in 1949 by www.ClassicToyTrains.com

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MODERN ERA TIMELINE The hobby marks the end of the Postwar Era with General Mills leasing the rights to produce and market Lionel electric trains. It has been one heck of an era. Here are some of the key events and manufacturers of contemporary times.

1960s 1970s

1980s 1980

Williams Reproductions buys Kris Model Trains tooling

1980

1970 Lionel’s service chief Lenny Dean

1969

General Mills licenses rights to make Lionel trains from Lionel Corp.

Model Products Corp. (division of General Mills) makes first Lionel trains

1972

• Williams Reproductions makes first prewar-style trains • Quaker Oats buys Marx Toys, including its train line

1975

MDK (later K-Line) opens for business as a mail-order firm.

1976

Marx sold to DunbeeCombex-Mark

Lionel’s Michigan factory until 2000

• Weaver/Quality Craft offers first O gauge car • Dunbee-Combex-Mark sells Marx patents

1981

American Flyer line of S gauge trains revived by Lionel

1983

Williams Reproductions sells prewar tooling to Mike’s Train House (MTH)

1985

First locomotive and rolling stock made by K-Line

1986

• Richard Kughn acquires rights and tooling for Lionel trains and creates Lionel Trains Inc. (LTI) • Myron Biggar buys O Scale Railroading magazine and re-launches it as O Gauge Railroading

1986

Right-of-Way Industries makes first product (switches)

1987

Lionel GE U36B Bicentenneal diesel 62 Electric Trains From A to Z

Kalmbach Publishing Co. launches Classic Toy Trains magazine

Lionel’s Concord NC HQ

1990s

2000s

1993

• Marx Trains sold and renamed Ameritrains • Menards offers first customrun train set

• MTH develops O gauge product line • Marx Trains line revived by Jim & Debby Flynn

2005

1994

• Lionel introduces TrainMaster Command Control • 3rd Rail offers first O gauge locomotive

1995

LTI sold to Wellspring Associates

Former Lionel CEO Richard Maddox

2000

• Lionel celebrates 100th anniversary • Atlas O, K-Line, and Weaver Models offer locomotive with Lionel’s TMCC • MTH Electric Trains sues Lionel • Great Train Stores retail chain closes • Lionel announces shift of production to China

2001

1997

Atlas Model Railroad Co. enters the O gauge market via Atlas O

• William Bracey replaces Gary Moreau as CEO at Lionel • Lionel factory auction • Hobbico buys United Model Distributors and Industrial Rail line

1998

2002

• United Model Distributors launches Industrial Rail line • MTH introduces Z-4000 transformer

1999

• MTH introduces ProtoSound 2.0 and Digital Command System • Atlas O introduces first locomotive (Amtrak AEM7)

Dick Maddox retires from Lionel

2003

• Dick Maddox hired as CEO at Atlas Model RR Co. • Ready Made Trains established

2004

• Jerry Calabrese replaces Bill Bracey as CEO at Lionel

• Atlas O announces Trainman line of products • Lionel sues K-Line • K-Line files Chapter 11

2006

Atlas O buys Industrial Rail line

2007

• Bachmann Industries buys Williams • Lionel releases Legacy command system

2008

Lionel exits Chapter 11

2011

Menards offers first freight car

2012

MTH acquires S-Helper Service

2013

• Lionel introduces LionChief controller • Lionel introduces ZW-L transformer

2015

Weaver Models closes

2016

Ready Made Trains closes

www.ClassicToyTrains.com

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MODEL BUILDER Years before the inaugural issues of

Model Craftsman and Model Railroader, the Advertising Department at Lionel gathered stories about miniature and full-size trains in a publication directed at young hobbyists. What started life as Lionel Magazine in 1930 gave way seven years later to one of the hobby’s best-loved early publications. Model Builder deftly picked up the torch and over the next dozen years added fuel to the fire. Indeed, that magazine did as much as anything to stoke widespread interest in Lionel trains and accessories during World War II, when production was ordered to cease.

of creating a magazine in which hobbyists would learn how to enjoy their Standard and O gauge trains more fully. Archer St. John supervised advertising in the decade before Hanson returned in 1945. Under his guidance, Model Builder made its debut and gained momentum through the early 1940s. As editor, St. John changed the nature of Lionel’s hobby magazine. He did so by executing a few changes in 1937 and ’38. WANT MORE INFORMATION? First, St. John Further reading: Terry Thompson and Roger doubled the Carp, Lionel’s Model Builder: The Magazine That Shaped the Toy Train Hobby (1998). number of pages in the bimonthly Joseph Hanson, advertising issues, so Model Builder typimanager at Lionel after the cally had 36 pages. Second, war, had assisted the firm in he solicited advertising to fill the early 1930s. He had recout those pages, even ads ognized the advantages to it from competitors, the A.C. 64 Electric Trains From A to Z

kids. The skills and patience demanded were more likely to be found inside a dad than his son. Not for the first time – or the last – was Lionel promoting its trains as the perfect vehicle for tightening bonds between fathers and sons. Lionel depended on Model Builder to nurture enthusiasm for its products until it could resume production once the Allies won the war. St. John continued to recruit big names to write articles, specifically, Frank Ellison, Louis Hertz, Robert Sherman, and Raymond Yates. All the same, to save money and comply with governmental guidelines, Lionel reduced the number of issues put out annually and eliminated newsstand sales. Peacetime ushered in an Gilbert Co., above all. Third, era of unprecedented popuhe had Model Builder sold on larity for Lionel trains. Model newsstands rather than Builder should play a major strictly through subscriptions. role in helping consumers get More significantly, the conmore out of their sets and tents of the magazine accessories. Although St. changed under St. John. John had left the firm Readers discovered early in 1945, his more articles successor as about coneditor, Louis structing Model Builder Freedman scenic was published by Jr., foleffects for Lionel from 1937 lowed the their laythrough early 1949, course laid outs and when Model Railroader down. The modeling took over its list same plan railroad of subscribers. motivated facilities and Gordon Zern, industrial strucwho replaced tures. Now, feaFreedman in 1946. tures of the sort associThe stable of regular conated with a publication about tributors grew more impresmodel railroading overshadsive. Laurence Gieringer and owed stories outlining activiWarren Morgan wrote often; ties on full-size railroads. Ellison, Hertz, and Sherman Into the 1940s, Model never let up. Zern attracted Builder shifted toward realadvertisers beyond the magaism, whether touting top-ofzine’s sponsor. But circulation the-line additions to the Liobegan dropping. With the loss nel roster or outlining better of readers came a decline in methods for replicating a revenue. The magazine shut pond or a foundry on a home down right after publishing its display. Projects seemed April 1949 issue. aimed as much at adults as

MOTORIZED UNIT

A

motorized unit is any toy able to propel itself on two or three rails because of the motor installed on it. The item envisioned stands apart from a steam or diesel locomotive, which served to pull railcars. A motorized unit, whether based on an actual rail vehicle or derived from a toy designer’s imagination, should be viewed as an independent model. The golden age of motorized units for electric train enthusiasts encompassed the 1950s. Each of the major manufacturers developed amusing and exciting models, as did a few of the minor players in the market. Lionel might have claimed it was first. Didn’t the wood gondolas Joshua Lionel Cowen equipped with an electric motor to use in window displays qualify as motorized units? The painted steel models of streetcars and interurbans in the early Lionel line fit the fundamental description. So did the mechanical handcars seemingly operated by Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, or Santa Claus during the 1930s. Lionel embraced the concept since its inception. Nonetheless, sales executives and engineers at Lionel plainly were reluctant to return to the field after World War II. Hesitant or uninterested in acting to fill a gap, Lionel all but invited a few others to do so. General Models Corp. and EMCO stepped in, as did the A.C. Gilbert Co. and Louis Marx & Co. Each of them tried out a model of a simple railroad handcar. Development Engineer Frank Pettit, who had contributed to Lionel’s windup

handcars in the 1930s, knew the time had come for Lionel to respond. He made a prototype for the no. 50 section gang car released in 1954. Chief Engineer Joseph Bonanno then tricked out the 50, arranging a tiny motor

on its chassis. The motorized unit spun ahead until it smacked into a train or another obstruction. Then the rubber bumper absorbing all the force of the impact activated the reversing slide assembly, thereby causing the gang car to reverse. A trolley seemed like the next logical candidate, and the no. 60 Lionelville trolley arrived in 1955 (never imitated by Gilbert). Even better and more innovative motorized units followed. Members of

the Engineering Department at Lionel conducted research on equipment employed by railroads to get ideas for what to bring out. Their efforts culminated in the development of the endlessly fascinating nos. 54 ballast tamper and 55 Tie-Jector. Accompanying them were units fitted with plows or spinning blowers for combating mountains of snow. Also impressive and fun were the mobile missile launchers. Rail Diesel Cars, which were motorized streamlined coaches and similar cars manufacture by the Budd Company, had intrigued toy train and scale model manufacturers for several years. The first O gauge replicas to hit the market belonged to the lines pioneered by Auburn Model Trains and then Marx. Lionel arrived late to the RDC party, but once in residence became the prince. It cataloged two motorized and two unpowered units between 1956 and 1958. Modern-era motorized units amounted to updated versions of postwar models. About all Lionel did to give the newcomers a special identity was substitute new paint schemes for familiar ones and apply the colors and heralds of different railroads. Some ground was broken during the 1980s and later, but classics from the 1950s defined the field.

WANT MORE INFORMATION? Further reading: Roger Carp, 101 Classic Toy Trains: Best of the Postwar Years (Kalmbach Publishing Co., 2010).

www.ClassicToyTrains.com

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NOMA

Y

NEW HAVEN CARS Playing a word game with an American Flyer enthusiast can lead in several directions if you shout out, “New Haven.” Immediate responses will range from the city in Connecticut where the A.C. Gilbert Co. built its factory to the regional railroad whose overhead catenary towers inspired Mr. Gilbert to develop his famous Erector Sets. Here’s a third possibility: The passenger cars with rounded roofs and smooth sides made for the 3⁄16-inch roster in 1940 and modified to fill a niche in the S gauge line in 1946. Those models resembled coaches and observation cars used by the New Haven, New York & Hartford RR – the same railway passing the Gilbert plant. Passenger cars measuring 10¾ inches in length, formed out of sheet metal and painted blue, green, red, or Tuscan, filled out the prewar Tru-Model line. The no. 490 baggage cars came with a whistle. Equipment for picking up miniature sacks of mail distinguished the no. 492 66 Electric Trains From A to Z

cars. Some versions of the no. 495 coach Gilbert cataloged in 194041 had interior lights. A five-year hiatus in production concluded with the debut of the S gauge roster. Gilbert updated the New Haven cars with plastic body shells lacking the indented sides on earlier models but with white outlines for the windows Additionally, the white lettering across each side identified the nos. 650 coach and 651 baggage car with the New Haven. Variations related to the passenger car’s frame and its color (green or red). Early New

Haven cars came with link couplers. Then the transition to knuckle couplers happened in 1953; the new nos. 950 and 951 passenger cars remained in the catalog through 1957. Cousins of the New Haven coach showed up painted yellow for the no. 5002T Circus Train (1950-52) or with a chrome or satin finish for the no. 5306T Silver Bullet (1953).

oungsters wished to own a model of a city terminal or suburban depot with a phonograph inside playing a recording of announcements. Most popular were the electrically powered talking stations from the A.C. Gilbert Co. But kids also wanted a batterypowered structure sure to cost less yet be no less loud and dependable. In 1951, Noma answered their pleas. The Noma Electric Corp. (its name was taken from the National Outfit Manufacturers Association) had gained renown for the colorful lights it had been making since the 1930s to brighten Christmas trees and wreaths. The firm tried installing a miniature phonograph inside dolls it made, but sold few of them. Chief Engineer Robert Butzko recommended installing the leftover record players inside plastic replicas of the plain train stations on the outskirts of New York City. He designed a mechanism that, with the press of a button on the cupola, caused the battery-powered phonograph to play a 78-rpm record. The disk had a minute’s worth of station announcements, whistles, and bells. Noma heralded its no. 450 Electronic Announcing Railroad Station at the American Toy Fair in early 1951. Buyers placed orders that, over the next two years, totaled 100,000 for the accessory with a red roof as well as its twin with a green roof (no. 451).

WANT MORE INFORMATION?

Further reading: “Next stop, Noma Town,” Classic Toy Trains, November 1993, pages 66-69.

O GAUGE

T

he type of electric toy trains known as O gauge (pronounced “oh”) should be considered 0 gauge (pronounced “zero”). Late in the 19th century, when the top manufacturers of miniature trains were German, one of them took the lead in designating the relative size of their products with numerals. Marklin referred to the largest as Gauge 4. Next, in descending order, came Gauge 3, Gauge 2, and Gauge 1. Around 1900, when that firm saw the need for something smaller to satisfy consumers with less empty space at home for their model railroads, logic dictated calling it Gauge 0 (zero). American toy train makers gradually adopted the new size over the first two decades of the 20th century. They differentiated the smaller locomotives and rolling stock according to their dimensions and the track they used. What Ives and soon American Flyer and Lionel mistakenly described as O (“oh”) gauge identified models built more or less to a proportion of 1:48 and designed to run on track with outer rails 1¼ inches apart. Ives was in the vanguard, bringing out its first O gauge trains in 1901. Leaders viewed their mechanical models designed to run on sectional track as inexpensive alternatives to the deluxe Gauge 1 models imported from Germany. American Flyer followed suit in

The history of O gauge electric toy trains in America started with Ives in 1901 and then accelerated with Lionel in 1915.

1907. It sold only mechanical O gauge sets from the outset; electrically powered pieces arrived in 1918. That date was three years after Lionel’s first O gauge models debuted. Not until demand for toy trains dampened in the early 1930s did O gauge move out of the shadows cast by larger gauges. Lionel and American Flyer raced to surpass each other in offering impressive sets. They sought to create models in scale with full-size prototypes. The greatest of those O scale pieces was Lionel’s no. 700E replica of a New York Central 4-6-4 Hudson (new in 1937). Developing detailed models faithful to the 1:48 proportion was one direction taken by Lionel. It also built O gauge items with a toy-like appearance meant to run over slightly shorter and thinner track with tighter curves (27-inch and not 31-inch diameter). The latter trains, known as O-27, typically were designed to a 1:64 scale. That ratio, pioneered by the A.C. Gilbert Co., was adopted by Louis Marx & Co. and then Lionel. The dual nature of the Lionel product line survived throughout the postwar period. The list of O-27 outfits rivaled the length of what was available in O gauge year after year. The wish to develop scale

models, while never dismissed by Lionel, seemed less relevant in the late 1940s because demand for toys was intense. However, once rivals led by American Model Toys declared they were making scale replicas, Lionel had to respond. Adherence to scale proportions assumed newfound importance at Lionel in the 1950s. O gauge locomotives and rolling stock boasted near-scale dimensions. Even after sales declined during the 1960s, the passion for making trains deserving of praise for their scale fidelity continued to motivate the firm’s leaders. This determination to design and sell scale replicas has driven decision makers at Lionel ever since. Or, to be precise, throughout the years Richard Kughn steered the firm and over the past 20 years at Lionel LLC. Competition from MTH Electric Trains pushed Lionel to make O gauge synonymous with O scale (except for the third rail in the track). The advent of innovative digital sound, lighting, and control systems advanced the trend in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. O gaugers fully expect the expensive models tugging at their wallets be built according to scale. Mere toys no longer satisfy them. www.ClassicToyTrains.com

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OPERATOR For many years electric train operators in the S and O gauge worlds would have referred to themselves as collectors. Having walls filled with examples of 60 to 70 years of toy train production certainly explained their choice of terms. The sad part was that many collectors didn’t even consider building a layout for fear of damaging the value of their trains. With the resurgence of the hobby in the 1980s, new trains from K-Line, Lionel, Williams, and others created incentives for people to take their trains off shelves and out of boxes, and send them on a spin around a loop of track. The joy of simply running electric trains was rediscovered! Before long, train sellers developed shorthand for selling heavily used trains that collectors wouldn’t touch as “Operator grade.” Then hobbyists who would rather run that Lionel Hudson than simply calculate the theoretical book value, began to dub themselves operators. There were national organizations for collectors (Train Collectors Association and Lionel Collectors Club of America) and groups for operators as well (Lionel Operating Train Society and Toy Train Operating Society). Also, many local organizations formed and focused on building layouts on which members, lacking adequate space in their homes, could run their trains on a large railroad. Many clubs also use portable layout for train shows and public events. This is a great sign for the electric train hobby!

68 Electric Trains From A to Z

OUTFIT

W

hat Lionel generally has called an “outfit” just about every other toy train manufacturer from the prewar era to the present has called a “set.”

Regardless of the term used, it was paradise in a box to generations of kid. Packed inside a large corrugated cardboard box were a locomotive and freight or passenger cars. Lionel generally

Outfits cataloged by Lionel usually, though not always, included everything necessary to enjoy and operate an electric train.

placed its steamers and diesels in heavy cardboard boxes, sometimes wrapping them in paper printed with its name. Rolling stock came stacked in the crisp printed orange-and-blue component boxes. The owner of the locomotive noticed inside the outfit package a pile of tinplated track sections. Connecting the curves and straights produced an oval that might have an uncoupling/ unloading section. Then came the magical moment of placing the new train on the main line. A transformer typically completed the package.

However, during postwar days, Lionel left one out of O gauge outfits, preferring to have consumers buy one separately. A power source was, obviously, essential to getting an electric train to work. Rivals saw no reason to omit a transformer. Outfits often contained assorted peripheral items. Especially during the postwar period Lionel placed inside pamphlets explaining how to operate the train and where to find stores carrying additional models or providing repair. A no. 310 billboard set enhanced the pleasures of operating the train. www.ClassicToyTrains.com

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Toys were toys! A gondola could just as easily be painted red or green as black or blue.

PAINT SAMPLE

C

hoosing the color of a locomotive or piece of rolling stock generally completed the process of creating a model at any of the toy train manufacturers during the prewar, postwar, modern, and digital eras. Engineers and sales executives participated in the final stage, often studying samples of the same item that had been painted in different colors. Naturally, when a diesel or electric engine or a boxcar or caboose replicated a specific full-size model, designers and marketers preferred to follow the latter’s decoration. No reason to depart too radically from a paint scheme widely identified with a favorite line. But toys were toys! A gondola could just as easily be painted red or green as black or blue. Companies wanted only to bring out eye-catching models youngsters would enjoy. Therefore, Lionel in particular experimented with a rainbow of hues before reaching a decision on how to decorate low-end and middle-of-the-road freight

70 Electric Trains From A to Z

and passenger cars in the 1940s and ’50s. Fortunately for historians and collectors, many of those paint samples survived, having been put away at the Lionel factory only to find their way out. Members of the Engineering Department, with Louis Melchionne in the forefront, created a number of fascinating samples of small hoppers and boxcars. Several resulted from the decision to put out a train aimed at girls. Discussions about what to include in outfit no. 1587S (cataloged in 1957-58) brought forward paint samples in pleasing pastel shades.

WANT MORE INFORMATION?

Further reading: “Louis Melchionne” in Roger Carp, The World’s Greatest Toy Train Maker: Insiders Remember Lionel, pages 34-43.

Unique rolling stock painted light blue, coral, mint green, pink, and other “girlie” hues exist from that time. Those rarities, while passed over for the Girl’s Train, offer insights into the steps taken before final production and marketing.

The Lionel no. 50 Wartime Freight Train was made from printed cardstock and wood.

PAPER TRAIN World War II presented a number of challenges to manufacturers of electric trains. Even though Lionel and Gilbert had begun making precision instruments for the U.S. armed forces before the country was plunged into the global conflict late in 1941, men at the top at those firms hoped they would be permitted to keep making trains. However, a federal mandate issued in the spring of 1942 prohibited using any “strategic materials” for toys. During the war, Lionel cut sales staff but kept its showroom open to the public. It went on publishing Model Builder magazine to promote the hobby and maintain enthusiasm for its products. For the holiday season of

1943, Lionel’s leadership decided to take advantage of the fact that paper and wood were not strategic materials. They introduced a simple train consisting of a steam engine and tender, two freight cars and a caboose, plus a

crossing gate and a signal – fabricated out of fiberboard with wood axles. The no. 50 Wartime Freight Train really represented the brainchild of Samuel Gold, a key figure in the field of premiums. He contacted Lionel

with the notion of packaging sheets of thick paper on which were printed the train and its accessories. Buyers assembled the components by inserting tabs into slots and then pushing it along the cardboard track. Plenty of children and their families paid for the paper train, so desperate were they for something novel from Lionel. The task of putting one together proved to be a nightmare. A good idea on paper turned out to be far from satisfying for consumers who loved trains. www.ClassicToyTrains.com

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1945 to 1969 POSTWAR ERA

S

trictly speaking, the postwar era in the history of American electric toy trains opened late in 1945, a few months after the surrender of Japan ended World War II. The Lionel Corp. assembled a brand-new train set for the holiday season. The postwar era concluded 24 years later, with the final cataloged line marketed by the Lionel Corp. before it leased the rights to produce and sell its trains and accessories to General Mills. In reality, the parameters created by collectors to define the postwar era end up

72 Electric Trains From A to Z

treating it in far too narrow terms. Locomotives and rolling stock filling out the American Flyer and Lionel lines after 1945 were developed from models offered in the years before a wartime mandate curtailed electric train production in 1942. Similarly, many of the items offered by General Mills in the 1970s had their roots in what Lionel had done years previously. Yet a few trends did separate the postwar era from earlier and later periods. Chief among them was the extraordinary popularity of electric trains after the war.

People from every walk of life, every income and educational level, and every part of the U.S. wanted a set. They believed owning one was going to improve the quality of their life and help their sons become smarter now and more productive in the future. Specific technological changes characterized the miniature trains offered during postwar days. Advances in tool design and plastics molding enabled companies to mass-produce locomotives and rolling stock that looked more realistic than older models and was more durable.

Breakthroughs in painting, notably the use of complex masks, also contributed. Meanwhile, consumers delighted in the introduction by Lionel and the A.C. Gilbert Co. of safe and dependable mechanisms to simulate smoke puffed by a steam locomotive. At the same time, designers continued to expand the range of animation made possible using solenoids, electromagnets, and vibrating motors. People enthralled by the special effects they saw and heard agreed no toy was as sophisticated, exciting, or magical.

Demand for trains boomed in the late 1940s and into the 1950s. Standing tall as loyal customers were the fathers of baby boomers. Many of those dads had lost out on having their own set because of economic depression or global war. Now they could afford to buy a train and felt no hesitation about getting one to enjoy with their children. Heightened demand spurred entrepreneurs to identify areas ignored by the giants of the industry. Businesses emerged to build models of contemporary rolling stock missed by Gilbert, Lionel, and Marx. Other newcomers challenged those three stalwarts by selling signals, bridges, structures, signs, figures, billboards, and a host of other ancillary items. What improvements in design and manufacturing enabled the largest companies to do – pushed as they were by a few small competitors – was bring out models beautifully balancing realism with fancy. The finest trains available in O and S gauge promised consumers scale detail with thrilling

action and reliable operation. Almost every year into the late 1950s, those locomotives, freight and passenger cars, loaders, stations, and launchers got better. More innovation sparked higher sales. Until the tide turned, never to return. Youngsters, like many of their elders, increasingly dismissed railroading as old-fashioned and irrelevant. Jet-propelled aircraft, fast and sporty automobiles, and rockets captivated them, and they wanted replicas of them. The closing decade of the postwar era witnessed declining sales despite notable efforts to innovate. Lionel, Gilbert, and Kusan broadened the animation of operating cars, motorized units, and

The postwar era came to a sad end, not because companies collapsed or models flopped, but because kids changed.

accessories. Many of the pieces capitalized on space and military features and themes. Others abandoned the quest for realism, their inventors imagining the whimsical pleasures of toys would bring success. Unfortunately, the allure of electric trains was waning among kids coming of age in the 1960s. Also, the great names that had built the premier manufacturers – Cowen, Gilbert, and Marx – had died or were contemplating retire-

ment. Their sons, literal and symbolic, failed to revive those enterprises. Soon, businessmen equally as unsure of what to do had replaced them. Ultimately dooming the train producers that had flourished for so long were the evolving tastes of children and their parents in the toys they purchased. The postwar era came to a sad end, not because companies collapsed or models flopped, but because kids changed.

www.ClassicToyTrains.com

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PREWAR ERA A series of miscommunications and convolutions – that’s the prewar era of American toy train history! Yet also a period when some of the most magnificent, truly beautiful and innovative models made their debut. Whether a collector prizes elegant, whimsical toys or realistic replicas of landmark trains, the pre-World War II era stands as a golden age. Why bring up the confusions? To start, the era whose name suggests it concluded with the onset of World War II actually ended after the U.S. entered the global conflict in 1941. The consensus among hobbyists upholds the decision by the federal government to prohibit toy train production after June of 1942 as the final word in the prewar saga. When the era began ignites debate. Some experts view everything in the field that happened before 1942 as falling under the prewar umbrella. From the earliest models using electricity in the 1890s and 1900s to the last sets offered by Lionel, Marx, and Gilbert in 1942 before production was ended To be sure, some smart people have made arguments for the prewar era opening in 1896 with Carlisle & Finch introducing an electric trolley or 1901 with the first 27⁄8-inch gauge trains from Lionel. Other historians have voted for 1910, when Ives added O gauge electric models (and rejected a proposal from Lionel to buy the latter firm’s line), or 1915, when, after imports from Germany dried up, Lionel first dipped its toe in the O gauge marketplace. 74 Electric Trains From A to Z

For good reasons, the prewar era can be conceived as beginning in 1918. Peace returned after four years of fighting, yet the dominance of European toy trains in the American market never resumed. Instead, the invigorated Lionel Corp., as the enterprise co-founded by Joshua Lionel Cowen now called itself, stood ready to bulldoze Ives off its domestic throne while fending off American Flyer and every other challenger. Fortunately for youngsters in the 1920s and collectors now, the struggle for supremacy went on for nearly the entire decade. Competition motivated

designers from every major U.S. manufacturer to develop stunning classic toy trains. Indeed, the somewhat primitive stamped steel and crudely painted Standard and O gauge items reaching consumers during the 1910s gave way in the next few years to many wonderful locomotives, groups of cars, and sets. Ives, which brought out a Wide gauge line in 1921 to race against Lionel’s top models, heralded passenger trains. So did American Flyer, notably its President’s Special and Pocahontas sets. Dorfan entered the arena with aplomb, as did Boucher, which had bought the Voltamp catalog. But no one surpassed Lionel in creating great outfits, especially in its Standard gauge line. Those sets often featured nos. 381 and 408E electric-profile engines on the point or nos. 390E and 400E steamers. Behind those locomotives filled with brass or nickel details rode brilliantly painted no. 200-series freight cars or no. 400-series passenger cars. Well into the 1930s, Lionel built the finest Standard gauge trains.

The period between the world wars stands as a watershed in the domestic production of fanciful and realistic trains.

By then, the Great Depression was strangling the market for expensive trains. Standard gauge declined, particularly after Ives filed for bankruptcy and Boucher and Dorfan turned their attention elsewhere. Lionel went on augmenting its roster of large and small accessories, but it increasingly focused on O gauge models as the 1930s wore on. For the remainder of the prewar era, Lionel created a memorable line of O gauge trains. At the one end, they brought out delightful toys. Streamlined locomotives and little boxcars and tank cars thrilled children oblivious to how far those short and gaily painted models departed from reality. At the other extreme gathered a growing list of scale detailed steam engines and rolling stock sure to satisfy the pickiest of model railroaders regardless of their age. The race to inundate the market with realistic trains gained momentum after the A.C. Gilbert Co. purchased the assets of the American Flyer Manufacturing Co. in 1938. Again, Lionel confronted

a determined and ingenious rival. Both Gilbert and Lionel benefited from advances made in the die-casting of zinc alloys and the pioneering work being done with plastics. Don’t overlook the emergence of Marx during the second half of the prewar era as a successful manufacturer of inexpensive toy trains fabricated out of tinplated sheet steel and then neatly decorated by lithography. The end of mechanically

powered trains might be arriving, but oldfashioned methods for stamping and then finishing models survived. Much had changed in terms of design and manufacturing, of marketing and promoting trains between 1918 and 1942. The trend away from fanciful toys attractive mainly to kids toward realistic models appealing to adults influenced Lionel and Gilbert. They had achieved a delicate balance between accuracy and whimsy by the early 1940s, one that would shape their approach to selling electric trains long after the conclusion of the prewar era.

1918 to 1942

PLASTICVILLE

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our generic suburban community of the 1950s – where every dad had a solid job, every mom shopped in comfort, and every child played with an electric train – describes the model world of Plasticville U.S.A., the fabulously successful and evocative miniature residential, civic, railroad, and agricultural structure kits made and marketed by Bachmann Bros. Plasticville developed out of the ongoing need of children to build towns around the two- or three-rail track on which their American Flyer or Lionel or Marx trains ran. A little world without homes, businesses, farms, and stations lacked the human touch kids loved. Terrific as the Lionel line was after World War II, it did not cover every niche. Missed areas offered opportunities for ambitious individuals and businesses. Structures were among the omissions. Skyline marketed cardstock houses and sheet-metal depots. Mini-Craft opted for newsstands and stations made of Masonite and pressed wood. The A.C. Gilbert Co. stuck its toe into the arena with similar items, including a church, hotel, city hall, factory, and granary. Yet those firms fell short, because the materials used were flimsy or expensive.

So another business swept in, betting on a new material. Bachmann Bros. of Philadelphia grasped the potential of injection-molded plastic in mass-producing light yet sturdy and affordable structures. By 1946, when Bachmann sent merchandisers miniature fencing for Christmas displays, it had already marked its centennial. It promoted the white plastic fencing as perfect for model railroads. A responsive public motivated Bachmann to add trees, bushes, and a footbridge. Pent-up demand for items lit a fire at Bachmann after 1950. The Plasticville U.S.A. catalog showed a Cape Cod cottage and a ranch-style house, a barn

with silo and animals, a supermarket and a church, a firehouse and a gasoline station, a school and a police headquarters, a diner and a refreshment stand, a hardware store and a pharmacy. More than the range of buildings available at low prices explained the appeal of Plasticville. Credit Bachmann for molding the components in bright colors and making sure they went together with ease, so even kids could complete the construction. Packaging enhanced sales, thanks to it being vivid and nostalgic. Seven decades after fencing launched the most celebrated group of toy train buildings, they still have life and activity.

QSI QSI was a pioneer in developing model railroad sound and command control systems. Its first O gauge products were AC and DC powered reverse units and sound devices, which could be mounted inside freight cars to product realistic sound effects. In 1991, the company created a sensation when it introduced QS-1, a digital locomotive sound system. QS-1 consisted of a small 76 Electric Trains From A to Z

speaker, a printed-circuit board, and a wiring harness to connect the system with a QSI reverse unit. The circuitry monitored the motor’s current

draw and adjusted the chuff rate (for steam locomotives) or diesel rpms to match the model’s speed. It was the first time speed-appropriate effects were generated without using an external cam. QS-1 also was an early command control system. Several QS-1 equipped locomotives could sit on a commonly wired layout, the operator selecting which one to run via multiple pushes on a

conventional transformer’s whistle control button. QSI soon inked a deal with MTH Electric Trains to develop ProtoSound, that firm’s first sound and control system. Today’s command control systems are more advanced and less cumbersome to use, but those early products from QSI are fondly remembered by many for introducing a better way to enjoy electric trains.

READY MADE TRAINS Walter Matuch was in the right place at the right time. He had a hand in electric train production with Large scale manufacturer AristoCraft. That experience led to his work as a product developer for Taylor Made Trucks, a firm designing and importing plastic trucks from China. One of those freight trucks carried a locomotive load made with tooling developed in the 1950s by Kusan. When Taylor closed in 2003, Matuch bought the Kusan tooling and formed Ready Made Toys. His first project was upgrading the diminutive mini-Geep diesel, which he dubbed the Beep. He cautiously made only three road names (just one had a motor) hoping owners of the Kusan and later Williams versions would swap out the newer

shell for the old one. He noted, “We sold everything we made.” Developing a product line of unique trains for budgetminded operators proved a challenge, but between 2004 and 2014 RMT expanded its line, using tooling formerly

owned by K-Line. It next offered a miniaturized version of the E8 diesel; a Rail Diesel Car; a traditionally sized GG1 electric, and much more. RMT also offered operating accessories, freight cars, and passenger cars in both regular and mini lengths.

Matuch marketed trains under the Ready Made Trains name and in 2010 formed a partnership with Aristo-Craft for sale and distribution under the RMT by AristO name. Aristo-Craft folded in 2014, and RMT continued until closing for good in 2016.

RIGHT-OF-WAY INDUSTRIES

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ight-of-Way Industries originally focused on high-quality brass imports for O gauge operators, rather than collectors. Then it began producing Alco PA diesel sets, Great Northern 2-8-80s, Chesapeake & Ohio H-6 2-6-62s, Nickel Plate Road 2-8-4 Berkshires, 0-4-0 switchers, and even a Pennsylvania RR 4-4-4-4 Triplex. Right-of-Way Industries was notable as well for its failure, due largely to the then-unexplored depths of trying to arrange production in Asia. The firm started out making highquality switches compatible with GarGraves track. Business expanded to importing brass locomotives, foam

bridges and structures, and even a 400-watt transformer. Rolling stock included wagon-top boxcars, a variety of cabooses, and double-well stack cars years before most hobbyists considered them. The undoing of Right-of-Way Industries came with a project for a die-cast metal FT diesel set. The firm required deposits, which went to the foreign manufacturer, who never made the FTs. It could not survive the aftermath of that failure to deliver. Still, 20 years down the road, the topic of Right-of-Way products comes up occasionally, and owners generally speak highly of them as collector models made for running. www.ClassicToyTrains.com

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S gauge trains are proportioned 3⁄16 inch equaling 1 foot, or a ratio of 1:64. The space between the rails is .883 inches or 22.43 mm.

S GAUGE

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n February of 1938, the A.C. Gilbert Co. purchased the assets and inventory of the American Flyer Manufacturing Co. The Chicago-based firm had been producing a line of ¼-inch O gauge trains designed to run on three-rail track. Gilbert used some of the tooling it had acquired to update that line while devel-

oping new models built to a scale of 3⁄16 inch. What Gilbert referred to as TruModel and Tru-Scale trains made their debut in 1939 and were cataloged through 1942. Gilbert suspended train making for the duration of the war. Afterward, the firm returned to manufacturing 3⁄16-inch scale trains but having them

operate over two-rail S gauge track. Though similar in design to three-rail track, it looked more authentic than the O gauge track. In the modern era the primary market for S gauge electric trains is in American Flyer-compatible trains, while the scale side of the market somewhat smaller.

S-HELPER SERVICE

S-Helper Service (SHS) was founded by Michael Ferraro and Don Thompson to build the most realistic, true-to-prototype locomotives and rolling stock possible. There would be no distinction between S scale operators and the traditional S gauge hobbyists. All would get the same high level of detailing; the only difference would be that the trains came with tinplate 78 Electric Trains From A to Z

wheels and large knuckle couplers that scale enthusiasts could swap out. SHS products differed from

the trains made by A.C. Gilbert. They had better detailing, such as wood grain texture, delicate add-on plastic and metal parts, and outstanding graphics. SHS produced a fleet of freight cars encompassing a wide range of liveries and car types. Locomotive offerings included four diesels. In China, Sanda Kan built most of the world’s electric trains.

In 2010 it discontinued production for a majority of its customers, including SHS. In the end, the limited availability of reliable sources of manufacture and the age of the owners tipped the balance, and the firm was sold to MTH Electric Trains. The sale allowed the core continuation of the product line once it had been integrated into MTH’s production line in Asia.

O gauge boxcar built to 1:48 scale by Atlas O

O gauge boxcar by Marx

SCALE AND GAUGE

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cale and gauge can be confusing in the toy train world simply because they have evolved to infer a different meaning than on the scale model railroading side of the fence. SCALE traditionally means the size relationship between a real object “1 inch to 1 one inch” versus a model of the same object, 1:67 (S scale) or 1:48 (American O scale), 1:43.5 British O), or 1:45 to 1:43.5 (European O). 1:48, for example, means that one inch in scale represents 1 foot in real life, so a 40-foot boxcar would be 10 inches long in O scale. In common usage, saying an O gauge boxcar is a scale model sug-

gests it is closer to the real thing in the level of detailing it has – copies of detail points, such as hinges, rivets, and ladders on the real thing. GAUGE is the measurement of the width of track, as measured from the inside of the outer rails. O gauge track measures 1¼ inches between rails. Where things have gotten muddled is the linking of the word gauge or scale with a particular type of track. For example, O gauge track has the same width between the rails, but tubular O-27 track has a low-profile rail and smaller ties and looks dramatically smaller than regular O gauge tubular track. But don’t be tricked. Any train that can run on straight O-27 track can

Scale is the

run on O size relationship gauge tububetween a real lar track. object and a The differmodel,while gauge ence is the is the measurement diameter of of the width the curves. of track. Most O-27 trains fall under the moniker “traditionally sized,” which hearkens back to starter sets of the 1940s. They tend to be smaller in stature and length to accommodate the tighter curves. Hence, the wrong, but pervasive terms “O-27 gauge” or even “O-27 scale” when people see a size difference between O gauge trains. www.ClassicToyTrains.com

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SCOUT The simple steam freight outfits Lionel cataloged between 1948 and 1952 as its bottom-of-the-line Scout group answered a critical need for the premier electric toy train maker. Ruling the upper echelon of the market, Lionel felt pressure to challenge Marx at the lower end of the spectrum. Scout sets served notice Lionel meant to win all the marbles. One or two trains headed by 2-4-2 steam locomotives with few features typically represented the annual Scout line. Each pulled a handful of short freight cars reserved especially for the Scout sets and not part of the O-27 roster. Designing their knuckle couplers for the new Manumatic control rendered the Scout railcars incompatible with even midrange pieces of rolling stock.

80 Electric Trains From A to Z

Lionel continued to relegate its least-expensive outfit to the Scout line through 1952. The retail price never exceeded $19. Things changed only slightly afterward, with one basic set shown for families on a tight budget. Then the Scout brand vanished. At the end of the 1950s and into the next decade, when a need for cheap trains headed by rudimentary 2-4-2 steamers returned, Lionel responded

similarly. Those basic locomotives and the low-end sets using them were justifiably referred to as Scouts.

WANT MORE INFORMATION?

Further reading: “Lionel’s 1101 Scout,” Classic Toy Trains, February 2000, page 154.

Manufacturers of toy trains typically sold engines and cars separately, sometimes not even including a few of them in sets.

SEPARATE SALE

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ets – a train with an engine and cars, plus track and maybe a power source – have long been the bread and butter of the electric train niche of the toy industry. But firms recognized the role played by models sold independently. What they offered for separate sale, in particular locomotives and rolling stock, was likely to draw attention from anyone who owned the elements of a miniature rail empire. Return customers wanted to bolster their roster with separate items. Therefore, the catalogs Lionel and its rivals assembled each year usually had a section in the back where cars and locomotives available for separate purchase were described and illustrated. Accessories, sections of track (plus switches and turnouts), transformers, and other ancillary items went there as well. In fact, some models in the separatesale pages were not used in any sets. Buying one or more of those overlooked items was certain to upgrade the owner’s train roster and impress visitors. Separate-sale items deliberately left out of cataloged sets shouldn’t be dismissed as unpopular or unworthy. Some prewar and postwar classics never escaped from the rear of the catalog.

Consider the highly collectible Lionel nos. 6464-325 Baltimore & Ohio Sentinel and 6464-350 Missouri-Kansas-Texas boxcars from 1956. Similarly, the nos. 2345 and 2355 Western Pacific F3 diesel combinations didn’t lead any Lionel sets. Manufacturers occasionally differentiated separate-sale versions of locomo-

tives or cars from those packed in sets. For example, the product numbers might differ, with a letter or a numerical suffix used to designate what went into a set box and what did not. Operating cars could have different packaging, depending on whether a tray or other element had to be put inside a box to complete the item. Separate-sale cars often had bigger boxes. Collectors focus on separate-sale items omitted from sets or made different. They page through vintage catalogs to pick out models available only as independent purchases and then guess why sales executives decided generations ago to put together sets without them. Or why, in cases where the same pieces could be bought separately or in sets, those businessmen believed it was necessary to distinguish them.

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SHOWROOM LAYOUT

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ionel imitated its peers when it opened a showroom in New York City in the 1910s. It needed a site to show its products and take orders for the next holiday season. But Joshua Lionel Cowen located his showroom away from buildings around 200 Fifth Avenue where most other toy makers convened. Lionel had a showroom at 48 East 21st Street. From the beginning, Lionel furnished its showroom with displays so buyers could watch its trains during the American Toy Fair, held at the end of winter. Growth at Lionel drove the move to a more spacious showroom at 15 East 26th Street in 1926. Initially, executives restricted access to the offices and layouts there to members of the toy industry. Within a few years, however, they invited the public to stop by to see the latest outfits and accessories. The next step was to feature an

WANT MORE INFORMATION? Further reading: Lionel’s Showroom Layouts (special-interest publication from Classic Toy Trains, 2011).

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expansive and attractive model railroad. tion of interior designer Joseph Aronson. Its purpose, besides helping the sales A key ingredient of the makeover was team demonstrate sets for merchandisthe Lionel Railroad Panorama. The landers, was to nurture the dreams of kids. scaped layout had four concentric lines Five layouts occupied the central poron the perimeter. Trains traveled on a tion of the showroom during the almost simulated journey across the country, 40 years Lionel rented space on passing Niagara Falls, the Grand the second floor of the ediCanyon, and Yosemite fice on 26th Street. All but National Park. Only a few one had only O gauge accessories went on the Five large layouts trains. The first, which 16 x 32-foot display. served as the central lasted from around Opened in 1945, the attraction at Lionel’s 1930 until 1937, Lionel Railroad PanNew York City showbegan with loops of orama was gone three room between the Standard gauge track. years later. In its place late 1920s and the Soon an O gauge netthe crew of model makearly 1960s. work was added. ers and electricians at A second magnificent Diorama Studios erected a layout opened in 1938 and layout blending action with remained the centerpiece of the fancy, speed with color. Lionel headquarters through the middle Almost from the moment Super O of World War II. Frank Pettit, a dedicated track shifted from the drawing board to and inventive employee soon to be proproduction schedules, Lionel planned moted to the sales staff, designed another 16 x 32-foot O gauge empire. the railroad. He made certain to Jack Kindler, a sales executive, handled capitalize on T-Rail, the realistic the development of the fifth centerpiece; type of solid-rail O-72 track intromembers of the Display Department had duced in 1935. completed work by the time Lionel offiLionel remodeled its showroom cially unveiled Super O in its line for in 1944 and 1945 under the direc1957. That layout survived through 1963.

Lionel introduced its magnificent State Set with a green paint scheme, but switched to this two-tone brown in 1930.

STATE SET The greatest electric toy train ever made in America? A question sure to ignite a hot debate! Postwar enthusiasts will nominate any number of O and S gauge sets they believe stand at the peak of the mountain. Shouting them down are collectors of Ives or American Flyer, their minds crammed with images of colorful and magnificent antiques. We nominate the pair of Standard gauge outfits cataloged by Lionel as no. 411E and celebrated since 1929 as the State Set. The dimensions and colors of the passenger cars and the majesty evinced by the two electric-profile units assigned as the motive power elevate it above all pretenders. This four-car train has filled the dreams of toy train lovers from day one. Chapter one in the biography of the State Set took place in 1929. Lionel, eager to eclipse all previous achievements, heralded the Transcontinental Limited. The no. 381E electric handled the load. No Standard gauge engine surpassed it in size. Inspired by a bipolar on

the Milwaukee Road, the 381E came painted green with brass and copper trim and six lights. The 18½-inchlong electric boasted a single motor, which, unfortunately, fell short of the power necessary to pull the three Pullmans and observation inside the massive outfit box. Lionel substituted a no. 408E electric in 1930. That locomotive, which Lionel based loosely on a New York Central prototype, had two motors. So it was up to the task of leading the same quartet of cars around the loop comprised of the eight curved and 16 sections of straight track included with every 411E (Lionel did not include a transformer with it).

The cars reinforced the theme of the Transcontinental Limited: Each included a brass nameplate with a state (nos. 412 California, 413 Colorado, and 414 Illinois Pullmans plus no. 416 New York observation). Lionel cataloged the 21½-inch-long cars through 1935, two years after dropping the 411E outfit. Perhaps after seeing images of the nearly 9-footlong passenger train and reading about the electrics that pulled it, doubters will concede the State Set merits

Collectors distinguish the second version of the outfit from its predecessor according to the engine and color. First came the Green State Set with its 381E. Between 1930 and 1933, Lionel cataloged the Brown State Set with a 408E on the point. The four passenger cars, making their debut in the 411E, were fitWANT MORE INFORMATION? ted with swivelFurther reading: “Lionel outfit 411E,” Classic Toy Trains, July 2001, pages 64-65. ing seats, opening interior doors, and lavatories with sinks and toilets. every bit of esteem ever Originally painted green to directed its way. Just the origmatch the 381E, they inal retail prices of the two switched to brown in 1930 versions – $110 for the green when Lionel replaced the foroutfit and $97.50 for the mer electric with the 408E. brown one – astonish us. www.ClassicToyTrains.com

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STANDARD GAUGE

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he massive and colorful electric toy trains commonly associated with the prewar era in America may, in the eyes of many hobbyists, all be described as Standard gauge. But the term should be limited to only those locomotives and railcars made by Lionel. Competitors – namely American Flyer, Dorfan, and Ives – used a different term (Wide gauge) to designate trains of a similar size running on track measuring 21⁄8 inches from the center of one outside rail to the center of the opposite one. Lionel adopted the unusual gauge it insisted was the standard a few years into its history. When the company distributed its first catalog in 1901, the models described operated on track whose outer rails were spaced 27⁄8 inches apart. That gauge departed from any then used by a European or American manufacturer. Consumers at the turn of the 20th century knew only about Gauge 3, Gauge 2, and Gauge 1. Joshua Lionel Cowen and his business partner, Harry Grant, abandoned their 27⁄8-inch gauge when introducing the line for 1906. The slightly narrower gauge they declared was standard. The implication was clear: Every other gauge was not standard! Experts bisect the history of Standard gauge. The 17 years between 1906 and 1923 cover the period when Lionel pushed its new trains on a domestic market previously fascinated by engines, cars, and stations imported from Germany or produced by the chief American train maker, Ives. Trolleys and interurbans led the way for Lionel, followed by models of steam and electric locomotives and groups of freight and passenger cars. Improvements in fabricating and painting those models, plus aggressive advertising, enabled Lionel to overtake its foreign and local competitors. 84 Electric Trains From A to Z

The Early Period of Standard gauge production gave way to the Classic Period, which ran from 1923 through 1940. Lionel opened that second stage by gradually replacing earlier motive power and rolling stock with more attractive and better-detailed items. They had additional brass or nickel decorative elements, brighter and more elegant paint schemes, superior trucks and couplers, and more powerful and reliable motors. Every year for the first decade of the

Classic Period the Lionel line was more elaborate and sophisticated. Highlights of the Classic Period included, among locomotives, nos. 385E, 392, and 400E steamers and 381, 402E, and 408E electrics. The no. 200 series of freight cars stood out for its beauty and utility. Magnificent passenger cars from the no. 400 series filled out great outfits, such as the Blue Comet, the Pennsylvania Limited, the Transcontinental Limited. The accessories from the Classic Period of Standard gauge still leaves us in awe. Prizes include the nos. 124 station, 129 terrace, 155 illuminated freight shed, 300 Hell Gate Bridge, 437 switch signal tower, 438 signal tower, 444 roundhouse section, and 840 industrial power station, some being cataloged through 1940. The renown of Standard gauge trains continues to grow, motivating collectors to pursue original sets and pieces.

The selection of Super O curves and straights, switches, and more shown here was part of Lionel’s cataloged line between 1957 and 1966.

SUPER O A minor theme in the history of Lionel trains has been the quest for

more realistic track. The decision to use a center rail for Standard gauge and then O gauge, while it ensured that electrical contact would be more reliable and less prone to short circuits, departed from what modelers observed on full-size railroads. Three rails thus bred dissatisfaction.

Or so it did until 1957, when Lionel introduced to the toy trade as well as the public what it had named Super O. The group of O gauge straight and curved sections equipped with 16 wood ties plus a thin, blackened center rail represented the most successful attempt by the corporation to develop realistic track in the prewar or postwar eras. Super O, which included switches and crossovers, remained in Lionel’s cataloged line through 1966. The long effort to bring out realistic three-rail track began with a patent issued to Joshua Lio-

WANT MORE INFORMATION?

nel Cowen in 1915. The first time the campaign bore fruit occurred in the mid-1930s with the invention of a solid-rail brand known as T-Rail. More planning took place during World War II, but not until the 1950s, probably pushed by complaints from boys whose pals owned American Flyer trains running on two-rail S gauge, did Lionel offer the realistic track Cowen dreamed of.

Further reading: “All about Super O Track,” Classic Toy Trains, January 2007, pages 52-55.

www.ClassicToyTrains.com

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3RD RAIL

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or more than 40 years, Sunset Models has been a major presence in the creation and importation of brass models of locomotives and rolling stock. The firm, founded by Mort Mann, focuses on high-end, scale-detailed products. Sunset began in HO but also produced items in N and Large scales while keeping an eye on the changing and growing three-rail market. Having previously released a Pennsylvania RR S2 Turbine in two-rail O, the company had an opportunity to complete a run of S2 Turbines from a Korean manufacturer. Sunset added detailing and designed them for three-rail operation, and the models hit the market in the

86 Electric Trains From A to Z

early 1990s. Priced right, they were a and hood-style diesels. 3rd Rail was an success, led to more projects that were early adapter of Lionel’s TrainMaster systrue O scale products designed to run on tem, offering optional installation for three-rail O gauge track. Hence the those tired of conventional running. The branding “3rd Rail” was born. company even dabbled in dieSince that time 3rd Rail cast metal, offering a New has released an astonishYork Central 4-6-2 in the ing array of major and streamlined Mercury Upcoming minor steam locomoshrouding. 3rd Rail products tives from North AmerWith the emphasis include an EMD TA ican and even British squarely on prototype diesel, the ACE 3000 railways. They have fidelity and quality persteam demonstrator, produced the North formance, 3rd Rail and an R-2 Shore Electroliner, boxcontinues to offer some electric. cab electrics, and the of the most intriguing FL9 diesel/electric hybrid, locomotives in the O Rail Diesel Cars, cab units, gauge three-rail market.

TRAIN MASTER

say something here

TRAIN COLLECTORS ASSOCIATION

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significant attraction of this hobby is nostalgia. A yearning to re-create the past as we knew it, the electric trains we may have owned (or wanted!), and the full-size trains we saw roll past at grade crossings. The principal organization for individuals interested in studying the history of electric trains is the Train Collectors Association, which was founded in 1954. The organization has grown and has chapters (called “divisions” using railroad terminology) throughout the United States, and it has many members from overseas. The organization maintains the National Toy Train Museum in Strasburg, Pa., to document the history (and fun) of electric trains. That part of central Pennsylvania boasts the museum the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, the Strasburg Railroad, and the ChooChoo Barn (a 1,700-square-foot O gauge model railroad), making it an ideal vacation stopover for anyone interested in trains, real or model. The TCA holds an annual convention, and its Eastern Division oversees a semi-annual members-only event in York, Pa., which gathers members, major hobby retailers, and key manufacturers for a multi-day sales meet. The TCA has a highly visible presence, and you can find more information about the association at www.traincollectors.org.

In a time when most off-the-shelf diesel locomotives coming from General Motors or Alco were rated at 1,800 horsepower or less, the FairbanksMorse Train Master was a giant of the rails. The diesel generated 2,400 horsepower and could be geared for speeds as high as 79 miles per hour. The locomotive looked more like a mammoth brick than a traditional diesel. Unfortunately, by 1953, when the Train Master was introduced to the public on a tour of 20 railroads, the virtues of mass production from LaGrange or Schenectady may have tipped the balance against the Beloit, Wis.,-based locomotive builder. Just 127 Train Masters were sold to 10 railroads. Although many of the units performed admirably, the model became just a footnote in railroad history. The last Train Master had been retired by 1976. A single Train Master was preserved, and it resides in a museum in Canada. When Lionel first released its O gauge Train Master in 1954, the burly locomotive was a striking contrast to the streamlined Lionel F3 diesel. Was it a success in the toy train realm? Absolutely! It is available in S and O gauges from no less than five brands. www.ClassicToyTrains.com

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UNCATALOGED The definition of “uncataloged” (or non-cataloged) should be obvious. Let’s go with any train set or locomotive, car, and so forth not listed or shown in a manufacturer’s catalog. Even so, a definition barely scratches the surface of what hobbyists need to understand about the term. Virtually every year, Lionel and its various competitors during the prewar, postwar, modern, and digital eras of production issued catalogs informing members of the toy trade and the general public what it was offering. Manufacturers let wholesale and similar accounts know first what they planned to make. Over the spring and summer, they finalized the sets and items, including separate-sale pieces. They revealed the choices in the fall, so consumers had time to reach decisions about what they wanted for the holidays. Lionel and other companies during the prewar and postwar eras adopted a strict approach. What they showed in their consumer catalogs and the retail prices specified were what people could buy, regardless of where they lived or where they shopped.

88 Electric Trains From A to Z

Except for the fact that, almost from the opening of the 20th century, toy train firms made exceptions! For example, during the prewar period Ives and Lionel negotiated deals with major department stories (such as John Wanamaker and R.H. Macy) or nationwide retail chains (notably, Montgomery Ward and Sears, Roebuck) for sets they sold nowhere else. Collectors call these sets “uncataloged” because they differ from what firms showed in catalogs. Department store specials and sets of that sort had combinations of rolling stock unlike those in their cat-

aloged counterparts. Or they packed a group of cars used in a cataloged set with a different locomotive. Or they came with an accessory. On occasion, uncataloged sets had models decorated in unique ways. During the postwar era, the A.C. Gilbert Co. capitalized on the spiraling demand for trains by packaging hundreds of different American Flyer sets for special customers. Lionel, reluctant to undermine its network of authorized dealers, lagged behind until the late 1950s and early ’60s. By then, with demand for its trains declining and discount

houses having eroded support for laws maintaining uniform retail prices, Lionel was free to arrange deals with merchandisers, premiums firms, and manufacturers. The 1960s proved to be a fertile period for Lionel to bolster its finances by assembling uncataloged, or promotional, outfits. Quantities of particular sets ranged from fewer than 50 examples to several thousand.

WANT MORE INFORMATION?

Further reading: “Eight top Lionel sets of the 1960s,” Classic Toy Trains, March 2013, pages 65-69.

The history of toy trains, told by what companies put in catalogs, sacrifices depth if we overlook uncataloged sets and models. The more we learn about them, the more complete is our knowledge.

An enterprising businessman established Unique Art Manufacturing in 1916, but didn’t venture into toy trains until 1949.

UNIQUE ART

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anufacturers of electric trains tended to be businesses established in the toy field and looking for new areas. From Ives at the dawn of the 20th century to Marx a generation later to Gilbert late in the 1930s, toy makers embraced trains in hopes of boosting profits. Smaller firms operated in the shadow of those giants, yet emulated their strategy. Often they did so by acquiring the assets from businesses that had abandoned the train market. Boucher in the 1920s and Unique Art in the 1940s. Unique Art Manufacturing Co. emerged in 1916, when the absence of German imports multiplied opportunities for toy companies. Sammy Bergman, based in New York City, surveyed the market and concluded he could win sales with tinplated mechanical toys beautifully decorated by lithography. Unique Art thrived during the 1920s and into the ’30s in spite of competition from Marx. The company, which had relocated to Newark, N.J., remained on the lookout for new areas in the years after World War II. Bergman wanted to

explore trains, a decision that motivated Next to make a splash was a whimsihim to buy the dies belonging to Dorfan. cal and attractive circus train for O gauge Between what the old tooling made modelers. The same locomotive and tenpossible for Unique Art and what its own der pulled two gaily decorated circus designers could do, the firm managed to boxcars or open gondolas, each of them grab a slice of the expanding market in lithographed to show animals in cages. 1949 and 1950. Bergman elbowed his Unique Art, recognizing the popularity way in, much to the annoyance of Marx, of O gauge models of diesels, chalwhich thought it had control of the seglenged Lionel in 1950 with lithographed ment still enamored with tinplated trains. replicas of Electro-Motive Division F7 A Unique Art announced O gauge freight units. The 14-inch-long beauties, with and passenger trains in 1949, each of working headlights, a power truck, and a which had an 0-4-0 steam engine paired reverse mechanism, surpassed in length with a four-wheel tender. Consumers the F3s highlighting the Lionel roster. admiring the ready-to-run sets debated Bergman played every card in his toy whether to buy an electric version that used a transformer and raced over three-rail track or its WANT MORE INFORMATION? counterpart whose mechanical Further reading: “Unique Art Rock Island Diesels,” motor had to be wound up so it in Roger Carp, 101 Classic Toy Trains: Best of the Postwar Years (Kalmbach Publishing Co., 2010). could run over two-rail track. Freight cars included boxcars, hoppers, a crane car, and some cabooses. The passenger roster contrain hand without taking home the oversisted of two Pullman cars labeled for flowing pot. Unique Art went out of busidifferent cities. The rolling stock blended ness sometime in the early 1950s. Its recycled Dorfan tooling and dies with colorful locomotives and freight cars Unique’s brand-new equivalents. were all but forgotten. www.ClassicToyTrains.com

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Slight changes in the design or decoration of toy locomotives, cars, or accessories can easily create collectible variations.

VARIATION

I

n the world of toy trains, small yet often significant differences that initially appear identical constitute variations. Collectors distinguish variations of a single model from changes a manufacturer might make in the color or railroad name used on a freight car or engine. Those differences tended to be so noteworthy and deliberate that train manufacturers designated them with separate product numbers. Variations include changes on a plastic body shell caused when the tooling used to mold

90 Electric Trains From A to Z

it was modified. The presence or absence of a row of simulated rivets or interior gussets can cause the eyes of a collector to light up. Similarly, the type of stamping used to add a railroad herald or car data – or the color – thrill variations hunters. So do the size and location of stamped or decaled lettering on a side or end. Let’s focus on the Lionel postwar roster to clarify what is meant by variations. The no. 6520 searchlight car features plastic generators with different colors. Maroon and orange, based on observation, are the most common and therefore least valuable. Green is considered scarce and so commands a premium. Gray and tan generators are rare to the point

experts deem them preprowheels) or made decorating duction experiments and not models less efficient. Proof of regular-production items. what was being done can be The no. 2023 Union Pacific found on blueprints, where Alco diesels boast a yellow the sequence of modifications paint scheme for 1950. can be studied and analyzed. Whether they have a graySome changes remain myspainted nose and what color teries. Why did the earliest no. plastic was used for their 6464-1 Western Pacific boxshells determine the variation. Values WANT MORE INFORMATION? hardly differ, Further reading: “Just what is a variation?” except for the Classic Toy Trains, July 1994, pages 62-65. earliest units with graypainted noses. The no. 3454 merchandise cars have red hot-stamped car typically has blue hotlettering and not the blue on stamped lettering. But the most cars? Did someone vote earliest production has red for blue for esthetic reasons lettering, and only a handful of or for financial or logistical examples have been verified. reason? Did the supply of red Experts assume the goal at tape run out, with a Lionel Lionel was to make sturdy employee rushing to find and popular playthings with another color to prevent a as little expense as possible. delay? Who knows? Anywhere costs could be cut, In the meantime, collectors engineers and factory superwill go on hunting for variavisors would strive to do so. tions to fill their display cases Consequently, purchasing and impress peers. The stoagents accepted different col- ries behind variations may ors of plastics for shells soon elude us, but discovering and to be painted. Designers elim- verifying those models will inated details that inflated continue to invigorate the toy costs (metal steps or brake train hobby.

VOLTAMP Did any toy train manufacturer have a better name when it came to reflecting the thrills and magic Americans associated with electricity than Voltamp? The firm, located in Baltimore, owned the ideal name while making what a consensus of modern enthusiasts agrees were the most beautiful and best-operating U.S. models of the early 20th century. The saga of this business opens in the 1890s with a devoted father setting out to build a better toy for his son. Manes Fuld, yet one more entrepreneur exploring the ways he could rise in the field of “electrical novelties,” delighted his son with a train capable of operating under current. Aware of how other youngsters responded positively to the plaything, Fuld decided to forge ahead. The Voltamp Electric Manufacturing Company would produce other models of contemporary railway equipment, especially pieces in the Baltimore area. The first Voltamp catalog, issued in 1906, shed light on what the business aimed to do. Its electric trains relied first on dry-cell batteries and operated on 2-inch-wide two-rail track reminiscent of Gauge 2 models imported from Europe. Later, Voltamp shifted to household alternating current, a change that dictated the development of transformers. Over the next 17 years, until Fuld sold the Voltamp assets to Boucher in 1923, the line grew bigger and better. Construction methods were always outstanding. Voltamp made its large and sturdy

steam and electric locomotives, rolling stock, trolleys, and interurbans out of cast iron, steel, and wood before painting them in realistic tones with neat details. The motive power Voltamp developed surpassed what any other American firm offered before 1920. There were four wheel arrangements, each with brass detailing and gold decorative elements. Above the others towered the first domestic steamers with six drivers: the no. 2222 was a 4-6-0, and the no. 2500 was a 4-6-2 (both influenced by Baltimore & Ohio prototypes). Printed elsewhere in the Voltamp catalogs were illustrations of the single- and double-truck trolleys with operating headlights and manual reversing switches. Better still was the magnificent no. 2115 interurban, an 18½-inch-long classic with working lights and a steel body painted in bright colors.

Freight cars included a boxcar, coal hopper, dump car, flatcar, gondola, livestock car, and oil tank car. Naturally, Voltamp added a caboose to its listing. Equipped with one or two sets of fourwheel trucks, they were released in two sizes. Each freight car was enameled and numbered in gold or with decals. Passenger cars amounted to a combine, day coach, Pullman, and observation. Their lengths ranged from 10 inches to 18 inches, depending on the cost. Midrange and high-end models featured two sets of four-wheel trucks. Their decoration duplicated what Voltamp was doing with its freight cars. Voltamp filled out its line with track and transformers from its factory. Other accessories originated in the workshops of other domestic or foreign businesses. The last chapter of the story outlined the purchase by Horace Boucher of the train line to broaden the detailed ship models his company sold. By acquiring the assets and inventory of Voltamp, Boucher established in New York City sought to raise its profile in the toy field.

WANT MORE INFORMATION?

Further reading: James Kelly-Evans, Voltamp and Boucher: America’s Premier Electric Model Trains, 2014.

www.ClassicToyTrains.com

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WEAVER MODELS

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obert Weaver founded his company in 1965 to make products for the HO market, in particular ready-toassemble (less trucks and couplers) freight car kits. Around 1980 the company expanded into the O scale market with injection-molded plastic hopper kits. That new product attracted the attention of O gauge operators. Bob Weaver estimated he sold 40,000 to 50,000 cars! The Weaver product line continued to expand and made a selling point out of the fact that all its products were made in the United States. Early locomotive hits included the Alco FA and RS-3, of which Bob said, more than 20,000 were sold. At that point 85 percent of his sales were to the three-rail

92 Electric Trains From A to Z

(not scale) side of the hobby. In 1990 MTH coordinated an arrangement between Samhongsa and Weaver that resulted in a shift to Asia for manufacture of many locomotives. Weaver made 21 brass steam locomotives and seven plastic diesel and electric locomotives. While there was a shift to Asia in locomotive production, several models were still assembled in Pennsylvania from imported parts. Bob Weaver’s son-in-law, Joe Hayter, assumed company leadership and significantly expanded the firm’s offerings. In 2001 the firm was offering five brass locomotives, two die-cast metal steam locomotives, seven types of plastic diesels, 18 types of freight cars, and scale-sized passenger equipment. The name was changed

Bob Weaver recognized a serious segment of the three-rail hobby was interested in scale-sized, and accurate models.

from Weaver Division of Quality Craft Models to Weaver Models. In 2001, Hayter acknowledged the concerns of an aging hobby demographic, but said, “It always seems like there is a steady influx of new customers coming back into the hobby between the ages of 40 and 60.” He was more concerned about overproduction and market saturation. Notable products included brass Pennsylvania RR BP-20 diesels and a brass South Shore Little Joe electric locomotive, modern refrigerator cars with diesel generator

sounds, brass trackside structures, as well as brass steam power. Weaver Models was buffeted in 2012 when Sanda Kan terminated manufacturing for several dozen model railroad companies. Weaver searched for a new source of manufacture. Weaver still offered many unique products and customruns for the hobby. This was one side benefit of still being able to produce rolling stock. In 2015 Joe Hayter decided it was time to retire, and the company closed. Some tooling was sold to Atlas O, and some to Lionel. Weaver may be gone, but the firm’s legacy lives on.

WIDE GAUGE The term Wide gauge entered the lexicon of toy train

Boucher heralded a 4-6-2 Pacific steam locomotive and tender. It pulled enthusiasts back in the early 1920s. American manufacturers the first and perhaps greatest replica of striving to keep up with Lionel refused to use that firm’s term for the Blue Comet passenger train. trains running over three-rail track that had 21⁄8 inches between American Flyer’s Wide gauge trains the center of one outside rail to the center of the other one. Led made their debut in 1925, and the Chicago-based business continued to cataby Ives, they searched for a substitute to Lionel’s Standard log that segment of its line through 1935. gauge and eventually settled on Wide gauge. Finest among the steam engines stood the nos. 4675, 4682, and 4696; dominatDon’t think Lionel won the fight for did executives at Dorfan in 1926. Never ing the roster of electrics were the nos. supremacy by introducing a line of elecwould any of the individuals facing off 4637, 4654, and 4689. Nice as the group trically powered trains it announced were with Lionel accept it as the standard! of freight cars were, American Flyer, like the new “standard.” When it did so in The entry of more manufacturers into Ives, earned praise for passenger trains. 1906, other domestic competitors went the same arena upgraded the Dorfan’s Wide gauge roster on building their trains to operate on difmarket. All four of the firms ended up being shorter than ferent track sizes. Howard and Knapp inside the Wide gauge that of American Flyer or went on relying on 2-inch gauge. tent eventually brought Ives, but it did bring out Wide gauge Voltamp ignored Lionel’s action in 1907, out models prized for noteworthy models. trains, like Lionel’s believing 2-inch gauge would maintain their dimensions, heft, Best were the nos. Standard gauge modits lead. Gauge 1 also had its advocates, beauty, and power. 3920 and 3930 elecels, used three-rail including both Ives and Elektoy. Ives pushed fortric-profile engines and 1 track with 2 ⁄8 inches Ives decided the moment had arrived ward first. Before filing 780- and 990-series between to challenge Lionel. When it jumped into for bankruptcy in 1928, passenger cars. The the outer rails. the arena in 1921, Ives made a decision, the toy maker from Concolors and graphics on referring to its models built to the same necticut brought out a the no. 800-series freight proportions as Lionel’s as Wide gauge. number of great locomotives: cars set them apart. Two years later, after Boucher had nos. 1134 steamer and 3237, Even before Lionel quit catalogacquired the assets of Voltamp, it fine3243, and 3245 electrics. The passenger ing Standard gauge trains after 1940, its tuned its trains to operate on Wide cars in the nos. 180 and 240 series onetime foes had all raised the white gauge track. Then in 1925, when Amerideserved praise. Among the Wide gauge flag. American Flyer kept at it the loncan Flyer Manufacturing Co. followed sets Ives offered were the National Limgest, but Wide gauge failed to last in a suit, its leaders used the same term. So ited and the White Set (shown here). changing electric train market. www.ClassicToyTrains.com

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WILLIAMS ELECTRIC TRAINS

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n the days when prewar-style trains borhood to assemble the models. Sales were king, Jerry Williams figured it out were a success, and he next took on the pretty early. He scoped out the market venerable Lionel Standard gauge no. 9 and reasoned there were hobbyists steam locomotive. who wanted certain locomotives (and Mike Wolf, future owner of MTH Electric later cars) they didn’t get as kids or Trains, hired on with Jerry at age 12 as an couldn’t find due to rarity. He concluded assembler for the no. 9 project. hobbyists just might buy newly Then Jerry reasoned that if hobmade versions and wouldn’t byists liked reproductions, they be bothered by the fact they might like reproductions of were new. postwar trains and, oh, by If I don’t Bingo, he was right. the way, newly designed sell at least In 1971, Jerry formed O gauge trains to boot. 300, I just don’t Williams Reproductions The first of those new run that road to fill that market. His first items was the Amtrak E60 name again. product was a reproducelectric locomotive. tion of an Ives O gauge no. Added to the line were 1694 electric locomotive. He trains made from tooling fortook apart an authentic 1694 and merly owned by Kusan, locomocirculated the pieces to tool and die tives duplicating postwar models, and companies to get estimates for productotally new products like the EMD BL-2 tion of 300 parts sets. When the parts diesel, the Amtrak Metroliner. arrived, Jerry hired kids from the neighWilliams also made a line of brass

94 Electric Trains From A to Z

locomotives that included many landmark steam locomotives. Williams offered lots of road names in its product line, and once commented, “If I don’t sell at least 300, I just don’t run that road name again.” Williams trains were known as well-made products that were fairly bulletproof, thanks to their basic conventional-only operation. Jerry started looking toward retirement and in 2007, Bachmann bought the firm. The transition to new ownership was smooth, and new items such as a Peter Witt streetcar, a 4-6-0 steam locomotive, and upgraded sound packages were added to the catalog. Some tooling from K-Line has been included, most notable of which is the SuperStreets line, now rebranded as EZ-Streets. Jerry Williams once said that Williams was “Building the best trains we can.” As the brand marks its 45th year, that legacy appears safe.

MIKE WOLF It’s safe to say no single person in the O gauge world has had a greater impact on the direction of electric trains in the modern era than Mike Wolf. He can be an uplifting speaker, a tell-it-like-it-is executive, and a bare-knuckle adversary. You can like him, love him, or hate him, but you can’t deny he dragged the hobby from being a realm where 1955 lives forever to one where you enjoy endless choices in creating your own world, be it 1933, 1957, or 2016. He has done this by being an innovator, a promoter, and a competitor.

INNOVATOR Seeking perfection: Mike’s first project in the LionelSamhongsa-MTH association was the prewar Milwaukee Road Hiawatha set. To ensure that the Lionel Classics series had the best paint jobs possible, MTH purchased stateof-the-art American spraypainting equipment and installed it in South Korea. Power up: After decades of O gauge power being based on the venerable Lionel ZW, Mike brought high power back to O gauge with the Z-4000 transformer in 1998. This was the first successful attempt to make a big transformer with Underwriter’s Laboratory approval. Internet-friendly sales: One weapon in helping MTH retailers develop Internet sales was creating an online inventory database. Visiting the MTH website you could search for products and identify the retailers that had it in stock at that moment. Unique modern accessories: One of the first new accessories MTH offered was an operating gas station with a sound package and moving automotive. The scale-dimensions and familiar look have made this a popular modernera accessory. Moving beyond Proto-

Sound: If the original ProtoSound system was a sound package that let you trigger some train functions, ProtoSound 2.0 and 3.0 were in a different league. Wolf noted the main complaint he heard about the original system was, “You’ve got to basically move the transformer lever up and down … 30 times.”

of the local hobby shop,” he said. “Hobby shops will continue to be viable as long as their owners display the product, operate the product, and educate the consumer about the product. If consumers come in ... if they don’t see trains operate – they may as well be looking at pictures on the Internet.”

The later systems enabled instantaneous commands with the press of a button on a wireless controller.

MTH also produced a retailer handbook, suggesting the best ways for them to market its trains in their area. Mike is a hobby evangelist and regularly visits MTH dealers, meeting customers and demonstrating products. This personal angle helps to identify the guy behind the company logo. It also doesn’t hurt that Mike has been making

PROMOTER In spite of temptations to leap into Internet-only sales, Mike has placed great faith in the dealer network. “The success or failure of the toy train hobby is linked with the fate

Hobby shops will continue to be viable as long as their owners display the product, operate the product, and educate consumers. trains since he was 12.

COMPETITOR Mike Wolf is a competitor. In the crowded marketplace of the 1990s he saw the need for a distinctive product line in order to become the main choice of hobbyists. Starting with a blank sheet, he was able to jump right in, offering up-to-date locomotive designs and colorful liveries. Mike knew that hobbyists were older and more sophisticated. “Every year they get more knowledgeable about the hobby, and that’s an advantage for us. “They know they don’t need to put up with an engine with a single-tone paint scheme with one pad-print color, and the same engine over and over again.” MTH’s pace of products in the 1990s seemed to spur the introduction of new products from others. Wolf has identified three keys to MTH’s success: “The commitment to quality and value, giving the guy quality at certain price point, and not overproducing.” In 1998 Wolf was asked to gaze into the future and describe what we would see. He replied MTH would be “a complete train line in all gauges.” Indeed, in 2016 the company makes trains in HO, S, O, Number One, and Standard gauges and will remain a force for years to come. www.ClassicToyTrains.com

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“X” MARKINGS

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t Lionel’s factory and its showrooms, “X” markings put on models or stamped on boxes conveyed information about how a locomotive was assembled or why a car was in a specific package. Starting in the late 1930s, Lionel adopted X to indicate a regular-production item with some special trait. The X marked the component box, typically being stamped on each of the ends. No such marking was lithographed or stamped on the model.

96 Electric Trains From A to Z

Examples of models whose boxes had X stamped with the product number included cars intended for uncataloged, or promotional, outfits. Others were cars equipped with two automatic couplers rather than one, as was typical with that model. In addition, Lionel printed X on uncataloged sets with an unconventional item. Using X to designate a model or outfit differing from what was the norm became entrenched during the postwar era. Too bad Lionel dis-

A widely known example of a Lionel car in a box stamped with “X” was the Tuscan variation of the no. 6468 B&O automobile car.

played no O-27 sets consistency with X at the in the practice. end of the latLionel used X ter’s number as a prefix. The and on its box. Engineering Department Coal and log dump developed mock-ups and cars offered for separate sale paint samples to show proneeded large component posed items for the cataloged boxes so their loads and tray line. Designers identified could be packed inside. Verthose preproduction items sions of those operating cars with X and by a number. destined to go in outfits used Marketing and sales personnel aimed to WANT MORE INFORMATION? multiply the Further reading: “Mysterious sets from uncataloged 1955,” Lionel Trains: The Golden Years, outfits assem1955-59, (special-interest publication from bled for departClassic Toy Trains, 2013), pages 22-25. ment and chain stores, retailers, and manufacturers. Examples of promosmall boxes because their tional sets dated to the 1956loads and tray might be 61 period generally were placed in the set box. To difidentified on their boxes and ferentiate the two, Lionel in internal documents with printed X on the component numbers having the prefix X. box of cars going in sets. Lionel resumed using X as a Finally, some models given suffix to indicate a different a unique purpose ended up in model. On occasion, the difboxes stamped with X. Take ference was of a nature as to the Tuscan red variation of the require special packaging. no. 6468 automobile boxcar, Executives distinguished no. which Lionel used exclusively 2452 gondolas intended for O in uncataloged outfit no. gauge outfits from those for 1535W in 1955.

YANK MODEL RESEARCH If you’ve been reading this special-interest publication

While we don’t know who established the firm or why they chose such a name. from the beginning, you know the end is in sight. Time to conLabels on its red boxes reveal the firm fess: Y challenged us more than any other letter. Old issues of called Chicago home; instruction sheets mention 2440 North Sawyer Avenue. Model Railroader and Model Builder magazines came to the Surviving examples of products sugrescue in the form of a company that had advertised a few gest a fairly compact line of eight kits structure kits in the late 1940s – Yank Model Research. designed for O gauge as well as HO scale railroads. Miniature houses, a We’ll share what we know and invite catalog with a few colorfully lithographed water tank derived from a Great Northhobbyists to submit information about tin buildings (a city terminal, passenger ern Railway prototype, and different Yank Model Research and its products. platform, signal tower, and houses). sizes of oil tanks. Materials included With demand for electric trains growRail Chief Products and Minitoys, both lightweight wood, die-cast metal, and ing hotter after World War II, smart busiin New York City, tried to keep up. The polished aluminum; decals were nessmen studied the market in search of former business marketed simple included, too. niches to fill. Boosting the confidence of kits fashioned out of balsa One other fact has surindividuals was the failure of Lionel to and cardstock. The latter, faced: According to develop a group of structures to accomknown best for its dierecords in the Library of The layout pany its toy trains and accessories. cast metal signs and Congress, three of the builders associated Into the gap poured kits and ready-todetails, also sold very instruction sheets with Diorama Studios use buildings. Skyline, a Philadelphia simple newsstands. associated with Yank used kits from Yank company that had sunk roots into the The waters weren’t Model Research kits Model Research on hobby before World War II, announced crowded because were credited to displays they made different kits for assembling residential, Yank Model Research Joseph T. Krupa. If only for Lionel. industrial, and railroad-oriented strucentered the contest in we knew whether he tures fabricated out of cardstock and 1947 and remained there created those kits or even wood. A few years later, it broadened its for at least two more years. owned the company. www.ClassicToyTrains.com

97

power on indicator

short -circut indicator

direction

throttle

whistle

dial control

LIONEL ZW TRANSFORMER

T

he mightiest Lionel transformer, the venerable ZW was the master of postwar train operation and is still a top contender for anyone with a seriously large O or S gauge train operation. Cataloged from 1948 to 1966, the massive unit evoked the shape of a football with two large handles, and four power outputs. The magic is in the outputs: Two have direction and whistle controls and two don’t. The latter were intended for accessories, but are capable of running trains. The 1948-49 ZW had a 250

98 Electric Trains From A to Z

watt output, while the 195066 version mustered 275watts. The two handles could control a single line each. Two smaller nubs controlled the output for two other lines, or wiring for accessories and

lighting. The model had a green power light and a red overload light. The Bakelite case looked stylish, even futuristic, and evolved the model train transformer into something other

than a square black box. The colorful Lionel logo on top of the power supply helped to seal the mystic that this was the ultimate toy train power supply. Although 50 years have passed since the last new ZW was built, the original ZW is still a contender. While it is challenged by the Lionel ZW-L, the MTH Z-4000, and the Model Rectifier Corp. Pure Power transformers, the Lionel ZW is still a champion. Operators love its AC power output, ease of operation, and compatibility with modern model train electronics.

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