Big Indoor Trains

Spotted this Fundimensions-era Lionel 8757 in Conrail livery moving down the mainline:



Sparked memories of driving past Enola thirty years ago and seeing Conrail-blue locomotives lined up at the service facility.

Rummaging around in the plastic storage bins I keep under the layout, found this little postwar Lionel 1655. Dusty and dirty, I brushed off the worst of the dust, put it on the track, and it took off:

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One of the "Columbia" type ...

A friend of mine, hearing of my effort to assemble a variation of the Lionel "Girl's Train", contributed this modern-era production 6424:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55343756132_2b4d002d16_b.jpg

Catalogued in 2003 or 2004, it's a bit ghastly, but it adds a bit of play-value. We're ...

Picked up a couple of 6464's off eBay:

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Like new without boxes, they are nice. The 510 starts the build out of a Girl's Train; the 525 just came with it. Less than thirty bucks all in for the pair. These are repops from 1999.

There ...

Using a badly worn Lionel 2037 and a pile of bits, we cobbled together a 2037-500:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55299232013_9f44df409f_b.jpg

Other than some issues with the paint we used, this was a fun project. Paul over at TrainWorx was super-helpful in sorting out what parts we needed ...

The MTH RailKIng M-10000 was spotted out on the pike this week:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55271875225_31b1a767c8_b.jpg

We acquired this new some 25 years ago, primarily for its ability to handle O-31 curves (unlike the Lionel version from the mid-1930s). It's a nice toy train, one that ...

The O-Gauge Forum travelling freight car was spotted recently behind a Williams NS GP38 running long-hood forward:



It's a massive car, barely able to round the 42-inch curves on our mainline.

A nice prewar Lionel 3659 dump-car found at Spring York:

Replaces the well-worn version currently in the collection...an upgrade, of sorts.

Lionel set 1065, freshly repaired, returns to active service:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55213771928_fce777431e_b.jpg

Cracked wheel replacement, rewired cab light, new brushes and a complete clean and lube...ready to go. A bit of Mequiar's Cleaner Wax got the chrome sparkling. Ninety ...

I've been hunting for a nice example of the tin Marx T3-21 Army Training Center for quite a while. It's tough to find one that's in nice condition and priced reasonably. Having had no luck, I decided to make one:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55191496581_21e4d33721_b.jpg

Using Ed Berg's ...