american flyer Archives

E.R. Johnston, the train dealer, the myth, the legend

Dave Farquhar St. Louis, Toy trains January 26, 2011September 5, 2017american flyer, christmas, HO, ho scale, lionel, Madison Hardware, New York, Railroad Model Craftsman, Street View

Something today made me think of Johnston Electric, a legendary, long-gone train store in St. Louis’ Dutchtown neighborhood that sold Lionel, American Flyer, and HO scale trains.

I was in the old Marty’s Model Railroads store in Affton one afternoon several years ago while Marty was going through a box of trains he had bought earlier in the day. He found some manuals, catalogs, and other paperwork, which he set aside. Then he pulled out an old newspaper page. “I wonder why he saved that?” he asked. He set the paper down, then something caught his eye. “Oh, that’s why,” he said, and pointed at an ad on the page.

“Johnston’s,” it read at the bottom. “3118 Chippewa Street.”

“I spent many, many hours at that place when I was younger,” Marty said.
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Dave Farquhar

David Farquhar is a computer security professional, entrepreneur, and author. He started his career as a part-time computer technician in 1994, worked his way up to system administrator by 1997, and has specialized in vulnerability management since 2013. He invests in real estate on the side and his hobbies include O gauge trains, baseball cards, and retro computers and video games. A University of Missouri graduate, he holds CISSP and Security+ certifications. He lives in St. Louis with his family.

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Can you use 1:64 vehicles with HO scale trains?

Dave Farquhar Model Building, Toy trains January 15, 2011January 19, 20181:64 scale, american flyer, HO, ho scale, Hot Wheels, matchbox, o scale, s scale

Can you use 1:64 vehicles with HO scale trains? It’s a common question. The answer is you can do whatever you want.

The next question is whether you’ll be happy with it. And under some circumstances, you might be.
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Dave Farquhar

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Using two or more transformers together on a train layout

Dave Farquhar Toy trains December 14, 2010November 22, 2016american flyer, lionel, marx, train layout

Using two or more transformers together on a train layout seems like a good thing to do. It’s a common practice in consumer electrical devices to chain multiple batteries together to get more power. So it stands to reason that you could chain multiple small American Flyer/Lionel/Marx transformers together to get more power.

It doesn’t work that way–you can’t chain two 90w transformers together to get 180 watts. But there are still reasons you might want to use multiple transformers; say, to control different blocks of track on your electric train layout.
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Dave Farquhar

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Frequent questions about setting up toy trains and trains and Christmas trees

Dave Farquhar Toy trains November 28, 2010November 25, 2018american flyer, christmas, lionel, Lionel Fastrack, lionel train, lockon, marx, o gauge, o scale, o27, old school, red wire, s gauge, s scale, tin, tubular track

Here are some train-related questions I’ve received that I really don’t think I ever answered adequately elsewhere. Hopefully this will help. Read more

Dave Farquhar

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Transformers for vintage trains

Dave Farquhar Toy trains November 27, 2010February 22, 20191980s, american flyer, KW, lionel, lionel train, marx, postwar lionel, vintage trains

A common question is whether transformers for vintage American Flyer, Lionel, and Marx are interchangeable, and what to do if a transformer won’t work.

The simple answer is, yes, a train from one of those makes will run on a transformer from any of the others. They all ran on 0-24 volts AC.

There are two caveats. Read more

Dave Farquhar

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Gluing Plasticville – or not

Dave Farquhar Toy trains November 26, 2010December 8, 2016american flyer, bachmann, Bachmann Plasticville, christmas, lionel, lionel train, Tacky Wax

A frequent complaint I see about the Plasticville buildings that people have been using with Lionel and American Flyer trains for more than a half century is that they don’t stay together well. This especially seems to be a problem with the modern reissues. Maybe the old molds are starting to wear out after all this time. Gluing Plasticville is an option. But here’s how to make Plasticville stay together without glue.

There is a cheap, easy, and non-permanent solution. Put a dab of Tacky Wax the size of a small pea on each corner. Usually one on the top and bottom where two pieces meet is sufficient. You can also use a couple of dabs on the bottoms of the walls to hold the building in place on non-carpeted surfaces. And when you want it gone, just roll it off with a finger when you disassemble the building. That means it won’t harm the value if you use it on collectible vintage Plasticville pieces.

Even though it’s non-permanent, it’s resilient. If you take your buildings apart at the end of the Christmas season, you can leave the wax on the pieces and it will work again next year. You may just have to tweak the placement of the wax a bit.

Tacky Wax also works well for holding figures in place. I’ve never had a passing train knock over a figure held down with it.

A 1 oz container goes a long way. I bought a single container and after I finished tacking down everything that isn’t supposed to move on my 8×8 layout, I still had some left over. The figures held strong for a couple of years. When the occasional figure finally does get jostled enough to fall over, I can just put it back. Usually I don’t even have to add more wax, and it will stay put for another couple of years.

I hope you found this helpful. If you like Plasticville, maybe these tips for cleaning it will help you too.

Dave Farquhar

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Fix or restore Lionel track

Dave Farquhar Toy trains November 13, 2010January 10, 2019american flyer, cardstock, conductivity, lionel, lionel train, locking pliers, marx, Marx O27, needle nose pliers, o27, Rail Zip, tin, tubular track

It’s that time of year again. Time to get that old Lionel (or Marx or American Flyer) electric train running before the holidays sneak up. More often than not, the track isn’t in the best of shape. Fortunately, it’s not all that hard to fix or restore Lionel track.

Believe it or not, you can effectively remove rust from old Lionel track with a ball of aluminum foil. A small ball of aluminum foil plundered from your kitchen and five minutes of your time is likely to be enough to restore a loop of Lionel track from rusty, unusable junk to reliable operation.

Dave Farquhar

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Cars for trains

Dave Farquhar Toy trains December 2, 2008April 1, 20241:64 scale, 1950s, 1960s, american flyer, boxcar, boxcars, Hot Wheels, kmart, lionel, marx, marx trains, matchbox, o gauge, o scale, o27, postwar lionel, s gauge, s scale, WWII

Vehicles are a frequent topic of discussion on the various O and S gauge train forms. At times these discussions can get rather heated.

Since use on train layouts is rarely the objective of the companies making various diecast vehicles, there’s no true right answer to what one should or shouldn’t use. This is my personal philosophy. Take it for what it’s worth.

Dave Farquhar

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Getting started in eBay

Dave Farquhar Careers February 18, 2007October 30, 20211950s, american flyer, baseball cards, estate sales, garage sales, lionel, marx

When I was hitting estate sales this weekend, an individual holding a sale figured out I was buying things to resell. He assumed I’m an eBay seller and started asking questions about getting started in eBay. I thought they were interesting, so I’ll repeat what I remember of the conversation here.

Dave Farquhar

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An O scale glossary of sorts

Dave Farquhar Toy trains December 15, 2006September 5, 20191950s, 1990s, american flyer, Baby Boomers, bachmann, HO, ho scale, ives, lionel, lionel train, marx, o gauge, o scale, o27, s gauge, s scale, Standard Gauge, tin, toy train, tubular track

I just spent some time explaining some of the terminology that goes along with Lionel and other O gauge and O scale trains. That made me think maybe a definition of some terms might prove useful to somebody. So here’s an O scale glossary.

Dave Farquhar

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