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Why do Lionel trains have three rails?

Dave Farquhar Toy trains August 10, 2017August 5, 20171950s, 1960s, american flyer, electric trains, lionel, Louis Marx, marx, o gauge, Quaker Oats, Standard Gauge

Why do Lionel trains have three rails? After all, real trains usually have two. This unrealistic feature is a legitimate drawback for Lionel and other makes of O gauge trains, but the decision made sense at the time.

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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Where to buy vintage computers

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing June 28, 2017February 13, 20221541, 1980s, commodore, dell, electric trains, estate sales, garage sale, garage sales, IBM, ibm pcjr, intel, Kansas City, Missouri, recycling, survivors, Tandy, Texas Instruments, TI, Value Village, vintage computer, vintage trains

Collecting vintage computers can be fun. I also personally think it’s great that people are interested in preserving that history. Where to buy vintage computers hasn’t changed much over the years. It just may take a bit more work than it used to.

Some people think old computers are priceless. Others think they’re worthless. I don’t recommend wasting your time with people who think a Dell Pentium III laptop is worth $300. Think of the times you found a jewel for five bucks and keep moving.

Dave Farquhar

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How big is 1:64 scale?

Dave Farquhar Model Building May 2, 2017August 1, 20171:64 scale, boxcar, electric trains, s scale

1:64 scale is a popular size for diecast cars. At one time it was popular for slot cars and electric trains too. But how big is 1:64 scale, really?

I’ll explain it mathematically and by giving sizes of some common objects.

Dave Farquhar

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Marx William Crooks locomotive

Dave Farquhar Toy trains April 4, 2017March 14, 20241950s, Classic Toy Trains, electric trains, greenberg, marx, marx trains, sears, tin

In 1959, Marx attempted to cash in on the popularity of TV westerns by creating an 1860s style locomotive. Today, the Marx William Crooks locomotive is one of the rarer and more desirable Marx locomotives. You don’t often hear the words “rare” and “Marx” together.

The Marx locomotive was a recognizable model of the real William Crooks locomotive, a St. Paul and Pacific 1861-era engine that still exists today.

Dave Farquhar

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Hipwell Manufacturing Co. of Pittsburgh

Dave Farquhar Toy trains December 28, 2016October 22, 20221940s, 1950s, 1980s, american flyer, electric trains, lionel, lionel train, s scale, tin

The Hipwell Manufacturing Co. of Pittsburgh was the inventor of the single-cell battery and a venerable producer of flashlights. As recently as 2002, Hipwell produced 2 million flashlights in the United States.

Dave Farquhar

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Bachmann vs Lionel

Dave Farquhar model railroading, Toy trains December 2, 2016October 11, 20171940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1980s, american flyer, bachmann, Bachmann Plasticville, boxcar, electric trains, HO, ho scale, lionel, lionel train, n scale, o scale, train show

Comparing Bachmann vs Lionel is a contrast between two very old, established names in electric trains. Lionel, in one form or another, has been selling trains since 1900. Bachmann, the largest seller of trains in the world, was founded in 1833, though they started selling trains in 1966.

Ironically, it was Lionel that got Bachmann into the train business. In the 1940s and 1950s, when every kid wanted a Lionel or American Flyer train, Bachmann sold buildings under its Plasticville brand so kids and dads could build towns for those trains to run in. As the focus shifted to smaller scales in the 1960s, Bachmann moved with it, with greater success than the companies it once shared a symbiotic relationship with.

Dave Farquhar

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Garage sale tips and tricks for buyers

Dave Farquhar Saving money August 30, 2016July 29, 2018electric trains, estate sales, garage sale, garage sales, VHS

I am a garage sale pro. Over the course of a decade, I attended thousands of garage sales, saved thousands of dollars buying things for my own use, and made tens of thousands of dollars reselling my loot (yes, I had a business license and declared it on my taxes). Here are my favorite garage sale tips and tricks for buyers.

Dave Farquhar

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Marx vs. Lionel

Dave Farquhar Toy trains March 3, 2016March 2, 20231:64 scale, 1950s, 1960s, 1980s, 1990s, boxcars, christmas, electric trains, HO, ho scale, Korea, lionel, Louis Marx, marx, marx trains, Model Power, New Jersey, New York, New York City, o gauge, o scale, old trains, postwar lionel, Quaker Oats, sears, tin

In the 1950s, Marx and Lionel took turns being the biggest toy company in the world, largely riding on the popularity of O gauge trains. Neither company particularly liked the other, but both owed some degree of their success to being compatible with one another. Because of their interoperability, the two makes of trains are frequently compared and contrasted even today. Let’s take a look at Marx vs Lionel.

Dave Farquhar

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A weak VPN isn’t necessarily better than no VPN

Dave Farquhar security February 29, 2016February 28, 2016electric trains, SSL, VPN

A Slashdot story last week discussed how 90% of all SSL VPNs use weak, obsolete encryption. And one comment said, “So? A weak VPN is better than no VPN.”

Not necessarily.

Dave Farquhar

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Fix a Marx 999 that derails a lot

Dave Farquhar Toy trains February 22, 2016January 24, 2019electric trains, locking pliers, marx, o gauge, tin

Marx’s most popular locomotive might be the 999, because it can pull anything Marx made–6-inch tin, 7-inch tin, 3/16-scale tin, 4-wheel plastic, and 8-wheel plastic–without looking out of place. It really only has one problem: The front trucks on many 999s are prone to derailments.

Counterintuitively, the fix for a 999 is the opposite of how you fix the same problem on many other O gauge electric trains.

Dave Farquhar

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