Toy trains

Johnston’s Electric Trains, St. Louis

Dave Farquhar St. Louis, Toy trains 1 Comment
Johnston’s Electric Trains, St. Louis

Johnston’s Electric Train Shop was a family-owned business in St Louis for about 50 years. As its name suggests, it was a storefront in St Louis’s Dutchtown neighborhood, and advertised itself as St Louis’ first hobby shop that specialized in trains.

But there’s more to the story. This is a classic American Dream story, a small business idea borne of financial hardship that led to owning the building it operated out of and employing 11 people.

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Marx stream line steam type train set 4822

Dave Farquhar Toy trains
Marx stream line steam type train set 4822

The Marx steam type train set number 4822 is a mid 1950s electric train set with a basic steam engine and 7-inch freight cars. It’s an attractive set and a very good example of post-war tin lithography. Marx eventually switched from lithography to plastic. This set was part of Marx’s transition period from lithography to plastic.

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Marx diesel freight train set 9611

Dave Farquhar Toy trains
Marx diesel freight train set 9611

The Marx/Allstate diesel freight train set number 9611 was an electric train set featuring twin diesel locomotives pulling plastic freight cars with 4 wheels and fake trucks to make them look like 8 wheels. It replaced earlier sets Marx made for Sears like the 9644, replacing metal cars with plastic.

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Using AC and DC at the same time on a train layout

Dave Farquhar Toy trains
Using AC and DC at the same time on a train layout

I was talking with someone who’d rather remain anonymous regarding AC and DC power on train layouts. When using AC power, a common trick to reduce the amount of wire you need is to run a power wire to each loop of track, and feed that loop of track from a dedicated loop of wire. Then you can run a second loop that each of your loops of track use as a common ground. His question was, if you wired your layout like this, would it be possible to switch to DC power?

The answer is yes, with a possible caveat.

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One last run

Dave Farquhar Toy trains
One last run

Last week I helped an old friend, Dan, get his dad’s Lionel train layout running for one last time. Dan’s dad, David, had built the layout sometime in the 1970s using traditional methods, but had partially disassembled the layout sometime around 1988 and could no longer remember how it went together. In the process of helping, I learned that a Lionel layout doesn’t have to be permanent to be special. A temporary layout can be just as memorable.

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Marx steam type freight set 9363

Dave Farquhar Toy trains
Marx steam type freight set 9363

Marx’s steam freight train set catalog number 9363 is an unusual 4-wheel plastic set from 1957. In this blog post, I’ll explain what makes it special. Because two things make this one special.

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Marx diesel freight train set 9622

Dave Farquhar Toy trains
Marx diesel freight train set 9622

The Marx diesel freight train set number 9622 was a 1958 electric train set featuring twin diesel locomotives pulling 8-wheel plastic cars. It’s an attractive set and and one you don’t see every day. Marx made it for Sears and they sold it under the Allstate brand name.

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Marx 52750 train set: The Champion

Dave Farquhar Toy trains
Marx 52750 train set: The Champion

In 1974, Marx introduced a diesel freight train set it called The Champion, catalog #52750, that ran on AC electric power and sold through catalog retailers. If you have a Marx 52750 train set today, it’s worth considerably more than its original retail price, even adjusted for inflation.

Marx’s Champion train set was part of the Great American Railroads series. It had catalog number 52750 and was manufactured only in 1974. Today it is one of the most valuable Marx train sets ever made.

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Marx Cannonball train set number 4362

Dave Farquhar Toy trains
Marx Cannonball train set number 4362

Marx thrived for years selling low budget electric trains with an inexpensive locomotive pulling 4-wheel cars made of plastic. The Cannonball train set, part of its Great American Railroads series, carried catalog number 4362 and was the last of that breed.

The Marx Cannonball train, set number 4362, was part of the Great American Railroads series. It had two variants sold by discount retailers, but only in 1974.

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Marx 25760 train set: The Allegheny

Dave Farquhar Toy trains
Marx 25760 train set: The Allegheny

In 1974, Marx introduced a diesel freight train set it called The Allegheny, catalog #25760, that ran on AC electric power and sold through catalog retailers. If you have a Marx 25760 train set today, it’s worth considerably more than its original retail price, even adjusted for inflation.

Marx’s Allegheny train set was part of the Great American Railroads series. It had catalog number 25760 and was manufactured only in 1974. Today it is one of the most valuable Marx train sets ever made.

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