Toy trains Archives

Lionel 115 station

Dave Farquhar Toy trains April 28, 2022July 6, 2022

The Lionel 115 station is a popular centerpiece for pre-war tinplate layouts. While best suited for standard gauge trains, its design does lend itself to o gauge, and it was one of Lionel’s pre-war designs that went back into production during the post-war era. Its first run lasted from 1935 to 1942, with a revival from 1946 to 1949.

The Lionel 115 is the second largest station Lionel produced, second only to the 116 station, which has a similar appearance. Its design was inspired by New York city’s Grand Central station, but it used selective compression to give the impression of a big city station without taking the space that would be required of a true scale model.

Dave Farquhar

David Farquhar is a computer security professional, entrepreneur, and author. He has written professionally about computers since 1991, so he was writing about retro computers when they were still new. He has been working in IT professionally since 1994 and has specialized in vulnerability management since 2013. He holds Security+ and CISSP certifications. Today he blogs five times a week, mostly about retro computers and retro gaming covering the time period from 1975 to 2000.

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Convert Marx 7-inch to 8 wheels

Dave Farquhar Toy trains April 21, 2022August 31, 2023

There’s a lot less interest in Marx’s short-lived 7-inch line, than in their other lines, but they can be useful cars. For example, with the appropriate trucks under them, they can add some variety to Marx’s metal scale cars. While they’re not quite 1:64 scale in most cases, they’re close enough that they look fine with them. Here’s how to convert Marx 7-inch to 8 wheels.

Dave Farquhar

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Unique Art Manufacturing Co of New Jersey

Dave Farquhar Toy trains March 31, 2022April 1, 2022

Unique Art Manufacturing Co of New Jersey was a manufacturer of tin lithographed toys, based in New York City and Newark, New Jersey. It was founded in 1914 and faded away between 1951 and 1955. Its president, Samuel Berger (not Bergman), was an inventor with at least four patents to his name, and his company was one of the few U.S. makers of tin lithographed toys in the postwar era.

There is a great deal of incorrect information floating around about the little known company, including the name of its president and founder.

Dave Farquhar

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Lionel Scout motor repair

Dave Farquhar Toy trains March 24, 2022June 23, 2022

The plastic Lionel Scout motor is legendary. I don’t mean in a good way. It worked well enough when it was new, but it didn’t age as well as Lionel’s other motor designs. And Lionel Scout motor repair is notoriously difficult.

The usual advice on Scout motors goes something like this. If it works, enjoy it while it lasts, but once one of them stops working, having a professional fix it costs more than the whole locomotive is worth. It’s nothing like the Marx motor it competed with, which is legendary for its simplicity, reliability, and being easy to fix. But while it’s certainly a hassle, you can fix a Scout motor that runs poorly, and you can do it yourself with household tools.

Dave Farquhar

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Cleaning American Flyer track

Dave Farquhar Toy trains March 17, 2022April 7, 2022

There are any number of approaches to cleaning American Flyer track, and the right way to do it really depends on whether the track is on the layout and can or cannot be removed, and whether the track is just dirty or if it is also rusty. So here is how to clean the track to get it working and something you can do so you may not ever have to clean it again.

Dave Farquhar

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Model Products Corporation, or MPC

Dave Farquhar Toy trains March 10, 2022May 12, 2022

Model Products Corporation was a leading brand of plastic model kits from the 1950s to 2011. It frequently went by the acronym MPC. It should not be confused with another contemporary toy company, Multiple Products Company, which was a leading maker of plastic army men from 1954 to about 1979. This company also went by MPC.

In the context of Lionel, “MPC” refers to this company, Model Products Corporation, that was also owned by General Mills in the 1970s and 1980s. General Mills merged the two company operations, hoping for synergy.

Dave Farquhar

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Standard Gauge and Wide Gauge toy trains

Dave Farquhar Toy trains March 3, 2022July 27, 2022

What is standard gauge and wide gauge? The difference between standard gauge and wide gauge depends on whether we are talking real trains or model trains. Because the two things can either be the same or opposites depending on which you are talking about. In toy trains, it was a marketing solution to an engineering problem.

Dave Farquhar

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Who was Roy Cohn?

Dave Farquhar Toy trains February 24, 2022September 12, 2023

Roy Cohn is a polarizing figure in 20th century American history, with some spillover into the 21st. He is best known as a lawyer, but he was also chairman of the board of Lionel, the maker of electric trains, during the 1960s. I will assume that’s why you’re here, before getting into the other things Roy Cohn was known for.

Roy Cohn didn’t think his involvement with Lionel Corporation, the famous toymaker, warranted even a footnote when he was writing his autobiography. But the infamous lawyer and political operative wasn’t just a lawyer, he was also a corporate raider, even if he wasn’t a particularly talented or successful one.

Dave Farquhar

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Lionel’s Trutrack experiment

Dave Farquhar Toy trains February 17, 2022June 1, 2022

In 1973, Lionel tried to give its flagging product line a boost with a new track system. It combined elements of some of its other very successful track systems. Here’s why Lionel Trutrack crashed and burned and you’ve probably never heard of it.

Dave Farquhar

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Marx Standard Gauge – believe it!

Dave Farquhar Toy trains February 10, 2022March 3, 2022

Marx Standard Gauge? Surely there’s no such thing. Marx was the king of cheap trains, and Standard Gauge trains were the big, over-the-top trains for the wealthy. But near the end of the Standard Gauge era, Marx did made a Standard Gauge train, sort of.

Dave Farquhar

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