Toy trains Archives

Best way to store Lionel trains

Dave Farquhar Toy trains December 28, 2018December 22, 2018

I was talking to a friend the other day about trains and especially about rust. He was very concerned about being able to get the trains out next year and enjoy them without having to clean or refurbish them again. Here’s the best way to store Lionel trains.

The best way to store Lionel trains is in the living space of your home. Try to avoid storing them in a garage or attic if you can. A basement is OK if it’s not too damp. The box they came in is ideal, but there are acceptable substitutes. You also need to be careful how you wrap them.

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.

dfarq.homeip.net

Rock Island train set from the 1980s

Dave Farquhar Toy trains December 21, 2018June 23, 2024

The Rock Island train set was a cheap battery-operated train available at discount and toy stores from about 1988 to 1990.

The set was made in Mexico from old Plastimarx tooling. A small company called Great Lakes Promotions imported it into the United States and distributed it.

Dave Farquhar

dfarq.homeip.net

Marx 999 locomotive variations

Dave Farquhar Toy trains December 14, 2018January 27, 2022

Diecast toys first appeared on the market in the 1920s, but the conservative Marx was slow to adopt it. Diecast toys from the 1920s and even much of the 1930s often have issues with breaking down over time. By the early 1940s, toymakers had worked out the issues. So early in 1941, Marx started developing its first diecast train, the Marx 999 locomotive.

Marx intended for the 999 to be a 1/64 scale locomotive to compete with American Flyer’s 1/64 scale O gauge line. It’s unclear how many Marx 999s made it out the door in 1941. Marx did sell limited numbers of them in 1942, but the start of World War II curtailed toy production. I’ve seen 1942 sets that would have included a 999, but Marx substituted whatever other locomotives they had on hand to sell through its inventory. Marx reintroduced the 999 in 1946 and produced it until 1959.

Dave Farquhar

dfarq.homeip.net

Galvanized village houses and trains

Dave Farquhar Toy trains December 7, 2018February 1, 2019

A couple of years ago, I spied a couple of lonely galvanized village houses in the seasonal section at Kmart. My wife told me that galvanized Christmas village buildings were popular and laughed at the irony that I was buying them, not her.

Of course, I wanted them for my train layout, where I use metal buildings. In model railroading, I try to be the opposite of trendy.

Dave Farquhar

dfarq.homeip.net

Ives trains

Dave Farquhar Toy trains November 30, 2018September 8, 2022

The largest maker of toy trains in the United States in the early 20th century was Ives, an old-line toy company headquartered in Bridgeport, Conn. Ives trains retained a following long after the company who made them went bankrupt. MTH produces reproduction Ives electric trains even today.

Dave Farquhar

dfarq.homeip.net

K-Line trains

Dave Farquhar Toy trains November 16, 2018February 8, 2022american flyer, kmart, lionel, lionel train, marx

K-Line was a manufacturer of O gauge electric trains and accessories from approximately 1980 to 2010. Its scrappy, value-oriented approach to the hobby endeared K-Line trains to many of its customers.

K-Line Electric Trains and Lionel tended to target one another in their advertisements. They referred to one another as “Brand K” and “Brand L.” In 2005, the rivalry turned to litigation, which eventually resulted in K-Line admitting wrongdoing, going out of business, and Lionel licensing and selling products under the K-Line name from 2006 to 2010.

Dave Farquhar

dfarq.homeip.net

How to restore a Marx 999 locomotive

Dave Farquhar Toy trains November 9, 2018March 12, 2021

How to restore Marx trains varies by model but many of the same principles apply universally. Let’s take a step by step look at how to restore a Marx 999 locomotive.

Dave Farquhar

dfarq.homeip.net

Marx train runs slowly? Some troubleshooting tips

Dave Farquhar Toy trains November 2, 2018October 26, 2018

If your Marx train runs slowly, the problem could be a number of things. Fortunately most of them are easy to check and easy to fix yourself.

Dave Farquhar

dfarq.homeip.net

Train show tips

Dave Farquhar model railroading, Toy trains October 12, 2018September 29, 2019

I like to support my local dealers, and of course Ebay makes it easy to buy trains, but there’s still nothing like an old-fashioned train show. Here are my train show tips that I’ve found helped me in the past. Hopefully they’ll help you too.

You may recognize some of these from my tips for garage sales and estate sales, but some of the methods are unique to shows. Also, not all shows are the same, and my tips may work better for local shows than traveling shows but most of them should work for both types.

Dave Farquhar

dfarq.homeip.net

Using a multimeter in model railroading

Dave Farquhar model railroading, Toy trains September 28, 2018November 19, 2018

A multimeter is an inexpensive tool that has several great uses in model railroading, especially if you deal with used or vintage trains a lot. Knowing how to use one will save you a lot of time and frustration.

Dave Farquhar

dfarq.homeip.net