Toy trains Archives

What to do when a Marx engine can’t pull

Dave Farquhar Toy trains December 18, 2017December 8, 2017

My favorite engine is the Marx #54 tin diesel lettered for Kansas City Southern. Unfortunately it has poor pulling power. Being a hollow tin body, it just doesn’t have much weight to it, making the marginal Marx motor even more marginal. Here’s what to do when a Marx engine can’t pull.

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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Scale of Marx trains and accessories

Dave Farquhar Toy trains December 11, 2017May 26, 2022

What scale are Marx trains and accessories? Why, your favorite answer, of course: It depends. The scale of Marx trains and accessories varied, pretty widely. The reasons varied too. Here’s how they ranged, why, and what you can do about it, if indeed you choose to do anything about it at all.

Dave Farquhar

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American Flyer 594 animated track gang with O gauge track

Dave Farquhar Toy trains December 5, 2017December 3, 2017

The American Flyer 594 animated track gang is an interesting accessory. A.C. Gilbert released it in 1946 and 1947. Lionel reissued it in 2006. Although Gilbert marketed it for its S gauge trains, you can easily use it with 3-rail O gauge track. I’m actually disappointed that Lionel didn’t say how when it reissued this accessory.

What about scale, you ask? The figures are about 1½ inches tall, so they are much closer to O scale than S scale. So there’s no need to worry about that. It looks fine with O gauge trains. For that matter, it looks equally good with prewar or postwar O gauge trains. And it doesn’t look bad with S gauge trains either.

Dave Farquhar

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Nano Metalfigs scale

Dave Farquhar Toy trains November 16, 2017March 2, 2020

Jada Toys, maker of diecast vehicles, recently started releasing diecast figures for various licensed properties, including super heroes, Disney properties, professional wrestling, Harry Potter, and just about everything else imaginable. As a toy train hobbyist, of course my first question was, what scale are they? So let’s work out Nano Metalfigs scale together.

Dave Farquhar

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Nomura tin cars

Dave Farquhar Toy trains November 13, 2017February 1, 2022

I like to use Nomura tin cars, and other similar postwar Japanese toys, on my train layout. The cars are simple and have attractive tin lithography on them. I think they fit in well with tin lithographed trains, and my tin downtown that my trains run around and through in circles.

People who like Japanese tin like it a lot. But there’s not a ton of information about it out there, although this all-Japanese layout does have a nice mix of information (in English) and pictures. And he talks about different Japanese trains than I do, though there’s nothing at all wrong with Mito and Mizuno.

Dave Farquhar

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American Flyer track terminal

Dave Farquhar Toy trains November 9, 2017September 29, 2019

The American Flyer track terminal, part# 690, is easy to install as long as it isn’t too bent up. Here’s how to install it properly, and how to fix it if you’re having trouble connecting it.

Dave Farquhar

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American Flyer bulb cross reference

Dave Farquhar Toy trains October 30, 2017February 23, 2019

A.C. Gilbert didn’t use standard bulb numbers for its products, so locating the correct bulb can be difficult today. Here is a cross reference chart between Gilbert’s American Flyer bulb part numbers and standard manufacturer part numbers.

Dave Farquhar

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Are Lionel trains worth anything?

Dave Farquhar Toy trains September 29, 2017March 1, 2019

When people hear what my hobby is, sometimes they ask me, “Are Lionel trains worth anything?”

That’s a fair question. After all, television says they are. But there’s something else you ought to know. Back in 2003, if someone asked me that question, I could tell them to go to the library to find out what those trains are worth. Today, my public library doesn’t have a current Lionel price guide. There’s a reason for that. Lionel trains aren’t worth as much as they were in 2003, and people aren’t checking those books out anymore.

Dave Farquhar

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Where to buy Lionel trains in St. Louis

Dave Farquhar Toy trains September 22, 2017September 12, 2017american flyer, home improvement, lionel, lionel train, Mark Twain, marx, marx trains, o gauge, postwar lionel, Prewar Lionel, Standard Gauge

If you want to know where to buy Lionel trains in St. Louis, you have a lot of choices. It’s more than possible to make a day of train shopping in St. Louis.

I’ve never seen a comprehensive list of shops, so I made my own. If you know of any place I missed, I apologize. Please leave a comment and I will add it.

Dave Farquhar

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The Lionel KW transformer

Dave Farquhar Toy trains September 15, 2017July 27, 2022american flyer, amps, KW, lionel, lockon, LW, marx, power cord

The Lionel KW transformer was the second largest transformer Lionel made in the postwar era. It delivered 190 watts of power and provided two handles to control two trains. Internally, the design is very similar to the ZW. If the ZW was Lionel’s Cadillac transformer, the KW was the Buick. I always thought Lionels were overrated until I ran a 675 locomotive with a KW.

There was a time when nobody made modern transformers the size of a KW or ZW. Now that they do, the ZW and especially the KW cost a lot less. I remember when a reconditioned KW cost $200. Today you can get one for under $100. An as-is KW with minor issues will cost half that. These days, the KW is a bargain.

Dave Farquhar

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