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All about the Lionel KW

Dave Farquhar Toy trains February 6, 2017August 1, 20171950s, 1960s, american flyer, diodes, KW, lionel, LW, marx, postwar lionel

The Lionel KW is the second most powerful, and second most popular Lionel transformer of the 1950s and 1960s. If the Lionel ZW was Lionel’s Cadillac, the KW was Lionel’s Buick. It was a 190-watt transformer and Lionel sold it from 1950 to 1965. It replaced Lionel’s 150-watt ZW lookalike, the VW.

Finding original KW instructions or an original KW manual online is a bit difficult, but there’s plenty the original instructions don’t mention.

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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All about the Lionel ZW

Dave Farquhar Toy trains January 30, 2017July 27, 20221950s, 1960s, american flyer, amperage, diodes, KW, lionel, LW, marx, postwar lionel

The Lionel ZW is Lionel’s most iconic transformer of the 1950s and 1960s, and perhaps one of its most iconic products, period. Everyone wanted the two-handled, football-shaped, 275-watt powerhouse that was the ZW. It was one of Lionel’s more venerable postwar products, lasting on the market for 18 years from 1948 to 1966. It replaced Lionel’s former top-of-the-line transformer, the Z.

Finding original ZW instructions or an original ZW manual online is a bit difficult, but there’s plenty the original instructions don’t mention.

Dave Farquhar

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Replace a Lionel RW rectifier disc with a diode

Dave Farquhar Toy trains January 25, 2017August 1, 20171950s, diodes, lionel

Vintage Lionel transformers activated the whistle using a rectifier disc. These discs tend to degrade over time. You can expect to pay about $5 for a replacement disc. But a modern diode is much cheaper, works better, and is more reliable. Here’s how to replace a Lionel RW rectifier disc with a diode.

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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Vintage tin litho buildings

Dave Farquhar Toy trains December 26, 2016September 15, 20221940s, 1950s, american flyer, Hot Wheels, lionel, o gauge, s scale, tin, toy train, train layout, train show, wyandotte

Years ago, I decided I wanted to take a different approach with my trains. I heard about a guy in Springfield who has a traditional toy train layout with no plastic on it. I wanted to see if I could do something similar.

At the time, information about this approach was rare. So I’ve collected here what I know about tin buildings made prior to 1970 (the approximate end of the postwar era). You won’t find everything you want in pre-1970 buildings, so if you need something more modern to fill in the gaps, see my other post tin buildings for train layouts.

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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What scale are Matchbox cars?

Dave Farquhar Model Building October 10, 2016October 29, 20181:64 scale, 1950s, american flyer, Cobblestone Corners, Dollar Tree, HO, ho scale, Hot Wheels, Lemax, lionel, matchbox, old school, s scale

What scale are Matchbox cars, you ask? Unfortunately it varies a bit. Nominally they’re around 1:64 scale. But scale isn’t Matchbox’s objective. Fitting in the package is. That means the size of Matchbox cars is between 2.5 and 3 inches, depending on what looks right for the prototype model. So it can take some homework to figure out the actual scale of any given model.

Dave Farquhar

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How to sell Lionel trains

Dave Farquhar Toy trains September 13, 2016April 22, 20171950s, american flyer, HO, ho scale, lionel, lionel train, marx, o gauge, o27, old trains, OO, receipt, Standard Gauge, TCA, video game

Since I’ve covered other makes of trains, someone asked me how to sell Lionel trains. So I thought I would give similar advice on selling Lionel trains. Lionel is an iconic, legendary part of Americana, so there will always be some market for its products.

That said, don’t expect to get rich selling off your Lionel trains. But if you keep your expectations realistic, you’ll find an eager buyer, or ideally, at least two interested buyers so you’ll realize a good price at auction.

Dave Farquhar

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Cleaning up Plasticville

Dave Farquhar Toy trains July 27, 2016August 30, 20171950s, marx, train show

Plasticville buildings in less than stellar condition are dirt cheap, but restoring them is often possible. There is no need to be afraid of a dirty lot of Plasticville from a train show or Ebay–cleaning up Plasticville is easy.

Of course these tricks work for Plasticville-like buildings from the 1950s as well, such as Littletown, Skyline, Ideal, and Marx.

Dave Farquhar

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Wiring an old house for Ethernet

Dave Farquhar Servers and Networking July 26, 2016March 13, 20211950s, 1960s, baseboard, Blade, cat5e, home improvement, network cables, Windows 10

Wiring an old house for Ethernet can be challenging but offers real benefits. Wired Ethernet is faster and more reliable than wireless, so devices that have a wired connection can take advantage of it. Having wired connections also allows you to distribute wireless access points throughout your house for better, faster coverage.

So you even if you’re a heavy wireless user, there’s a lot to gain from having good wired connections. Believe it or not, you can do it with simple tools and very little tearing into your walls.

Dave Farquhar

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