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Cleaning Lionel trains: A hobbyist’s advice

Dave Farquhar Toy trains November 16, 2016November 20, 2018Cleaning Lionel, lionel, Lionel Scout, lionel train

It’s that time of year again, when people start thinking about getting their Lionel trains out and setting them up, and sometimes, cleaning Lionel trains to make them presentable is necessary first.

Fortunately, Lionel trains aren’t hard to clean.

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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Types of Lionel knuckle couplers

Dave Farquhar Toy trains June 23, 2016March 10, 20221950s, 1960s, 1980s, lionel, Lionel Scout, marx, old trains, postwar lionel, sakai

There have been three major types of Lionel knuckle couplers produced since resuming train production in 1946. Lionel knew it would have to make a splash when it brought its trains back after the end of the War, and the knuckle coupler was one of the keys.

Two of these coupler types are compatible with one another, but one has a gotcha.

Dave Farquhar

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Clean up the white goop on postwar Lionel and American Flyer with a hair dryer

Dave Farquhar Toy trains February 15, 2013December 11, 20201940s, 1950s, american flyer, lionel, Lionel Scout, postwar lionel

I picked up some dilapidated postwar American Flyer wheels at the local train store this afternoon to fix up some stuff from my junk box. The wheels were covered in milky white goo/powder/gunk/residue/stuff–whatever you want to call it. Almost anything molded of black plastic–wheels, couplers, truck sides–by Lionel or American Flyer in the 1940s and 1950s is prone to this. Fortunately, the fix is easy. Aim a hair dryer on high at it, and watch the whiteness melt away, leaving clean plastic behind.

Dave Farquhar

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The unheralded bargain in O gauge trains

Dave Farquhar Toy trains June 21, 2004March 10, 20221950s, 1960s, 1980s, collectibles, lionel, Lionel Scout, lionel train, marx, o gauge, stock market, TCA, vintage trains

Toy trains are a funny thing. Vintage Lionel trains are almost a status symbol, and their value has almost taken a mythical quality. Marx, on the other hand, was the working class brand in the 1950s, the company that had something for you no matter how much you had available to spend.

For the most part, today’s prices reflect that. Lionels are expensive and Marxes are cheap.

Sort of.

Dave Farquhar

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