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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

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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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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Fasten Lionel tubular track to foam board

Dave Farquhar model railroading, Toy trains December 13, 2016October 22, 2022lionel

Foam board is nice for building train layouts, since it’s lightweight and versatile. It’s easy to cut and shape into mountains and valleys and rivers. It’s also inexpensive. The problem is that screws won’t stick in it. So it’s tricky to fasten Lionel tubular track to foam board. It’s difficult to fasten any other kind of track too.

Here are two ways to do it.

Dave Farquhar

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How to quiet Lionel Fastrack

Dave Farquhar Toy trains December 9, 2016August 30, 2017lionel, Lionel Fastrack, o gauge

The biggest problem with Lionel Fastrack is that it is much louder than tubular and other types of O gauge track. So people frequently ask how to quiet Lionel Fastrack. There are a few things you can do to make Fastrack quieter.

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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Can I mix Fastrack and old track?

Dave Farquhar Toy trains November 27, 2016August 1, 2017lionel, Lionel Fastrack, o27

Can I mix Fastrack and old track? Yes, you can mix Lionel Fastrack with older types of Lionel track.

Dave Farquhar

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O scale Christmas village choices

Dave Farquhar Toy trains November 23, 2016November 22, 2018christmas, Cobblestone Corners, Dollar Tree, holiday village, Lemax, lionel, lionel train, o scale

If you’re looking for an O scale Christmas village or O scale holiday village to go with a Lionel train or similar train of another make, you’re in luck. You have two good choices.

Dave Farquhar

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Why the whistle button makes a Lionel train speed up

Dave Farquhar Toy trains November 21, 2016April 10, 2017lionel, lionel train

Last week a commenter asked me why the whistle button makes a Lionel train speed up. This behavior may seem unusual but it’s normal and solves a problem.

Dave Farquhar

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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

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Lionel transformer pinouts

Dave Farquhar Toy trains November 10, 2016April 10, 2017KW, lionel, LW, marx

When wiring a Lionel layout with multiple transformers, it helps to know the pinouts, or what posts output what voltages. Lionel published a few lists over the years but none were complete. Here is my list of 33 different Lionel transformer pinouts.

Dave Farquhar

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