Classic Toy Trains January/February 2023

WHILE THE COVER SAYS JANUARY, there’s a good chance you’re seeing this issue around Christmas time. In which case, happy holidays to you! As we close out 2022, it’s time to reflect on how busy it’s been. Recently, I was part of a panel discussion on YouTube hosted by TrainWorld. Also on the panel was our sage “Views from the Underground” columnist Lou Palumbo. One of the things we talked about was how there used to be a definitive “train season” starting in the fall, peaking during the holidays and winter, and closing when it got warm in the spring. But like so much else in the world, the pattern seems to be changing. “Now, it’s train season all-year round,” Lou opined. It was hard to argue against his premise – which you…

FROM OUR READERS TERIC BEHEIM’S ARTICLE ON THE MARX EL CAPTAIN set in the May/June 2022 issue of Classic Toy Trains was quite interesting and confirmed that Louis Marx & Co. was indeed the master of high-quality toy lithography. Yet as I looked at the photo of Marx No. 21, something seemed amiss. But what? The Marx Santa Fe cab unit has the body and roof design of an Electro-Motive Division F3/F7, the locomotive number of a Santa Fe F3A, and the side panels of an FT (as Eric noted in his fine article). Moreover, its undersized truck frames clearly represent those equipped with three axles each! So the 21 wasn’t really an FT, as noted in the article. Instead, this great-looking model was an amalgam of the three Electro-Motive locomotive types that…

IN THE EARLY 1980S, I WAS GOING TO many shows to sell off “extra trains” from my prewar and postwar collection I was building by advertising in the local newspapers. I didn’t have a retail store at that time, so shows were my main outlet to move the surplus of trains. One year, I sold at 26 train shows. You can do the math: that’s one every other week! Actually, between September and February I had a train show every weekend. Mall shows started on Friday and ended on Sunday night, which led to some very long weekends. When attending a train show, customers found rows of tables and booths loaded with various trains and accessories for sale. Shows of that nature never happen overnight. Even if there are fewer train shows now,…

DAVID BROWN’S O GAUGE LAYOUT The guys holed up in the shack by the main line on David Brown’s O gauge layout caught a break today when the temperature climbed above the freezing mark. On a whim, they decided to set up their checkerboard outdoors for a few games before their fingers get numb or the noise of that passing freight train hurts their ears. The New Haven Also RS3 road switcher handling the short train is one of the hardest workers on David’s roster in Phoenix, Ariz., where folks can probably play checkers outside all year. WANT TO CONTRIBUTE? Please send your best pictures to CTT Photo Album, 21027 Crossroads Circle, P.O. Box 1612, Waukesha, WI 53187-1612 or email them to photoalbum@ClassicToyTrains.com. Digital photos must be taken with the camera set at…

BLUE COAL BOXCARS. The Metropolitan Division of the Train Collectors Association has released these custom-decorated Lionel models lettered for the Delaware & Hudson and the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western. The O gauge cars, part of Lionel’s Made in the U.S.A. line, are traditional No. 6464-sized boxcars and feature a plastic body with Blue Coal graphics; a metal frame; and sprung, die-cast metal trucks. The boxcars are priced at $89.99 each or $169.99 for the pair. To order, send a check payable to METCA to Stuart Rankin, 6 Packard Dr., Middletown, NJ 07748. Online ordering is available at metca.org/store.html ARTICULATED AUTO HAULER. New paint schemes on this Atlas O Master Line car ($154.95) include TTX (BTTX and TOAX reporting marks, both painted faded yellow); Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe (fictional blue-and-white scheme);…

OFTEN WHEN WE’RE TALKING ABOUT creativity in modern toy trains, we tend to focus on things like how many LEDs the latest diesel model has, the features of the latest sound or command-control system upgrades, or innovative details like smoking whistles. While browsing through a stack of old Classic Toy Trains, I was thinking about how the sheer volume of production from Lionel, MTH, and K-Line obscured a lot of great products. There was so much coming out that everyone (myself included) was dazzled by the latest jumbo steamer, hotshot diesel, or freight car you were certain would never be made in O or S gauge. Here are a few models that I think deserved more attention and which are underappreciated today. If you want to go back for a look, I’ve…