Classic Toy Trains March/April 2022

I REMEMBER IT LIKE IT WAS YESTERDAY. OK, I’m kidding, I’ve forgotten what I had for dinner two nights ago, but I do recall the general tenor of the train-related forums last year as things began to spin down at MTH Electric Trains. The short version: MTH is quitting. Atlas O hasn’t produced a lot in recent memory. Ditto for Williams by Bachmann. We’re going to be left with just Lionel. Oh, whither the toy train hobby? I wish I could say I saw coming what has happened since, but I can’t. I’m not really sure any of us could have seen such a confluence of events. Let’s just start with a truism: During times of turmoil and stress, which we’ve definitely experienced over the past 24 months, hobbies typically do well. This period…

Editor Hal Miller hmiller@ClassicToyTrains.com Senior Editor Roger Carp rcarp@ClassicToyTrains.com Production Editor Rene Schweitzer rschweitzer@Kalmbach.com Copy Editor Steven Otte sotte@Kalmbach.com Group Technical Editor Cody Grivno cgrivno@ModelRailroader.com Contributing Editor Bob Keller editor@ClassicToyTrains.com TO SUBMIT AN ARTICLE and photos, email manuscripts@classictoytrains.com, or send materials to Classic Toy Trains, 21027 Crossroads Circle, P.O. Box 1612, Waukesha, WI 53186. Write the words “Manuscript Enclosed” on the envelope. Before preparing an article, contact us to determine interest. Article/photo guidelines are available at trains.com/ctt/magazine/contributor-guidelines/. Classic Toy Trains assumes letters, new product information, and other unsolicited materials are contributed gratis. We assume no responsibility for the safe return of unsolicited material.…

THE TIPS AND TECHNIQUES COLUMN found in the November 2021 issue of Classic Toy Trains contained an article about cross-wired transformers. I enjoyed reading it, but readers must know about a dangerous situation that can occur when using two or more transformers on the same layout. A typical arrangement would be to have the center rails broken up into multiple blocks isolated with insulating pins. All the outside rails are connected together and then wired to the common posts on each transformer. Be aware that if one transformer is unplugged and one of the insulated pins is bridged, there can be 100 or more volts on the prongs of the unplugged power cord’s plug. Bridging an insulated pin can be as simple as a locomotive or passenger car with two rollers…

WHEN I STARTED WRITING THIS COLUMN I had an entirely different direction. Then I made a U-turn. When I began thinking about it, it dawned on me that whenever I die, nobody in my family is going to give a hoot about my trains. That’s just a fact and not a judgment. Then I thought about a conversation I had in the early 1990s. I was running trains with the Pierce County Lionel Club at a holiday gift fair at the Tacoma Dome in Washington State. It was a large event, and the vendors were selling Christmas in every form possible – decorations, holiday clothing, knick-knacks, cards, and gifts. Of course, electric trains have long been associated with the holidays and our layout always drew a crowd. One day there was an older, very well-dressed…

NEAL SCHORR’S O GAUGE LAYOUT Besides paying tribute to the achievements of Herb and Dagmar Lindsay in this issue of Classic Toy Trains, Neal Schorr is putting the finishing touches on a magnificent O gauge railroad based in central Pennsylvania and currently being showcased in Great Model Railroads 2022, the brand-new annual special issue from Model Railroader magazine. (You can order a copy from KalmbachHobbyStore.com). In this picture, an MTH Pennsylvania RR 2-10-0 Decapod is shown hauling an eastbound freight over a highway over-pass in the town of Duncannon, Pa. Neal, who resides a couple hundred miles west in Wexford, built the structure from scratch. CRAIG GREATHOUSE’S O GAUGE LAYOUT The sprawling O gauge empire that Craig Greathouse has built and operates in Winchester, Va., still depends on coal to support the local…

CLASSIC CAB UNITS. New paint schemes on the Atlas O Master Line Electro-Motive Division F7A and F7B diesels include Chesapeake & Ohio (blue and yellow), Reading Co. (black, green, and yellow), Southern Pacific (scarlet and gray), and Southern Ry. (black and gold). Powered O gauge A and B units ($549.95 each) are offered in two road numbers each. Unpowered A and B units ($239.95 each) are available in one number per scheme. The cab units have railroad-specific details, metal grab irons, and Lionel TrainMaster Command Control. The models are scheduled to arrive in the second quarter of 2022. Get your order in at shop.atlasrr.com or with your local Atlas O dealer. WHO WANTS TO BUY A CAR? One of the recent O scale contemporary buildings released by Menards is the no.…