Classic Toy Trains July 2021

what is normal going to look like?

THERE’S A SAYING I’VE TOLD MY KIDS many times throughout their lives: “You never know what you can do until you have to do it.” A little more than a year ago most of us had never heard of COVID-19, nor did we think such a thing could wreak so much havoc around the globe. The illness and the loss of life have been staggering and should be first and foremost in our minds. Precious few of us haven’t been touched by the loss of a friend or loved one. In the efforts to avoid getting ourselves and others ill, we’ve had to change so many things. From a hobby standpoint, this has meant the cancellation of shows, scrapped work and operating sessions, virtual club meetings, and fewer visits to hobby stores. You’d think…

your magazine team

Editor Hal Miller hmiller@Kalmbach.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@classictoy-trains.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.…

marx also loaded cattle

I JUST RECEIVED THE MARCH ISSUE of Classic Toy Trains and wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed the article by Roger Carp about Lionel’s no. 3656 operating cattle car and corral. I remember seeing TV commercials back in the 1950s that showed one of those units in operation. Louis Marx & Co., of course, had its own version of an operating cattle car that was quite basic and yet always enjoyable. When the O gauge car was eased in next to the unloading platform, a protruding lever at the car’s bottom would be pushed back, causing the door to open and a small cow to tentatively move forward as if to exit the car – which it never did! The best thing about this unit was the unloading…

playing the long game

EVERYBODY IN THIS HOBBY has passed through the “I want it all” stage. This usually results in buying a lot of stuff that in a few years may become excess to requirements. This isn’t about the stuff you eventually sell to get something new, but what happens when you find those items that fall into the stop everything, “Oh my gosh I’ve got to get that!” category. Cases in point When I got back into the hobby in the early 1990s, I discovered all my postwar equipment still worked. But my track had mostly rusted away, and I wasn’t sure about my old Lionel no. 1033 transformer. I also realized that I had known more about three-rail trains when I was 8 years old than my 40-year-old self remembered. So I needed…

photo album your pictures

JOHN STUNDON’S O GAUGE LAYOUT Late one evening in June, when movie theaters and restaurants are closing for the night, a handful of teens and adults wait for the Metro North M7 that will carry them back to the neighborhoods they call home. John Stundon, who resides in Hopatcong, N.J., knows all about the exciting sights that come alive when the sun goes down over Manhattan. He’s captured the mood on his 4 x 12-foot home layout, where this LionChief set will never quit running as long as commuters need a lift. ARNOLD CRIBARI’S O GAUGE LAYOUT The quiet scene Mel Garelick photographed on the three-rail layout built by his friend Arnold Cribari leaves them wondering if life was once this relaxed and peaceful in Yorktown Heights, N.Y., where Arnold makes his home.…

news & products

ATLAS, SCALETRAINS.COM ACQUIRE MTH TOOLING WHEN MTH PRESIDENT MIKE WOLF announced his retirement in June 2020, there was much speculation about who would acquire the tooling for his company’s product lines. This spring, Atlas Model Railroad Co. purchased a selection of tooling from MTH’s Premier line of O gauge locomotive and rolling stock as well the company’s RailKing accessory line. ScaleTrains.com bought the S gauge and HO scale tooling. According to a release from Atlas, the company acquired molds for more than 20 freight cars and 15 diesel locomotives; heavyweight, lightweight, and Amfleet passenger cars; and figures, lights, and other accessories from the RailKing line. In addition, Atlas acquired a license for the MTH Proto-Sound 3.0 sound and control electronics boards. Part of the license will also give Atlas the option to sell…