I have become hooked on Lionel Prewar Trains . The Quality and Workmanship is unmatched...This is a Magnificent display of Classic American Made Trains... Thank You for sharing.
WoW, Thi is one of the best displays of vintage Lionel I have seen. They all look to be in great shape and run well too. Thanks for sharing! Also enjoyed seeing the Marx clock work run. God Bless, walt407
Great job on that layout and packing so much into that space. It actually looks much larger than a 4x8 because of the three train action. I am getting a layout in my mind to accommodate my prewar Lionel M-10,000 and a postwar Santa Fe 2353 set. These of course have the long articulated passenger cars that need the wider radius 072 track. I will simply add a larger outer loop for that and pack the tighter radius track into the center, as you have done so brilliantly. Cheers!
Beautiful, especially the shot at the end with the lights on. I'm trying to build a little layout around the tree this year with a little 262E passenger set. My "prototype" railroad is basically "Christmas Morning living room, 1934". There's something really cool about admitting that Lionel trains are toys.
I love this set up!! I really need to find those risers for the upper track levels! My table is a green painted one like yours with prewar track. The guy I got it from on offer up said it was his grandfathers from the late 30’s into early 40’s. I even have that same wind up by Marx I wonder if I should leave it on my layout or pull it. I was trying to be Lionel specific on mine but I also have the Marx water tower that will be replaced with the Lionel one. I really want to do something just like this! I love the original 30s layouts. Simple but I love it even more.
Great video and music! I often wonder why Marx didn;t upgrade their product in earlier years. I guess Louis Marx wanted to market to the families who couldn;t afford the better trains.
That was exactly it. Marx was all about cheap trains, that were built well, and were both colorful, and entertaining, at a much more affordable price point than Lionel and American Flyer. And they did very well! Lionel may have been higher quality, but for the price of the cheapest Lionel set, you could buy a top-of-the-line Marx set. Particularly in the postwar era, this wasn’t a bad idea. The lionel “scout” sets were hardly anything. The locomotive could scarcely pull anything more than what was included in the set. The cars were cheaply constructed. The locomotive was the only thing of decent quality, and yet it lacked the pulling power for much of anything that Lionel had to offer. For about the same cost, you could get the best Marx set in the catalouge, with a big diecast steam locomotive and passener cars, or a mighty twin diesel freight, and of course, track and transformer. Accesories were cheaply made of plastic, or metal, but they were hardly that costly compared to what Lionel and Flyer were offering. So, either buy a higher quality system, but with a low quality train, and just the basics, or a low quality train, that will be just as reliable, and get a complete set with all the whistles and bells. Marx trains may not have competed with lionel in terms of how rugged and fancy they were, but Marx trains gave you more “stuff” per buck! And all you missed out on were a couple cool features, and bragging rights.
I have become hooked on Lionel Prewar Trains . The Quality and Workmanship is unmatched...This is a Magnificent display of Classic American Made Trains... Thank You for sharing.
Thanks!
It's just so neat and CLEAN. Hard to believe some of the stuff is 80+ years old. An absolute pleasure to watch.
WoW, Thi is one of the best displays of vintage Lionel I have seen. They all look to be in great shape and run well too. Thanks for sharing! Also enjoyed seeing the Marx clock work run. God Bless, walt407
Prewar Lionel has a certain character and charm to it that is practically untouchable.
Great job on that layout and packing so much into that space. It actually looks much larger than a 4x8 because of the three train action. I am getting a layout in my mind to accommodate my prewar Lionel M-10,000 and a postwar Santa Fe 2353 set. These of course have the long articulated passenger cars that need the wider radius 072 track. I will simply add a larger outer loop for that and pack the tighter radius track into the center, as you have done so brilliantly. Cheers!
Beautiful, especially the shot at the end with the lights on. I'm trying to build a little layout around the tree this year with a little 262E passenger set. My "prototype" railroad is basically "Christmas Morning living room, 1934". There's something really cool about admitting that Lionel trains are toys.
Love the cloth wire!
As a kid I remember trying to strip the insulation off of cloth wire. Wasn't that fun.....LOL
what a great prewar layout, this is why I love my Lionel trains...
I love this set up!! I really need to find those risers for the upper track levels! My table is a green painted one like yours with prewar track. The guy I got it from on offer up said it was his grandfathers from the late 30’s into early 40’s. I even have that same wind up by Marx I wonder if I should leave it on my layout or pull it. I was trying to be Lionel specific on mine but I also have the Marx water tower that will be replaced with the Lionel one. I really want to do something just like this! I love the original 30s layouts. Simple but I love it even more.
Thanks! The risers are Lionel #2111 Elevated Trestle Set.
Very nice layout. Thanx for posting!
Great video and music! I often wonder why Marx didn;t upgrade their product in earlier years. I guess Louis Marx wanted to market to the families who couldn;t afford the better trains.
That was exactly it. Marx was all about cheap trains, that were built well, and were both colorful, and entertaining, at a much more affordable price point than Lionel and American Flyer. And they did very well! Lionel may have been higher quality, but for the price of the cheapest Lionel set, you could buy a top-of-the-line Marx set. Particularly in the postwar era, this wasn’t a bad idea. The lionel “scout” sets were hardly anything. The locomotive could scarcely pull anything more than what was included in the set. The cars were cheaply constructed. The locomotive was the only thing of decent quality, and yet it lacked the pulling power for much of anything that Lionel had to offer. For about the same cost, you could get the best Marx set in the catalouge, with a big diecast steam locomotive and passener cars, or a mighty twin diesel freight, and of course, track and transformer. Accesories were cheaply made of plastic, or metal, but they were hardly that costly compared to what Lionel and Flyer were offering. So, either buy a higher quality system, but with a low quality train, and just the basics, or a low quality train, that will be just as reliable, and get a complete set with all the whistles and bells. Marx trains may not have competed with lionel in terms of how rugged and fancy they were, but Marx trains gave you more “stuff” per buck! And all you missed out on were a couple cool features, and bragging rights.
Sweet !!
I'm getting an MTH remake of the green passenger train for christmas :D
well, except the one I'm getting has lionel colors, but still, I'm excited!
Beautiful!!! Would you be opened to lending some guidance on a rough copy of the layout?