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It was the summer of 2004 when retirement found me unpacking my worldly goods in my new home in the mountains of Western North Carolina.  One of the boxes I unpacked held my childhood train.  I remembered the many times my Dad and I set that train up under the Christmas tree but I had no idea what type of train it was.  Some research on the internet (train folks are incredibly helpful) revealed that I had a Marx 931, circa 1948.  That date was pretty close to the time when “Santa” put the train under the tree, I was 8 years old.

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Continue to read GUEST BLOGGER: Dr. Richard H Knee - A Journey back to Model Trains

Carmine submitted this post earlier this year.  Enjoy!

Everyone remembers that infamous Lady Lionel train set produced in 1957 that was supposed to encourage little girls to play with trains. The miniature equivalent of Ford's Edsel or New Coke, it was a marketing nuclear disaster.  Girls wanted little to do with pink locomotives and pastel box cars and stayed away in droves.  Over time the set became a train collector's windfall if he happened to have one in his possession.  It became a must have for the serious model train collector. 

Continue to read GUEST BLOGGER: Carmine Frank Piecora - New Archive Additions to the Lionel Girl's Set

Guest blogger, John of Railroad Express, sent in this post about his experience at York this spring. 

It was a bright Spring day in April 2008 as I parked my car in the lot of the holy grail of train collector heaven, the mighty train meet called “York”.

If you have been to York, this article will tell you nothing you already do not know. But for the “non-Yorkers”, this might be an interested peek into this massive event.

First the basics, York is actually York, PA, held at the fairgrounds. York is about an hour outside of Philadelphia in the Pennsylvania Dutch region of this great state.

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Continue to read GUEST BLOGGER: John of Railroad Express - My York Experience

The OGaugeWatch/TM Books & Video Lionel Nation DVD giveaway is over so if you didn’t win be sure to pick up your copy.  The following guest blogger post from Neil Blumberg is a review of the Lionel Nation DVD.

Tom McComas
was kind enough to send a review copy of their latest toy train video
to me, the first part of a new series entitled "Lionel Nation."
It’s a DVD that runs about 65 minutes including the credits (which are
worth watching) but not including some very entertaining and
informative outtakes from their other videos.  Tom McComas and
his colleagues, most recently including Joe Stachler, have played a
seminal role in reviving and nurturing the toy train hobby these last
three decades or so. In the 1970s and 1980s initially by publishing
unique and definitive collector’s guides,  and in recent years
issuing videotapes,  and now DVDs of ever growing beauty and
sophistication.

Continue to read GUEST BLOGGER: Neil Blumberg - Lionel Nation DVD Review

The following guest post was submitted by Carmine Piecora.

I guess Lionel trains have been in my consciousness since the age of four when my parents gave me a Lionel train set for Christmas in 1958.  I can’t really remember that Christmas morning too well, but I’ve had that same cherished New Haven F3 train set in my possession ever since.    

There were so many classic Lionel engines, especially the F3 diesel engine, produced in the postwar era.  The F3 was produced in many memorable road names, most notably the Santa Fe War Bonnet, is etched into the mind of anyone who holds nostalgic thoughts about the 50’s. When I picture this locomotive in my mind it conjures up memories of things like ‘57 Chevys, Elvis, black and white TV and Rock and Roll. It is yet another 1950’s icon that has become legend in the mind of baby boomers. 

Continue to read GUEST BLOGGER Carmine Piecora - My Favorite F3

AMT (American Model Toys) started in 1948 in Fort Wayne,
Indiana. Jack Ferris had a dream. Could he possibly create a company to offer
toy trains for which he felt the market was ready? Would he be able to challenge
the Big Dogs - Lionel? American Flyer? Marx? Jack felt he could make
his way into the market. What happened?

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Continue to read GUEST BLOGGER Mike Spanier: American Model Toys