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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 appeared in the February ‘08 edition of The Lion Roars, the magazine of the Lionel Collectors Club of America and was reprinted here with permission from the authors.

Viewpoint I
by Erol Gurcan

During the last two years, my reviews in TLR have concentrated on less expensive locomotives and train sets. In my view, the two major commercial O-gauge magazines often ignore this segment of the market; they choose instead to concentrate on more expensive trains, as some car magazines focus on exotic, expensive, and powerful automobiles. However, not everyone can afford a $1,000-or more O-scale locomotive and/or has a large layout equipped with O72 minimum radius curves necessary to run it.

Click on the link below to read on

Continue to read Lionel Big Boy Review By Erol Gurcan & Eliot Scher

Lionel’s Harry Potter Hogwarts Express Train Set has
been one of the most anticipated O-gauge train sets this year.  Moreover, the fact that it is on the cover of Lionel’s current catalog establishes its significance to the company’s success.  The set arrived at hobby and retail stores last month, just in
time for the holiday season.

Click on the link below to read on

Continue to read REVIEW: Lionel's Harry Potter Hogwarts Express by Erol Gurcan

Everyone knows it’s the small details that make a model train layout more interesting.  Whether your layout is 4’x 6’ or 16’ x 30’, the addition of a few simple buildings to a scene can add extra detail to bring a layout to life.  O Gauge buildings and structures aren’t cheap so a well-developed town can set you back some serious dollars.  Because of limited budgets, many have come up with ingenious methods to fabricate buildings from scratch but these techniques can be cumbersome and time consuming.  The folks at Evan Designs realized this and created a software product called Model Builder Software to simplify the construction of model buildings from scratch using card stock and printed images.  I had a chance to use this software and here are my thoughts. 

Be sure to read how to enter a chance to win a copy of Model Builder Software at the end of the review.

Click on the link below to read on

Continue to read REVIEW: Using Evan Designs' Model Builder Software

Below is a review of a couple of conventional Lionel locomotives, the Baby Trainmaster and the Junior Mikado, that first appeared in the October ‘07 issue of the LCCA magazine "The Lion Roars."  Articles like this is one of the many benefits in being a member of the LCCA.  Enjoy.  Erol

I have reviewed two new, inexpensive conventional locomotives – one diesel and one steam.

I. The Baby Trainmaster

In its 2007 Volume 1 Catalog (page 85), Lionel® introduced an all-new locomotive, the Fairbanks Morse H16-44 in New York Central décor, commonly known as the Baby Trainmaster (6-18385). The loco arrived in stores in June 2007. It is also shown in the current 2007 Volume 2 Catalog (page 95).

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Continue to read Review: Two New Conventional Lionel Locomotives by Erol Gurcan

In September of ‘06 I posted about a cool website, www.ToyTrainsOnTracks.com, featuring photos and videos of the Black Diamond Railway.  The Black Diamond Railway is the creation of Rich Battista and was featured as the cover story
of the October/November 2006 issue (Run 217) of O Gauge Railroading
magazine.  The quality of the site and the photos and videos it contained was very impressive so it was no surprise when Mr. Battista announced he was going to make a DVD featuring The Black Diamond Railway.

Back on 9/26/07, I received a tip from an OGaugeWatch reader that the
new DVD was
available for purchase.  I’ve had the opportunity to watch the DVD and here are my thoughts.

Click on the link below to read on

Continue to read REVIEW: The Black Diamond Railway DVD