Train99

This is an interesting toy train layout. I have no idea who the owner was. Based on the trains in the pictures the trains were between 1916 and 1918. There are three pictures of the layout set up one way and one picture of the layout in another configuration.

What Makes This Layout Interesting?

This layout shows two Lionel 820 Boxcars. Both are dark green cars with Santa Fe lettering. These cars are extremely rare – very few dark green boxcars survive today. Maybe a dozen, probably less.

Here is some young man with two of them. He also has two Lionel 700 series locos. The engine in the top photo is probably a Lionel 706 from 1916. (When enlarged the loco seems to have a reverse handle on it. Added 2020 – when I wrote this article I didn’t have the earliest version of the 154. The 154 from 1917 is much commoner than the 706, and would look the same in these poor pictures. )

In the picture below you can see both of the dark green boxcars and a 706/154 loco. The other cars are IVES cars. Note the interesting stockyard.

In the photo below you can see a wonderful top of the line IVES 1125 steamer pulling a bunch of lithographed cars. The tunnel in the background may be an early version of the Lionel 118 tunnel, but is probably a German import.

The picture below shows the Lionel 154/706 loco in the foreground and another Lionel 700 series loco in the middle. The second Lionel 700 series loco is also a 154 or 701 or 706 because the mounting screws holding the cab to the frame are verticle. This engine is pulling two 610 pullmans and a 602 baggage car.

Below is a picture of the trains set up in a different layout.

Just looking at these old pictures, you can tell the family was well off. There is about $60 dollars worth of Lionel Trains on the layout. That’s in 1916 prices. The IVES trains and the accessories would bring the total spent by the family to put together this setup to over a hundred dollars.

Back then a hundred dollars was a lot of money. The average income for an industrial worker was less than $5.00 per day. Other workers made less.

I bet the family really enjoyed their trains.

Randy Efros has been collecting Marx trains since he was a boy in the 1950’s. His layouts are built with the idea of recreating a child’s layout from the fifties. I think he has accomplished his goal. Randy is an artist, and has painted his scenery with a child like touch. Many of the wood buildings were built from scrap wood by his father when Randy was a child. You can also see most of the Marx accessories in the pictures.

Randy has two layouts. A small 4 by 6 foot layout in his family room, and a larger bedroom layout. Here’s two pictures of the small layout:

Here’s some pictures of the bedroom layout. To me this is what train layouts are all about. Plenty of items jammed into a small space just like a child would do if he had some wealthy aunts and uncles.

Neat stuff

Here are some pictures of the bedroom layout I built in the mid 1990s. The room size is 10′ by 11′. I wanted to be able to show off my accessories in the way they were made to be shown- on a layout.

The standard gauge layout is constructed of 2X3’s and 5/16″ plywood. There is green carpeting-more like thick felt- on top. The O gauge layout is made of 1X2’s and plywood.

The Standard gauge layout runs all the way around the room with a raising bridge at the door. It will hold four trains, and run two trains at the same time. The bridge is made from a 1X12″ and is hinged to allow easy access. The hinge pins must be higher than the top of the track. Access to the closet is by ducking under the layout.

The O gauge layout was constructed to show off the 916 tunnel. One train will run around the layout and there is a short length of track for storing another train- The 253 passenger set is sitting on it.

There are better pictures are below these darker scans.

This shows the transition to the bridge. My work desk is under the shelf. The shelf is a 1X12″ and two standard gauge trains will run across it without hitting.

This shows the duck under to the closet.

These two photos show the south side of the layout. Because of space considerations the Standard gauge layout is only 40″ wide here. There’s enough room for 3 passing sidings on the inside loop. The PVC pipes support the O gauge layout, and contain the wires for the upper layout.

As you can see, it is possible to build a big layout in a small space.

Here’s one last picture of the layout:

This Picture shows the hinged bridge, and the world’s stupidest rabbit.

This layout was taken down just after these pictures were originally posted. The rabbit lived for another 8 years.

The pictures above were taken with a camera and then scanned.

Here’s photos taken just before the layout was taken down with a digital camera:

Lionel 155 Freight sheds with freight waiting for pick up.

More Freight. Notice the Lionel 812T Tool set on the platform.

Lionel Stephen Girard Passenger train at the crossing.

Rare Lionel 121 High Window station in background.

Lionel 437 Signal Tower controls the layout.

Two Lionel Standard gauge trains passing.

Jockeys out for the morning run

More Junk.