The “Audio Engineer” shown on page 23 of the July 2001 Classic Toy Trains seemed familiar to me, so I did a little review of some of my references. I found this accessory listed for sale in the 1956 Montgomery Wards Christmas Book (Catalog)on page 206. The ad describes the accessory as follows:
[New precision-built instrument. Controls trains by spoken command “Go”, “Stop”, “Back-up”. Red and green signal lights flash commands. Operates from train transformer. Plastic control box 5 x 7 in. with circuit breaker, power leads, bulbs, matching microphone. Instructions included.]
The “Audio Engineer” was listed for a price of $4.95. There was no reference to this accessory in any of the earlier or later Wards catalogs. 1956 appears to be the only year it was available through Montgomery Wards.
Tim Pignatari