Please don’t take this the wrong way guys, but please explain to me what it is that’s so attracting about Lionel ?.. I personally have tried to make myself become interested in them for the simple fact that they’re trains, but to me they lack the detail and realism of other scales and brands. If perhaps they were the only type of trains available and the only ones I’d ever known I wouldn’t know any different, but thank goodness I do…
Tracklayer
I am going to take an educated guess and say it is largely a nostalgia trip. Before HO took over the hobby, Lionel was king. There was some dual rail O scale and American Flyer which I believe was S scale. Because of the limited amount of kits available, prototype modeling was very difficult regardless of scale so many of what we now call toylike functions were popular and Lionel had a large selection of those kinds of features. One of my fondest early memories was a large Lionel set up at the Christmas party thrown for the families of my dad’s employer. It had lots of animation in addition to the trains. Because many of the boomers and older generation grew up with Lionel, it remains popular. It is also good for younger kids to start out with because the large trains are easier for young hands to handle.
I agree with JECorbet, it’s the memories. The first trains I remember were Lionel. It seemed that everybody had one but me. When I got my first train in the middle 40’s, it was a Lionel frieght, and it was without a doubt, the best Christmas gift I had ever received. I’m not sure when I even became aware of HO, but it was probably in the mid-fifties. I only have HO now, but that doesn’t mean I won’t stand around a Lionel display for as long as the wife will let me. By the way, I couldn’t help myself, I bought three Lionel sets for my great nephews and nieces last year so they could have some great memories too.
Tom
[#ditto]Ditto the previous posts - kids love toy trains - my generation (60’s) grew up with Lionel - todays kids will probably have fond memories of Thomas![8D]
Being born in 1963 I guess I missed the “Lionel boat” as so to speak. My first train was an S scale/gauge set made by Marx I got for Christmas when I was five. A few years later when I saw my first HO steam loco, that was it for the Marx set. Now I’m a blind N scaler…
Tracklayer
You could say it was the genius of the origonal Joshua Lionel Cowen, taking a crude store display into model railroading. Lionel did a lot with 30’s 40’s 50’s era engineering. In the 60’s too many kids discovered model cars & other hobbies. I’m not sure when HO grew into an easy to model scale. For N scale, while invented in the 60’s, it was the 80’s split frame technology that made diesels run as good as it looked.
Yes, there’s a lot of jokes about the Lionel 3rail track & the sharp curves. The 1952 era F3 made both Lionel & Santa Fe look great. Lionel also has a good track record with some earlier steamers. some models may not be prototype, but you can have fun owning & operating the train!
In any event, millions of kids have grown up with Lionel trains. So many dept stores used to have Lionel displays. I woudn’t be surprised to find some Lionel sets at Woolworths or Kresge dime stores during Christmas. Add in major retailers like Sears, JC Penney, Wards to mailorder items. Even giants like CocaCola & cereal co’s uses Lionel trains in their advertising.
It may be true in today’s market time has passed them by. Lionel trains are best used by families with children. Make the layout simple enough for a 3yr old to push the button & make it go. Push all the buttons you want to make the accessories work.
In my case, I grew up with a NYC F3 set. My grandparents lived in upper NY so we were NYC fans, riding trains like the Pacemaker since it had the schedule to get there in daylight.
I’d park the powered unit, then push the dummy. For hours & hours, the train was kid powered & it would do anything I wanted. 10 laps to the next town, stop to pay with the boxcar with the guy inside, then do it again. Heck I still play with trains! Some of my best models just have to sit by my computer as I type this!
Well, I had HO scale for years before I got my first Lionel. When I did get the Lionel the track was so much easier to put together in interesting plans in less space than the HO. There was no problem with reversing sections and short circuits. I insulated the two outside rails on certain sections and instantly had automatic signalling and turnout control. And it had a whistle that I could control. It was just a whole lot easier and a whole lot more fun. I actually had time to run the train instead of planing how to make the strange curves of the HO fit, wire it, get it running smoothly. Let alone doing the detection stuff to get signals and automatic turnouts working. Usually by then it was time to put them away. With the Lionel I could actually design a layout, set it up, and spend a lot of time running it in the same day.
All of the above Plus++++++++++++++++
“The Imagination Factor”
Step into the time machine with me and go back to 1950
A time when you as a kid laid on the floor and listened to Adventures of “The Shadow”
on the Radio
And at the most magical time of the year Christmas you laid on the floor and if you squinted your
eyes just enough the on coming headlight got fuzzy then the whole world became a wonderous place
And you went to bed dreaming of a New NYC ABA set under the tree that you just knew Santa
would bring.
Dreams and Hopes make the world a better place !
Funny you mention this. To be honest I never really got off on Lionel. My brother on the other hand who is a few years older than me loves them. Personally, they are too big for me. Especially the accessories. Also, EVERYTHING looks like it’s a toy. There isn’t anything PROTO what so ever about Lionel that I can see. More importantly, every Lionel setup typically seems to be nothing more than the engine chasing its tail while going in a cirlce.
I’m not knocking anyone who enjoys them, I just don’t care for them.
Welcome to the forum ALCOholic, and might I say it’s a real honor to have you make your very first reply on my thread…
Tracklayer
I was born in '55. I had a Lionel set when I was young. I discovered HO scale model railroading as a teenager, and had that and HOn3 for awhile. After getting married and having kids, I found HO less practical. My Father-in-law brought over an old '48 Lionel set, very similar to the one I had. I had to clean it up and buy new track, but once I ran it, I was hooked. Partly it was memories, and part was the size, heft, and ruggedness… it was great with young kids! I did dabble again with an HO shelf layout, but it seemed too small and delicate. I tried 2-rail O scale after that with hand-laid rail (not that hard to do in O… and the dark stained ties and handlaid rail was gorgeous!!)… that was better… but I found myself going back to Lionel. I got rid of all the HO, and only kept an O scale boxcar with a section of handlaid track as a display momento.
I like both the Pre- and Post-war Lionel trains, but I also like the new stuff… especially the digital sound. It doesn’t need as much layout space as scale O, which I really don’t have space for. I like all trains, even European and LGB, so I’m not very concerned about style or scale fidelity anymore. I still buy Trains and Classic Trains magazines, I am interested in the prototype world. Don’t why I’m stuck on Lionel, but I do like old radios and other antiques as well. Maybe that’s part of the attraction as well.
PS. I used to make fun of Lionel and toy trains back when I was a scale modeler! Now that I don’t take my hobbies too seriously (it’s only for fun for me), I love toy trains! Long live Lionel!!
I will admit…the new Lionel stuff doesn’t really thrill me. BUT, I do have a soft spot for the classic post war Lionel stuff. I grew up (as did my father) with a 1955 - IC F3 set, with the helicopter car, under the tree. Of course now the helicopter was lost to a christmas tree long ago.
My grandfather, passed the set to my father. And recently, my father passed the set to me.
Nick
I’ve got my dad’s post-war Lionels. I was eying the 027 layout in a Kalmbach book I picked up about a year ago and thinking I just might build it - when I catch up on my HO layout (read: probably will never get to it). I put lots of hours on those trains when I was a kid. I got a kick out of cleaning them up and running them when he gave them to me last year.
Jim
I have no interest in Lionel in my modeling today.
…But it got me started 40 years ago. Track laid out all over the house, and then later, a loop and a spur on a 4x8 laid on Dad’s pool table. I ran his Hudson, and together we bought a bright orange DT&I SW-something-or-other to pull his lighted Lionel Lines streamlined passenger cars and some new freight cars.
I remember having lots of the Plasticville structures and people, too.
There were even some stand-up backgrounds that had 3-D buildings printed on them (think of a pop-up book, but standing on edge). Anyone know what I mean?
Smoke pills…loved them. And the burning smell that Lionel trackcar with the auto-reversing bumpers made was really something.
Dad got me into N-scale, which had yet to be perfected. We also tried Tyco HO…luckily, a friend had Athearn rubber-band-driven locomotives and I learned better!
For the sheer fun of running trains, though, I’ll never forget those days of running 3-rail toys.
The size, simplicity, and ease of operation attracts people as well as the nostalgia trip I’m sure. The aroma of hot grease, ozone, and smoke can do you in too.
Lionel got me started in the hobby.
I received a Lionel set for christmas when I was very young. That Lionel set lead to asking for a N scale set for my 12th birthday. I’ve been hooked on n ever since.
I owe Loinel a big thank you for getting me into the hobby at an early age.
I am sorry, before I read this thread I thought Lionel was a place! [
] I guess I am only mid 30’s and wasn’t into trains that long ago…but we did have a set when I was about 10 or so…but that’ about it…
Once again a new member has honored my thread with their very first reply…
Welcome aboard the forum Redbeard - especially since you’re a fellow N scaler.
Tracklayer
Sure, they look like toys. But I’d have to admit that my HO trains are toys, much as I try to make them look as non-toy-like as possible. With Lionels, you know you’ve got a toy, and it’s one of the best toys ever made.
I grew up with them, and I smile every time I see a set. They are much, much nicer than the G-scale display toys you see in store windows now. (No, I’m not referring to G-scale models, just the ones that only come out for holiday decorations.) When I go to a train show, I enjoy watching the O-gauge trains racing around the layouts. (Why do they run them so fast?)
I wish I still had my old Lionels, but I sold them all to finance my HO layout when I became a teenager.