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I believe O scale (as in Lionel) is still more popular, but On30 seems to be the fastest-growing segment of the hobby as a whole. Most of the low-end Lionel sets will handle a 13.5-inch radius curve (Lionel calls it O27) but all of Lionel's sets are shipping with 18-inch radius track these days...

The cold hit us in St. Louis too. I should have started putting the plastic film on my windows while the Indian summer was raging, but I didn't, so now I'm doing about 2 windows a night. I've got four down, which leaves two important ones for tonight. Fortunately I have a couple of modern...

I've bought a ton of stuff off Ebay, and I've sold a few things too. There's been plenty of good advice here. I always watch the shipping/handling charges. If they're not posted, ask. You're not supposed to be able to charge $20 s/h for something that should cost a few bucks to mail (and an...

If it's 3-rail, it's prewar American Flyer O gauge. Flyer never made 3-rail S gauge. The best source for prewar O gauge parts is Model Engineering Works. You can find them at http://geocities.com/modelengineeringworks/ but you may have to call them to ask what parts they have would fit.

Gil, Matchbox made some 1:43s. Their 1:43 Models of Yesteryear are a bit harder to find now. I don't think they're making them anymore. The K-B Toys at the mall near me had a bunch of them on closeout, up to about two years ago, but they closed. I started buying a car a week, but I only got...

When I get done rebuilding my layout (mostly vintage Lionel and Marx O27), the buildings will be almost entirely paper. They won't be scale models though; I'm going for a vintage toy look. I've also been known to put the occasional paper automobile on the layout too, and I have two boxcars that...

It was dry here in St. Louis. You must have gotten the weather we had this weekend. Now it's just cold.

Generally speaking, yes. You can run into issues if you try to run a set on a smaller diameter circle of track than what it came with, but since most starter set trains are designed to handle small diameters, the problem is rare.

I somehow missed this thread too. That's an amazing model. Thank you for sharing it!

I like whimsical cardstock vehicles when I make a tinplate layout that features early O gauge trains. But don't discount it for realistic vehicles. Cardstock will surprise you, but detailed models in smaller scales (and yes, HO is my idea of a small scale) might be tedious. You can do an awful...

Harold, that's a brilliant solution to the problem, and should adapt reasonably easily to other scales (at least the larger scales). Great read! Thanks for sharing.

I wouldn't fret about selling your old gun at a garage sale. If you need one to turn into a hot wire cutter, it's easy enough to get one the same way you sold yours. Scan the classifieds in a Friday or Saturday paper, find a garage/yard/moving sale or two that advertise tools, and chances are...

I use XTrkCad and I've been pretty happy with it. Since I'm in 3-rail O and use sectional track I had to manually enter all of my track sections in it, but after that, within an hour I was making track plans.

Very impressive model. Now I want one. (And more importantly, the ability to make one...)

Hi Rob, Most track pieces either snap together or clip together. There are lots of different kinds of track (even within the same scale) so it can vary a bit. Since most sets are aimed at beginners, an awful lot of them come with track that snaps together these days, which is nice because it...

Bob, that is one cool project. I had no idea how big the ark really was. Are you going to post a picture of it next to a Big Boy when it's finished? I think I'm going to forego building an ark in O scale--it would be 9' 4.5" long, according to my calculations. It wouldn't FIT on my layout. :)...

That was 2 1/8 inches. It was anything but standard--no one else was using it--but by calling it that, it basically became a self-fulfilling prophecy. Then they trademarked the name to keep anyone else from using it. Nice of them, wasn't it?

Another possible factor... Here in St. Louis a group of preservationists restored Frisco 1522 to operation. It hasn't run since early 2002 and if it's counted among those 161, it probably shouldn't be. The insurance on it in the post-9/11 world is too high to keep it running, so it sits in a...

No problem, Dennis. By "old," I presume you mean the stuff from the late 1930s, as opposed to postwar? The late prewar American Flyer like you posted is somewhat affordable--at least the cars are. Some of the locomotives are pricey because problems in the die-casting process caused some parts to...

Hi Dennis, Welcome! You're exactly in the spot I was in a couple of years ago. Some advice: See if you can track down a copy of O'Brien's Collecting Toy Trains Identification and Value Guide, fifth edition. While it's a bit dated, it'll give you an idea what something is worth, and it...