GUEST BLOGGER: Neil Blumberg - Lionel Nation DVD Review

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.

GUEST BLOGGER Carmine Piecora - My Favorite F3

The following guest post was submitted by Carmine Piecora.

I guess Lionel trains have been in my consciousness since the age of four when my parents gave me a Lionel train set for Christmas in 1958.  I can't really remember that Christmas morning too well, but I've had that same cherished New Haven F3 train set in my possession ever since.    

There were so many classic Lionel engines, especially the F3 diesel engine, produced in the postwar era.  The F3 was produced in many memorable road names, most notably the Santa Fe War Bonnet, is etched into the mind of anyone who holds nostalgic thoughts about the 50's. When I picture this locomotive in my mind it conjures up memories of things like '57 Chevys, Elvis, black and white TV and Rock and Roll. It is yet another 1950's icon that has become legend in the mind of baby boomers. 

GUEST BLOGGER Mike Spanier: American Model Toys

AMT (American Model Toys) started in 1948 in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Jack Ferris had a dream. Could he possibly create a company to offer toy trains for which he felt the market was ready? Would he be able to challenge the Big Dogs - Lionel? American Flyer? Marx? Jack felt he could make his way into the market. What happened?

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GUEST BLOGGER John Ryan - New Products From Sunset Models - 3rd Rail Division

Sunset Models - 3rd Rail Division has announced two new products that are both new interpretations of "old standards" in O Gauge.

Pennsylvania Railroad GG-1 4800 "Old Rivets"
Brass / $799.00

Of the dozens of different GG-1 models offered in brass, plastic, and dice-cast, this is the first model of the original GG-1 prototype. The model is offered in four paint schemes, including the original Pennsylvania Railroad 5-Stripe scheme, Conrail blue, Bicentennial Celebration, and the "today" paint scheme that reproduces the look of the locomotive as it is preserved in the State Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania. Production is limited to 25 copies per paint scheme.

New York Central 1938 20th Century Limited
Streamlined Dreyfuss Hudson / $1199.95
12 Scale 85' Passenger Cars / $1799.85

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The Boy's Toys by Bob Ciminel

Guest Blogger Bob Ciminel sent in the following story:

I received my first Lionel model train in 1954, the year my sister was born. The day Mom arrived home from the hospital, I came home from school to find a new baby sister, two diesel engines, several freight cars, and a caboose. I immediately suspected that something was up.

It was unfortunate that I received the train the same day I met my sister for the first time. It forced me to make a decision, a choice that no seven-year-old should have to make.  Should I go see my new sister or my new train? The choice was simple; I played with the train.

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GUEST BLOGGER: John Seaman - Building A Custom Girder Bridge

Guest blogger and OGaugeWatch reader John Seaman submitted this article about making a scratch built girder bridge.   

For those that buy the Atlas O Double Track Pratt Truss Bridge Kit but don’t use the Atlas decking/track that comes with it like me, you can use the deck/track from the kit to create a custom girder bridge.  I built a 24” girder bridge.  Here’s how:

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GUEST BLOGGER: Rollie Soderholm's Christmas Layout

To kick off OGaugeWatch's Guest Blogger series, below is a story submitted by Rollie Soderholm.  Rollie's story is about his permanent Christmas layout that all started with the purchase of Lionel's Polar Express set ran under his family's Christmas Tree last year. Like many of us, Rollie had a hard time putting the trains away after Christmas and a layout in his garage was born.   

This past Christmas I purchased Lionel's Polar Express train but after Christmas when it came time to dismantle it and put it in the attic I couldn’t do it. I didn’t want the heat to distort it so I decided to build a year round Christmas layout in my garage. After all, it’s heated and air conditioned so year round use is no problem.

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