Good timing! The other day I was going through some old magazines from a client and came across the December 1959 issue of Popular Science. There on the front cover was an artistic rendering of a 2329 Virginian E33, highlighting the special insert on maintaining/repairing your electric trains....Popular Science Reference Library No. 15.
Yep, this was something for 'everyman'....only rudimentary skills/tools required to keep 'em running. In fact, there's no mention of circuit boards, speakers, whistle smoke, Wifi, IPod, etc.. The 'boy mechanic' was the geek du jour in this era, indeed...
KD