My All Postwar Lionel Layout “Updated 4/7/24”

Eli,

Thanks for the Service Yard pics.

What the heck made those otherwise nice 2023 cabs bend like that?

Really nice layout.  Many of us can relate to your creation.  Really captures the essence of my first layout and of days gone by.

You too can have Bulletproof Lionel O22 Switches... 

Do You want your Lionel O22’s to Switch w/ Precision Accuracy each & every single time you flick the toggle? I know I do...

Start by taking them apart & thoroughly clean all the parts & body w/ your choice of cleaning agent (these were done w/ mineral spirits).
Scrub your contact points w/ a scotchbrite pad & rinse clean.
If you’re in a hurry, you can use an air compressor to air blow dry until all wetness is gone from every surface.
Very sparingly oil pivot & sliding points.
Use a toothpick to apply a very tiny dab of white lithium grease to the inner edge of gear teeth.
Apply a tiny drop of oil on the underside of the frog pivot, above & below the plate.
Following these simple steps will help your switches to work w/ the precision they’re meant to, for many years to come.

Lionelski posted:

Eli,

Thanks for the Service Yard pics.

What the heck made those otherwise nice 2023 cabs bend like that?

Not sure John. Maybe heat, bad plastic mold. I’ve seen lots of others of this same # cab in this condition. I couldn’t tell you the exact reason as to why they’re like that. 
Glad ya like the pics, Sir! 

~Eli 

Today’s Project:

Progression of the Plexiglas Switch Module for my Elevated Section.
Sanded edges w/ 220 grit sandpaper.  

Trim edges of paper back about an 1” & cut w/ a razor blade.

Polished edges w/ plexiglas glue. This is a quick method I’ve found. 

One step closer... It’s just about ready to install. It’s sure looking good!

Here’s a small update on The Working Railroad of Flint Rock Valley. 
Finally got the Launch Pads lit up w/ this old Marx fixture. Also got the center reverse loop & numerous other block powered track sections wired w/ the dual illuminated On/Off rocker switches. 

@Flint Rock Valley Hey, Eli.  Hhave you had any time working on the layout?  It's been a while, I always enjoyed your thorough posts and videos cleaning up your postwar items.

Howdy Train Folk!
It’s Eli & I’m still alive over here at FRV... Took some time off from the train room, but been trying to get back in there & keep up the progress. Some months back have connected w/ a gentleman that I’m getting all sorts of wonderful things from. This is one of the larger items I’ve been sent thus far. It’s a Prewar Lionel 840 Power Station. While the main body is in great shape for its age, the base & steps are modern repros, which makes zero difference to me. I had a line on the only other one of these I’ve seen since I’ve been collecting, but at that time couldn’t afford to grab it along w/ all the other numerous items I’d purchased from said seller. Found this one, & it is now the largest accessory I own to date. It along w/ a plethora of other accessories will have to sit on the shelf only to be admired at this time. I have the capacity to more than double the size of my layout, but that’ll have to wait till I can get around to remodeling my space.
I’ve got some great things I’ve picked up already, & pages of a list of things that will be coming soon. What’s in the mail right now is boxcars, which I’ll share a few select ones w/ y’all upon their arrival.
Till then, hope Y’all are ALL Fabulous & Happy Railroading from FRV!

~Eli

Got a new camera car for the rails of FRV.

Hope ALL Y’all enjoy the view!

Wanted to share a few things that followed me home yesterday from my local Hobby Shop…

Have a great weekend Y’all!

That's an impressive haul. Must be very fortunate to have a local hobby shop that well stocked.

I admire the fact that you’re contributing to small, local business. Well, that’s at least one of my fall back stories 😂. That Blue Comet is great looking!

What a great haul. The owner must have rolled out the red carpet for you....

That is an impressive and now the owner is probably planning a vacation that hadn’t been anticipated.

But WAIT- there’s More… that’s not all I have for Show n’ Tell today from FRV.
Met a local man off fb earlier & he had these couple beauties.
The Lionel 6-51000 Hiawatha Passenger Set new in box. The gentleman said he only ran it once.
He also had this Lionel 6-18302 GN EP-5 NIB never ran.
While these aren’t my standard postwar purchases, I’m happy to have them here in my collection.

I would not have hesitated to pull the trigger on that purchase either. You could market the Hiawatha to your passengers as a special excursion train.

Howdy All Y’all Fine Train Folk!
Here’s a couple short runs from yesterday.
The first one is featuring the un-run Lionel NIB 6-18302 Great Northern EP-5 (Engine No 8302). I took the shell off to lube the commutator, greased the gears, & oiled the axles. This thing sure is quiet, & that horn is great sounding. I’m proud to add this my collection.    
The second one features Lionel’s 746 which I got rail ready yesterday afternoon. I am super pleased w/ it! Didn’t even touch the tender, only oiled the axles. It sounds wonderful! There’s also last night’s GG1 passenger service w/ the ‘49 black 2332 & the new to me 2360.

Hope ALL Y’all Railroaders out yonder enjoy the view & have a great day!

~Eli

ps: Cartman n’ Kenny will always have a permanent home somewhere on the layout, as they were gifts from my dear best friend Frank who passed many years ago.

Beautuful find !!!

The Hiawatha set will be a "must have" in the future ... itll look so sharp running with my Illinois Central passenger set ...

https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/...8#162475945160112368

Thanks Dave! I’ve got an IC Passenger Set on its way, at some point. There’s five total Lionel cars from ‘91, but seems to be missing the observation car. I’d like to find one of those, as well as the matched diner car for this set. The twin Alcos coming w/ it are K-Line.

It’s ALL about the Lighting…

Continued Progress!
Today at FRV I’ve installed three 353 Signals hard wired to each corresponding O22 switch along the outer loop sidings. They’re each operated via toggle as said switch is thrown. I also installed a bus bar below for the dial power which operates the lumber loader light fixtures & the new to me 195 Floodlights. I have several more of these to wire up when I find their permanent place on the layout.
Next thing on the agenda is to strip apart the new Southern F3’s & prepare them for their new home here @ Flint Rock Valley.

Y’all have a great day!

Awesome layout and recent acquisitions, FRV, particularly that 45 US Marines engine.  Did your shop have any of the remaining cars from the set, like the submarine, rocket/ helicopter launchers, and caboose?  If so, better go back because Momma needs her babies, LOL!  

@Strap Hanger,

Here’s a clip I found early on in this thread. Please let me know if the link worked. While I don’t have ALL the space & military items, I do have quite a few. I have a 44 that’s in way better shape than the 45. It has its dashboard & man intact. Along w/ the 45 I picked up a (now third) 6650, dirty but in great shape w/ the rocket. My all time fav is the 6820 Missile Transport Helicopter Car, just wish those missiles would actually fire, lol! Another of my favs is the 6651, which I’ve only one shell. I’ll try to get these cars & engines rail ready & share some action w/ y’all soon.
Thanks so much for the compliments!

https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/...80#71256347392249780

Hey, I think it is cool…Good work

Got a few things in the mail today, I’ll let the pics do the talking…
I’d like Each of Y’all to know that I am proud to be here & share my train world w/ You!
If y’all enjoy seeing the things I share & post, drop in say Hi & let me know. Tell me what’s going on in your train world, & perhaps share a link (here, or by email) so I can check it out.

Here’s round 2 of today’s mail delivery.
I was told to slow my train down & got a Red Signal. I seem to have gotten a few of those recently. Is that bad? lol

This is the 3rd & last installment of todays mail delivery. All of todays items are from the same seller I got the 840 Power Station from. There’ll be plenty more to share from this person as it arrives.

Hope Y’all enjoy the pictures,

~ Eli

WOW! What a great haul Eli. And there's more coming????

Bob

@Flint Rock Valley posted:

@Flint Rock Valley posted:

American Flyer S on Lionel trucks...  Isn't that like, sacrilege or something???

Rusty

@RSJB18, Thank You very much! Yes Sir, lots more. This particular shipment was just from the boxcar list & a few other items they had packed in the same bin/s, & only one of numerous engines on their way.

@Rusty Traque: not my conversion, so I’ll go w/ the “something”.
All vintage (& a few select modern) train items are welcome here @ FRV, however they are.

Red White n’ Blue & a little Yellow to brighten Your Day…

Happy 4th of July to Everyone!!!

Another Repair Series brought to you by FRV.

Hope Y’all enjoy…

From The Beautiful Central Texas Hill Country,

~Eli

Different views of my All Postwar Lionel Layout. It’s 8’ foot 3” inches long from front to back & 10’ foot 6” inches wide from left to right.
The original 8’x8’ is fully functional. Still waiting to continue work on the 30” right side… as always, there’s plenty to do!

A couple new Locomotives came rolling into the yard this afternoon. First to arrive was the 783 New York Central, followed up by the 5100 Rock Island. With more to roll in soon guess it’s time to put an add out for more Engineers here at The Working Railroad of Flint Rock Valley.

While I strive to mainly collect & run Postwar Lionel, I just couldn’t pass on these new modern era locos. Some are new in the box, while others are LN w/ little to no run time. Glad to have them here.

That Rock Island's came with motors with and without an oil wick. 

@HSD68, Thanks for passing along that (perhaps important) info. I’d guess I have to take the shell off to determine which issue this is.

You should see it right in the back of the cab on the brush plate.  I seem to remember when those engines came in about 1 out of 3 had a wiper.

Just got done moving my glass display off my work station. It was a mess, w/ random stuff everywhere. Now I’ll have lots of room to get more work done. It just happened to fit up there without reconfiguring the shelf unit. I’ve placed a few select things in here, thought I’d share for your viewing pleasure…

From Eli here @ FRV ~ I hope Y’all enjoy! 

Great collection.The kid in me really likes the western town!

After rearranging/ cleaning & getting that glass display off my desk, here’s what my work station looks like now. Also added some new light fixtures above, which make it super bright in here, & wired the light for the 840.
(still need to make some drawers for tools & parts n’ stuff underneath. And eventually some free standing bookcases above.)

Cheers from FRV!

Today’s Mail Delivery:

The T&T X596 Maintenance of Way Fire Fighting Car, & the T&T X597 Fire Control Car w/ 14,000 Gallon water capacity. The tank car is missing its rear truck assembly, but may be found by my friend in his hundreds of boxes. If not I’ll swap them out at some point. The brass pipe on the hose car is removable for transport, & the hose w/ brass fitting on the front of the water tank plugs into the back of the pump. The fire hose actually unreels, just how far out I’ve yet to try.
I’m not positive, but these finely detailed custom cars may be one of a kind. Glad to add these beauties to the collection. And with all the Firepower here @ FRV staying Safe is a Top Priority!