REVIEW: Lionel Gauge 2 NYC Set

This set is also pretty much "child proof" for those whose parents deem them old enough to play with this safe battery powered train. No AC cords or adapters to worry about and the battery compartments of both the engine and remote are securely fastened with Phillip's screws.

One of our well known forum members successfully widened the wheel gauge of several of these sets so they would run on standard gauge tinplate track instead of the supplied Gauge 2 plastic track.

I currently operate three gauges: Outer loop of 072 standard gauge, middle loop of G gauge, and inner loop of number 2 gauge. Dropped O gauge several years ago, save for one Bachmann Peter Witt Brooklyn trolley and a wind-up tin toy Melbourne, Australia W2 Class trolley whose wheels fit (but do not run on) O gauge track:

Tinplate Art: Always like your reviews.

The wind-up tin toy Austrialian trolley is cool.  Are they still available?  I now regret I no longer have my Marx wind-up toy trains from my pre-Lionel 027 electric trains which I received for Christmas 1951.

Thanks for the review!

Joe

Joe: just Google the tin wind-up Melbourne streetcar. I received mine from my daughter some years ago and she got her toy store employee discount.  A new one will run a few bucks, but will not be unreasonable. You might also try the bay for a good used one. Good luck! :-)

Interestingly, the Australian tourist folks consider it a souvenir!

San Francisco has at least three of these Aussie streetcars which are owned by their Market Street Railway. Back in the Spring of 2000, Kay and I had the pleasure of riding in one to the  Fisherman's Wharf from the Embarcadero.

Steve Eastman and I both have widened the wheels on these sets to run them on Standard Gauge track which works really well. Great sets!

Tinplate Art, thanks for the info.  A real clean machine indeed!

Joe

I admit I was a wimp by not attempting a standard gauge conversion with my set, but the supplied plastic track works well for me, and there is a muted "clickity clack" that is nice! Also the relative proportions of the engine and cars to the gauge 2 track seems right visually! At any rate, boys & girls, can you spell F-U-N?

Joe: Here is a photo of a Melbourne streetcar (496) in San Francisco:

Tinplate Art: Thanks for the photo of the Melbourne No. 496.  My birthplace is Dallas, TX.  There the McKinney Ave. Transit Authority operates an Aussie trolley too, No. 369.  Hard to believe Ripley that Big D has steetcars once again.  There appears to be quite a few Aussies who call the US home now.

Joe

I rode two different cars on the McKinney Ave. Line on a visit in 2003. There was no Aussie car at that time. Still have two souvenir lapel pins!

Tinplate Art: Question, is there anyplace you haven't been?  Reminds me of an old country western song, "I've been everywhere!"

Let's see now, perhaps the TECO line in Tampa, Florida?

Joe

A song by the late Hank Snow: "I've been everywhere man..." When I worked summers as a tour guide here in Nashville, I would take folks by the entrance to his home in Madison TN, the "Rainbow Ranch", and I also taught his grandson, Darren,  in middle school.

Joe: One of the McKinney Ave. Line cars I rode in 2003 was a single truck Birney.

Here is a photo of the 369 in Dallas:

Another treat on my week long stay in Dallas in 2003 was having a daily breakfast at the famed Adolphus Hotel, starting with a bowl of fresh fruit! Kay and I were actually lodged in a nice suite in the nearby Dallas Magnolia Hotel with the iconic statue of the Mobil Oil Pegasus on its roof.

If my weed grown memory serves me well, the Magnolia Building with the Flying Red Horse on it's roof, was at one time billed as the tallest building in Big D.  It is now engulfed by the modern "skyscrapers" that appear to be in competition with the famed Biblical Tower of Babel!

Item: K-Line (among other manufacturers) released a super detailed St. Louis Refrigerator Co. wood reefer assigned to the Dallas Hotel Co. which featured billboard "Adolphus" lettering on each side as well as the wording: "Special Refrigerator Service Between St. Louis and Dallas, Texas".  I assume it transported beer from the Anheiser-Busch brewery, however, perhaps a history buff can assist in confirming my guess?