Skip to main content

Replies sorted oldest to newest

@MartyE posted:

I am getting ready toss a crap ton of catalogs.  I really wish Lionel would put as many of them they have as pdfs on the site.

They used to have them on their website, but some years ago they cleaned most of the pre-2010 stuff off their website (don't understand why, but then against it's Lionel) - unlike MTH which still has catalogs all the way back to 1993.

@ed h posted:

If anyone saved the direct download links for the 2011-2013 catalogs, they may work, for example I found in my old notes the link for 2011 Signature:

catalogs.lionel.com/11signature/offline/download.pdf

copy and paste the link into a browser and it should download

Catalogs starting with 2011 are still on their website.

However, in 2013 I downloaded some of their 2009 catalogs. In 2010 I downloaded their 2010 catalogs.

I suspect they have some type of "rolling" deletion date so catalogs older than - maybe 10 years  - are automatically removed. That's a shame. They should keep ALL of them online.

@paulp575 posted:

Catalogs starting with 2011 are still on their website.

However, in 2013 I downloaded some of their 2009 catalogs. In 2010 I downloaded their 2010 catalogs.

I suspect they have some type of "rolling" deletion date so catalogs older than - maybe 10 years  - are automatically removed. That's a shame. They should keep ALL of them online.

Looks like can still get back to 2009 catalogs, digging thru some more of my notes I found a 2009 link:

catalogs.lionel.com/2009signature/offline/download.pdf

Seems like Lionel should update their website with the direct download links for these older catalogs. Then again since they re-did the website a few years ago its obvious they choose splashy graphics over functionality and content.

Last edited by ed h
@ed h posted:

Looks like can still get back to 2009 catalogs, digging thru some more of my notes I found a 2009 link:

catalogs.lionel.com/2009signature/offline/download.pdf

Seems like Lionel should update their website with the direct download links for these older catalogs. Then again since they re-did the website a few years ago its obvious they choose splashy graphics over functionality and content.

Looking at all the Lionel catalogs I have downloaded - these are the earliest I have downloaded:

K-Line by Lionel 2009 Volume 1 Catalog

Lionel 2009 Ready-to-Run Catalog

Lionel 2009 Signature Edition Catalog

Lionel 2009 Volume II Catalog – includes Christmas Catalog

Lionel 2009 Christmas Catalog – included with Lionel 2009 Volume II Catalog

Wonder if there is a way to download the earlier (pre-2009) with a direct link since it looks like they used a different naming system pre-2009:

K-Line by Lionel 2008 Volume 1 Catalog

Lionel 2008 Volume 1 Signature Edition Catalog

Lionel 2008 Christmas Catalog

K-Line by Lionel 2008 Volume 2 Catalog

Lionel 2008 Train Catalog Volume 2

paulp575 - I don't believe its possible to download the pre 2009 catalogs, or at least in pdf format. They were not online as pdfs, they mostly consist of html pages and the pages don't look 100 percent the same as the catalogs.  The links still exist, but unfortunately not in any easy downloadable file.

@ed h posted:

paulp575 - I don't believe its possible to download the pre 2009 catalogs, or at least in pdf format. They were not online as pdfs, they mostly consist of html pages and the pages don't look 100 percent the same as the catalogs.  The links still exist, but unfortunately not in any easy downloadable file.

You are correct. I remember trying to download the catalog pages for items I have purchased. It was a nightmare.

I do have physical copies most of the Lionel catalogs issued since 1974 (definitely the more recent ones - since I started my current collection in 2009), but once in a while I come across a catalog/flier that I did not know existed.

@paulp575 posted:

They used to have them on their website, but some years ago they cleaned most of the pre-2010 stuff off their website (don't understand why......

Yeah, it was really a bummer when that happened. As I recall, you could access their catalogs back to 2000. Don't know why Lionel did that, either, but I really wish they hadn't. I used those old catalogs all the time. It was a great resource to track older engines and cars.

Last edited by breezinup
@paulp575 posted:

That's not being nice.

They need to learn to treat their customers better!

@paigetrain posted:

not 2011 - 2013 it says to download adobe flash player which doesn't exist anymore

Yes the 2011-2013 ones are in Flash.  But newer ones are in html, the new standard.

Flash was a huge security hole and adobe and Microsoft finally pulled the plug in 2020.

So unless something made in Flash is remade in html, it won't work again.  If there were PDF's available, use them.  Otherwise there is always the old paper copies!  Old school, haha

Start with this, for the oldest ones 2000 to 2008 (these are web only versions; there were apparently no PDF's at this time):

https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/...0#155293810638721640

Actually the above link will take you to a thread that helps with Weaver catalogs as well.

As was implied above the newest ones are in PDF form.  There are specific URL's for these.  If no one else posts them I may do so later this morning.

Mike

Last edited by Mellow Hudson Mike

Yes the 2011-2013 ones are in Flash.  But newer ones are in html, the new standard.

Flash was a huge security hole and adobe and Microsoft finally pulled the plug in 2020.

So unless something made in Flash is remade in html, it won't work again.  If there were PDF's available, use them.  Otherwise there is always the old paper copies!  Old school, haha

@Sean's Train Depot - Supposedly all current browsers have some variation of Flash included within the browser.

I found this website that has a link to download their version of Flash. I haven't downloaded it so don't know if it will work or not. I think it is a separate program rather than a browser add-on or plug-in:

https://bluemaxima.org/flashpoint/

Here are the direct links (no Adobe Flash) to the major, twice-a-year Lionel catalogs, in PDF form, from 2009 - present:

2009

  Signature

    http://catalogs.lionel.com/200...offline/download.pdf

  Volume 2

    http://catalogs.lionel.com/200...offline/download.pdf

2010

  Signature

    http://catalogs.lionel.com/201...offline/download.pdf

  Volume 2

    http://catalogs.lionel.com/201...offline/download.pdf

2011

  Signature

    http://catalogs.lionel.com/11s...offline/download.pdf

  Volume 2

    http://catalogs.lionel.com/11v...offline/download.pdf

2012

  Signature

    http://catalogs.lionel.com/12s...offline/download.pdf

  Volume 2

    http://catalogs.lionel.com/12v...offline/download.pdf

2013

  Signature

    http://catalogs.lionel.com/13s...offline/download.pdf

  Volume 2

    http://catalogs.lionel.com/13f...offline/download.pdf

2014

  Signature

    http://catalogs.lionel.com/14s...offline/download.pdf

  Volume 2

    http://catalogs.lionel.com/14v...offline/download.pdf

2015

  Signature

    http://catalogs.lionel.com/15s...offline/download.pdf

  Volume 2

    http://catalogs.lionel.com/15c2/offline/download.pdf

2016

  Signature

    http://catalogs.lionel.com/16c1/offline/download.pdf

  Volume 2

    http://catalogs.lionel.com/16c2/offline/download.pdf

2017

  Signature

    http://catalogs.lionel.com/17c1/offline/download.pdf

  Volume 2

    http://catalogs.lionel.com/17c2/offline/download.pdf

2018

  Big Book

    http://catalogs.lionel.com/18bb/offline/download.pdf

  Volume 2

    http://catalogs.lionel.com/18c2/offline/download.pdf

2019

  Big Book

    http://catalogs.lionel.com/19bb/offline/download.pdf

  Volume 2

    http://catalogs.lionel.com/19c2/offline/download.pdf

2020

  Big Book

    http://catalogs.lionel.com/202...offline/download.pdf

  Volume 2

    http://catalogs.lionel.com/202...offline/download.pdf

2021

  Big Book

    http://catalogs.lionel.com/202...offline/download.pdf



M.H.M.

   

They look good Paul.  As happens occasionally, but surprisingly often for some reason, two current threads on the OGR Forum are crossing in this one task.  You've obviously discovered that the catalogs currently hosted by Lionel from 2000 to 2008 are not in PDF form, and were apparently never published that way.  Instead they are "web versions", which in each case take the contents of the corresponding paper catalog and represent it as collection of web pages as opposed to paper ones.

These can still be captured in PDF form, and there are several ways to do this.  When you look at Lionel's web versions you see that they don't represent the paper original too well in format, although the product details and pictures are accurate.  In spite of this your approach represents things fairly well.  Perhaps you can tell us a little about how you did it?

Several alternative methods for capturing web content have been presented, and are being debated in this current thread:

  Downloading a complete thread

Did you use one of them?

Mike

They look good Paul.  As happens occasionally, but surprisingly often for some reason, two current threads on the OGR Forum are crossing in this one task.  You've obviously discovered that the catalogs currently hosted by Lionel from 2000 to 2008 are not in PDF form, and were apparently never published that way.  Instead they are "web versions", which in each case take the contents of the corresponding paper catalog and represent it as collection of web pages as opposed to paper ones.

These can still be captured in PDF form, and there are several ways to do this.  When you look at Lionel's web versions you see that they don't represent the paper original too well in format, although the product details and pictures are accurate.  In spite of this your approach represents things fairly well.  Perhaps you can tell us a little about how you did it?

Several alternative methods for capturing web content have been presented, and are being debated in this current thread:

  Downloading a complete thread

Did you use one of them?

Mike

@Mellow Hudson Mike - I think I remember (before Lionel removed everything pre-2010) they were HTML (web) pages.

Here's how I did the PDF:

When you open the catalog, it's in a frame (at least that's what Firefox v88.0.1 displays). So I right click on the frame and click on "This frame" which opens a menu and from that menu I select "Print this frame". I use "PDF reDirect Pro v2" to print the frame as a PDF. PDF reDirect Pro v2 is a printer driver that allows you to print anything as a PDF.

I number each resultant PDF in numerical (1, 2, 3, 4, etc). Once I have all the pages saved as PDFs, I open PDF reDirect Pro v2 and merge all the pages together.

I recognize you can't click on the links in the table of contents, but that doesn't bother me. I just want copies of the catalogs (even though I have them in print. I have a printed catalog for just about all the Lionel and MTH items I have in my collection.

Last edited by paulp575

Dilemma!!!

In another thread here on OGR (https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/...5#155434571143991155), it was mentioned of a program that will allow you to download the entire website and save it to your computer as a website - WITH clickable links!

The program is HTTrack Website Copier (you can find it here: http://www.httrack.com/). Decided to give it a try and see how it compares to printing each catalog page as a PDF and then merging all the pages into one PDF.

It is amazing! Downloads all the linked pages - including images as well as any other pages linked to the URL you enter to begin the process.

Going to have to think about whether I can to continue the PDF route or use the website with clickable links.

Will post up when I make a decision.

About using HTTrack Website Copier, just remember that in the future, Windows updates might make that program unusable since it is no longer being developed.  BUT, once you have a PDF file, Adobe will fix anything that needs changing to adapt to Windows updates.  The risk, and the choice, is yours, but I know which way I would do it.

Chuck

@PRR1950 posted:

About using HTTrack Website Copier, just remember that in the future, Windows updates might make that program unusable since it is no longer being developed.  BUT, once you have a PDF file, Adobe will fix anything that needs changing to adapt to Windows updates.  The risk, and the choice, is yours, but I know which way I would do it.

Chuck

@PRR1950 - There are pros and cons on using either (HTML or PDFs).

According to their website, it currently works on Windows 2000 thru Windows 10 in spite of last being updated in 2017 (before Windows 10).

Not worried. Just want to get the catalogs downloaded in a convenient format.

If it no longer works for some other project at a later day, there's a couple other alternatives that MAY work.

Last edited by paulp575

Add Reply

Post
This forum is sponsored by Lionel, LLC

OGR Publishing, Inc., 1310 Eastside Centre Ct, Suite 6, Mountain Home, AR 72653
800-980-OGRR (6477)
www.ogaugerr.com

×
×
×
×
Link copied to your clipboard.
×
×