What are must haves for a post war/MPC era layout?

I would definitely consider a 145 Gateman. Hard to imagine a PW layout without this goofy  accessory.

Roger

Milk Car and Ice Loading Station.  I have these and other accessories on sections of a modular layout.  When I display them, these are the two items that the children viewing the layout enjoy the most. I say this after two days of reloading milk cans!

Crossing gates, coal ramp, lumber loader. Don

My kids love the Lionel culvert loader and unloader. We also have a bunch of the K-Line operating cars that work anywhere on the layout with the remote...big hit. The K-Line milk loading platform makes for a great load/unload sequence.

Our next accesory will be a coal loader to go with those dump cars.

Jay in Ottawa

My grandson LOVES the ice station and milk car/platform, they would be my first choices.

Paul

1. Operating aquarium car.

2. Operating Cop and Hobo gondola.

3. #2126 Whistling Freight Shed.

4. #2127 Diesel Horn Shed.

4. #2133 Lighted Freight Station.

5. #2154 Operating Highway flasher.

6. #2162 Operating Crossing Gate.

7. #2300 Operating Barrel Loader

8. #2313 Floodlight tower

9. #2314 Searchlight Tower

10. #2318 Operating Control Tower.

11. #2394 Rotary Beacon.

12. The 9800 series reefers would be a great addition. They are very colorful.

I think the best bet is to check out the Postwar Dealer Display thread. Those layouts were reasonably sized, and had a ton of action in a small space, while displaying the best of Lionel's postwar items. 

https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/t...stwar-layouts?page=1

It's a long thread, but the pictures would give great ideas for what you want to do. I'm personally working on a replica d-148 now. It's 8x8, and originally had eighteen operating items, and has the real estate there for me to add four or five more without looking intrusive. Also had three loops of track and some sidings. There are 5x9s and 8x8s in the thread (and smaller) that are great starting points.

On the list of must-have items,

494 rotating beacon

145 operating gateman

352 icing station

282 portal gantry crane

any crossing gates/signals you can find.

All of the above, with a special mention of loading/ unloading cars. Loading and unloading the different cars and accessories is a blast!!!!

How fun! How about the horse or cattle corral? And a coal elevator? The kids who visit my layout love to see the animals move through the chutes and inevitably fall over and pile up. And they love dumping the coal into a car and how the elevator sprays it around when vibrating to pick it up. 

So if you were designing this layout what would your must haves be?

I would second almost everyone has to say above.  If I'm repeating, it's for emphasis.  If I'm mentioning it anew, it's because it was missed:

• 364 Log Loader
• 282 Gantry Crane
• 264 Forklift Accessory
• 352 Icing Station

Don't forget the gateman, a bunch of 151 semaphores, and all the rest.

All Fun.

Steven J. Serenska

What a great idea and tons of fun for the little guy. Reminds me of my childhood layout to the 'T'; MPC trains with post-war accessories and a few MPC ones as well. Nothing beats one of those monstrously sized crossing gates flashing and buzzing as it goes up and down at the speed of sound!!!

Once you have it up and running it would be great to see some photos. Your idea is on my list for this coming fall/winter for my little  guys as well so it would be fun to see what you have created. Enjoy the project!

I have sold off most of my modern (2004) and newer equipment to re-purchase post war. I missed the charm and nostalgic sounds and smells of the post war trains. On my must have postwar motive power roster would be a 736,773, 2343, and a gg1. As far as MPC I like the Southern Crescent set and the N&W J with matching cars. I love all the postwar accessories and most of them work well.

I will be starting a new postwar style layout using O gauge tubular track and SuperO.

Great suggestions.  I am very excited to get building on this.   

I recommend adding a 182 crane. 

One biggie that no one has mentioned yet is a stand alone tunnel or two. One straight, one curve.

A tract neighborhood of the Plasticville cape cods and the Frosty Bar.

These have all been good suggestions IMHO. The key must have for me are:

1. Milk platform - Lionel's most popular accessory
2. Icing Station
3. Coal unloader and loader - Multiple types available, pick one
4. Lumber unloader and loader 
5. Gateman
6. Assorted plasticville buildings including church and station

Like to have list:

1. operating crane
2. Cattle loader unloader
3. Culvert loader & unloader
4. crossing gate, banjo signal
5. oil derrick 
6. Beacon

As said above, the postwar staples in my mind are the gateman, milk platform, and oversized crossing gate and signals.

Since you have a 5 year old, I'd suggest staying away from the coal accessories, they just make a mess and never operate right.  I remember those being disappointing when I was that age. 

Go with the lumber accessories.  The forklift platform has a cool operation that's extremely reliable.  I like the barrel ramp as well.  One other mentioned is the 282R magnetic gantry crane; that'll give endless hours of play value.  you can even unhook the magnet and just use the crane hook.  if you tie little loops of wire onto small toys or whatever, you can load/unload anything.

Besides accessories, look into picking up a couple extra 022 switches so you can vary the path.  Nothing like letting the little one hit the lever, hearing the snap! of the switch and seeing the train break through the switch to a new direction.

That's postwar to me, trains thundering down the track while you sitting behind a control panel with big buttons and levers

We sort of found ourselves doing the same thing. Where we once only had scale-like equipment, we now have a large collection of tubular track, 022 switches and modern remakes of the better accessories.

Here's what I'd incorporate:

Non-interactive:

Beacon tower

Oil derrick

floodlight tower

Interactive:

Milk car

Forklift platform (very easy for kids to use)

Sawmill (very easy for kids to use)

Culvert loader (unloader is good also)

Icing platform

Barrel ramp

Gateman (either via button or insulated rail)

Switch tower (same as above)

Cattle coral and car (the modern version operates very well)

I'd try to arrange the accessories on individual stub sidings where I could this way it's easy for kids to spot cars for operation OR they can simply leave the cars parked there permanently for accessory operation.

I would also incorporate a number of 153 block signals, highway flasher and signal bridge. 

The 494 rotating beacon is my favorite and magical when the lights are turned off at night. A must have!  I would have a water tower, as well, and the simple Marx one would be fine.

Got Milk?

Mail call!

Any tower, I like the bubbling derrick.

The newsstand with the dog watering the hydrant, never failed to amuse me.

The PW operating gunfighter car with a bullion car for the Sherriff to protect.

Rocket launchers of any type.

Opening Stock cars for moving animals. I didn't like the loaders after using those

The yellow coaling tower with the belt elevator.

The control tower with the mic got well used when the visiting kids came, but we never really used it when just among family.

I liked the chicken cars as well as the aquariums.

 Track cleaner, gang car, inspectors car, or overhead maintenance (powered or even un-powered)

An operating crane can do "any" loading.  

My cousin had a PW one and I was so jealous.

A tmmc crane on a gantry...Come on, it cant really get much better 

  I noticed acoustic ceiling tile angle cut as roadbed. I thought that the tile, with a thin, light foam layer 1/16"-1/8" under it might, make for great sound deadening, yet not flex too much from weight moving around.

I did lots of post war stuff with my kids when they were little and what I did that is key, was built a control panel with toggles and push buttons.

If he wants the gate to come down, he waits for the train to get close to the road, then he presses the button... Wants the lights on, throw the toggle.

The more buttons and stuff, the more fun and if you put the buttons on various parts of the layout, it will keep him moving around.

Its all about Playing with the trains!!!!!!!

I think the key here is to have enough "hands on" activites.  The milk car is a must.  But I would also make sure that you leave areas towards the edge of the layout open for regular play, like a farm yard or maybe a construction area with a hand operated crane.  Nothing gets around on my layout as much as the plastic cows haha.  Get some basic knock-around 0-27 rolling stock like a 4-4-2 steamer and an alco diesel and lots of gondolas, dump cars, etc; kids will like open top cars or box cars with large doors that they can put things in and send for a ride.  Keep it simple and it will be enjoyable, I don't think you need to be heavy on automation. 

I always have to have the 3469 Operating Ore Dump Car with some barrels in it on my layout. The barrels are a lot less messier than the coal and the sound of the solenoid and the sound of the barrels landing in the tray really brings back childhood Christmas memories.

Jerry

The forklift is a good one.  Beats the cattle loader any day.

The Maiden Rescue is always a hit on my layout. Get one, but operate it with a insulated rail, so the chances of it always working are greater. Also, put it some place easy to get to, as it is a manual reset.

Gateman and milk car.......no question!

Petet

The Lionel Gantry Crane.  The MPC or newer version offers smoother operation than the postwar version.

Thanks for the crane video, David.   Neat to see it in action.  -Ken

As an alternative to coal that seldom got used. I liked big black beads, and marbles from Chinese Checkers vs "coal".

 The coal tower was on, but seldom had a load.

A stand alone whistle and/or horn/bell if you have locos without them.

 Don't forget how noisy those old vibrating motors can be all at once.

And some have to get ac volts only.

Some do best on adjustable voltage. Some higher, volts some lower.

 I think the newer versions are quieter, though less metal changes the look some.

Gates, and flagmen etc. on a slide switch & #90 can become "a job" to make them interactive for the littler tykes.

 Older "kids". No peeking!... Yard hands giving orders to blind engineers is a challenging game!

 Orders are cool. Long ones if they are "puzzle solvers".

The cranes cool, huh?

In the end, each kid will gravitate to something, buttons and loading are fun.

But, from experience waiting, the best accessory is really another throttle.

 The more throttles the better; it makes sharing time there easier on them and you

  (A seat at the throttle of a bigger, better train, was something earned over time )