Lionel is Back

[Woody Elmore]

Maybe this should be posted in the Williams area but browsing this morning (looking for Lionel GG-1 prices) I came across the Lionel website. I thought they were bankrupt and out of business but, apparently, they are back. They have a very colorful catalog on line: www.lionel.com

Happy Fourth of July to everyone!

[az2rail]

Lionel lost a big law suit, and did file bankrupcy, but they where never went out of business.

Bruce

[Atlantic Central]

What a shame they did not go out of business. people who steal from others should more than just go out of business, they should go to jail.

But they got around even paying for their theft by filing bankrupcy.

Sheldon

[Santa Fe buff]

I love Lionel, well I don't own any of it, but I've worked with it. My uncle has early Lionel with new stuff. I hope they do better in the future.

[Woody Elmore]

I don't know the full story about Lionel and MTH but it is good to see the iconic brand name is still around.

One of my earliest experiences with trains was watching my godfather's  GG-1 pulling several Madison cars around on his basement layout.  His NYC F3s were really something to watch in operation.

You must admit that the online Lionel catalog is really nice.

[Atlantic Central]

Woody,

No offense to you or anyone else, Lionel, and all high rail for that matter, is what it is and I respect its place in the hobby. But for me personally I have virtually no interest in it or similar toy trains - No flamers please!

Lionel is just a brand name that has been sold over and over to new companies, most having no respect for its history but just looking to cash in on the name. And this latest thing just takes the cake, they knowingly let their "supplier" in China steal designs from MTH's "supplier".

I worked in a hobby shop in the 60's and fixed trains of all scales, including Lionel, those where well made trains, even if they where toylike.

Sheldon

[Woody Elmore]

I absolutely agree that the Lionel name was abused in the past. There is a lot of Junk out there floating around with the Lionel name on it.

I love to go onto Ebay and look at the so called "vintage" or "rare" Lionel stuff from the seventies and eighties.

Maybe the owners now will do something to untarnish the name. Neil Young has been great in using trains as a tool for working with autistic children. He has an autistic son and he found the boy really responded to trains. That is why he got interested in the company.

[pdlethbridge]

The police athletic league here in Rochester, NY, built a series of large Lionel layouts some 50+ years ago. Each is based on one of the 4 seasons. They are still around and being used.
http://www.cityofrochester.gov/prhs/docs/ttrainroom.pdf

[PhilipCal]

My first electric train was Lionel. Christmas 1948. I came back into the hobby in the early 1970's. (HO) As I recall, Lionel made a pretty substantial effort to enter the HO market in the mid 1970's. One of their offerings, was a GE U 18 B. What was rather unique about this model was the fact that it was powered by a modified GE electric razor motor.  Well, I bought one, and it might be my imagination, but that little unit almost sounded like the prototype U 18 as it rolled over my layout. Still have the unit, and it still runs. I'm going to go and check the new Lionel website in a few minutes.

[Woody Elmore]

They made two forays into HO. For their first attempt in HO they introduced a line featuring, among others, a modified John English (Hobbyline) locomotive.

I remember the GP-18 with the buzz motor. Didn't they also do a GP-30?

Who remembers American Flyer HO?

[john tricarico]

i remember it woody

lionel may be the iconic name in trains
they had there glory days and gave wonderful memories
to generations of boys and men

i have a piece or two of there 1950s H.O.

A.F. H.O. was pretty good too

did athearn manufacture for a.f. they did for lionel

  good luck   john t  brooklyn ny

[Woody Elmore]

I often wonder just who made what. I know that Hobbyline produced the John English engines - although in modified form. I often wonder what happened to the Hobbyline tooling for their freight cars. The John English die cast passenger cars appeared in plastic as Penn Line. These Penn Line passenger cars then were made by Life Like after Penn Line folded. They are available on Ebay as "rare" and "vintage."

The American Flyer HO was a nice line. A friend had a GP 9 lettered for NP.

Revell also had an HO line. The Revell HO buildings are still available made by other manufacturers. Their HO engine house was a classic that lead to  much kitbashing.