Lionel Pre-War

[Flivver250]

Will be upgrading the shop this summer. Turn it from utilitarian to man cave, or more like man enclave, (menclave?). Remembered I have a few pre-war Lionel electric trains, one from childhood, my dad’s 262E and a few more pre-wars I picked up over the years. They have been boxed away for decades. Would it be over the top or juvenile to have the shop ringed with track? Still get a thrill playing with those old toys. Also have some old Keystone trucks.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Nope at all in my opinion. I believe one member has a track set up in his (father's) shop and has pictures of it here.

I always told the wife I'd love to have a track set up around the top of a basement family room.

 

[Flivver250]

Love your shop

 

[kngelv]

Regarding a train around the shop . . . over the top and juvenile do not come to mind but pretty f***ing awesome does.

James

 

[coljar]

Love trains. Going to display some of mine on the wall of my cave when I get it done along with my life size B&O P-5 Pacific steam headlight w/cast number board.

 

[countryroad82]

Getting ready to put a train around the ceiling of my living room so no I see nothing wrong.....

 

[rburke65]

Hey, it's your shop. Mine....it's about the only place I have to do what I want without a SWMBO input. I put in mine what makes me happy. Just do it! Love the trains.

 

[Trainman]

From my screen name, you already know what my answer is:

 

[trainman1385]

Do it, as you can see from my screen name I like trains

 

[zkling]

Do IT. Then again I'm a train nerd.

 

[Vvmvbb]

Definatley do it.
Not doing things is completely uninteresting.

And you might say all hobbies are childlike, but that's what's good about them - keeps you young.

 

[stanj]

Go for it. We have to get old. We don't have to grow up.

 

[rsanter]

It would be very cool
You should do that
The office in a previous house had a train that went around right above door height

Bob

 

[jwh]

Do it! Wish I still had my old set from when I was a kid - Lionel New York Central diesel freight set.

 

[Krash Kadillak]

I'd suggest putting a good-sized layout in a corner of the cave, behind the BAR.

 

[Manganos]

Do it. I just moved into the new house yesterday and there were a bunch of large boxes containing tracks, trains, plastic buildings etc etc... I am thinking of building a layout in my pool table room....do it and post pics!

 

[Falcon67]

Wish I had my Lionel stuff from way back. In my dads garage, we had a big 4x8 or so track layout that folded up against the wall.

 

[Mavawreck]

My only concern would by dust, debris, etc getting on them. Otherwise, they were built to enjoy! Hope to get my postwar collection out of the attic one of these years.

 

[G_P]

Do it. Having a train running around the perimeter of the room would rock!

 

[rohartman]

Definite yes! I still have all my train stuff in boxes in the basement somewhere. Need pictures please.

 

[Greatbear]

Trains? I say hell yeah. If this is a "man cave" casual use garage/shop setup and not a gritty pro or semipro working garage and you have the space, go for it. A friend of mine years ago had a very involved layout in its own room in the basement. That room was also a launch point for an outdoor garden track and for a loop that ran around overhead in a pretty big rec room. He could send trains to and from the tracks outside of the layout room without leaving the room. each external track had a switcher, once he let the trains go out, he flipped a switch after some time to close the loops and the trains would happily circle the tracks as long as he wanted. To call the trains back, he'd make sure the trans were not in the switcher (there was an indicator light if a train was near or in it), he'd throw the train in reverse, change the switcher and eventually the train would come back in and park itself on a siding in the main layout. The neatest idea I saw with these tracks was a car he made that was pushed by the locomotive, it had a spinning set of brushes and a little fan that he would clean the tracks off with every now and then, either inside or out. That really brought out the train geek in me.

Besides, who doesn't like electric trains?

As the old saying goes, electric trains are like *******. They're meant for kids but their dads play with them the most.

 

[Drew_flux]

Trains?
As the old saying goes, electric trains are like *******. They're meant for kids but their dads play with them the most.

stolen for new sig

 

[Vegaman_Dan]

The older pre-war Lionel trains were at one time 'rare' and the prices skyrocketed, but now they are all coming out of storage from basements, attics, and elsewhere that they had been hiding, driving the value down. So don't worry about using those trains the way they were meant to be used- for fun!

LGB / #1 gauge is commonly used for ceiling mounting, but I think three rail Lionel will work fine for your needs. Plus those huge flanges will work well in the tight radius curves you'll need in the corners.

If it's not in the way, do it. I do recommend mounting it on a wood shelf that also has a 4" or so plexiglass barrier / fence on the front lip to keep any derailments from sending equipment plummeting down to a messy demise below.

< - N scaler