1957 Catalog Layout Underway

Looking forward to watching your progress!

Peter

you're building this layout? 

that is awesome!!

Watch out for that trestle bent!

Andre

This just made my day! Miketg

Ground cover varies; you might want realistic thick and thin areas, abrupt ends and tapering, etc..  If you spread evenly and mask closely it becomes more abstract and toy like imo. Texture also makes standing figures hard

In general, I pile it on here and there, heavier in corners, etc,; less where people might be, and blow it "clean" once it's sticking well or dry.

Penn-Pacific posted:

you're building this layout? 

that is awesome!!

Yes! It is going to be close to this. I had to make a few adjustments from the original track plan but it is going to be very close. I also plan on moving the ZW and controllers off the top of the layout. Just cannot decide how I want to build the control panel.

And you are using Super O track! Cool!

Looking forward to watching this develop.

The layout shown by Penn Pacific is the 1957 catalog layout (look in the lower corner of the photo).  

Yup, the '57 catalog. I just took these pics of my copy.

Front cover:

Back cover:

Page 51:

Just updated thread title to reflect the correct year.

My goal was to try and keep the look of what a Lionel dealer display would have looked like from that era.

What it also needs are the asbestos floortiles and "modern" blue chairs. As a kid we had similiar red and white floor tiles in our basement where my layout was. Miketg

I saw one that was built for the 1994 40th anniversary TCA convention at York, using regular 0 gauge track. I think this was probably the ultimate dream layout for a lot of us kids back then. Good luck, and take lots of pictures for us!

Hi Mike,

I knew you had started on this. Looks great!

On my Lionel Dealer Display I sprinkled Lionel 990 "grass" on the green paint while it was wet. I used one of those shaker bottles from Woodland. Do a small area at a time.  I found that I put it on too "light" so went back to fill in.

Also... suggest doing this method on some scrap pieces of wood first for practice! It will help refine the technique. Good luck!

Can anyone with a 1957 Lionel catalog provide a full list of the Lionel products used, part of which is shown in the picture above.  Color photo doesn't make it real clear which products are used.

Thanks

Chuck

Here ya' go:

If anyone needs higher resolution pics let me know and I'll eMail them.

John,

Can you provide any details on how you built and painted your mountain? It looks great. 

Thanks,

Mike

Mike, super layout you are building!  I recall using paint and brown and green colored sawdust for my ground cover on my teenaged layout (roughly 1968-74).

Lew, you are the man with the plan!!  I never saw any of the old Lionel catalogs.  I lived a long way from a hobby shop and had inexpensive HO trains.

Mike M posted:

John,

Can you provide any details on how you built and painted your mountain? It looks great. 

Thanks,

Mike

Thanks, Mike.

First, have to admit that I did NOT use any of the old Lionel Display techniques for mountains. This was one area where I decided to go with an easier method and not use some of the materials that are faithful to Lionel. Basically, I used the tried and true cardboard latticework covered by plaster sheets approach. Strips of cardboard held together with hot glue to make the "frame" and then application of plaster sheets layered over.

To me, the big thing was trying to get the look of a Lionel Display with the colors. I used a variety of browns, greens, yellows and even some reds. Overlay the colors until I got the look I wanted. Very trial and error. I think it turned out well.

Edit...here are a couple shots of the finished layout. Btw, this is the Lionel D-105, 5x9 Dealer Display.

PRR1950 posted:

Can anyone with a 1957 Lionel catalog provide a full list of the Lionel products used, part of which is shown in the picture above.  Color photo doesn't make it real clear which products are used.

Thanks

Chuck

I can also tell you that not all the accessories will not fit where they are shown in the catalog photos. There was a great article written in the TCA e-Magazine on this very layout that covers a lot of the issues of bringing this layout to life. 

Mark Boyce posted:

Mike, super layout you are building!  I recall using paint and brown and green colored sawdust for my ground cover on my teenaged layout (roughly 1968-74).

Lew, you are the man with the plan!!  I never saw any of the old Lionel catalogs.  I lived a long way from a hobby shop and had inexpensive HO trains.

Mark, I'm not much of a collector but I wanted this catalog (because Super O)  so watched for one at a good price on eBay. One of these days if/when I can get a few low-priority bucks ahead I want to buy a few pieces of Super O track, just because it has always looked good to me.

This may help as it contains a wiring diagram. 

Mike,

This is a real treat to watch. This layout captured my childhood dreams as I spent countless hours imagining this layout in Super O and in my basement.

The only aspect I would change is the back-to-back switches that the elevated and lower levels share making it impossible to have two completely independent loops. It’s not true to the original plan, but might be something to consider. The loops could still be connected elsewhere, just not at a shared “merge”, especially if relying upon 60+ year old 112 Super O switches to keep a potential Gomez Addams disaster from happening.

looking forward to following your progress!

Mack

Mike Espy and CSXJOE,

Thanks for the detailed additional info about this layout.

Chuck

PRR1950

When I built my D-190 recreation I used green grass paper cut to fit.

Used Rustoleum flat green spray paint for the table as it was a close match.

Here's a wip pic.

Layout was finished in Jersey now it in storage at our new house in NC waiting for a space. Everything else is boxed.

Great topic and layout.
I found this art work does anyone know where this layout design came from? i couldn't find any explanation. Is it Lionel or HO? Sorry I'm not trying to hijack this thread. Thanks

Unless that chair is huge, I think that set is HO.

At most, it’s HO, but seems too small for HO. Compare the steam loco on the cocktail table to the screwdriver, glass, etc. it’s really small.

totrainyard posted:

Unless that chair is huge, I think that set is HO.

If were were to assume it's two 4x8's put together, I would put it more likely as N scale.

Rusty

I remember that Linoel 1957 layout well.    I drooled and dreamed about it too.     In Todays world it does not seem so big and unattainable.     At that time as a 12  year where I lived, I could not imagine what kind of super rich person could have a layout like that.    

Seacoast George, that looks like a nice ad for "Paul Jones" whiskey and how to enjoy it. A shot or two, a little ginger ale, some ice, and just take a ride on the Club Car. Rusty Traque, I don't think N gauge was around quite yet, the artist might have been sampling the product while drawing it.

The ad does look about the same era as the Lionel artwork.

Started putting down the grass today. Hope I have enough!!

Nice work Mike!

Art I agree the Paul Jones layout looks similar to the 1957 catalog track plan.

Looking great!  It looks like you’re using the Scotts 4-step program and have a nice thick lawn

One trick I’ve read here on the forum is to use a small clean shop vac to collect the grass that doesn’t stick to the paint so you can reuse it in another application. 

JD2035RR posted:

Looking great!  It looks like you’re using the Scotts 4-step program and have a nice thick lawn

One trick I’ve read here on the forum is to use a small clean shop vac to collect the grass that doesn’t stick to the paint so you can reuse it in another application. 

Thanks for the tip!

If anyone has the correct formula to make the glue spray to spray the grass down with after i have vacuumed up the excess i would appreciate it!

I always use 50/50 glue-water.

Mike,

Hoping all is well with you . Have you made any progress with your 1957 catalog layout? I confess I am anxiously following your project and looking forward to photos.

Keep well and safe,

Mack

I've always been fond of toy train layouts as they were large displays of the PW equipment of the day. While my layout is a more realistic view of railroading of the 40's and 50's, its extremely hard to place more accessories on it and they just sit on the shelves.

So i have made some progress on the layout. I am in the process of getting all of the wire ran to each accessory. Next step will be the control panel. And I will have to admit I am not 100% sure how I want to build it so feel free to offer up any suggestions. I would like to keep it somewhat period correct to what they would have done back in 1958