That you were the little boy in this drawing that appeared in the 1957 Lionel catalog?
Or even the dad for that matter.
I know I have.
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Well, I surely was envious of him in 1957.
Not me. If I was the little boy, that'd mean I'd be 8 - 10 years older than I am now!! 
I certainly wished that I had that layout.
I'd be afraid someone would fall off the bar stool onto the layout.
Not the boy but the basement
Art
Did not see it until years later. Was in the service at the time. Love it though.
Very cool picture, Jim. Those were the types of pictures that made me lay awake at night thinking about my "dream layout".
Art
Definitely a Dad's space (1950's man cave), as you can see Dad on the last basement step. Area to run trains, area to tie flies, and a full bar!
Only thing I don't see (might be elsewhere out of the drawing) would be a billiards table.
Jim
That you were the little boy in this drawing that appeared in the 1957 Lionel catalog?
NO but the 1975 extended version of this layout I would have liked ...
Originally Posted by SantaFeJim:
That you were the little boy in this drawing that appeared in the 1957 Lionel catalog?
Or even the dad for that matter.
I know I have.
OMG so funny you mentioned that!
YES! Since the first time I saw that print many many years ago!
It is my favorite piece of Lionel artwork!
I want the Mid Century Modern home too!!!!
My brother just looked at a 1955 home that was PERFECT Mid Century but too far from work....so he passed. Something about a Lionel layout in a MCM home!
If I say, "Yes," do i get a do-over in which I can correct all the mistakes made since 1957? On second thought, one of my mistakes was buying too many trains; do i really want to fix that?
What, me worry?
The wee trains on that layout look closer to HO than Lionel O.
Actually, I think a layout based on a 1952 or '53 catalog would have thrilled me more.
no, but I'd like to be this one....
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No.That would mean when I got older I would have to train new women all over again.Nick
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When catalogs sold more than trains, they sold dreams.
Now, all we get relatively sterile photos and photoshops. Sure, today's trains are highly detailed with a bunch of features that were unheard of back in the 50's, but it's not the same magic.
Rusty
Right you are Rusty! When I received my first Lionel electric train on a long ago 1951 Christmas (until then all I had was two Marx wind-ups) I also received a children's record player and a record that featured railroad station and train sounds. I don't remember much about the recording other than it began with an announcement that began "Pennsylvania Station......", followed by the departure of a train whistling off. Though forgotten in time, I assume it was a standard 78rpm recording.
No matter, I played the record while watching my brand new Lionel Lines 2-4-2 do the honors of running it's little wheels off, with SP smoke pellets belching white as snow smoke, over shiny O27 track which was nailed to a 4x8 board my grandfather had painted green to simulate grass. It didn't bother me one single bit that the recording featured a departing passenger train instead of a freight. Oh how well I remember even on this sunny September day, following the 2-4-2s tender was an orange PRR "Baby Ruth" box car, black as coal NYC gondola, and a fire engine red Lionel Lines "SP" caboose bringing up the rear.
A few months earlier, July 4, 1951, found me celebrating my "Milepost Five" birthday. I received a hickory striped engineer's cap and a jacket which included the cloth heralds of several railroads sewed on the front. The jacket also included silver buttons which had Pennsylvania Railroad's Keystone herald stamped on them. When I was running my train all decked out in the uniform I was none other than Casey Jones himself at the throttle in person!
Note: When you wish upon a star that can be found somewhere over the rainbow, it doesn't matter if you are five or seventy five, just remember to always remain young at heart so you too can be transported into a land of dreams where you leave all your problems behind you.
All aboard!
Don't I recall a forum member who was recreating this layout?
We haven't heard from him in a while.
I don't know how many hours I spent looking at the track plan in Readingfan's post above. I would trace my finger over the track to simulate trains running on it. Surely, someone out there has built this plan and can share with the rest of us.
A Slow Saturday so thought I'd revisit this classic Lionel Super-O layout again.
It remains my all time favorite Lionel layout. The basement room too! Check out the Lionel 57 catalog shown at the edge of the bar table.
A pity Lionel didn't expand the Super-O product line.
Any Lionel experts who know the reason why Lionel didn't continue producing Super-O, please post now.
Built this with my father about 1960. Still have and run all rolling stock and accessories.
