Lionel Irvington Factory Question

Thanks, Mike - the pics are really helpful.  The factory looks very good on your layout -- it fits in well with the other structures and does not look toy-like, which was my fear.

I have this Lionel factory as well, and it's definitely not toylike. Very nice, with all metal construction, and beautifully painted. It also would be an ideal structure for doing an interior finish-out with furniture and machinery or whatever, although it's fine the way it is.

Although the big elevated Lionel Electric Trains sign in front is nice, I've thought it would be cool to interchange that with a flashing lighted sign from Miller Engineering.  I had in mind their General Electric billboard sign, but others would work as well. The building is generic looking enough to fit in with lots of different industrial applications.

breezinup -- thanks for your thoughts on the factory.  Creating interiors is something I've thought about too.  What made me start wondering on the exterior appearance is the shiny paint finish, which looks good by itself -- but many other structures on my layout are made from molded colored plastic.  I suppose I could spray the factory with a clear flat finish as long as I don't think about what it's doing to resale value.

@Bob W / cprail posted:

breezinup -- thanks for your thoughts on the factory.  Creating interiors is something I've thought about too.  What made me start wondering on the exterior appearance is the shiny paint finish, which looks good by itself -- but many other structures on my layout are made from molded colored plastic.  I suppose I could spray the factory with a clear flat finish as long as I don't think about what it's doing to resale value.

I think that would be fine - seems like a pretty good idea. Be very interesting to see how that comes out. You could do a small part of the rear of the building first and see how it looks before doing the whole thing.  If that small section doesn't look good after your flat spray, you could always try a bit of restoration and spray that small section with some clear satin to restore it.

Great idea - will definitely give it a try.

I have the Lionel Irvington Factory and I also have the Locomotive Backshop that has the working lathes, opening doors permitting track to be laid thru the building.    Both are in an industrial/rail yard/turntable area on THE SOUTH FORK RAILROAD layout.   The Morrison Door Factory is in front of the Lionel Factory.  Both the Lionel Factory and the Locomotive Backshop have a glossy shine finish.  I left mine original because I like the look, plus I wanted to keep both original.  The original lighting in both was dim, so I added LED lighting which can easily be removed. Landscaping needs to be done.  Hope this helps you.
Included pictures:

Craig - thanks for the pics, they're a real help in dispelling the concern that the shiny exterior factory walls are a problem.

Your layout also looks very impressive in the photos.  I'm curious -- are you able to reach the back of the layout around the factory if you need to (e.g. derailment, etc.)?

Best regards,

Saw a hi-rail layout in either OGRR or CTT and the Lionel factory looked quite good on it. I have one on my layout which I refer to as toyrail style.

@Bob W / cprail posted:

Craig - thanks for the pics, they're a real help in dispelling the concern that the shiny exterior factory walls are a problem.

Your layout also looks very impressive in the photos.  I'm curious -- are you able to reach the back of the layout around the factory if you need to (e.g. derailment, etc.)?

Best regards,

Bob, yes I have a popup area right behind the Irvington Factory that I can access it & other areas.  There are two tracks showing that are on a lower level and the open area is in front of them.

Craig and Ed -  sorry for the slow response at my end.  Got involved with family and time flew by faster than I realized.  But I appreciate both your posts.

Thanks, Craig.  I also wanted to tell you the layout looks great.  It calls for a video!

And Ed - "toyrail" is a great way to describe it!  The factory looks really good on your layout, and another example makes me all the more confident that the shiny metal surface isn't the problem I thought it might be.