My All Postwar Lionel Layout “Updated 4/7/24”

Patiently waited many years, & finally... 

Success! 

Hope Y'all Enjoy the view, & Thanks for Watching! 

Pretty cool Eli,  nice to hear from you again.  Been awhile.

Howdy Ted... Thank You!

Yeah, my back was out entirely for 2017. Been busy working, & finally trying to get back in business in the train room. 

Flint Rock Valley posted:

Patiently waited many years, & finally... 

Success! 

Hope Y'all Enjoy the view, & Thanks for Watching! 

 

The coal loader works great with M&M’s 😋

I opted to go down and dirty with my Postwar layout.

Your neat and clean Postwar layout definitely has a charm of it's own

I see no problem running trains on stable, screwed in track on the edge of the train table. Never had a train go for a dive off the table.

One more thing, when I was a kid and raced my trains, some did take a dive off the table. Those Lionels from the 1950s were so rugged, they survived those dives very well.

I had carpet layouts 

...so I just dented drywall 

Installed some LED strip lighting on my Control Panel. I also finished wiring up my Master Switch. 

Green means GO... 

One thing I failed to mention in the clip: Each Transformer will have individual red illuminated round rockers to power On/ Off. 

From The Lionel Trains of Flint Rock Valley... Merry Christmas to ALL Y’all Train Folk! 

🚂🎄💨🎁💨☃️💨

Merry Christmas Eli!

Bob

Howdy Train Folk!

I finally had some time to work on my control panel again. I’ve been waiting a long time to create this plate for the Master Switch & get it installed. As of yesterday it was a success. Look forward to sharing lots of vids of the trains running & doing repairs on things in the near future. 
Hope Y’all All are having a great start to your New Year! 

~Eli

Well Folks, I have finally for the first time ever in my life wired up the 175 Rocket Launcher to its Launch Controller on my Control Panel here @ Flint Rock Valley...
I am soooo Happy!!!

Prior to first launch the gears were lubed & pivots oiled for the gantry. I wired it for On/Off power to the throw on the front right. It is everything I’ve ever dreamed about & am super excited to get this far w/ all my postwar goodies!

Flint Rock Valley posted:

Well Folks, I have finally for the first time ever in my life wired up the 175 Rocket Launcher to its Launch Controller on my Control Panel here @ Flint Rock Valley...
I am soooo Happy!!!

Eli, you soooooooo sound like me when I was 12 and got my rocket launcher!!! Enjoy the heck out of it, man!!! I guess I'm going to have to drag mine out and attempt to restore it - it will be 61 years old this Christams!!! and I will be ..... sorry, can't do the math....

Love the 175!

Mine isn't even on the layout at the moment because of space issues and I still use it all the time while it sits on one of my work benches!

Have fun.

Flint Rock,

Thank you for going to the time and trouble of posting video and pictures of your excellent layout where the rest of us can learn and benefit from them. It let's me experience layouts that I would never get to visit in person. I always enjoy it and very often learn from it. Thanks again.

GEOPEG, it’s been a very long time to get to this point on the layout. Can’t even begin to describe my excitement about hooking this up... ‘tis Epic!! 
You should definitely get your out n’ blow the dust off. 

JOHNSTRAINS, “space issues”... I thought that was where the Rocket was supposed to be launched!?! lololol 8^)

TNCENTRR, really glad to hear that you enjoy it... Thanks so much for the compliment! 
I’ll soon be getting back to bench work & making plenty of repair videos, in hopes of helping folks w/ their own trains/ accessories. 

Thanks Y’all!!! 

Flint Rock Valley posted:

GEOPEG, it’s been a very long time to get to this point on the layout. Can’t even begin to describe my excitement about hooking this up... ‘tis Epic!! 
You should definitely get your out n’ blow the dust off. 

 

JOHNSTRAINS, “space issues”... I thought that was where the Rocket was supposed to be launched!?! lololol 8^)

 

TNCENTRR, really glad to hear that you enjoy it... Thanks so much for the compliment! 
I’ll soon be getting back to bench work & making plenty of repair videos, in hopes of helping folks w/ their own trains/ accessories. 

Thanks Y’all!!! 

You got me!

I actually almost wrote "pun intended" after I typed those words.

Inaugural Run of the New n’ Improved Layout @ Flint Rock Valley.

Till I can get a few more things hooked up & purchase some new bulbs, this is the current nighttime view. 

I always enjoy the glow of layout lights at night. Well done.

tncentrr posted:

I always enjoy the glow of layout lights at night. Well done.

Thanks so much TNCENTRR, appreciate it! 
I’ve got tons more lights to wire up & get bulbs for. Though I’m focusing more on the backbones of the layout at the moment. 
A bit earlier got the 497 hard wired & completely operable on the layout for the first time ever. It works like a champ! 

The three sidings now have block powered wiring. Only to under the table right now, that’s a project for another day. 
From left to right & front to back- got the outer loop, the three sidings, the ramp, & the first section of the inner loop screwed to the table.

Gonna put block power wires on the track section for the ramp, too. 

How’s it looking, what do Y’all think? 

Nice work!

A little Late Nite Fun @ FRV  

Ran into a little hiccup on the layout at FRV.
The turn in the track up to the Coal Ramp was too close & not allowing engines & cars to pass by the base of the turnout. I’ve barely even ever used the coal ramp since I rebuilt it, & it worked fine prior to screwing all the track down. With the inner loop & ramp screwed in place already, I ended up having to change the track configuration. Used a half section of track & cut one end at a slight angle. As shown in the photos, it has plenty of clearance now.
Time to solder to the power blocked wires to the track, screw it down, & it’ll all be back in operation...

(in photo #2 the track isn’t bent. It’s a panoramic view, & is very hard to get a shot at this angle.)

The Trains of Flint Rock Valley...

It’s Alive! 

Fun! But those guys in the handcar have to be getting whiplash. 

First time run for Lionel’s 736 on the layout at FRV. It came by itself without a tender. Though from the plethora of trains on the shelves was able to borrow the 2046W off my 2056. I’d rebuilt that tender long ago, & it works wonderfully. 

Till I’m able to send some trains to the service yard, this loco is the only one w/ a working smoke unit. I’ve got a brand new one to put in my 675. Looks like all the 736 needs is a new bulb. 

Thanks for watching Y’all...
& Happy Railroading!!!

That is excellent work on your control panel!

The layout looks great and all those wonderful sounds of Post War Lionel!

Henry J. posted:

That is excellent work on your control panel!

The layout looks great and all those wonderful sounds of Post War Lionel!

Thanks so much Henry! Appreciate your compliments, Sir! 
I put a lot of thought & time into all of this. It’s so nice to finally be able to run some trains again after a long hiatus. 

Well done - looks like a lot of fun!

don

dmestan posted:

Well done - looks like a lot of fun!

don

Thank You very much, Don! 

I am so happy to be running trains again! 

Wow, awesome progress since last I saw.

The controls look simply great. The subdued lighting has to be the most unmentioned useful feature for night running. ( I use low power red from an old crossing lantern myself ) Real RR lantern

Adriatic posted:

Wow, awesome progress since last I saw.

The controls look simply great. The subdued lighting has to be the most unmentioned useful feature for night running. ( I use low power red from an old crossing lantern myself ) Real RR lantern

ADRIATIC, appreciate your compliments... Thank You very much! 

Nightlife of FRV. 

Comments are always welcome. 
Hope Y’all enjoy the view... 

Happy Railroading Everyone!!

Flint Rock Valley posted:

Ran into a little hiccup on the layout at FRV.
The turn in the track up to the Coal Ramp was too close & not allowing engines & cars to pass by the base of the turnout. I’ve barely even ever used the coal ramp since I rebuilt it, & it worked fine prior to screwing all the track down. With the inner loop & ramp screwed in place already, I ended up having to change the track configuration. Used a half section of track & cut one end at a slight angle. As shown in the photos, it has plenty of clearance now.
Time to solder to the power blocked wires to the track, screw it down, & it’ll all be back in operation...

(in photo #2 the track isn’t bent. It’s a panoramic view, & is very hard to get a shot at this angle.)

I see you are using some of the small motorized units as motive power.  I like them and have used them to pull short freight and passenger trains, when I just want to sit back and see things moving.  I've added some weight to a couple of mine and headlights to one or two.  

They struggle on grade though.  I see yours are ascending or descending a grade.  How well do yours operate ?

Dan Padova posted:

Flint Rock Valley posted:

Ran into a little hiccup on the layout at FRV.
The turn in the track up to the Coal Ramp was too close & not allowing engines & cars to pass by the base of the turnout. I’ve barely even ever used the coal ramp since I rebuilt it, & it worked fine prior to screwing all the track down. With the inner loop & ramp screwed in place already, I ended up having to change the track configuration. Used a half section of track & cut one end at a slight angle. As shown in the photos, it has plenty of clearance now.
Time to solder to the power blocked wires to the track, screw it down, & it’ll all be back in operation...

(in photo #2 the track isn’t bent. It’s a panoramic view, & is very hard to get a shot at this angle.)

I see you are using some of the small motorized units as motive power.  I like them and have used them to pull short freight and passenger trains, when I just want to sit back and see things moving.  I've added some weight to a couple of mine and headlights to one or two.  

They struggle on grade though.  I see yours are ascending or descending a grade.  How well do yours operate ?

Dan, just as you stated they do struggle w/ heavy loads. I was just using this guy to test the tracks. It works good, just not a great puller. 

Just now finished up my wiring underneath the layout. I am pretty happy w/ how it looks.
First pic is w/ the 6’ long Control Panel drawer pushed in. Second one is w/ the drawer extended outward.  

What do Y’all think? 

Howdy Train Folks! 
I’d tried to upload a video directly here, but even saved at a low resolution it was too large. 
So, You’ll be subject to view it on my channel if’n ya choose to do so. 
In it, you’ll find the first of many upcoming Repair Series I’ll be doing. Including a complete breakdown, cleaning, & rebuilding of Lionel’s 624 Diesel Switcher. 
Hope this may be of help to some of Y'all. 

Thanks for Watching... 

& Happy Railroading Everyone! 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?...amp;feature=youtu.be 

Hello Everybody, 

I’ve started a new thread strictly dedicated to the breakdown/ repair/ rebuilding of Postwar Lionel Trains & Accessories. Please follow along if you care to. 

https://ogrforum.com/...2#135585778481782982

Hope Y’all have a Wonderful Day... 

Happy Railroading Everyone!