National Toy Train Museum

The Mickey Mouse handcar saved Lionel from the brink of bankruptcy.

Thanks for posting the photos.

Nice pics...thanks for posting.

Jeff Davis

some great stuff, thanks for sharing!

The National Toy Train Museum is owned and operated by the Train Collectors Association. It is not self-supporting. Join the TCA and support the museum!

Great photos!  Thanks for posting.

I noticed on the photo of the Standard Gauge layout at the museum that maybe one Ives boxcab tinplate train might be running on one of the layout's mainlines.  When and how often do they run Standard Gauge tinplate trains on the layout and who runs them?  Do staff members run special museum trains reserved for this purpose on the layout or do they allow TCA members to bring in their own Standard Gauge trains to run on this layout?  Is there also an O gauge "tinplate" layout at the museum?

Bob Nelson

MBA, great photos!  Sometimes hard to get good ones with the glass and lighting, but yours are really good.   Thank you!  You also have an eye for the classics, there are some iconic trains there.

I have not been to the museum since they rebuilt the standard gauge layout a few years ago.  I need to get over and see the new arrangement.  Back when I saw the old layout, they had reproductions on the layout, they didn't run the trains from the museum collections.  The old layout had 3 or 4 loops, with a train set up on each loop; there were buttons on the layout edge that a visitor could push to have a certain train run. When you pushed a button, that train would run for a short period, maybe a minute or two, then stop automatically until the button was pushed again.  It was a pretty good system to have an interactive unsupervised layout.  I don't know how the new layout is set up.

david

New layout is set up pretty much the same way... with way better track!

Usually some recent MTH/Lionel item is running.

ARNO

Great pics.....love going there!

Peter

Looks like Ward Kimball's house.

did any of Ward's train make it there or were they all sold off?

Great pictures! Thanks for posting them!

I am looking forward to visiting the museum in October.

Hi Bob,

This was my first time visiting the museum.  They had mainly reproductions of standard gauge trains running but I did see some O gauge trains parked on the sidelines.  I'm not sure who operates the displays but I get the feeling that they rotate what is running on the tracks now and again.  It is a really great museum full of lots of o-gauge and standard gauge displays as well as other trains from various periods and scales.

-Matt

Last Thursday (7/2), I took a few friends to see the Strasburg RR, the RR museum of PA and the Toy Train Museum.  One of them said the TCA museum was the best part.

Last time I looked, there was at least one piece in the room to the left of the entrance (same wall as the prewar store layout), which was donated by his wife. I can't remember what it is though.

I know this is the tinplate forum, but does the museum have much of a Postwar presence? IE dealer displays, and rare/unusual stuff from Lionel and Flyer?

One of the most odd-ball PW Lionel items that sticks in my mind is a wooden travel case for the famous Santa Fe F-3 set.  It seems the case was used by Lionel salesman as they traveled around trying to sell to stores.

Other items in the case are a good representation of some of the classic variations (long and short stripe N&W J Tenders, both color shades for the Helicopter Reconnaissance car, and probably others I am forgetting).  A good part of the PW display shows many of the classic items from the era (transformers, accessories, motorized units, etc), so it's not all just rare pieces and odd variations.

As to dealer displays, for PW Lionel to the best of my knowledge, there are no large displays.  With the museum being so diverse with scales and manufacturers, there really would not be a good place to exhibit such displays.  The Lionel PW wall is probably about 12-15 feet wide (my guess from memory) with shelves from the floor to probably 7 feet high to show the items.

-Dave

I'll have to make a stop by there. I want to hit this museum and the National Christmas Center this fall, as I recall they're both in relatively close proximity to each other

There's a display of modern era trains too. The museum covers just about everything in Toy/Model trains. It's a magical place-a first class presentation all the way around. I always add extra $'s to my yearly TCA dues to help the museum.

I wasn't able to make it to the museum during this April's York meet, so I don't know if this is still true, but the modern area had been toned down a bit last year to set up some historical items, pictures, etc for the 60th anniversary of the TCA in 2014. 

Specifically the cases around both sides of the video screen that had most of the Lionel MPC, K-Line, Weaver, MTH and other post 1969 items.  There was still a lot of modern on the tracks above the O gauge layout (much of it TCA commemorative cars, but I think there was a fair amount of standard issue items as well).

-Dave

If you belong to TCA and want to support the museum, AND get your name and interest

into posterity, you can buy a brick to put into the sidewalk in front of the museum.  I

think they are still available...looks like there are open slots.