The Aftermath....

I perused the new Lionel and MTH catalogs. The Red Comet isn't bad but is kind of underwhelming. I was hoping for something a little more inventive like the Silver Streak set. Lionel now has all of the tooling to build it (from the Zephyr and the O Gauge Vandy). Let's hope they pursue this direction with some vigor.

The MTH catalog was nice but didn't knock me off center either. I was kind of hoping for some starter sets with the 390E. I know the 384E seems to be the current favorite for the starter sets. This was also the case in the 1930's. I guess I was just hoping for a little more. One thing I did focus on a bit in the MTH catalog was the accessories; I definitely need some track and bumpers.

The new auctions are unreal. The NETTE auction is impressive. I am definitely going to it to just see some of these lots.

I'll watch the Stout auction from eBay live. There are some beautiful sets however we all know that Daddy Warbucks and all of his friends also attend Stout Auctions. I'm sure we'll see some record breaking $$$ on some really nice sets.

The one item that caught my eye at the NETTE auction was the Lionel Interurban below. It may look a bit scratched up but this is one of my favorite trains. It's one of the few I think Lionel or MTH should reproduce. It isn't easy because of how the cars were assembled. Still, this is one of Lionel's first Standard Gauge trains, it is rare and it does have a real life prototype mirrored in several of New York City's earliest trains. Quite a few Interurbans graced the rails all over the country and looked very similar to the below. Again, it's one of the things that makes the below antique so special.

Marc