Gorgeous Layout on Ebay - 1926 199 Layout

There is a wonderful little prewar layout on eBay. Just a plain oval of track and some basic structures. The colors are really bright and crisp and the trains look amazing. When I was a kid I was always intrigued with the pre-formed German layouts made by Kibri and Noch. I guess Lionel had the same idea in 1926. I really love the simplicity of these. No big collections, no vast panoramas or mountains, just colorful tinplate in a really small space. I hope this little layout gets a great home.

Marc

Just liked this picture...

I just liked this picture. Scanning around Flickr and it caught my eye. Taken by a guy called "Aloha" in 2008. This station is even better in person! Click on the pic to open up the whole photo!



Marc

The Copper Torch

I was hanging out at the Statue Of Liberty on Sunday. The park staff that actually manage the island are as valuable and as great as the actual monument itself. I really did enjoy listening to them and Liberty herself is just always incredible. Check out the pic of the retired copper torch. Again, those things made out of metal just seem to go on forever....

Marc

Memorial Day

Sorry for the lack of posts. Lately I've become less and less interested in the acquisition of trains vastly more interested in either using them or seeing the real thing. Summer is always ideal for the real McCoy and there are at least two trolley museums that are begging for my attention.

These pics are from the Liberty State Park Station in New Jersey. This is where the actual Blue Comet left from for Atlantic City. The tracks are completely overgrown now. It's kind of strange seeing them, very much like seeing pictures of the Titanic. Really quite beautiful but a little haunting, even in plain daylight.

The building is not quite as nice as Ellis Island or a station like Grand Central, still though, the roof and design seem very European. It really is a wonderful structure and makes you wish you could really board a train there and go someplace exciting (like Atlantic City in the 1930's). The actual windows are all original and the garden and waterfront area is tremendous. They do have some Jersey Central trains there however they are rather underwhelming.

If you are a real train watcher/spotter there are some places in NJ where you can see some real gems. I have seen a GG1 and some very old heavyweights under construction right off of 287 down the pike from Morristown and Parsippany. I got off their one day to grab some lunch and there were tons of old passenger cars on sidings and a GG1 under some kind of rennovation. It was all "off limits" however there was so much stuff there you could see it in plain view from the road.

Anyway, that's about it for now. Keep looking for those trains!

Marc