That's what made Lionel special, he knew how to keep the kids involved and their minds busy while also making a great toy. Thanks Brian, your a fine draftsman, lol.
Certainly would've come in handy when I was designing my O27 pike, but Thor's Trains was a godsend there. Wouldn't mind having one of these to decorate stationary with, definitely would let everyone know I've got a one-track mind.
I've got to hand it to you Brian, you've got a real genius for coming up with unusual and forgotten Lionel products and artifacts! I had NO idea those printing kits ever existed. I have to wonder how many frustrated moms were out there in the 1950s trying to get india ink stains out of their kids clothing? 🤣 Thanks for posting! Fun as always!
My pleasure, fun thinking up new episodes and stuff to show you guys. You can find the printing kits at large shows, and they do work well actually!. Just wanted to play with one! Got some great stuff in the works for the Fall. Thanks. Brian
Have a rather interesting story to tell here.... Back in march my church's choir director approached me asking if I want her dad's old Train set (which was Lionel) for around 350 bucks. Naturally I took a look and well... I was already sold on getting them. I grabbed a full mint condition still original boxed minus the set box and 6357 (Which I rectified very easily a few weeks later) 1507ws. That's not all _oh no_ because it also came with two pairs of 1122 Switches, a Marx handcar, 3361 scale log dump with the slow tilt mechanism, 3562 Barrel Unloader, Grey 6456 Hopper, TWO operating 3456 Hoppers, a 362 barrel loader, 364 Lumber Conveyor, AND THE 456/397 COAL RAMP/LOADER COMBO! Best part is that majority of them work! Well... Sort of. The 2046 Baby Hudson runs like a swiss watch and when I was testing it out during a set-up at a show the eccentric rod screw gave way and threw me off guard! It was an easy fix and even then she still runs like clockwork! Her Tender though needs new wiring as there's a faulty wire connecting to the pickup roller (Thank heavens for having a similar one from a 736 I own!). The Operating cars were rather easy as none show any sign of faults whatsoever. Although when I initially was testing out the old Milk car I had a lot of trouble just removing the shell! So used to screws like the 3662 and took me a solid few minutes until I saw the old Clips on those 3472 Milk cars. After fixing the jam, it runs fine! The Accessories are rather interesting. See the 456 looks incredibly good exterior wise (minus a few scratches from me trying to open the rear end after hearing a few jittery noises which turned out to be the bumper springs!) but her controller needs new wiring. _oh yeah_, the exterior wiring for CTC lock-on's and connectivity to accessories were original as well! 364 Lumber Conveyor also needs some work before I can operate her considering her motor hangs on a thread and the old red spool is just _gone and broke itself!_ As for the rest, the 397 (which I still need to add some adhesive under the rubber belt so it can pick up coal which was also still in their original bags!) and 362 run smooth. WAY too smooth! Like, came out of the factory mint condition smooth! In the end of all of this, I went from having I think three-five post war engines to me easily recreating a postwar O-27 Layout overnight! All thanks to 350 bucks as well! LOL
Sounds like a great find and you can't go wrong with postwar Lionel. Even if it doesn't work at first, it's something that can be fixed. Thanks. Brian.
That is a pretty neat device to use for designing a layout back then. I could see myself using it to make some designs. Much easier now using a computer. For sure, plastic eventually dries out due to age or UV light. Thanks for posting this Brian.
Yeah, technology kids could use! Pretty cool and worked actually pretty well. Would need to fashion some type of handle, but was pretty fun to work on! Thanks. Brian
Cool Lionel collectable that you can use. I was working with the set for the first time on the video and that damn ring didn't fit, so got ink all over me. Plastic must of shrunk and I really didn't want to break the ring. That's how it goes sometimes. Thanks, Brian
Pretty cool! It actually makes a real nice layout design. I wonder if you could heat that ring up, in hot water or something, and get it pliable enough to snap on to those 'dies'. Either way, a neat little device for the kids. An excellent video, as always.
I wonder if a pencil top erasure could be used as a substitute for the ring holder. This may be an idea to make using these stamps a lot easier if in will fit over the holes on the stamps and each stamp would have its own holder.
Hi Brian, My Dad had this kit which I have today. My Dad altered the ring by cutting a few slits in the round portion so it acted like a wedge that connected to the trach piece. It would have been nice to have the 072 curve, straight, switches included in the kit. The kit is fun to use but not accurate as you know.
Love the fact that he had one as a kid. I wish the ring that came with mine worked, it would have been much cleaner of an episode!! Yes, a 072 curve would have been nice and I think the kit was to be used as a guide, it would felt like you could make it do things actual track could not!! Thanks. Brian
They actually separated quite easily once I got it started, not sure what they would do. 70 year old plastic! Worked well for the age. The ring was a different plastic and must have shrunk a little and was more brittle. Thanks. Brian
