The steam locomotive was invented in England in 1797.

U.S. Railroads used steam locomotives from their inception in the early 1800s until the 1960s, when improvements in diesel power made diesel-electric powered rail locomotives a more cost-effective choice.

Steam locomotives worked hard and easily produced enough tractive power to grip metal rail tracks, and pull heavy loads. But, over time, steam powered locomotives presented a difficult problem for the railroads. The production, maintenance and upkeep of steam locomotives were very specialized and became increasingly expensive for the railroads. By the late 1940s and early 1950s, it was no longer cost-effective for large U.S. railroad companies to maintain and run these powerful iron horses.

The Lionel 6-31960 Polar Express model train set is painstakingly designed to be true to the original.

A feature of the Lionel Polar Express model train set is the die-cast metal Berkshire steam locomotive just like the ones 50 years ago that are still around today and running. The Lionel Polar Express locomotive has a new, larger pilot, headlight lens cap and unique whistle. The engine and tender are painted in a dark, matte finish to complete the image.

Following the locomotive and tender are two lighted coach cars and a lighted observation car. The Lionel Polar Express Train Set observation car features a rounded observation deck, just like in the movie. Silhouettes in the windows depict scenes from the movie including the scary marionette car, and the coach car.

The main characters from the movie are included as articulated figures in this Lionel Polar Express Train Set with turning heads, movable arms, bendable waists and jointed knees. They can be posed and placed on areas of the locomotive, tender and passenger cars to replicate scenes from the movie.

The Lionel Polar Express train set features: Die Cast 2-8-4 Berkshire steam locomotive and tender, two passenger coaches, one passenger observation car with rounded deck, CW-80 transformer, articulated movie characters, smoke fluid.

The model train is O Gauge with layout dimensions 40” x 60”. Minimum Radius is O-27 with length 63 3/8”.

The Lionel 6-31960 Polar Express model train set features: operating headlight, air whistle in tender, puffing smoke, die-cast metal locomotive body and frame, separately applied metal handrails, operating coupler on rear of tender, pilot and headlight lens shield, interior lighting, decorated drumhead on observation car, rounded observation deck. The Lionel Polar Express Train Set cars feature silhouettes in the windows.

Indian Railways (IR) plans to build a 10,000km railway network of dedicated heavy-haul freight lines with a 30-tonne axleload (or possibly more) at an estimated cost of between $US 15 billion and $US 20 billion. Now that’s a BIG train set to own!

Naturally, your choice of model train scale will depend on what you want your railroad to do. It is important to remember that bigger is not necessarily better.

You can pack more into the scene with a smaller model train scale (such as N scale).

If you live in an apartment or small house where space is limited, then think about a smaller scale such as Z scale, N scale and HO scale. For a micro train, try Z scale trains, which are 1:220

Take a visit to Derya Ferendeci’s model train layout and you’ll be transported through a miniature world of trains, towns and villages, prairies and mountains across North-Western Turkey in the mid-1970’s, at a time when steam was king.

Several classes of steam locomotive which served on the Turkish State Railways are represented on Derya’s Model Train Layout.

They include classes 44.0 (German BR55), 45.0, 55.0 (German BR57), 56.0, 56.1, as well as the 56.5 (the class 52 German war locomotives), the class 56.7 (Ex German class 44uk – ex-SNCF) and the class 37 (Prussian T18/BR78) and class 57 tank engines (BR85).

The above photo shows the main control panel at Kemalpasa.

Kemalpasa is an important division point on this part of the TCDD (Turkish State Railways) as it is a base for several dozen big steam locomotives.

These photos show a step-by-step illustration of the scenery for the new extention on Derya Ferendeci’s model train layout.

If you are not planning a visit to Turkey, then visiting Derya Ferendeci’s model railroad site is the next best option http://www.ferendeci.com/trains/

N scale train sets are growing in popularity with model train enthusiasts. N scale model train sets have the advantage of taking up less space than the HO scale model train sets. N scale model trains are in fact 54.5 percent the size of equivalent HO scale model trains. This means that you can build an N scale model train set layout in an area about 30% of that area needed to build a similar model train layout in HO scale.

If space is an issue then an N scale model train set could be the answer. N Scale model train sets allow for more complex and realistic model train layouts in limited space. Curves can be made much more gradual with N scale model train sets. The smaller size of N scale greatly reduces the need to utilize unrealistically sharp curves to reverse the direction of the train on a layout.

It doesn’t seem to matter whether you’re 5 or 95… or somewhere in between. The personal satisfaction of building and operating a realistic miniature train layout is rewarding and fun… no matter how old you are. Model railroading is a truly rewarding leisure activity that will keep most model train enthusiasts busy and entertained for hours…if not a lifetime.

If you ask model train enthusiasts “what appeals about the hobby?” you’ll get a variety of answers. For some model train enthusiasts, it is a way of re-creating a fond childhood memory. Others; simply enjoy building a world in miniature with all its detail and realism. Then there are those model train enthusiasts who love solving the technical problems of building and operating an electronic control system.

The Lionel Trains 671 Turbine was introduced in 1946 and was available with various modifications until 1949. The earlier 1946 version featured a smoke bulb which was used to generate both illumination and smoke.

This Lionel Trains 671 Turbine consisted of two separate pieces. There was a steamer with a “6-8-6” wheel arrangement and a whistling coal tender.

It is best to choose a model train set scale that best suits your needs and gives you the effect you are looking for in your model train set layout.

O scale model trains and S scale model trains are large when compared to the more popular HO scale model trains.

O scale is 1:48 size with 1¼” track gauge and a minimum radius of 2 foot (24 inches).

S scale is 1:64 size with 7/8″ track gauge and a minimum radius of 22½ inches. As you can see S scale model trains sets are smaller in size than the larger O scale model train sets.

Model railroading is a fun-filled leisure activity that provides plenty of scope for the creative individual with a technical bent. It incorporates a variety of interesting activities from building, maintaining, upgrading and operating a model railway.

What kind of world you create, where you create it, and how much time you spend in it… is entirely over to the individual model railway enthusiast. We are all different.

S scale model trains were first made in England during the 1930’s. At that time model railroaders were looking for a smaller scale that would take up less space but retain the advantages of detailing and the heftiness of modeling that the O scale afforded.

At the time, many felt that the HO scale model trains were too small and that a more desirable gauge would be somewhere in between the larger O scale model trains and the smaller HO scale model trains. That’s how the S scale model trains came to be.

Model train set gauges and scales can be confusing particularly when the names sound almost the same. OO gauge and O gauge fall into this category and can trip up beginner and even experience model raliroaders at times. So, here is the difference explained once and for all.

OO Gauge Model Trains

OO Gauge has for many years, been the most popular model train scale with British Railway Modelers. OO gauge has a ratio of 1:76 equaling a scale of 4mm to the foot. It is considered to be the standard for many model train set enthusiasts in the UK and is a popular model train scale with beginners buying Hornby or Bachmann model train sets.

OO Gauge Scale Model Trains Specifications: 4mm : 1ft 1/76th Scale Track Gauge: 16.5mm
Because OO gauge is so popular in the UK there is a wide range of OO gauge accessories available in the UK. There is also a good secondhand market for OO gauge in the UK which can considerably reduce the costs of the hobby.

Looking now at O gauge it has a ratio of 1:48, or 7mm to the foot. Many modelers are attracted to O gauge because of the impressive detail on the rolling stock although the costs can prove prohibitive for many railroaders.

S scale (sometimes called S gauge) is modeling in 3/16th to the foot or a proportion of 1:64 to the real full size (prototype) model. In other words, the real full-sized train is 1:1 and 64 times larger than S scale model train in all dimensions.

Diesel power has been around since 1901. It was named after Rudolph Diesel, a German engineer born in Paris in 1858. In the 1920s, improvements in reliable controls to match the load of electrical generating and propulsion systems led to the first generation of diesel train locomotives in the late 1930s.

The Lionel Trains 2037 Steam Engine was introduced in 1953. This model was available for three years (through 1955). It was rereleased in 1957 and was available until 1963.

This Lionel Trains 2037 Steam Engine consisted of two separate pieces. There was a steamer with a “2-6-4” wheel arrangement. The Lionel 2037 also came with any one of six different coal tenders: 1130T, 6026T, & 6066T non-whistling types, or 233W, 234W & 6026W whistling types.