Pre-war Lionel engine on modern tubular Merkur tracks

Apparently, some American folks still think that Lionel trains do not run on modern tubular Merkur tracks. This is getting more relevant as Lionel tubular track is getting more difficult to acquire. Although this topic gets raised frequently, lets throw in a video to make this subject clear for once and for all.

So, yes Lionel trains, also pre-war Lionel trains, do run on Merkur tracks. Lets hope we can move forward from here on.

Lionel train on Merkur tracks

In case you ever wonder: "does a Lionel train run over modern Merkur tubular tracks?".
Here is the answer: "Yes, it does!".

Building a bridge to ...

This weekend, I discovered that the Lionel 289E engine is a great engine to pull the Merkur coaches over the new track.

The video shows how smooth the Lionel 289E engine pulls the Merkur coaches 9751, 9330 and 9331.

Additionally I started with building the bridge to the other side (what else) and used the Lionel 817 caboose as the highest car in the rooster to measure the clearance.The bridge is still a bit rough, but it is a start.

Lionel 289E running on the attic

This weekend I decided to make a small oval on the attic floor and run some trains. The Lionel 289E engine still did not run smoothly on the 027 track curves and hence I decided to change the anti-slip tyres and I must say that it still slips a bit, but is running much better.

Stream lined express

Here is a video showing a beautiful streamlined steamer with three passenger cars running around my layout. The engine is a 1668E and a smooth runner. It was made from 1937 to 1941 (so about 70 years old) and still running perfectly. The passenger cars are numbered 1630, 1630 and 1631 and were produced from 1938 to 1942

Parade of pre-war Lionel toy trains

Francesco, you asked for it and now you are going to get it. Here is my attempt to make a video of the pre-war Lionel toy trains running around on the little layout. Let's hope you will like it.

I bought railway crossing lights of Lemax at Lemaxworld for the pleasant price of 3.50 Euro / pair and placed one on the layout. Well it still has to be connected properly, but that can be sorted out later. Then I placed the pre-war trains in a queue and let them run by. In order of appearance: 289E, 1688E, 1664E, 259E and 1668E.

Much of the Lemax houses are too fantastic for me. They still would blend in nicely with a Lionel Polar express or Halloween set, but they are too Dickens-like for my taste. Some items, such as railway crossing signs, benches, lanterns, telephone booths can, however, mix in nicely and since these items are available cheaply in Europe, they are welcome on my layout.