r/lioneltrains

Long-time lurker here. I’ve been an HO collector for some time, but every Christmas, I always felt like something was missing from my holiday villages. This past Christmas, I decided to bite the bullet and bought the Santa Fe Super Chief set… My very first O gauge set, and my first Lionel set ever.

My first impressions? I was completely blown away. I immediately understood what all the hype was about with Lionel. It’s just pure fun, freeing you from the stress of hyper-prototypical nitpicking.

After getting the Super Chief set, I realized that Fastrack was a bit too noisy for my space, so I ended up switching and grabbing a bunch of tubular track from Menards.

Honestly, Menards deserves a massive shoutout. They have completely revolutionized how accessible and affordable the O gauge world can be. Between their budget-friendly, high-quality tubular track and their incredible lineup of rolling stock, Menards makes building a layout actually achievable without breaking the bank. Their value-to-quality ratio is genuinely unmatched in the hobby right now, and they are really helping keep the fun alive.

Since catching the O gauge bug, my collection has grown quite a bit:

- Picked up the CPKC maxi stack set

- Added a CN Lionchief locomotive (#2645060)

- Snagged a New York Central FT Bluetooth locomotive (#2334100)

 Collected a whole fleet of Menards smooth-sided hoppers for my freight operations, alongside various other Menards cars

At this point, I’m seriously considering packing up all my HO scale gear into boxes and diving headfirst into a dedicated O gauge layout.

Menards has made this venture so appealing, and I’m just so appreciative of their rolling stock and their dedication to making high-quality O gauge products at a reasonable price.

I am totally obsessed with O gauge now. I completely understand why people are still so passionate about this scale. Safe to say I have probably spent thousands this year so far. and I regret absolutely nothing!

Still working on Area 51. Lots to paint. There are still some items I’ll be adding as well. eBay/Etsy finds. Will update when those projects arrive.

This is my Lionel Super Chief with 8 15 inch passenger cars to handle my 036 curves, new from 2002-03 and the TMCC F7 engines new from 2006. Lionel's new Super Chief Super set from the 2025 catalog has been shipped with 3 Legacy powered engines plus a Super Bass B, along with 8 21 inch passenger cars, some with sounds, for a super price of around $4,500 for the set. I think I’ll settle for this humble set from 20 years ago for a fraction of that price point, thank you.

Newer to Lionel trains (more like finally taking them out of the basement because seeing bigboy 4014 in person reignited my spark!) ANYWAY! 2 of my polar express passenger cars light up just fine but the 1 flickers the entire time. Not sure how to fix this. Was hoping for a YouTube tutorial or some helps thanks!

Recently picked up this MTH AS-616 with Proto 1, it was untested, and to my surprise as I put it on the layout (after replacing the BCR inside) it started smoking like a champ. They don’t make smoke unit like they used to!

The Lionel Great Lakes Express, almost. I've got a postwar 2016 leading the four "2400s" from the namesake set, at least until I can find the 18611 Adriatic to lead the set proper.

Another update on my Postwar inspired layout. This time I put some roads down, it's not perfect, but I'm happy with the way it turned out. Used some black foam boards and cut them to shape. Also got some new Plasticville kits, which finally drove me to put some roads down. Feel free to leave some tips and recommendations. (Train running is a 2151WS)

This it the MTH GE Evolution Hybrid ES 44AC and matching caboose set from 2022. I've wanted some version of the GE Evolution Hybrid ES 44AC since I first saw them in 2010. Of course I couldn't afford the Lionel Vision Line version in 2010 and I still can't afford it 😄 Fortunately for me MTH has released a few versions of these. This set from 2022 is a Proto Sound 3.0 engine but since I lack any modern control system I run it in conventional mode and that's fine with me. The start up sounds, running sounds, horn, bell, and squealing brakes when it slows down is enough for me. What it does however need, is a few appropriate looking cars to go between the engine and caboose.

I left this running and went to make lunch a little bit ago and realized I could hear the sounds throughout the house. I came back in the office to pull it down and turn the sound down. It smokes like you wouldn't believe too. I put some JT Megasteam in it and it started billowing away. I need to get some unscented or maybe the diesel scented because all I have is the coal fired steamer I use in the Polar Express set.

I have all the switches and the crossings how would I assemble this out of fasttrack .Would it even work ?

I’ve never seen one of these with a pinkish/red/white pattern on the part that the air goes in, forgot what that’s called but it’s so pretty. I’m hoping to operate this at my club once I get one of the wheels back on it.

Well I can’t hide this any longer. After a year (more like 8 months as I finished this like four months ago then burn out hit hard) of work, we finally have a mostly concept set accurate World Cruiser.
Thank you all for sticking with me on this journey as I’ve dived into the production, concept art, 3D modeling and printing.

I will admit that burn out has hit me hard. I was expecting to have a decently motorized version of this locomotive by the end of this year but the more I work on this and the more I try and cram stuff inside, the more exhausted I get.

That’s not saying I’m abandoning this project, I’ve put way too much time into this. But what I am doing is taking a much needed break. Im not sure how long it will be untill I begin working on this again but rest assured, the World Cruiser isn’t going anywhere!

She’s already been to her first train show and despite nobody knowing what she was, it was still nice to finally show her off to the public!

Mine is the same except the boxcar is a darker tan.

I wanted to share my new acquisition.

I am so happy with this locomotive and a complete se5 with 8 box cars.

I know a lot of you were wanting to see her move, so as on my current progress on the project, here’s the best videos of each improvement of the valve gear until the current design!

I just picked up a new o gauge set and noticed a grinding / higher pitch noise when it goes around corners. Is this normal? I’ve only ever ran one other engine and it never made the similar sound:

Got this Lionel 4-6-4 Hudson from a thrift store a couple days ago but I’m having a hard time fixing the motor. Is there any way I can fix this?