How to Build Your First Lionel Layout

Explains how to construct a Lionel train layout, from laying and wiring tracks to selecting cars and customizing scenery

In this Lionel construction lesson for novices, Trzoniec begins with a salute to the toy company and then proceeds to the essence: nailing together a four-by-eight-foot table; laying and wiring Lionel's distinctive triple-rail track; selecting engines, cars, and buildings for Plasticville (an actual promotional name from Lionel's 1940s heyday); and customizing the scenery--not forgetting the obligatory tunnel. Exactly captioned pictures complete the utility of the guide, which, though usually distributed through hobby store sales, merits library stocking because of the immense popularity of model railroads. Gilbert Taylor