The Lionel automatice uncoupler, the Fairbanks Morse TrainMaster, and the GG-1. The animated newstand and the quirky cattle car. Thesse are some of the pieces of Lionel legacy that toy trin enthusiasts worldwide have come to associate with Frant Pettit, whose career with Lionel spanned 35 years.
Yet there is something more to Frank Pettit than the locomotives, trains and accessories he developed. Something deeper. Something more complex. It Comes From Within: the Frank Pettit Story, a new book from the publishers of O Gauge Railroading.
For nearly 20 years, Christopher B. Ritchiehas worked at newspapers in four different states, earning money to put bread on the table and trains on a platform. In December, 1959, he received his first train set, an HO Lionel Santa Fe in warbonnet colors. He's gone on to build layouts in N, HO, O and G gauges. A member of the Train Collectors Association and the LGB MOdel Railroad Club, his freelance work has been featured in O Gauge Railroading and other train related magazines.