January 2010 - Volume #34

In This Issue: Happy New Year!! Lots of new stuff coming soon to Trainz.com Like to Write about Trains? We're looking for articles for the website Great buying opportunity for repairmen, collectors, and other train lovers Trainz visited Lionel's repair center over the Holidays Lionel Corporation items now available Trainz is now carrying Williams by Bachmann World's Greatest Hobby Show January 23/24 Trying to plan a layout? We can help! Monthly track plan--5x9 layout for two train operation New feature--the Rare Item of the Month No newsletter in December Life at Trainz Ask the Experts--Press the Whistle, get a Bell?

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Great Buying Opportunity for Collectors, Layout Builders, and Repairmen

New for 2010, Trainz is giving customers the opportunity to purchase items in bulk that do not enter our normal listing process. Buildings, scenery, die-cast vehicles, track, junk-condition trains and accessories, and other assorted bric-brac can be bid on and purchased from Trainz at great prices. The only rule is that the buyer must pick it up.

If you are interested, send us an email and we will put you on our Bulk Sales mailing list. When we get a lot together (each lot will normally be about a shelving-unit's worth) , we will email photos of the lot to everyone on the list, and you can submit a bid by email. Highest bid wins!

Again, the stipulation is that the lot must be picked up. If interested, please email Tommy at tommy@trainz.com and say you want to be on the Bulk Sales list.

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Trainz visited Lionel's Repair HQ

While visiting family over the holidays, Trainz owner and CEO Scott Griggs stopped by Lionel of Ohio, the new service headquarters for Lionel. Here are a couple of pictures Scott took while there:

Trainz has two full-time, Lionel-certified repairmen on staff who have attended Lionel's classes on repairing modern locomotives and accessories. We have a great working relationship with Lionel of Ohio and thank them for allowing us to stop by for a peek.

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Many Lionel Corporation Items Recently Released

In mid-December we had a truckload (literally) of the new 'Lionel Corporation' items arrive at our back door. For those not familiar with them, the Lionel Corporation line is a joint Lionel/MTH venture that is reproducing classic Standard and O Gauge trains from the Prewar Era. Old favorites like the 116 Station shown above are available at prices below the manufacturer's suggested retail.

To see the Lionel corporation items currently avaiable at Trainz, click here.

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Trainz Now Carrying Williams by Bachmann

We are pleased to announce that Trainz now carries Williams by Bachmann's new releases. Just search 'Williams' on our website to see our current inventory.

For those who are not familiar with the name, Williams Electric Trains were a staple of the 3-rail world for 30 years before being purchased by Bachmann in 2008. Williams makes reproductions of classic Lionel Postwar-Era trains as well as its own designs in a seemingly endless variety of roadnames and colors.

Technologically, Williams engines are about the equivalent of Lionel's Conventional Classics. Williams engines have a nice bell and whistle sound but do not have the complications of command control electronics. They are great pullers and reliable performers. If you an O Gauger who prefers running trains straight from the control handles of a ZW, Williams trains are right down your alley.

Plus, the prices are great. For example, Willaims makes the popular Union Pacific 'Heritage' SD90 Diesels (like the one pictured above), and we have them for just $159.99. The attractive-looking Lehigh Valley 2-8-4 above is just $249.99 here at Trainz.

We plan to continue to add to our Williams offerings in the near future. Be sure to take a look!

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If you Live in Washington, DC, Look for Us at the World's Greatest Hobby Show in January

We are planning to set up a display at the upcoming World's Greatest Hobby show in Washington, DC [well, Chantilly, Virginia, to be exact]. The show will be at the Dulles Expo Center in Chantilly on January 23rd and 24th.

For those who have never attended a World's Greatest Hobby show, I strongly encourage you to make an effort to check it out. The WGH shows are fun for both serious hobbyists and those who have never been around trains and are packed with operating displays and rides for the kids. Also, major manufacturers like Lionel and MTH are usually there as well. It's a great introduction to the hobby. If you have a friend who might be interested in model trains, bring them along.

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Trying to Plan Your Layout? We Can Help!

Trainz now offers a layout design service. We will provide track plans for 3-rail O Gauge layouts in areas less than 400 square feet (a 20x20 foot area). Please email Tommy at tommy@trainz.com for details.

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Monthly Track Plan--Two-Train 5x9 Layout

This fun plan is based off of a track plan sketched out for a customer over the holidays. It consists of two independent loops connected by a pair of crossovers at the bottom. A passing siding and spur are included as well. The outer loop uses O48 curves, and the inner loop and all switches are O36. The key to this plan are the block sections, which separate the power between the two loops as well as the spur. They are denoted on the plan by the large circles.

This fun-to-operate layout fits in a reasonable amount of space (5x9 feet) and is perfect for someone with two trains.

The components needed to build this layout are as follows:

• 12 #12014 10" Straights

• 8 #12015 O36 Curves

• 7 #12024 5" Straights

• 5 #12026 1.75" Straights

• 1 #12042 30" Straight (or 3 additional #12014 Straights)

• 12 #12043 O48 Curves

• 3 #12045 O36 LH Remote Switches

• 4 #12046 O36 RH Remote Switches

• 1 #12054 Operating Track Section (optional)

• 1 #12035 Lighted Bumper

• 3 #12060 Block Sections

• 4 #12023 O36 1/4 Curve (included with switches)

This layout was designed using Fastrack design software by RR-Track, which is available on Trainz.com.

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New Feature: The Rare Item of the Month

Ridiculously Super-Rare 3530

Normal 3530

Beginning this month we are introducing a new feature to our newsletter, the Rare Item of the Month. Here we will feature a rare train, locomotive, car or accessory that passed through Trainz at some point. Sometimes it will be an item currently on the site, while others may be from a while ago. The Rare Item of the Month will not necessarily always be an expensive or well-known piece, just something strange that makes those of us here say 'hmm, I've never seen THAT before. . . '

Leading off this series is one of the rarest of all Postwar Lionel operating cars. At first glance both cars above look to be just regular 3530 Generator Cars, but on the left one 'EMD 3530' is underlined. According to The Authoritative Guide to Lionel's Postwar Operating Cars by Joe Algozinni and Emanuel Piazza, fewer than twelve cars with this variation exist. The one shown above came through Trainz about two years ago.

(While we no longer have the car, we have the book cited above, which is chock full of great information about Lionel's operating cars. It can be found by clicking here.)

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No December Newsletter

This is the first Trainz newsletter since November; our apologies for not sending one out in December. We plan to get back on our regular monthly schedule for newsletters in 2010. Keep an eye out for them in your inbox around the 20th of each month.

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Life at Trainz

Happy Birthdays to Tommy, our General Manager, and Tracy, one of our Copywriters. Tommy won't say how old he is, just that he remembers his parents owning 8-Track cassettes when he was a child, and when asked how many candles go his cake said 'just stick a blowtorch on it'.

It is hard to believe, but in March we celebrate 5 years at our current location, and as a result, we have begun performing some renovations to our building. We repainted our photography room in early January and also replaced the floor. Eagle-eyed Trainz customers may notice a minor difference in our photos due to different wall color in the room, which affects the digital cameras slightly (the new color makes the photos come out slightly better).

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Ask the Train Expert

Question: The other day I was hooking up my brand new New York Central Flyer set, which has the Trainsounds feature. Thing is, when I hit the whistle button, the bell rang, and the bell button made the whistle blow! What gives?

Answer: The fix is simple--reverse the wire connections on your transformer. Since the 1930s, Lionel whistles have been activated by sending a charge of DC current through the normally-AC-powered track. The DC current triggers a relay that turns on the sound.

With the advent of electronic whistles in the 1980s, it became possible to activate two sounds using the DC current, by reversing the polarity of the DC power going into the track for each feature. This is what enabled Lionel to add the bell feature to engines beginning in 1989.

If you cross the wires between the track and your transformer, that polarity relationship becomes reversed, and the buttons will activate the wrong sounds.