The+Trains+of+Kansas

I will visit various railroad locations in Kansas, and report back about what's there, what I think of the location, and post some pictures of the location. I will also post videos of the location. Comment in the discussion if you know of a place where you'd like me to go, or have an idea about something else.

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=__The Abilene & Smokey Valley Railroad__= ==The Abilene and Smokey Valley Railroad, known as the ASVRR for short, is located in Abilene, Kansas, along Highway 15. The railroad operates over five miles of trackage, but owns another twelve miles which have flood damage. This railroad owns a total of five powered units, three of which are diesels, and another is a railbus, a bus that rides on rails. You can probably tell what the other unit is by the photo above this text. That's right, a steam locomotive. Their steamer, Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe #3415, was built in June of 1919 by Baldwin Locomotive Works, located in Philadelphia.== ==The city of Abilene donated the locomotive to the ASVRR in 1996, after sitting 41 years in Eisenhower Park. The loco was placed on display in the ASVRR yard for nine years, until the railroad could earn grant money for the restoration. In 2005, the restoration started with the construction of an enginehouse, to protect 3415 during the restoration, and on non operation days in the future.== ==After the enginehouse had been completed, restoration began. 3415 was in surprisingly good shape. There were a bit of problems in the firebox, though. In the firebox, there was some corrosion. One of the volunteers on the railroad told me this was caused by kids using the bathroom in the firebox! I would definitely not do that! #3415 was steamed up for the first time in November 2008, and ran to the depot in December. She entered regular service in May 2009. The railroad's diesels came from the Hutchinson & Northern Railroad in Hutchinson, Kansas. H&N #40, the railroad's tourist hauling diesel, was built in 1949 by American Locomotive Company, better known as ALCO. The locomotive is an S-1 class switcher, and pulled hoppers full of salt on the Hutchinson & Northern's small three mile trackage, which was an interchange with the Cotton Belt, Union Pacific, and Santa Fe. The railroad aquired this locomotive along with two smaller switchers from the H&N in 1994 when the railroad first opened. The two smaller switchers are used in the yard when needed. Another H&N locomotive is on display at the Underground Salt Museum in Hutchinson. That locomotive is an electric, not a diesel.==

I hope you enjoyed learning about the Abilene & Smokey Valley Railroad. I encourage you to visit them sometime!
=TRAIN TRIP=

[] Website for the Great Plains Transportation Museum in Wichita
=The Midland Railway=

Please excuse me if I get any of these facts wrong, I have not visited this railroad in a LONG time.
==The Midland Railway is stationed in Baldwin City, Kansas (it's more of a tiny town than a city). They run two passenger trains, the one hour train, and the two hour train. The trains run to Norwood, Ottawa Junction, and no where (that's really what it's called, because it's out in the open and not even close to a town). A reason that I really like this railroad is where you can sit in the cars. You can sit in a passenger car, you can sit in the top or bottom of the double deck car and, the best of all, one of the cabooses! Baldwin City to Norwood costs $10 for ages 12 and over, Baldwin City to Ottawa Junction costs $15, and Baldwin City to Nowhere costs $7. That's another reason I like the Midland Railway, prices are pretty cheap (on the Abilene and Smokey Valley, it costs $13.50, and that's just to go 5 miles. At the Midland Ry, you go 11 miles)!== ==This railroad owns many historic diesel locomotives. There are two Alco RS units, New York Central RS-3 #8255 and Missouri-Kansas-Texas (also known as the Katy) RS3M #142. #8255 usually pulls the one hour train, and 142 usually pulls the two hour train. Midland Railway also owns CB&Q (widely known as the Burlington) NW-2 #524. Their best diesels of all are the Rock Island E units, which are painted for the Rocket. These locomotives are currently inoperable (well, one of the two is, and they're stuck in front of a hole which was caused by a washout), so they do not run. Also, the Rock Island E units were recently sold to Iowa, and have moved there for a restoration. Something of curiosity I have is that the Midland Railway used to own a steam engine, a 2-8-2 tank engine of the Mineret type. This locomotive, Coos Bay Lumber #10, was going to be restored and converted to a tender engine. Rumor has it that the engine was sold to Florida in the early 2000's, like 2000, 2001, or 2002, and it is on display at a mall in Lake City, Florida. Although this is probably true, it may be somewhere else in Florida.== ==This railroad has a beautiful depot, formerly Santa Fe (the railroad runs on former Santa Fe trackage). Baldwin City depot houses the Midland Railway's gift shop and ticket office, and the waiting room. It also has that smell, the smell of old depots that I love (it smells like old wood). I like the smell because it sort of informs me that I will be taking an exciting journey.==

I hope you want to visit the Midland railway now, and you can visit their website at []. But let me warn you, it's three hours from Newton!
Here is Misourri Kansas Texas RS3M #142 on the left, and New York Central RS-3 #8255 on the right.

Here are the Rock Island Rocket locomotives on the left, and Coos Bay Lumber Company #10 while under restoration in 1999 or 2000.

=__Great Plains Transportation Museum__=

This is about the place we would have been going if the train trip hadn't been canceled.
==The Great Plains Transportation Museum is located in Wichita on a bridge over Douglas street, next to the big train station. You will also notice another building that is a restaurant and looks like a train station, that is because it used to be a train station, before the big station was built. The building for the train museum is on the right side of the street if you see a steam engine on the bridge in front of you, and on the left if you see a diesel. When you walk inside, you find the gift shop, which is where you pay admission, and the stairs that lead up to the bridge. If you climb up the stairs, you will find some nice indoor displays, including locomotive pieces like a bell, a whistle, and a headlight. Then, you go out the door that says "TO THE TRAINS", and out there is where it all happens.== ==There are many pieces of equipment that the museum owns, and their pride & joy is former Santa Fe 4-8-4 steam locomotive #3768. This locomotive was built in 1938 by Baldwin Locomotive Works, and is one of only three surviving Santa Fe 4-8-4 Northerns in the 3700 series. This engine is also the largest surviving Santa Fe passenger locomotive. There are some larger Santa Fe Northerns surviving, but they were designed for freight service. You can actually get in the cab of 3768, and you are also able to climb on the front of the locomotive, and on the running boards, but that isn't a very good idea. In the cab, you can mess with all the controls (don't worry, you can't really break anything or make anything happen). The best part is ringing the bell! You stand up on the seat on the left side, and pull on the cord. It's kind of hard, you have to pull hard and slow.==

==The other large locomotive at GPTM is Santa Fe FP45 #93, which was built in 1967, as part of Santa Fe's last order of passenger locomotives. It was originally numbered 103, and then was renumbered to 106, then back to 103, then 5943, and finally 93. It is rusting somewhat, and needs to be repainted. I've heard that the engine needs a new alternator to become operational. Inside the cab of this engine, you can mess with the controls, just like on 3768 and all the other engines at the museum. I found that it is particularly fun to pretend to be engineer in one of the locomotives, because you can mess with the controls.==

==Moving on, we find a small black diesel switcher, and a small blue diesel switcher. The black one was built by Whitcomb, and worked in Agusta during its life. The blue locomotive was built by Plymouth, a very popular industrial locomotive company, and worked at Kansas Gas & Electric, which is now Westar Energy. I've heard that both of these locomotives are operational, but know for a fact that the blue locomotive is. Inside the cab of the black engine, there is a handrung bell, and this bell is much easier to ring than the bell on 3768. In the cab of the blue locomotive, there is no bell, but there is a whistle that the museum installs when this locomotive is operational. I would not reccomend messing with the controls on this guy, because you may start up something.== ==The last locomotive at GPTM is Burlington Northern NW-2 switcher #421. This is former Frisco #261, but when Frisco was merged into Burlington Northern, the locomotive was renumbered #421 and painted green and white from its original red and white. Inside the cab, you can pull on the horn cord, and mess with all the other controls. There's even a cooler inside! The Great Plains Transportation Museum is planning on restoring this locomotive, because it is more powerful than the little blue switcher, and they may even be able to give rides around the yard.==

There are also many cabooses at GPTM! Climb into one! Pretend to be the conductor! Sit in the top cupola! Nothing better than that!
==The last part of this museum is the restoration yard. Way in the back, you will see a lot of old railroad equipment, and those are either being restored or awaiting a restoration. Currently, there is an electric locomotive being restored back there, with the motors and hoods and all the mechanical goodies taken off. It looks kind of like a portapotty on a flat car with handrails. There is also an old trolley car there, and I am not sure what the museum is doing with it. DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT climb on the restoration equipment; it is very dangerous. Look but don't touch.==

Well, I hope you want to go to this museum now! To celebrate the end of the schoolyear, we may do this as a fieldtrip in ELP.


Here is Santa Fe #3768 after she got a new coat of paint in August 2009 on the left, and ATSF #93 on the right, in 2006 maybe.



Here is Burlington Northern #421 on display on the left, and the blue Plymouth locomotive while in operation on the right.

=Understanding Steam Locomotive Wheel Arrangements= ==You will notice that when I post things about steam engines, I have numbers like "4-8-4" or "2-8-2". Those are wheel arrangements. For example, a 4-8-4 has 4 small wheels in front, 8 large driving wheels in the middle, and 4 small trailing wheels in back to hold the firebox, hence "4-8-4". It may look like a 2-4-2, but you add the wheels from the other side of the engine, and you get 4-8-4. You don't pronounce it like "4 dash 8 dash 4", you say "4 8 4". And for the engines with no wheels in the back or the front, instead of saying "zero", you say "oh". You will also notice there are names that I add, like "Northern" or "Pacific" for instance. There is a name for each wheel arrangement, and a few of which I do not know. I will add examples of wheel arrangements and their names below. For the ones I don't know the names of, I'll add "no name". These are all the wheel arrangements known to exist.==

ooOOOOOOo 4-12-2 Union Pacific ooOOOOOo 4-10-2 Overland ooOOOOO 4-10-0 El Gobernador oOOOOOoo 2-10-4 Texas oOOOOOo 2-10-2 Santa Fe oOOOOO 2-10-0 Decapod OOOOOo 0-10-2 Union oooOOOOooo 6-8-6 No Name ooOOOOoo 4-8-4 Northern ooOOOOo 4-8-2 Mountain ooOOOO 4-8-0 Mastadon oOOOOoo 2-8-4 Berkshire oOOOOo 2-8-2 Mikado oOOOO 2-8-0 Consolidation OOOO 0-8-0 Eight Wheel Switcher ooOOOoo 4-6-4 Hudson ooOOOo 4-6-2 Pacific ooOOO 4-6-0 Ten Wheeler oOOOo 2-6-2 Prairie (there is no 2-6-4) oOOO 2-6-0 Mogul OOO 0-6-0 Six Wheel Switcher ooOOoo 4-4-4 Jubilee ooOOo 4-4-2 Atlantic ooOO 4-4-0 American oOOoo 2-4-4 Forney oOOo 2-4-2 Columbia oOO 2-4-0 No Name OOoo 0-4-4 Forney OOo 0-4-2 No Name OO 0-4-0 Four Wheel Switcher

=Articulated Locomotives= ==Articulated locomotives have two or three sets of drive wheels, the big wheels that power the engine. The front set of wheels can also pivot away from the boiler, allowing the locomotive to make tight turns. Here are the articulated locomotives.== oOOOOO OOOOOo 2-10-10-2 No Name ooOOOO OOOOoo 4-8-8-4 Big Boy ooOOOO OOOOo 4-8-8-2 Cab Forward oOOOO OOOO OOOOo 2-8-8-8-2 Triplex oOOOO OOOOoo 2-8-8-4 Yellowstone oOOOO OOOOo 2-8-8-2 No Name oOOOO OOOO 2-8-8-0 No Name OOOO OOOO 0-8-8-0 Angus oOOO OOOO 2-6-8-0 No Name ooOOO OOOoo 4-6-6-4 Challenger oOOO OOOooo 2-6-6-6 Allegheney oOOO OOOo 2-6-6-2 Prairie Mallet oooOO OOooo 6-4-4-6 Duplex S1 ooOO OOoo 4-4-4-4 Duplex T1 ooOO OOO oo 4-4-6-4 Duplex Q-2 ooOOO OOoo 4-6-4-4 Duplex Q-1 oOO OOo 2-4-4-2 No Name

=Heart of the Heartlands Railroad Museum= ==In the tiny town of Carona, KS, you will find a fairly large collection of railroad equipment. This is the Heart of the Heartlands Railroad Museum. The museum is pretty close to Big Brutis, so be sure to stop by when you go on a family road trip. Carona is about 3 hours away from Newton.==

==When you pull into the gravel parking lot, you will see a gray building, which is the gift shop and indoor museum. There are several nice things inside, with some models built by a friend of my dad's, and other railroad memorobilia. Outside is where the trains are.==

==This isn't as big as the museum in Wichita, but it's big enough to be interesting. The railroad has three locomotives on display, two of which are operational. Sorry, no steamers. They may even let you in the cab of the largest locomotive, which is a former Santa Fe CF7 type. This engine pulls the pumpkin patch train that the museum hosts. Behind this engine are a string of three RDC Budd cars with the motors removed. And on the hind end is another locomotive, South East Kansas #1274. This engine was originally built for Union Pacific. This is an EMD SW10 switcher. The last locomotive is a small Plymouth diesel, Missouri Pacific #3001. This engine was built in 1932, and was one of the first diesels that Misourri Pacific owned. It was cosmetically restored in 1999.==

==There are also several cabooses. I am not sure if you are allowed to get inside of these, but you should ask before you do. The last rolling stock you will find are several freight cars. After that, we come to the buildings.==

==Carona was a junction on the Misourri Pacific, and had a nice little passenger depot. After it was taken out of service, it was moved away from the tracks and turned into a hay loft. After several years with hay sitting in it and the depot in danger with termite damage, the family that owned the depot donated it to the museum. It has since been restored. The other depot, from Boston (not Boston, MA, it's Boston, MO), was bought in 2005 and restored. It is older than the Carona depot I believe, and it was retired in the 30's or 40's. The town name of Boston has since changed. There is also a large collection of signals at the museum, but I cannot remember them very well.==

I hope you enjoyed learning about the Carona Depot Museum. Stop by if you're visiting Big Brutis!
On the left is Misourri Pacific Plymouth switcher #3001 on display with a caboose, and on the right is former Santa Fe #2542 (now South East Kansas 1000), the museum's CF7.

On the left here is the depot from Boston, Misourri, and on the right is South East Kansas (formerly Union Pacific) #1274, an SW10 locomotive.

Finally, we have the Carona Depot. This depot had to be saved from termite damage.

=Model Trains=

PLEASE READ BROCHURE BEFORE YOU READ THIS
==To get started with model trains, you need a starter set. Before you choose a starter set, you should choose a scale. HO is the most common, while O gauge can be fun. G gauge requires a larger space, and is usually set up in the backyard. N gauge is the second smallest scale, so it is kind of hard to use. S gauge is smaller than O but larger than HO. Finally, we have Z scale which is the smallest, and it's also pretty expensive.==

=Choosing a Starter Set=

G Scale:


Here are the G scale trains I reccomend. On the top left is the Aristocraft 0-4-0 Freight Set. It comes with an 0-4-0 tank engine, a 20' gondola, a bobber caboose, a 4' diameter circle of curved track, a transformer, and a remote control. Next is the Aristocraft Lil' Critter Freight Set. It comes with all the same things as the 0-4-0 set, but instead of an 0-4-0 locomotive it has a Lil' Critter diesel locomotive. Finally is the USA Trains NW-2 Freight set. This comes with an N-W2 diesel locomotive, a 40' boxcar, a woodsided caboose, an oval of track including a circle of 4' curves with two 1' straights to make it an oval, and a transformer/controller. If you want a passenger train, Aristocraft also makes the 0-4-0 sets with passenger cars.

O Scale:




First, we see the Atlas O 4-4-2 Freight Set. This comes with an Atlas O Industrial Rail 4-4-2 locomotive, two Atlas O Industrial Rail freigt cars, an Atlas O Industrial Rail caboose, a 40"x 60" oval of Atlas O Industrial Rail track, and an Atlas O 80 watt transformer/controller. These come in various roadnames, and there is also a variation that comes with 3 freight cars and a 40"x 70" oval of track, and a 5 car work train that includes a crane and a handcar along with the 4-4-2 loco, 3 freight cars, a work caboose, and a 40"x 70" oval of track. Atlas O also makes a passenger train. Next is the MTH 4-6-0 set. This includes a 4-6-0 steam locomotive and tender which include MTH's ProtoSound 2.0 command control and sound system, 2 freight cars and a caboose (or 3 passenger cars), a 31"x 51" circle of MTH's Realtrax track sytsem, a 50 watt transformer, and the MTH DCS Remote Commander remote control. MTH also makes an Amtrak F40PH set, an SD70ACE set, and an F3 set. The ProtoSound 2.0 sound system is controlled from the DCS Remote Commander, and has very realistic sound. The remote also controls speed and direction. Finally is Lionel. Lionel makes a whole wide variety of sets, including freight sets with 0-8-0 steam locomotives, freight sets with 2-8-4 steam locomotives, passenger sets with FT diesels, freight sets with GP38 diesels, and freight and passenger sets with 4-4-0 steam locomotives. These all include a 40"x 60" oval of Lionel's Fastrack system, and CW80 transformer/controllers with all of these sets, except for a few which have a different track layout. These either include Lionel's Trainsounds system, Lionel's Railsounds sytem, an air whistle, an electronic whistle, or an electronic horn. Lionel also makes a couple special sets with RS3 diesels, GP7 diesels, and GG1 electrics.

S Gauge:
For S gauge, I reccomend an S Helper Service starter set. They make these with SW-1 diesels, SW-9 diesels, NW-2 diesels (I'm not sure about the NW-2's, but I think that they might come in sets), and F3 and F7 diesels. The SW-9 starter set is shown. These all include three, four or five freight cars, a caboose, a DC powerpack or a Lenz DCC system, and a loop of the S Helper Service S Trax system. In the sets that come with a DCC system, the locomotive is equipped with a Sountraxx Tsunami DCC Sound decoder. These sets have very highly detailed pieces, and the engines that don't have the DCC decoder can run on AC or DC power.

HO Scale:


At the top is the Athearn Warbonnet Express set. This is headed by an Athearn F7 locomotive, with three freight cars, a caboose, a 36"x 45" oval of Bachmann's EZ Track, and an Athearm powerpack. Athearn also makes another train set, the Iron Horse Express, which includes a GP38 diesel. At the bottom is the Atlas Trainman train set. This includes an Atlas Trainman GP40 or GP38-2 (I'm not sure which), 3 Atlas Trainman freight cars, an Atlas Trainman caboose, a 36"x 45" oval of Atlas TrueTrack track, and an Atlas powerpack. These sets have a lot of detail, and the locomotive is DCC ready so DCC can be installed in it at any time.

N Scale:
Here is the Kato Super Chief starter set. It includes a Kato Santa Fe F7 locomotive, a loop of Kato Unitrack, 3 Santa Fe passenger cars, and a Kato powerpack. Kato also makes an Amtrak starter set. The Kato locomotives run very smooth, and the cars (as well as the engine) are very, very highly detailed.

=Wilesco Steam Engine= ==A couple of months ago, maybe in February, Mr. Dick bought a Wilesco steam engine. I don't mean steam locomotive, I mean engine. We fired it up on April 12, 2011. I believe that this is a D8 type steam engine, which isn't being made right now. It has a blue plastic smoke stack (the original had the texture of bricks), a pressure gauge (which will soon be replaced with a whistle), a pop-off, safety valve or pressure release valve, whatever you want to call it, a boiler, a firebox, and a piston with a wheel. To start it up, you put water into the boiler through the pressure release valve, and make sure that the boiler is all the way full, or 3/4 of the way full. Next, you place the fuel tablets into the firebox, and light them with a match (leave the used match in the firebox, this can be used as fuel). Wait about ten minutes, and then try turning the wheel a little by hand. If it moves off on its own, then you have enough pressure. If not, then wait a couple minutes more for the pressure to build up. Then turn the wheel with your hand. Make sure that the boiler is at least 1/4 of the way full. If you can't see the water in the boiler and the fire is still burning, then IMMEDIATELY take out the fuel tray from the firebox, and open the pressure release valve and blow the whistle, if it has a whistle. To shut it down, just take the fuel tray out of the firebox, and if it's still burning, put out the fire with either some water, or blow it out like a candle. I reccomend blowing it out. After that, take the fuel out of the fuel tray and clean out the ashes. Finally, empty out the water from the boiler. Here is a picture of the steam engine.==



=The History of Lionel Model Trains= ==The history of Lionel starts in 1900. Joshua Lionel Cowen was asked to make a miniature electric car that rode on rails for a Christmas display in a storefront. This car resembled a railroad gondola car. The gondola was the very first train made by Lionel. In 1901, JLC (Joshua Lionel Cowen) made a reissue of the car. The original 1900 car probably doesn't exist anymore, but there are a few of the 1901 cars surviving. One of Lionel's next trains was the "Pay As You Enter" trolley, built in 1909. Soon, Lionel would move to tinplated standard gauge trains (about the size of G scale) and smaller tinplate O gauge trains. The most popular standard gauge trains had to be the Blue Comet, with a handsome (and huge) 400E 4-4-4 steam locomotive up front, the State Set with two-tone brown cars named after the states and a 408E electric locomotive on the head end, and the Stephen Girard set with a 392E 4-4-2 steam locomotive and two-tone green passenger cars. There were also smaller O gauge versions of these. The year of 1935 brought train sounds for Lionel. Earlier, Lionel had tried to make a steam locomotive chuff sound with an electric doorbell buzzer, but it just sounded like an electric doorbell buzzer. Then, in 1935, came the first good sound: the air whistle. Actually, Lionel still uses it some in the modern era! It was really just like a real steam whistle, operated by air. This sounded just like the real thing! In 1937, Lionel leapt to the front of model train manufacturing with their 700E 4-6-4 Hudson locomotive. It was said that JLC's favorite locomotive was the Hudson. In the 1930's, S gauge manufacturers were sort of making fun of Lionel for not having scale sized trains. At the time, Lionel was making semi-scale O-27 trains, which were smaller than the full O gauge size of 1:48. So, on the 700E Hudson, Lionel got back at the S gauge manufacturers by making the 700E scale sized, and adding more detail than usually done on any toy train back then. After World War 2 had ended in 1945, Lionel started on a new era, and probably their best era before modern day times-the postwar era. Lionel ramped up the things they were making. They dropped the whole standard gauge line, and started using plastic over tin used in the prewar era. Lionel still made the steamers die cast metal, though. Lionel introduced their best locomotives-the 2200 and 2300 series F3 diesels, of which the most famous was the 2343 Santa Fe Warbonnet. There was also the Canadian Pacific, the Milwaukee Road, the New Haven, the Western Pacific, the Northern Pacific, the Union Pacifc, and the Illinois Central. I wonder if I missed any! Lionel introduced a diesel horn sound with the F3. It was a bicycle horn powered with a D cell battery. It sounded good, but if the battery was left inside too long, it would leak and ruin some of the electronics. There were also the 600 series steam turbine locomotives, with the 671 and others. There were also the 736 and 726 Berkshire 2-8-4 locomotives, which were very reliable. Lionel made more Hudsons, such as the 2055. Probably one of the most notable Lionel postwar engines was the 2026, being made in 2-6-4 and 2-6-2 wheel configurations. Another reliable runner was the 1666 2-6-2, which wasn't paid much attention. In the late 1950's, Lionel introduced Super O track, and also HO scale. In the Super O line, there were also good trains. There was the biggest engine that Lionel made in the postwar era, the 746 4-8-4 Northern. This engine resembled the Norfolk and Western J class locomotive. There were also the Rectifier electric engines, and the General 4-4-0 locomotive. Something that Lionel made just before the postwar era was OO scale, being about the same as HO. In the 1960's, Lionel started going downhill. They made it look like they were still climbing, though. Lionel introduced things other than trains, such as slot cars, boats, and even science labs. The trains started losing quality, with plastic shells on the steam engines, and other cheap things. They almost went out of business.In the 1970's, the MPC era started. Lionel was bought by MPC, and things were taken upward a little, but not much. In the MPC era, Lionel did make some notable trains such as the Chessie Steam Special with a 2-8-4 Berkshire engine, a Great Northern 4-8-4, a Union Pacific 2-8-4, a Southern Crescent train with a 4-6-4 Hudson, and a Chicago and Albany train with a Hudson. These introduced some more new sound systems: the Mighty Sound of Steam and the electronic whistle. The Mighty Sound of Steam sounded like real steam chuffing, and the electronic whistle sounded somewhat like a whistle. Also, a new diesel horn sound was introduced, but it didn't work very well. In 1989, Lionel was bought by Richard Kughn, and began on a new era: the Kughn era. Richard joined up with Neil Young (yes, Neil Young the musician) to make a new sound system, an electronic sound system that included a nice sounding chuff with steamers, the roaring of diesel engines for diesels, robust sounding steam whistles and diesel horns, and clanging bells: Railsounds. This sound system debuted on the B6 0-6-0 switcher steam locomotive, and it was a hit! The sound system was used on steam engines in 1990 such as the New York Central 4-8-2, the Reading T-1 4-8-4, the Southern Pacific Daylight GS-2 4-8-4, the Santa Fe modern diesel set, and the Santa Fe F3 Warbonnet diesels. Lionel leaped forward again in 1995, when Neil Young developed the Trainmaster Comand Control system. This would allow you to control one, two, or more locomotives on the same track, at the same time, all indepentently! With standard conventional control, the trains are controlled by how much voltage you would add to the track. The more voltage you added, the faster the train would go. When you took away voltage, the train would go slower. With Trainmaster Command Control, there was a constant 18 volts (which was about full speed in conventional) on the track at all times. The trains were controlled via radio signal with TMCC (Trainmaster Command Control), with an extra circuit that made the engine "smarter". Lionel started improving Railsounds, so it would sound even more realistic, with things such as steam blow offs, and coupler clanks. There were also ElectroCouplers, which automatically opened the couplers on a locomotive at the touch of a button on the TMCC Cab 1 remote. In the early 2000's, Lionel was sold again. Now we enter the modern era. In 2001, Lionel introduced the JLC line of locomotives, being very highly detailed. This was kicked off with a 4-6-6-4 Challenger locomotive. Lionel had gotten up to Railsounds 3.0 with the Kughn era, and in about 2002, it was brought to Railsounds 4.0. This sounded very, very realistic, with people talking, and other enhanced sounds. Lionel also enhanced detail, making more scale locomotives, and making them more highly detailed. In 2004, Lionel finally reached Railsounds 5.0, but still used 4.0 on less expensive locomotives, just advertising it as "Railsounds", with no numbers. Lionel kept on with these until 2006, when the Legacy command control system was introduced on the JLC series 4-8-8-4 Big Boy. The Legacy system is really just an updated version of TMCC, with new things such as an LCD screen. Lionel kept those same things until 2009, which was really a turning point for Lionel. 2009 brought the VisionLine, with awesome detailing, and live action things such as swinging bells, steam coming out of whistles, and blowoffs of steam. 2009 was also the last year that TMCC was cataloged, and Lionel moved on to sell just Legacy, but still sold TMCC equipped engines. Now, we move to present day. Lionel has stopped selling TMCC engines altogether, but still sell some small equipment equipped with TMCC. This year, Lionel didn't catalog VisionLine, but they have said they will later this year. This is the full history of Lionel. I hope you enjoyed it!==