Model Train Journal

Remember, last year, I wondered what size automobiles fit the Lionel Open Frame Autorack cars?
The image on the box gives a clue. It is full size and the automobile images measure 1:64 scale (3/16 inch to the foot.)

The first and third cars on the autorack are two of eight 1:64 sized automobiles packaged with a Lionel 6-16208 autorack.

I paid $45.56 just to get the automobiles. I see today a 6-16208 is available for $28+$13+$1.68=$42.68 (Price, Shipping, Tax.)

The second car is a Hot Wheels purchased at Krogers Super Market for $1.19 + 6% tax.

The fourth car is a Matchbox car purchased at Walmart for $1.19 + 6% tax.

The two 1:64 cars I ordered last September from DieCastDirect have not arrived yet.

Unlike Midwestern Model Works (MWW,) I did not have to pay upfront for the cars.* DieCastDirect does not charge for models until they ship.
Reference: viewtopic.php?f=10&t=19829

*No, I have never ordered from MWW. I just used MWW as a bad example.

Interesting that they made O-gauge auto-racks that only handle 1/64-scale stuff. It kinda harkens back to the notion that these things truly are toys as originally intended, not "models" in any sense.

I sold off most of my 1/64-scale diecast a few years back. I had a bunch of it I once used on an S-gauge layout that I built, but that's been gone for a long time. I still have a bunch of the Lledo stuff, which I find terrifically entertaining, and a number of models made by Kyosho that I used to get from a friend of mine who lives in Japan.

Here's a flat car I made a few years back using a prewar four-wheel Lionel frame and a Lledo ambulance model:





I have no problem mixing up the scales a bit, but than all my stuff is pretty clearly a toy. On the track and on the layout, this Lledo looks noticeably undersized, but it still looks interesting to me.

healey36 wrote:Interesting that they made O-gauge auto-racks that only handle 1/64-scale stuff.

Well, some compromise is often used for running on 27 inch diameter O-gauge track.
1:64 fits nicely but other sizes could fit.
1:48 Scale almost fits.
1:50 Scale
1:54 Scale
1:64 Scale


Back in the good old days, real railroads ran different equipment sizes on 4-foot, 8.5-inch gauge track. It is not un-prototypical.

Marx 51100 Southern auto-rack:



Vintage unknown, but presumably late-production (plastic trucks and plastic scissor-couplers).

I need to find a decent Marx guide. Most of those I've seen are long out of print.

healey36 wrote:Marx 51100 Southern auto-rack

I need to find a decent Marx guide. Most of those I've seen are long out of print.

I like the 51100 auto-rack.

A search for Louis Marx Co on the Internet Archive turns up a 1950's Marx Catalog but no Marx 51100 Southern auto-rack.

Some things I enjoyed on the Internet Archive just now"
https://archive.org/details/Marx-Accessories-Cat-c1950s
https://archive.org/details/greenbergsg ... 1/mode/2up (This one requires borrowing to look at all the pages. Borrowing is painless. I read and returned it in about 5 minutes.
https://archive.org/details/lionel-vs-a ... toy-trains

I once had one of these Marx windup tin toy trains that ran in a circle. For some reason, I find it a lot more charming now than when I was 5 years old.

A little research on the 1:64 scale cars that came with the Lionel Auto Carrier With Six Die-Cast Cars 6-16208.

Three of the cars are 1986 Buick Grand Nationals (the other three are Corvettes.)
All six were made by M.C. Toys in Macau.

M.C. Toy is an acronym for "May Cheong Toy Company," a Hong Kong toy company founded in 1967 by brothers P.Y. Ngan and Y.C. Ngan. The company initially sold its products under the M.C. Toy brand, which used the initials of the company name. Around 1990, the company began using the name Maisto for its products, and the M.C. Toy brand was eventually discontinued.

Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maisto

Healey36's Lledo ambulance model may have a slight connection to Macau.

Hong Kong and Macau are located at the east and west sides of the Pearl River Delta respectively, with a close distance of about 64 kilometres (40 mi) in between. On the other hand, Hong Kong is Macau's largest export destination.

Lledo was a British manufacturing company founded in 1982 by Matchbox co-founder Jack Odell, and Burt Russell, and based in Enfield. The factory produced mainly die-cast scale model commercial vehicles, and also cars, from 1983 to 1999, when the company went into bankruptcy.

"Lledo" was a reversal of Odell's own surname, a mnemonic device from war days in the African desert so as not to forget his wireless call sign.

Lledo set out to specialize in replicating early Matchbox series styles, particularly the Models of Yesteryear range. Odell and Russell bought machinery from the Universal company, which had purchased the Matchbox plant and shipped it to Macau. The tooling they purchased was re-shipped back to Enfield, England where in April 1983 the new "Days Gone" range was launched. The name is a nice continuation of Matchbox's nostalgic "Yesteryear" theme. Models were later made in China.

Where in China? Macau is a special administrative region of China, which maintains separate governing and economic systems from those of mainland China. Was it Macau?

Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lledo
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hong_Kong ... _relations

The Motherlode Of Hot Wheels Cars Is For Sale
https://www.theautopian.com/the-motherl ... ook-at-it/

one of the biggest Hot Wheels collections you’ll find outside of YouTube. Up for auction right now is an incredible collection of 4,500 scale model cars spanning about four decades and includes special editions and pretty much every conceivable automaker. There are so many Hot Wheels here that you’re going to need an entire room just to store them.

HONDO74 wrote:The Motherlode Of Hot Wheels Cars Is For Sale

There are so many Hot Wheels here that you’re going to need an entire room just to store them.

Maybe not an entire room, just 375 of these auto-racks I have been talking about.

I better let my wife know, I need the basement for my model railroad, this door layout is not going to hold my new Hot Wheels collection.



I guess you are right, HONDO74, an entire basement might be considered an entire room.

HONDO74 wrote:The Motherlode Of Hot Wheels Cars Is For Sale
https://www.theautopian.com/the-motherl ... ook-at-it/

one of the biggest Hot Wheels collections you’ll find outside of YouTube. Up for auction right now is an incredible collection of 4,500 scale model cars spanning about four decades and includes special editions and pretty much every conceivable automaker. There are so many Hot Wheels here that you’re going to need an entire room just to store them.

Junk. 4 decades of worthless collectibles. Takes it back to 1984-85 collector years. People figured they could horde this stuff and retire. Probably not one car worth more than a buck. Then you’ll pay the auctioneer to sell. The owner will be lucky to see $3,000

Some of the early red-lines are worth some money if you find the right collector, but many, like you said, not worth much. The same can be said for most of the toy train stuff.

That said, I’ll be the first to admit I occasionally pause at the Hot Wheels/Matchbox rack at Walmart. They are just fun.

In the spirit of instant gratification and despite a pledge to stop buying stuff, picked up this MTH SP coach (30-6060S) off eBay, replacing the one I've misplaced or never had:



There's no place on this small layout to get a shot of the complete train.