Notes on Building Compact Train Layouts

The trick to small layout design is to allow as much action as possible without clutter or cramming. You want trains to move. Scenery has to be added judiciously. You don’t want to pack things tightly. A good blend of track, structures, signals and natural things makes for a pleasant layout.

Know your trains. Know what you will run on the small layout. Understand that the value of compactness has a pay-off. In gaining action in a small space, you lose the ability to run larger trains. Shorter locomotives and cars thrive on a small pike as much as a large one. Even if they can make the curves and tolerances, large trains look awkward. Overhanging passenger cars and long freight cars detract from the appeal of running a train.

Several things affect the design of the track plan. Will it be realistic, whimsical, classic “tinscale” or something else? Do you want to run operating cars and accessories on it? How important is scenery? Do you want your scenery to look realistic, “tin-litho” or toy-like? Questions like these lead to developing the layout that best suits your desires.

Operating systems are less of an issue on a compact railway. The electronic systems like TMCC, DCS and DCC hit their stride with larger layouts. Much of their value is wasted on a small pike, where everything is pretty much in reach. Indeed, manual accessories and switches can be used comfortably on a very small layout. Transformer control is more than adequate. Likewise, wiring is much easier.

Understand that different brands and styles of track have different track geometry. Pick track that fits your area nicely.

Last, what is in your budget? You can make a small layout that is within your means. You can also add to it gradually.

The main rule is that it is YOUR  railroad so make it the way you want it.

Review: BMC Army Camp Equipment set

The Army Camp Equipment set by BMC is a reissue of the Marx originals. These were included in many of the Marx playsets. They were also copied by Payton and Tim Mee. The set includes three tents, two sets of stacked rifles, garbage cans, a recoilless rifle (looks to be the 75mm M20), a Bazooka, a .50 caliber machine gun, and an oversize water-cooled machine gun. A nice assortment of accessories for army men.

The tents and stacked rifles make for a nice bivouac scene. The heavier weapons have other uses. For instance, the Shambattle games call for each side having two machine guns and a cannon. One set of the Camp Equipment arms one side! The set also works well for OMOG, providing heavy weapons and camp accessories. They make excellent markers for battle games.

The .50 caliber machine gun is pretty good for a toy. Though the tripod is not realistic, the gun itself is surprising. The carrying handle on the barrel and the sight at as they should be. (If you have ever fired one of these weapons, you know what I mean.)

The recoilless rifle can be used “as is” or mounted on a vehicle. With more range and accuracy than a bazooka. the recoilless rifle was very popular with the troops.

I took one picture of the Camp Equipment with the recently-released BMC World war II soldiers. They look good together.

You can get the BMC Army Camp Equipment here  https://victorybuy.com/collections/bmc-toys

OMOG can be downloaded here: http://www.thortrains.net/milihistriot/downloads.html

and Here: http://www.thortrains.net/armymen/sandygme.htm

BMC Iwo Jima Marines and Japanese in Marx-compatible colors.

Some years ago, I bought the Iwo Jima playset by BMC. That was when it was first released. I liked it then. The ground base was cool, and the LVT and Sherman tank looked good. Though I liked the poses and detail, I thought the colors of the Japanese figures were a bit too orange. The Marines were a lighter OD shade. I later acquired more of the sage-green Marines and tangerine-colored Japanese.

The new Add-on set issued by BMC has 14 Japanese (2 of each pose), 12 Marines (1 of each pose) plus the six-man Iwo Jima flag-raising diorama. The figures have not changed. One thing that has changed is the availability of the Iwo Jima figures in new colors. responding to customer suggestions, BMC offers this set in both the original colors and in colors that are more compatible with Marx, Tim Mee, MPC and Lido troops. These new colors are a darker green for the Marines and a khaki tan for the Japanese.

What a difference color makes! Both Marine and Japanese figures look great in these colors. The colors make the details stand out better. Frankly, I like these Japanese troops better than the Airfix counterparts. Ditto for the Marines. The Airfix 1/32 Japanese and Marines are okay, but the BMC figures are better. As good as the Marx recast Japanese Infantry figures are, BMC’s Japanese troops have better detail. They might not have as many poses, but the BMC figures are much better detailed. BMC Japanese have 7 poses, Marx’s set has 12.

Many people do not know that the originals were made as painted metal figures by King & Country. BMC licensed the figures for the Iwo Jima Playset.

The set itself has plenty of firepower. Japanese forces have riflemen supported with light machine gunners and “knee mortars”. US Marines have riflemen, BAR gunners, a flamethrower and a bazooka.  There is also a peculiar figure of a Marine in life jacket standing on  box. He was supposed to ride wither in he landing craft or the LVT.

Consider it a plus that the Iwo Jima Marines and Japanese are affordable, quality figures. List price is $12.20 a bag. That includes 12 Marines, 14 Japanese and an Iwo Jima flag-raising piece with six more figures. Man for man, that is less than the average price for Marx recasts. Get while the getting is good!

The BMC set has enough troops for a game of OMOG Advanced, by the way. That would place 12 on the US side and 14 for the Japanese.
*****

So how do these new “Marx compatible” colors measure up against the old ones? Let’s take a look! I have plenty in the older colors: light (Sage) green Marines and orange-tan (Tangerine) Japanese. The darker Green Marines and Tan Japanese look much better than their light green and Tangerine counterparts. See for yourself!

Improved Flag on rifle for Tan figures

A bag of cabbage salad? No, these are the Iwo Jima figures in the old colors

******

You can get there here: https://victorybuy.com/collections/bmc-toys

Marine on box imitates politician on soap box. 

You can also get them here: https://bmctoys.com/

Review: BMC "Combat Soldiers 40 pieces 1950s plastic army men figures."

In case you did not know, Jeff Imel, who is behind the reissues of Tim Mee products, bought BMC. Work is currently in process to reissue some of the BMC classics. In the meantime, Jeff has reissued one of the cornerstones of plastic toy soldier collecting.

The Combat Soldiers are the old Lido American troops, cast from original molds. Even better, the molds have been restored. The current run of figures do not have the flash that some of the Tootsietoy reissues had. They are crisply molded, just like they were back in the old days. This set has ten different poses of World War II era American infantrymen.

We used to call these soldiers “flat foots”. Instead of having a base, their feet were flat enough to stand on a smooth surface. And for all the collectors’ talk of Marx figures, these flat-foots were the most common army men. They were in toy shops, general stores, and anywhere else small toys were sold. We had bushels of them! The only toy soldier set that has been more prolific is the Tim Mee M16 soldiers, which have been produced, copies and clones in greater abundance than any other plastic soldier. Even then, the Lido figures were more common well into the 1970s and had been reissued a few times since..

Plastic soldier collectors who want a good representative set of the Lido flat-foots would do well to acquire the BMC reissues. And with originals selling at a dollar apiece or more, the BMC recasts are a bargain.

One of the anomalies of this set is the four of the figures are identical to those in the old Marx 60mm infantry set. The main difference is that the Lido helmets have simulated netting molded on them while the Marx ones are plain. Apparently, both companies used the same sculptor.

The person who designed the flat-foots was on to something. As kids, we loved them. We could fit them in toy trucks and tanks, for instance. W could easily place them in the little foxholes were dug for them in the dirt. And for casualties, we just knocked them over. The Lido soldiers were perfect for indoors and outdoors.

As for Marx, I need to clarify things here. Marx was sold mainly in  toy stores and catalog sales (Sears, Monkey Wards, etc.). It was only later in the 60s that they appeared in some 5&10 stores like Kresges. Marx cost more. Lido and Tim Mee soldiers could be anywhere. They would be in general stores, corner candy stores, groceries and similar places. They were ubiquitous. Add that fact that many of our parents were Depression babies and looked for the cheapest things they could get. Bags of Lido, Tim Mee and Payton army men were cheap. In those days, a bag might cost anywhere from 19 cents to 29 cents. Two boys could pool their allowance, buy a bag an then “divvy them up.”  And we could get them tight in the neighborhood.  The nearest candy store or corner grocery was never more than two blocks away.

(Back then, corner stores often carried a few small toys and other things. Today we call them ‘impulse buys.”)

The Lido figure and the Tim Mee World War II soldiers had some great poses. The thing about Lido’s flat-foots was that the individual figures also had character. Along with dynamic poses. they had faces that were distinct. For instance, the officer waving his pistol looked like he was talking our the side of his mouth. (I tried that and got in trouble.) The bayonet guy looks like he is about to give a Japanese a dose of bayonet therapy. And the fellow with rifle overhead might be about to smash a latter day Hessian with a rifle butt, or cross a creek.

The BMC reissued Lido soldiers are a great asset for the plastic soldier collector. They look like they did 60+ years ago thanks to the restored mold. It is a good set to have. Likewise, those who enjoy painting toy soldiers can have a lot of fun with these guys. They are army men with character. Lido army men are essential to anyone who considers himself a collector of plastic soldiers

For more info about the original Lido soldiers, check here from the Army Men Homepage:

http://www.thortrains.net/armymen/lidogi1.html

You can order the BMC reissued flat-foot army men here:

https://www.amazon.com/BMC-Classic-Green-PLASTIC-ARMY/dp/B01NCV7H7G/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1493386181&sr=8-4&keywords=victorybuy

Ready Made Trains / Ready Made toys closing June 30

RMT Trains (Ready Made Toys) is closing next month. The owner want to retire. RMT made its place recasting KMT, Marx and K-Line trains and accessories. Their remaining stock is being sold here: http://www.readymadetoys.com/

 

I met Walter once at a show in Elizabeth, NJ, around `05. He was expanding his line of trains to include new road names. Back then, most of what he had were recasts of the KMT trains. After K-Line folded, Walter brought out new versions of some old K-Line freights (Mostly Marx recasts, and some KMT), locomotives, Budd cars, passenger cars (K-Line O27s) and a few accessories and track. He was doing business with the Chinese company that had acquired all of K-Line’s tooling.

 

From he way things are worded on the notices - tooling has been "repositioned" or not for sale - another company of companies will be making the RMT items in the future.

 

We wish Walter Matuch a happy retirement. He brought many good and affordable trains to the market.