Great Toy Train Layouts Of America, Part I; Great Toy Train Layouts Of America, Part II; Great Toy Train Layouts Of America, Part III

Boys and their toys, eh? There's a considerable number of grown men out there in patron land who will absolutely drool over this series which highlights some of the finest, most intricate, and valuable toy train layouts in America. In Part I, we meet Ward Kimball, a toy train hobbyist since 1946, who worked on several of the great Disney animated films during his career at Walt Disney Studios, and designed the "Casey, Jr." train for Dumbo. Kimball has two large layouts: his "American" room and his "European" room. In these rooms, classis Ives, Howard, Lionel, and Milton Bradley standard gauge toy trains huff and puff through elaborately detailed landscapes. Also on the first volume is the massive layout of Michael Primack who has two towns separated by an 8 ft. mountain in his layout. With two telephones installed, Michael is able to phone his son for supplies to be sent form one town to the next. In Part II, we see the mind-boggling layout of Stan Roy who operates 32 postwar Lionel trains simultaneously on a tri-level track. Do these guys worry having their investments out of glass cases? According to Roy: "If I wanted something to look at, I would have collected art." And in Part III, we see the wild imagination of Bruce Manson, who has recreated his Pennsylvania hometown right down to the red light district. Based on the 1987 book Great Toy Train Layouts of America by Tom McComas and James Tuohy, these tapes will make a wonderful addition to public library shelves. Highly recommended. (Available from: TMK Books & Video, Box 279, New Buffalo, MI 49117.)