Toytrain Revue: Spring, 1991

From the creators of the Great Toy Train Layouts of America series, this is the first issue of a quarterly video magazine targeted at toy train enthusiasts. The opening segment looks at Dick Brown's dazzling layout, which incorporates two figure eights and four' levels. In "The Lionel Archives" story, viewers see the storeroom that holds the curios and prototypes of items that never went into production, including a Lionel 2026 engine, and a car bearing the "Kraft" logo that was shelved after a deal with Kraft fell through. Other segments include: "Tips From Stan," with words of wisdom from Stan Roy, the man who holds the world record for multiple toy trains operating simultaneously (his present track runs 35 trains), "Less Is More," an interview with Bernie Rubin who displays his recently purchased 700E Hudson engine (for which he paid $35,000), and "Laboratory on Rails," in which Rich Kohn works with his temporary layout in his new 2,400 sq. ft. basement. Interspersed throughout the program are Lionel commercials, which don't really interfere with this type of tape. One commercial, however, is rather annoying: what begins as an interesting segment on Howard Bixler's scratch-built Northern layout stops abruptly, and viewers are informed how to order the tape which includes the segment we've just seen a part of. This quibble aside, Toy Train Revue is an excellent idea, well executed, and sure to be a popular addition to library shelves. Highly recommended. (Available from: TMK Books & Videos, Box 279, New Buffalo, MI 49117.)