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And I bet you can fashion more “mailbags” so that you can do multiple transfers without stopping the train to retrieve the bag fro the train to do the transfer again….the kind of thing for your 3-d printer?

Very interesting and informative video. You mentioned waiting for new bulbs for the 404. Where do you find bulbs (affordable)? Thanks, Laird 1/19/2025

Thanks! I brought my dad's 1950's Operating Gateman back at Christmas and added it to my "under the tree" layout.

Cool modification, thanks!

I wonder if because the magnet can grad the bag from further away can you set the magnet far back enough to have the bag get grabbed into the boxcar door?

😱woah new galloping goose models 😃

😱a chessie themed J class

Thanks for this video, Mike. My oldest brother, now deceased, worked in the mail car on the ATSF Superchief between Los Angeles and Albuquerque. This brought back some good memories.

Mike - OK, hiding the magnet inside the car s sneaky - I LOVE IT!

I can't run my Menards Train from transformer because the new Menards caboose lights buzz and flicker at voltages lower than 18 volts. Do you have the same issue? - Thanks.

Enjoyed the video as I’m just starting out

You could mounted the magnet so the bag would have been attracted thru the boxcar door to the inside. Maybe have a workman inside

A rare earth magnet could be mounted in the doorway of a boxcar so the bag gets loaded in the car, instead of magically levitating on the side. Either keep the door open, or perhaps some shielding inside the door when it is closed. I wonder if the shielding bags computer parts come in would work. Some just protect against static electricity but some also shield against magnetic power too. Better yet, a rare earth magnet mounted to the man that tosses the mail sack. Car picks mail bag up, drops it off elsewhere, just like a real train. I wanted one of these when I was a kid, but looking at them as an adult now, I would have hated it in the end. The mailbag stuck to the side would have bothered me back then.

The MPC version is from 1988. I got mine right after I graduated high school

AC GILBERT actually had this in the late 1930s, and continued it in the postwar era. The Lionel one looks very flimsy compared to the Flyer unit.

Neodymium Magnets, (also sold at HF), would do the trick I suppose. They are like10X or something stronger and a lot smaller. The ones at Harbor freight come in a white tube 10pc.s they're about 1/4 inch or 5/16 dia.

love this

I was wondering how this thing works, I got one in a tote of random o and o27 gauge stuff and couldn’t figure out how it worked. Although, the swinging mechanism is broken looking at spare parts photos. (Side note) someone should place the pairing magnet inside an explosive boxcar just for fun (mail hits speeding boxcar) (KABOING!)

Very interesting.

So you're telling me Lionel had DCC in 1946? Insane!

I don't like Chrome on my local motors.Or rolling stock

Has Lionel jumped the shark???

The LV 627 didn’t come with a headlight

$13.99 on Amazon right now

Watched this what a drag

They need to stock it up before Christmas!

MPC had some cool accessories but I do like the post-war stuff my dad and grandpa got me as a 90's kid. I ran those things till the wheels fell off and then my grandpa would help me rebuild them.

I'm hoping you'll find my comment on a video thats 4 years old. I built (mistakenly) 1 large loop (over 50' long) with multiple connections along the track id guess 16. There is really no way to block the loop now. Is there a way to phase a couple of transformers to run 1 loop?

Thanks for the informative video

Thanks for the video...I really wish the factories would just include a simple switch for conventional/remote mode.....they can do it on some of the more expensive engines and they know many owners still like to run older conventional trains. I got my son a Strausburg set and it has been a hassle explaining to a 3 year old why Dads old trains and his newer train cant all run together.

Lionel shut US production down in 2001 because they said it would be too expensive. $120.00 for a gondola?

Well new to me is new enough. I know that these companies need to make money to stay afloat and I would rather see them around than go the way of K-Line and Weaver but come on. Great video as always.

Krap line I called them

Some nice stuff, for sure. A bit pricey for most, though. Either way, an excellent video, as always.

Some of the prices on things are crazy. As customers, we need to stop buying some of these overpriced items. And email the companies telling them why. $100 for a rail car pfffff

Cool stuff Mike.

So much product so little dollars. Your videos help me plan my purchases out. Other viewers are correct $120 for a gondola from Lionel. Beautiful, but not for me. Thanks for the video Mike.

Thank you for the amazing video , and the end of the day I love watching your videos thank you

old transformers put out some major DC for the old engines whistles thank for sound info

Seriously, $120 for a gondola, $90 for a tank car

Informative as always thanks 😊

As always, thanks Mike!