Nothing advertises the magic of electric trains better than seeing them in action. During the golden age of toy trains, Lionel offered complete, pre-wired layouts to their dealers. Department stores, hardware stores and other shops that carried Lionel trains had them and they ranged in size from small ovals to large 8 x 8 systems. Some of the layouts were sold to customers at the end of the holiday season, others were used as store attractions for many years.
Today, original dealer displays are rare and expensive collectors items, but these layouts are easy to copy and make great model railroad layouts.
Thousands of display layouts were constructed and a few survived, occasionally one will show up on eBay. The book Classic Lionel Display Layouts You Can Build (out of print?) includes many photos and diagrams of these vintage layouts. Many of the display layouts would make terrific small to medium size home layouts.
Below are layouts based on Lionel displays, some excellent track plans, and a few layouts recently sold on eBay.
Layouts
D-133 A sharp reproduction licensed by Lionel
D-264 Original Super O track and nice LIONEL leg supports
Seen in the Local Area
Track plans, courtesy of Frank Gatazka
Note: Files are in Microsoft PowerPoint format. If you don't have PowerPoint you can download a free PowerPoint viewer here
Track plans, courtesy of Skip (NYC FAN on the OGR Forum)
Articles on Display Layouts
Index of display layout and related articles printed in Classic Toy Trains magazine
Videos
Trainz.com A retail outfit that uses a display type layout in their train set adverts
Scenery Materials
Original Display Layouts sold on eBay
D-224 Great photos and a wiring diagram
1005 A prewar display from 1933
D-1601 1959 General Mills cereal contest prize
American Flyer
What Lionel's biggest competitor was up to..
