Collectors of Lionel's Dealer Display Layouts

Lionel carried forward into the postwar era its practice of designing and constructing displays for retail accounts large and small. The Display Department at the Lionel factory offered different small and medium-size operating layouts each year that included a loop or two of track and several operating accessories (signals, lights, freight loaders, and stations). A small number of these display layouts have survived, and collectors hunt diligently for them even if they must repair segments of them. Here a few of the great postwar displays still around and featuring prominently in the collections of a handful of Lionel enthusiasts.