TRAIN-O-RAMA CARDS

These cards were issued in 1956, and are produced by Specialty Advertising Services, Inc.  They were designed by John Walworth.  These forced perspective dioramas were done in conjunction with Lionel, and included 12 numbered sets of 3 cards each (A, B, & C), to construct a railroad diorama.  They are printed on cream stock.

There is often confusion between these cards and the Locomotive Hall of Fame cards, which came around the same time.  The difference is that these cards, when put together, produce a railroad scene, while the Locomotive Hall of Fame cards produced a paper replica of an engine.

For those not familiar with John Walworth, he created many of the most popular cereal box premiums of the 50’s and 60’s, for a number of different cereal and other companies.  His creativity was celebrated in an exhibit at the University of Delaware in 1989, and an extremely useful catalog of this exhibit is still available from the University of Delaware Gallery.  It contains a detailed list of many of his creations. 

Train-o-rama 5A		Train-o-rama 5B
	Train-o-rama 5C

Diorama No. 1:  It has been pointed out by   Doug Cotts, a Lionel paper collector that this is an electric, not a diesel engine.

Diorama No. 10: Doug also points out that this engine is not a GE product, but a product of General Motors Electro Motive Division (EMD) – an error that was apparently never caught.