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

 

 

 

       

TRAIN-O-RAMA CARDS

 

 

A

B

C

1

General Electric’s 80-ton Diesel No. 520

 

 

 

2

Seaboard Diesel Switcher No. 601

 

 

 

3

Jersey Central Diesel Switcher No. 621

 

 

 

4

General Electric 44-ton Diesel No. 627

 

 

 

5

Berkshire 12 Wheel Steamer No. 736

 

 

 

6

Pennsy’s B-6 Steam Switcher No. 1615

 

 

 

7

Sante Fe Hudson-type Steam Loc. No 2065

 

 

 

8

Santa Fe’s Twin Unit Diesel No. 2243

 

 

 

9

Fairbanks-Morse Virginian No. 2331

 

 

 

10

General Electric GP-7 Milwaukee No. 2338

 

 

 

11

New Haven Electric Locomotive No. 2350

 

 

 

12

Pennsy’s GG-1 Electric Loc. No. 2360

 

 

 

 

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.