(The following appeared on the Newsday website on October 9.)
CROTON-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. — It won’t have a coal car or a caboose, but Lionel is coming out with a new electric train to mark the 25th anniversary of New York’s Metro-North commuter railroad.
Just in time for Christmas, suburbanites can pay $280 for a miniature version of the train that takes them in and out of Grand Central Terminal every day.
Says railroad spokeswoman Marjorie Anders: “It’ll always be on time.”
The O-scale set includes four M-7 cars with illuminated interiors and sliding doors, 12 railroad signs, six figurines and enough track for a 40-by-60-inch oval. Proceeds go to the Transit Museum in Brooklyn.
The train will be on display Saturday at the railroad’s Open House in Croton-on-Hudson and can be ordered there, at Grand Central or at Lionel’s Web site.