A Question guaranteed to make you Smile then Feel better.

I did have an HO layout when I was a teen.  But now all my model RR stuff is static scale.  Company called IHM used to market a few plastic non operating loco kits in O scale.  I still have a beautiful 0-8-0 from them.  Also build the very old locos- Rocket and Dewitt Clinton.  Only kits I see today are European designs whic I an not interested in.

I had a train set when I was a kid,I don't know anything about scale but my stuff was big,the locomotive was big,maybe a little short of 12" it was brown,the front and back were the same so it could move either way and had electric cages on top.

Anyway,still enjoy checking out the displays,really liked that train museum in San Diego and attended a nice show in Asheville just before the pandemic,had some nice dispays,displays, small stuff though. 

Aha!

     You had one of the Lionel that represented the Electrics that took trains into the bigger Stations in the big Eastern cities' The Platforms were underground and the City administration wanted protect the citizens at ground level from the poisoness Steam Engine Smoke.

          The items on top were pantographs that were raised to connect with overhead power lines for electric power. There were a few different types with the most common being the Electric " Alligator" which were self powered as well. And Articulated models too!

        For instance the " Twentieth century Limited "( N.Y.C.) would stop and they would bring up one on the rear.The Engine would unhook with the Tender at the front, and switch to the next track over,  and then the electric would then push the passenger cars to their platform. Lots of switching going on there!

 What you saw was most likely either H.O.(1/87) scale or " N " scale which is (1/160)" N " scale is becoming more popular as you can join a club or not but they will let you build a " Module" that connects so you can have your input as well. Especially at train shows.

I had The Durango by Tyco. It was a standard HO train layout, but included a cattle car with HO scale cattle, a cattle deopt (little ramp thing to load them in the car) and a cattle tractor trailer truck.

I had loads of fun with that set. I remember supplementing it with some scale model buildings and figures. This had to be in the 1970s.

     I had the Tyco HO scale with the Santa Fe locomotive. I believe it came with a crane, log flatcar, and some boxcars....and a red caboose. One day, my brother and I set the track up on an old 4x6 Formica topped table in the basement. The track fit  perfectly on it. We were seeing how fast it would go and those small "brass" track fasteners did not hold up...the train went off the end of the table like those old train wreck film clips. It was so cool...remember it vividly!

Tanker-Builder

One with two wheels under the Firebox( Back by the Cab) and eight wheels driving Four on each side and Four Small ones up front near the Cowcatcher( Or Pilot) are called Two -Eight Fours.

Big, fast and powerful.

See "G"

      That's what I was told to call them. Six of one, Six of the other.