General Information

The following information has been collected from original newspapers, catalogs, and magazines, some of which are freely available for reference below. The rest can be found in the site’s gallery. No aggregate catalogs (BrickLink, Brickset, etc.) were used.

Instructions: H-2374

Advertised Part Count(s): 191 pieces

Set Box

First Year Confirmed Available: 1968(USA)

All 1967+ Model Makers are incredibly hard to track as they were not typically advertised like the larger assortments/models. However, a 1968 dealer catalog has been found with the 342.

Most Likely Retirement Date: 1969(USA)

It does not appear in the 1970 dealer catalog while its sister sets(the 340 Railroad Control Tower and 341 Warehouse) do.

I have no evidence the set released in Canada. It's possible, I just have no surviving mentions in Canadian sources currently.

Last Year Seen Available: 1969

1969 Sears Christmas Wishbook

Aliases: Terminal Building (other countries referred to this set as "Train Station")

Retail Price(s): $3.99

Note: Samsonite discontinued listing RRPs for sets in 1967. As a result, prices for Model Maker sets can vary. I've theorized this to be a reason 1968+ Model Makers include a secondary number, you can read about it here.

Rarity Score(Index): 4/7

Box/Overview

So while the railroad accessory sets are technically companions for the 150, 151, 154, and 155 train track supplements, they're still marketed/labeled as Model Maker sets and thus belong more in the individual sets category than the supplements. None of the sets or parts are of Samsonite's own design—they'd already been available in other countries.

As usual, the 342 inherits its images from Europe:

box top image

Contents

While the set pictured a smooth baseplate in the picture, Samsonite instead produced the set with a fully studded baseplate. Also, very nice painted tree was also never imported and instead all copies will come with Samsonite's own tree(it will be the variety with the feet on the bottom):

Also worthy of note is that this set will usually contain the rare 6x8 plate with waffle bottom. That piece is anecdotally said to have been phased out sometime in 1969-1970.