Topics

31

Collector Corner / American Flyer Wide Gauge Steam Locos.

« on: July 04, 2021, 10:09:23 PM »

I've been playing with the video camera and doing some simple things so I can learn the editing software. I just rewheeled and serviced the cast iron 4670 loco and decided to do a video showing the different types of valve gear.

The earliest valve gear was a simple straight valve rod. The picture below shows the loco I rewheeled. I should have bought the other rods and done the who set up.

 

The picture above shows the smaller ex-IVES cast iron body. This simple set up was also used on the diecast steamers like the 4692 below with the triangular valve gear:

 

The most deluxe FIVE PIPER locos had lots of added trim and usually had Walschaert valve gear. The rods are much more involved. Here's a 4694 deluxe loco:

 

Here's a video showing the 3 locos running:

Two notes. . . I don't have the correct tender for the cast iron loco. The five piper loco shown above is brown without a green stripe. Usually these are painted the same way as the 4692 loco shown.

32

Collector Corner / 1929 Lionel Standard Gauge Outfit 349

« on: July 04, 2021, 05:59:55 PM »

In 1929 Lionel cataloged the 428/429/430 passenger cars with the 9 and 9E in orange. The loco is common, but the orange cars are quite difficult to find.

Not shown in the catalog was a dark green version that only comes with a hand reverse. The dark green cars that come with the 9 have orange windows rather than the maroon windows seen with 380 and 380E sets made in 1926-28. In this case the loco is rarer than the cars. Some collectors think the orange window cars came only with the 9 sets, but there are lots more sets of orange window cars than locos.

I bought this set from the original owner's grandson a few years back. While I don't collect the trains from the late 1920s anymore, this is a set my dad and I never had so I kept it to run on the layout. I rewheeled it using the black wheels Lionel made in the early postwar period, and it runs great.

Here's some photos of the set with the 380 set:

 

 

Note that the earlier observation has a different platform without the celluloid insert and marker lights.

 

The loco:

 

 

The 9 loco does not have an added weight, but the 380 loco does. You can see the weight in this photo:

 

Here's the boxes for the 9 Set. None of the boxes have dates.

 

 

 

 

 

Added information from thread below. . .

The dark green cars are different in a few ways other than the windows.

I showed the different observation platforms. The seats are different. The early cars have mohave seats, the later orange window cars have apple green seats.

Here's a view inside:

 

The later car has an extra bulb socket from an American Flyer car lighting set. We talked about that elsewhere on the forum.

Here's a third difference with the cars:

 

The earlier cars have an added embossed ring at the top of the end on either side of the door.  All three cars have these rings.  I'm not all the maroon window cars have this embossing. It might just be some cars, and I have the rarer version? If you have a set of cars without the embossed rings at the top, let us know and I'll update this section.

This set runs really well. I'll get the 380E set running and do a page for it.

Here's another 9 set with an Orange door 429 combine:

 

See down in the thread for information about this set.

33

Collector Corner / American Flyer 4032 Crossing Gate made by Lionel

« on: June 25, 2021, 06:31:06 PM »

Here's something interesting:

 

 

 

It looks like a common early Lionel Crossing Gate.

But when you turn it over:

 

The bottom reads: "Made For American Flyer MFG Co." and "No. 4032"

About 30 years ago at one of the Cal-Stewart shows Chuck Brasher told me I should be looking at the bottoms of crossing gates because some had markings for IVES or American Flyer. Less than 5 minutes later I found  with IVES stamping on the bottom. I bought that one for $5 and ran back to show Chuck. Since then, I have picked up thousands of these crossing gates. At one time I had about a dozen of them. They also come with paper stickers rather than rubber stamping. This might be the only one I have left, and I just listed it on eBay.

This one is interesting because normally the ones for American Flyer have maroon bases and green arms. All black is harder to find. 4032 means it came with a Standard gauge trip, the same thing comes with 2032 for O gauge.

Neat.

34

Collector Corner / Odd Prewar Car Lighting Set

« on: June 22, 2021, 02:04:37 AM »

I put the dark green 9 loco into running order and decided to do the cars. They have added lights that appear to be from a kit:

 

 

I took the one out of the first car because I always put the trains back to stock, but when I saw the construction I realized this may be a kit by a company other than Lionel. The light head has a slot and a tab that were used to tie it to the crossbar in the cars.

 

Here's the contact end- a cotter pin on an end of the wire with the insulation bound on the end:

 

The set is two lights on a long wire. One set has been cut in half to make two lights - one for the combine and one for the observation.

This set of trains was made in 1929. I got it from the original owner's son along with the son's 1952-54 era O gauge trains I doubt the trains were ever set up and run after the mid-1950s.

Have you ever seen a set like this?

35

General Discussion / Favorite Train

« on: June 13, 2021, 02:13:51 AM »

Here's an article I wrote for the local club.

My Favorite Train

People come over and ask me “What's your favorite train?

 

I could point at this 1909 Lionel steam loco and claim it was may favorite, but that would leave out these little locos from the late teens and early 1920s:

 

There are a lot of them so they must be special to me. I bought the first one in 1972 from the neighbor. I was nine-years-old. I spent the decades since searching out the different variations, but now they just sit there.

 

And what about these 33 locos? They fascinate me. I have over two dozen of them, and I keep finding new variations. When guests ask about these locos I can see their eyes glass over as I start pointing the differences. Come to think of it, these are usually the last trains I show people when they come over. As a group, they are neat, but individually they are boring.

 

This fancy black loco with it's walnut display board must be special because it has a place of honor over the door. Nope. That's more of a train my dad liked so I keep it.

 

Based on the way these cars are jammed into the shelves, they probably aren't special.

 

This big American Flyer loco is neat. It has bell in it and goes ka-DING. . . ka-DING. . . ka-DING as it goes around the layout. Of all the American Flyer trains I have this is certainly my favorite. But I doubt it's the most favorite. The dog really likes this one because it's loud, but she can write her own article.

Here's another loco on the layout:

 

This 392E is special. It's the first standard gauge steam loco I bought. It came from John Hammons in the mid 1980s. It has a mechanical sound system Lionel called a “Chugger” and I added an American Flyer smoke unit. It has had a place on every standard gauge layout I've ever had. While it's certainly A favorite, it's not THE favorite.

When I'm honest with myself, my favorite train is “The Next One.” It's the search for something interesting that drives me.

What's your favorite train?

36

Collector Corner / Lionel Outfit 1296 Macy's Special 1932

« on: June 10, 2021, 04:34:16 PM »

Here's a set I've never heard of before that includes a loco that I've never seen before. There is a picture of a similar loco in the latest Greenberg O gauge book.

 

Outfit 1296 Special with a Macy's Sticker on it. Cars and loco are not marked for Macy's. This is a GORGEOUS set. It doesn't appear to have been run much.

 

 

 

Here's the box and the paperwork. The locobox is a 252 box that was printed for a different colored loco and was overstickered. Note that there is a second square of tape over a red letter on the top edge label end. Maybe this was a 252E box?

 

 

 


Here's the paperwork. Generic transformer instructions, a blue layout sheet, and the instruction booklet.

 

 

 

 

I think this set is from 1932. Lionel started using this busy set box label in 1929, the bottom  half of the box is labeled 294B which was a 252 in olive with matching 529/529/530 cars made in 1929 and '30. The instructions book and paperwork are not dated, but the instruction book back cover offers The Lionel Magazine with a 400E on the cover.  The 400E was new in 1931. The loco and car boxes  all show a type B transformer which was new in 1932. In 1933 Lionel started using the Ex-IVES trucks with two triangles on the side in place of these trucks with the single large rectangle.


Here's another photo of the set:

 

I still have the regular cataloged versions of this set and will post pictures in the near future of them for comparison.

37

Collector Corner / 1927 American Flyer President's Special Set Blue Litho

« on: June 08, 2021, 02:21:39 AM »

Here's an interesting boxed set.  American Flyer's top of the line passenger set from 1927: Set 1466 - The President's Special.

 

 

 

The set is a 4687 12-wheeled Loco and three cars. I have all the boxes and set components except the loco box. The loco was in a Lionel 402 or 408E box.

Some interesting peripherals that are rarely seen are the red shelf card - this is two pieces of cardboard so you can stick it on the track or stand it on a shelf by the set when it's for sale in a store.

And more commonly seen but still neat are the reverse unit instructions on the yellow card, and the motor oiling instructions on the red card.

 

 

 

These two cards were tied to the locomotive when it was shipped from the factory.

The cars came wrapped in waxed paper in flimsy cardboard boxes with the number and description stamped on the end. The blue cars have six-wheel flex trucks. The earlier buff or tan cars had four-wheel flex trucks.

The three cars are 4090 Baggage, 4091 West Point Passenger and 4092 Annapolis observation.

 

 

 

The whole group came in a large carton with some track:

 

Here's a few more photos:

 

 

We collectors tend to compare this set with Lionel's blue comet, but the blue comet was 3 years in the future. The top of the line Lionel set in 1927 was the 408E with four 418 series passenger cars.

38

How To and Technical Information / Fixing bent diecast steam loco cab roofs

« on: June 03, 2021, 05:38:28 PM »

I bought this really clean 226E earlier this week from the original owner's son.

 

I have a 226E on the layout that my grandfather bought for my dad for his first Christmas in 1939, which I'm going to put on  a shelf by my dad's other trains.

I'm going to put this on the layout - it is gorgoeus, but one cab roof corner is broken.

 

 

 

Usually to repair these, I put the corner on the corner of a sturdy table and push down with my palm until it's bent back close enough.

I was wondering what other people do for these?

39

General Discussion / Making videos

« on: May 14, 2021, 05:21:32 PM »

Hey I was thinking about buying a video camera so I can shoot better videos. I've been using the phone which is really poor, and th later ones are from my 49 dollar Canon powershot camera I use for eBay.

These go pro cameras are $300+ That's more than I paid for my 763E!

What do you all use?

Also I tried downloading a program to join together the time lapse videos I made of the layout construction, but windows 10 won't allow me to install them, and I can't get any of the free programs from the windows store to work.

I need something that will join toegther AVI. I have a working windows 7 laptop and a great windows 8 laptop, but the whole idea of having to use a different computer because this expensive desktop doesn't work annoys me.

Software suggestions please.

40

Collector Corner / Interesting Prewar Lionel Boxes

« on: May 09, 2021, 11:56:32 PM »

I'm sorting things out and found an interesting box.


Normal late 1920s/early 1930s boxes have panels like this 814 Boxcar box:

 

One face has young Larry and two text blocks.

 

The other large face has a transformer, and maybe something else depending on the year.  This has a type T and a 126 station. I'd date this box from 1926-28 maybe even later.

Here's an interesting box with a different pair of large faces:

 

One face has a layout and advertises the "new Lionel Freight cars." Those 200 series cars were introduced in 1926. The 381 was introduced in 1928, the state cars came out in 1929 and this shows 418/419/490 cars so it has to be 1928. 

 

The other side shows a taken apart loco that looks like a 402 and advertises Bild-A-loco. The Bild-A-Locos were introduced in 1928 two years after the 200 series cars and was only cataloged in 1928 and 29.

So this box should be from 1928 or 1929.

Nope. It's for a 520 searchlight car which was introduced in 1931.

 

So here's a box that advertises cars that were introduced FIVE YEARS EARLIER as NEW on one side, and on the other side advertises trains that are no longer available.

Hmmm.

I don't have a bunch of 800 and 200 series boxes to compare with these as I sold them with the collection.

Here's another pair of boxes I found:

 

These are from an 18 Pullman and a 190 Observation. My memory says these two boxes came with a Mohave 380. That set was offered in 1923 and 24.

 

The boxes say 18 under the maker's mark, but I bet that is the box number for the 18 Pullman.

41

Collector Corner / Gabe The Lamplighter American Flyer 23780

« on: April 11, 2021, 01:24:04 PM »

I bought a box of American Flyer trains yesterday because this was sticking out of it. A rare accessory that doesn't get much interest today because established collectors all have one, and there are plenty of reproductions out there for operators.

A neat S gauge accessory where Gabe climbs the ladder to check the bulbs. There is a motor in the shack and a string to pull him up. My S gauge friend said this always has the red roof on the shack.

 

 

 

 

I have a bunch of S gauge for a layout someday, but one of my rules with the S is only items from the wild are eligible so this will go into my trade stocks.

42

General Discussion / MOVED: Lionel OO Scale eunit Wiring Diagram

« on: April 06, 2021, 06:39:36 PM »

This topic has been moved to How To and Technical Information. Please post how to and technical questions there so they are easier to find in the future.


https://www.train99.com/forum/index.php?topic=158.0

Thanks.

43

Classifieds / Parts requests

« on: March 18, 2021, 01:06:22 PM »

This thread is for parts requests. If you need a part post here. If you have parts  someone wants, contact them directly with the private message or email buttons under the user post count in the left column.  When you get what you need, use the modify or delete links on the upper right corner of the post to change the post.

Deleting the original request and post a new reply will cause your new request to come up in the search results for unread posts.

44

General Discussion / The ebay rant.

« on: March 14, 2021, 01:59:09 PM »

Use this thread to rant about ebay issues.

I'll start:

Suspicious buyer for item

Hello Terry,

We had to cancel bids for the buyer, fehend-99, because they aren't registered on eBay:

We've also made it easy to relist your item if it was removed. Although the item is no longer available in search listings, you will find it in the Sold section of My eBay.

That's a message  I just got this morning on a $475 sale from 4 days ago.  Looks like the guy created the account just to harrase me. I had a Yahoo doing this last year for three months.

There's no way to block zero feedback accounts.

45

General Discussion / Train Show Report.

« on: February 28, 2021, 10:36:29 PM »

I mentioned a while back that we were looking to do outdoor parking lot shows. I finally found a place 10 days ago and we did the first show this afternoon in the parking lot of a restaurant.

I went to talk with the restaurant about using their parking lot they had a Die Cast car swap meet going on. It was 3 tables of Hot Wheels, and a few people in the back meeting room of the restaurant. The place was empty. This was a Tuesday afternoon.

We told people the show would be from 2-5 this afternoon. When I got there at 1, the parking lot was crowded and people we setting trains out wherever they could park.  Maybe a dozen people were setting up then. By 2 pm we had 23 sellers set up -- most with 2-4 tables.

People came from 150 miles away. There is no way to know accurate numbers because we didn't charge or even pay attention, but this was bigger than a Biden campaign rally.

The goal going in was to have some time out with the train people and not get caught up in organizing anything. I had fun, got some stuff for the layouts, and didn't do much more than show up and tell people to set up wherever they want if they even bothered to ask.

I like the idea of doing Sunday afternoon shows, but to use the grocery store owner's lot  adjacent to the restaurant we'll change the future shows to Saturday mornings.

Here's what I got for the layout:

 

I think those are Strombecker planes that someone has detailed nicely. At $15 for the pair, they'll look good hanging over the O gauge layout. 

I also bought the transformer with two controllers. I am trying to use the controllers from two singles together and having problems. The seller said both controllers worked when plugged in at the same time. I'll sell the two singles to get most of my money back.

Here's the solution to a problem that vexed me:

 

Those are Lionel postwar 155 bell ringing hiway flashers. They flash their lights back and forth. I'll mount the bases under the O gauge layout and use the mechanisms to run my flashers.

Overall a good day.

There were a few people passing out flyers for upcoming indoor shows.