Next Lionel tintype project

[pjdog350]

I think these are the cars Starfire was talking about that are pulled by a Lionel prewar 258E?

Got these in the mail today. Still struggling with the Lionel 259E but I'm getting there. That's what I'll use to put these red cars.

[Terry]

Those are 1670 series cars. They wouldn't have come with a 258E as they weren't made at athe same time. Those would have come with a 259E or more likely a 1689E or a  1688E. If a 259E or 1689E in black or gray, the  1688E would be in gray. The loco would certainly have an E on the number plate.

This information is based on the cars being made in 1935-37. Those cars come with two types of printing on the Lionel Lines plates.

[pjdog350]

Thanks for that information Terry. I thought they where 1701’s when I bought them. But when I got them out of the box they came in they where allot smaller. Not as tall as the 1701’s. There is a coupler on the back of one of the cars for a locomotive I think. I don’t know anything  about these.

I do have a Gray 259E. I want to get the motor working before a order wheels and gears. Now wheels has a gear problem and one gear has a problem. Probably because they where pushing on one another.

I think I can repair the E-Unit. I found a used drum that looks pretty good. The fingers that came with it look good. This thing took allot of cleaning but I’m getting there. Real close. If the motor will run I’ll do the e-unit and order parts.

How many cars should be with it as a set for the 259E? Maybe that information would be in my Greeburg book?

[Terry]

I don't think I've ever seen anything but a 3-car set. One head car with coupler, one middle pullman, and one observation.

[pjdog350]

Thanks again for the information. I looked them up in the Greenberg book last night and they said the same thing. A three car set. I’ll be looking for the observation car. Probably be hard to find. Like a needle in a hay stack?

[starfire700]

The 1673, 1674, 1675 Jr streamline cars usually came in sets with a wind-up 1588 / 1588T black torpedo loco and tender or electric 1688E / 1689T. Here are photos of the electric set.

[starfire700]

There is also a rare uncataloged set, that TCA Standard of the World says is #6244 made 1937.
This set has a black 1689E Commodore Vanderbilt with 1588W ( 4-wheel whistle tender) and the cars are Hiawatha orange and gray.
I have the wrong tender and an extra car with my set.

[pjdog350]

I like that in those colors. Real nice. You have a super collection.

I’m having a hard time getting my new 259E running. I even tried to wire it without the e-unit but no luck. Trying to get it going without an e-unit should be very easy but the train gods are not with me right now. This 259 has been in a flood. The further I go taking it apart the more hard brown stuff I find. If I wire wheel with the drumel tool it’s powder. Decided to take a break from trains for a while.

[Terry]

Jim - The orange cars are wonderful. I've never seen a set. I saw a single car once. I like the way it's just on a shelf like the other trains.

[starfire700]

The Jr Hiawatha set is a real prize, especially since I like Hiawatha's so much.

[pjdog350]

It's very nice. I like it allot.

[pjdog350]

I’m working on the 1673 & 1674 passenger cars now. I think I may get the drive wheels for the 259E so I’d like to have the tinplate cars for it.

[pjdog350]

The 1673 & 1674 are coming out really nice. I got them stripped this morning. Primed them and put them in the oven for an hour @ 185. Put them out in the mancave until 5:00 pm. Put dark red on the car bodies & vestibules. Now the are waiting until tomorrow when I’ll put them back together. I think I’ll be real happy with these.

Painting works so much better when you use primer!!!

[pjdog350]

I put the 1673 & 1674 passenger cars together this morning. Also I changed the coupler so it would latch to the 259E's tender. The coupler that came on the 1673 would not mate to the 259's tender. Now I've got to put the 259E back together. I bought wheels from two different vendors. But they are not really the set I was looking for. I guess Lionel made allot of changes to the 259 when it was in production.  But by using one original wheel and wheels from the vendors I can get the 259 running again. The 259 has been a real challenge for me as I don't know squat about prewar.

I also found a restored 1675 on EBay yesterday. I had to pay an arm & a leg for it but I have one if USPS can do there job. I'll have to change the color on this new 1675 as it's red. I thought the cars where to be a dark red which is what I have done. I like the dark red.

[pjdog350]

Got the Lionel 259E together. Picture with 259 & 1673 & 1674. The 1675 should be here next week?