Train99

These green cars were Lionel’s first plastic passenger cars. The Madison cars were made of Bakalite which is a compressed granular material, not a plastic.

The Lionel 2400 Maplewood, 2401 Hillside, and 2402 Chatham were introduced in 1948. The passenger cars were cataloged in O gauge sets with the 671 turbine, and in 027 sets with the 2025 steamer.

There is a interesting variation of these cars. The common cars come in boxes with carboard sleeve inserts and NO people in the windows. There are green cars with people in the windows. The cars withpeople in the windows come in later style boxes without the sleeves. The later boxes have coupler protection flaps.

In the case of the green cars with people in the windows, the car can easily be made by changing the windows – no tools are needed, but the boxes canneot be faked.

It’s very hard to find clean undamaged boxes for the later 2400 series Pullman cars because the trucks tend to twist and tear the boxes when the cars are inserted or removed. Boxes with all their flaps and no tears bring a premium.

In 1950, the cars were dropped from the catalog in favor the 2481 series yellow cars.

Lionel introduced the New York Central F3 with the number 2333 in 1948. This unit has the same catalog number as the Santa Fe unit. The 2333 came as an AA only.

In 1950, Lionel made changes to the motors and renumbered the NYC diesel the 2344. The 2344 came in AA pairs or as a longer ABA set with a dummy B unit. A 2344 B unit is shown below.

In 1953, more internal changes were made and the unit was renumbered 2354. New York Central was dropped as a road name on the popular F3 locos in 1956.

Like the other F3 locos Lionel made, like new or mint condition units bring a substantial premium. The seperate sale boxes a pair of A units were packed in and orange dummy unit boxes with ALL their flaps also greatly increase the value of these engines.

Lionel introduced the 2333 Santa Fe F3 AA units in 1948. The F3 units were always sold in pairs or three car sets. The O gauge line (the 2300 series numbers – 2333, 2343, 2353, and 2383) came with a double motored powered unit and a dummy A unit. The 027 2243 came with a single motor and a dummy B unit.

The different catalog numbers refer to mechanical changes made by Lionel. The 2333 had horizontal motors, while all the later units had vertical motors.

The 2333 came with screen tops as shown above.. The 2243, 2353 and 2383 came with louvered tops. The 2343 came either way.

Because the Lionel F3 units were top of the line trains, they always came with magnetraction. Either the powered A unit or the dummy A unit always had a horn.

The O gauge locos are among the best running locomotives Lionel made in the postwar period. Only the FM TrainMasters will out pull a double motored F3.

The Santa Fe is the most common of the Lionel F3 locos. Collectors will pay a premium for really clean locos, and also will pay extra for the separate box that holds an AA or AB pair.

The 2037 was the middle loco in Lionel’s 027 line. It’s one of the most common Lionel postwar steam locomotives.

The 2037 is the same loco as the Lionel 2018, but with Magnetraction.

Magnetraction is Lionel’s trademarked word for magnetic wheels. The magnetic wheels on the locomotive provide additional pulling power, and keep the speeding locomotives on the track in tight curves.

Until 1955 the 2037 came without a whistle. After 1957 the loco always came with a whistle tender.

A pink version of the 2037 was cataloged as the 2037-500 in 1957 and 1958. The pink loco pulled Lionel’s famous girls train.

The 2020 is an o27 version of the 671 steam turbine. The only difference between a 671 and a 2020 is the number on the side. Lionel only sold the 027 turbines in sets, while the 0 gauge locos were available separately.

The 2020 always came with the derivative of the 2666T plastic tender. The tender number depending on the year could be 2466W, 2020W or 6020W. The turbine always had a whistle tender.

The earliest versions of the 2020 had double worm gear drive and smoke bulbs. Later 2020 locos had single worm gear drive and heater element smoke units.

The 2020 smoke bulb assembly is shown below:

Collectors prefer the earlier smoke bulb versions of both the 2020 and the 671, but the later versions run better. The 027 turbine did not receive Magnetraction and was discontinued in 1949.

This is a very common loco and is readily availible today. The later turbines with smoke heaters are great runners and every operator should have one.

I once ran a 671 Turbine in a Christmas display It ran around an oval for 10 to 12 hours a day for 39 days. I had to go over and put new brushes in it every few days, but otherwise it was fine. The loco went over 1300 actual miles!

The 202 Union Pacific Alco unit was made by Lionel in 1957. Only A units were made, and the unit does not have a coupler on the front.

There are three variations of the Lionel 202 diesel. Two painted versions: one over a black mold, the other on a blue mold, and also a harder to find unpainted orange plastic Alco.

The unpainted version of the 202 brings a small premium. The painted versions are both equally ignored by collectors.

Lionel made the 2018 steamer from 1956 to 1959. It’s the same as the Lionel 2037, but doesn’t have Magnetraction. The 2018 came with or without a whistle tender.

The 2018 has a metal boiler, smoke and 3-position e-unit.

Lionel made a few rare blue 2018 locomotives as samples for a boys train. The boys train wasn’t produced because the girls train didn’t sell very well.

The 175 rocket launcher is the largest of the space and military items Lionel made in the late 1950s.

These are quite common, but the railings around the top of the superstructure and around the rocket launching platform are usually broken. Replacement railings and rockets are available.

The rocket launcher was designed to be used with the Lionel 6175 flatcar with rocket, but the car was not included with the launcher. When the launcher was included in sets, the car was also a part of the set.

The operator could lift a rocket from the 6175 flat car and then position it on the firing platform. The countdown controller would count down, and then fire the rocket into the ceiling.

After a few firings, the rocket would break. Usually the break is in the white portion.

Reproduction rockets are made of better quality plastic and hold up longer.

This is the second to last version of the 0-4-0 steam switcher Lionel introduced in 1939 as the 1662.

The 1615 has a plastic tender and magnetic couplers. The 1625 replaced this for 1958 only and is the same except for a dummy coupler on the front.

These switchers don’t run very well because they lose current in 022 switches. The earlier 1656 and 1665 and the prewar switchers have pickups in the tenders and go through switches at slow speeds much better.

Many Lionel 1615 switchers are found with the marker lights broken off. replacements are available and aren’t that hard to install.

The Lionel 148 dwarf signal was made from 1957 to 1960. The signal has manual operation and uses a special 148-100 control switch.

When the 148-100 is in one position, the signal light is green and current is on to the block section.In the other position the dwarf signal shows red, and track current is off.

These didn’t sell well, and are somewhat hard to find today. Especially in nice condition like the boxedone shown above.

Copies of Lionel 148 dwarf signal were made in the late 1970s by a man in Nevada of cast metal. The Lionel postwar dwarf signals are made of plastic.

Both Lionel and MTH currently offer similar dwarf signals. This has caused a large drop in the value of postwar examples.