"end of train devise"(fret)blinking light

[Anonymous]

i am looking for one of these cars(j.b.hunt)flatcar w/trailers,or the flasher units by them self,good old"lionel" made them about two years ago,why did they stop??,very good question,a person see's one of these on almost every end of train these days,and alsao on passengers trains if they have freight/mail cars on back===HUB

[Algonquin]

Hi Hub,

That is a good question. If I am remembering correctly, Lionel only issued the FRED (Flashing End of Train Device) on three cars. Two box cars (Chicago & Northwestern and a Chessie) and the J. B. Hunt flatcar and trailer. They were all seperate sale items.

I have the C&NW boxcar. This was the first issue and sold fairly well. I was excited when it came out. The second issue (Chessie) did not sell as well (They were available for several years). My experience and opinion is that most Lionel operaters love their cabooses too much. I myself run my FRED car very infrequently. Maybe I am old fashioned, but my trains seem naked without a caboose (even behind my SD-90s). This may account for the "lack" of these cars comming out of Lionel.

This may be changing as more "O" hobbiests want to run their trains more prototypically. It is kind of surprizing that no other manufacturer has issued one or come up with one that could be mounted on the back of any rail car.

Tim P.

[Anonymous]

THANKS TIM: THERE IS ANOTHER FRET.,OUT THERE BUT IN HO SCALE,MADE BY "WESTERN RAIL"AND IT SAYS THAT UNIT COMES WITH OWN BATTERY,IF I CAN GET ONE,MAYBE SEE IT I CAN ATTACH "O" SCALE LIGHT,SO IF IT COMES WITH ITS OWN BATTERY,A PERSON WOULD NOT NEED 3RD RAIL ROLLER ????,JUST FIND WAY TO ATTACH TO COUPLE,EVEN MAYBE ATTACH TO END OF CAR

[Anonymous]

HI TIM P.:CAN YOU GIVE ME C&NW BXCAR WAS MADE & CAR NUMBER,MAYBE ONE WILL COME UP ON EBAY,THANKS

[Algonquin]

Hi Hub,

The C&NW car is #16617 and is in the Lionel 1989 Toy Fair Catalog.

The C&O/CSX Box car is # 16622 and is in the 1990 Book 2 and 1991 Book 2.

I also found a Standard O car also. The 17202 Santa Fe Box Car was the first standard O car to have a FRED. It is in the 1990 Book 1 and was includes in set # 11713 "Santa Fe Dash 8 40 B". This set was frequently broken up for separate sale. So it sould be relatively easy to pick up this car also.

Regards,

Tim P.

[Anonymous]

TIM P: THANKS MUCH FOR INFO,WILL COME IN HANDLY===== HUB

[JFermani]

There was also a Katy car from Lionel with the End of Train device (Yellow car with black lettering). I know because I have one. I also seem to remember that some dealers were installing the device on any car of your choosing at one time. Maybe they were doing that to get rid of the inventory.

Joe Fermani

[Anonymous]

HI JOE:one the guys i run with found ( 3 ) of the fred units(without cars ) for sale on ebay and bought two,havent seen anymore====thanks HUB

[Anonymous]

HI JOE:ask your dealer the next time you talk to him if he knows of anyone that ,might still have,fred devise,and would like to sell some or one or what ever,i couldnt find one so made my own took a pice of paper wrote blink-blink-blink,four or five time and taped to back of my box car,got noticed(yes it did) got a lot of laff's and he-wah's,and ribbing from guy's i run trains with,make for FUN times=====HUB

[JFermani]

I will check around and if I find any I will let you know.

Joe

[Anonymous]

THANKS JOE: HUB

[Anonymous]

ATTN JOE: ( IF ) YOU FIND ANY FRED(END OF TRAIN DEVISE) MY EMAIL IS> [e-mail]<