Lionel 685 Hudson vs. 2055 Hudson

[Anonymous]

A few years ago I got what was suposed to be a 685 Hudson. It was repainted and numbered by someone who didn't car much for trains. This guy even made the E-Unit lever look new by cutting the exposed part of the old one off and soldering a new piece on to it.

I'm restoring the engine, but I'm not sure what numbers should really be on it. I've read in David Doyle's "Standard Cataog of Lionel Trains' that the 685 shared it's boilder casting with the 2055 as well as a few others. My casting has the numbers "2055" cast inside, but I wonder, did Lionel use one casting with "2055" inside when making 685's and others with the same boiler casting?

Also, the 685 and 2055 seem identical feature wise. Why would they just change the number? I believe the engines may have been produced at the same time, even though the 685 was a one year offering.

Any help is appreciated,

John

[trigtrax]

Yes Lionel used the same parts for many engines. The 685 and 2055 designations only indicate one was O-Gauge and one was O-27
If you check out the 736 2056 Boiler castings you'll find they ar identical also except for an insert that moved the location of the e-unit lever slot.
These products were made when trains were toys not models. So you could sell a Hudson and a Berk with the same Boiler and not get the great anguished cry of an army of true scale fanatics [:-,]

[lionelsoni]

Once Lionel designed a part, whether a casting or anything else, it kept its original number, no matter what other model it was used on.

My guess is that the e-unit was bad and that he replaced it with another that had a different handle. So he cut off the end of the old handle and soldered it to the replacement.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the info. Looks like once the numbers are gone from the cab side, there is no way of telling a 685 from a 2055. I guess I'll just number it as a 685 and run it:-)