1955-57 Santa Fe 2243 AB combination

[statistician]

I received a 2243 AB combination with 4 aluminum Lionel Lines passenger cars (2500 series) from a relative. Was the 2243 engine ever available as a separate sale item? Or was it only part of a freight set?

[mitchelr]

statistician,

Check out this site.

http://www.postwarlionel.com/cgi-bin/postwar?ITEM=2343

This is a great resource for locating information about postwar Lionel trains. Based on my reading of this listing. It appears they were separate sale adn not part of a set, but I am sure there are others more knowledgeable members of this forum who can provide a clear answer.

Mitch[:D]

[statistician]

Thanks for the quick reply!

I'm very familiar with that site. I have the 2243 single motor AB with black trucks, not the earlier 2343 though.

I know that the 2500 series cars were available separately, but I'm pretty sure that the 2243 AB was sold only as a freight set. I was born 25 years after they were produced, so have no way of knowing!!

[martinden]

Yes, the 2243 was cataloged for separate sale all three years. In 1955 and 1956, price was $29.95; in 1957, $35 (presumably more becase it was "Super O" that year, but O-27 the previous years.

It was catalogued in 1955 with two sets (O-27): 1535W (or alternate number 509) and 1539W (513); then in 1956, with O-27 set 1567W (714); and in 1957 with Super O set 2281W (819). All of these are freight sets. The 2243 was never offered wth the aluminum coaches; in fact no single-motor F-3 came with them, only the twin-motor 2343, 2353, and 2383 Santa Fes, and the 2367 Wabash. (And, of course, several engines other than F-3s.)

[martinden]

Let me add this: The three years of the 2243 were the very period when Lionel was actively trying to confuse the public about their offerings. They were caught between the need to protect their traditional small dealers (hobby shops and hardware stores, etc.) and also take advantage of the sales potential of big operations which discounted the trains. Thus the dual numbering system: Small dealers got sets with the traditional numbers (e.g., 2235W), while big discounters got the same sets with the three-digit numbers. The idea was that the public would have trouble comparing prices.

Further, the 1955 catalog didn't even show most of the the sets in pictures -- a typical arrangement had a picture of two locos, and then a separate picture with a bunch of cars. No sorting them out. Also, there were no listings of set components. No prices of sets, of course. (Locomotives were priced, as were indidual cars elsewhere in the catalog.) In 1956, they returned to illustrating the sets, but still no set numbers or lists of components or prices, and that was also how the 1957 catalog was done. Only in 1958 did Lionel finally return to the practice of illustrating each set, with a component list and a price.

Dealers were encouraged to "mix up" components in sets, substituting one engine for another, or trading cars around, etc. (The idea was to allow each dealer to have "unique" offerings -- to further confuse prospective purchasers trying to shop for the best price.)

Just BTW, I'm merely reporting and explaining Lionel's scheming -- I'm not trying to suggest it was a good idea. (Actually, my opinion is quite the opposite.)

Anyway ... Statistician, you said you got the trains from a relative. It's entirely possible that at the time, the dealer "put together" a "set" with the 2243 and the aluminum coaches. If it's possible, you might want to "quiz" them as to whether it originally came with track in a set box, where they bought it, etc. You could have one of these "dealer specials."

[mitchelr]

QUOTE: Originally posted by statistician

Thanks for the quick reply!

I'm very familiar with that site. I have the 2243 single motor AB with black trucks, not the earlier 2343 though.

I know that the 2500 series cars were available separately, but I'm pretty sure that the 2243 AB was sold only as a freight set. I was born 25 years after they were produced, so have no way of knowing!!

[:I] Oops. I must learn to read more closely before I post. Sorry[:I]

Mitch[B)]

[lionelsoni]

The 2243 (P and C) was my first Lionel locomotive, which I got new in 1955. It was not part of a set. (The 2243C dummy B unit is now more valuable than the 2243P A unit, since it is the only B unit that matches the later 2383.)

[tinplatacis]

The 2243 wasn't my first engine, or my second or third. But it is my favorite so far that I have acquired because it is the most reliable piece of motive power I own.