Someone is looking to sell three boxes (37 pieces) of "Lionel Pre-war "O" gauge" track. They are in original cartons from Lionel in Irvington, NJ. I'm told that none of the ties are stamped "lionel", the ties look to be silver in color from the photos posted and there are three per track. The person selling doesn't know much, I'm a novice as well. Can anyone shed some light on this?
Oh yeah, I'm a newbie here so hi to all.
ezmike,
The track without seeing it could be Ives or Lionel as Lionel bought out Ives Corporation sometime in the 1930's. Also there were several companies making track in O gauge at that time, even American Flyer was into O gauge trains back then.
The track should be close to ten inches long for Lionel or eight & a half inches long for Ives. Don't know about A. F. track.
A photo would help very much if possible. Thank you.
Lee F.
Here's the auction:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Lionel-Pre-War-Track-37-pc-Lot-in-Original-Box-O-Gauge_W0QQitemZ270091519833QQihZ017QQcategoryZ4145QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
It looks prewar to me. Note the pin arrangement--two on one end, one on the other.
The lockon is interesting. It seems to be a Marx style, tabs pushed into the rail from the bottom. However, it has binding posts rather than Fahnestock clips. Could it be early Marx, or Ives?
Bob Nelson
I looked at the auction site and it looks to be a combination or transitional track from when Lionel absorbed Ives Corp. The lock-on appears to be Lionel and not Marx. Marx track is not that thick from what I know.
The track itself doesn't seem to have any O27-ish Marx or Ives characteristics, but looks like pure prewar Lionel and should be compatible with modern O31. But the lockon doesn't resemble the OTC or CTC. It looks to me like Marx, but with binding posts instead of Fahnestock clips.
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