I will admit up front that I am not an expert when it comes to Lionel, instead building my layouts in N scale or 1:19 scale. However, after many Lionel history books and searching the forums for years I thought I knew all the engines that Lionel came out with. Then, oneday I came across a website showing a Lionel #520 boxcab. I love boxcab engines and would have remembered one if I had seen it before, and I thought this was a fake. A little digging didn't turn muchup. Then, last week I walked into an old hobby store in a gentleman's house and he had one for sale that he had just taken in that day!
What is going on? How popular were these engines, and what variations existed for them. I see in the Lionel 2009 catalog that one was reissued for "Red River Lumber" but I mean from years ago.
Thanks.
Modeling the D&H in 1984: http://dandhcoloniemain.blogspot.com/
The Lionel Lines 520 back during the Postwar period was the low end poorman's electric. Neat little electric but performance was marginal.
K-Line by Lionel has reproduced a couple in new roadnames, I bought the Great Northern version a couple years ago.
Bill T.
520 Locomotive
Rob
Most of them are missing original pantograph's and have either cracks or chipped out where the screw connects to hold shell on
Life's hard, even harder if your stupid John Wayne
http://rtssite.shutterfly.com/
Here's the real engine that the 520 is modeled after.
Here's the Lionel 520 Boxcab on my layout. It adds a little bit of variety to the usual steam or diesel engines. I added headlights to mine and run it with the operating coupler and pantograph towards the rear (just like in the photo of the real 520).
dsmithI added headlights to mine...
How did you do that? I've always toyed with the idea of putting operating headlights on a 520.
I love mine. I don't know why they have such a bad rep. Wouldn't trade my for the wolrd. Even bought the new K-Line PRR one and love that even more.
the 520 boxcab cant be beat. it runs and runs. looks kinda funky but keeps the electric flavor. the k-line by lionel reproduction is much prettier, has a horn, headlights, drivers, and handrails as well as two metal pantographs. i have not seen it run yet, but if it runs as good as it looks it will be a winner.
I bought one off eBay. Like NavyJack says, it runs like a top. I replaced the missing pantograph - but realized I've been running it back-ward for years too.
Doug Murphy 'We few, we happy few, we band of brothers...' Henry V.
I doubt that you were running it backwards. A locomotive like that would almost certainly be designed to run in either direction. In fact, you can see one of the headlights symmetrically located on the other end. I would also be surprised if it didn't have two pantographs. I think I can see the left front corner of one just above the roof at the front. Does anyone know of a better picture of the prototype?
It is usual to run an electric locomotive with the rear pantograph, so that a pantograph crash will not disable the front pantograph. Only when double-heading would the front pantograph of the front locomotive be used instead, to distribute better the force lifting the wire.
Bob Nelson
i always wondered about the weird 0-4-2 or 2-4-0 wheel arrangement. did lionel make this out of surplus steam loco parts?
navyjackI always wondered about the weird 0-4-2 or 2-4-0 wheel arrangement. Did lionel make this out of surplus steam loco parts?
I don't know, but I've always assumed that to be the case. Has anyone out there ever tried mounting a second leading truck on the other end of a 520? I don't own one, so I don't know if there'd be room for another wheelset or not.
Thank you everyone for all of the great information!
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