Incredible Little Prewar Engine

[Train-O]

Earl,

You are correct about your pre-war engine's powerfully smooth, great motor.

My father's Lionel pre-war set has a grey #1664E die-cast metal engine and grey tin-metal #1689T box-tender, along with tin-metal box car, tanker and caboose:

http://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/10147668

The motor for this engine is so smooth and powerful, that it moves slowly, with very little voltage and without hesitation .

This engine is similar to the latest, new engines.

It, is just beautiful!

Ralph

[jeffrey-wimberly]

The only 225E I've seen was gun metal gray and ran like a top and like yours had the gear that hit the turnouts. It's a very nice running 2-6-2.

[EIS2]

I have a prewar engine, 225E, that is head and shoulders above every prewar/postwar engine I own.  It doesn't get a lot of layout time because prewar engines, with their large gears on the wheels, don't like the switches on my permanent layout.  The gears bump on the switches causing the engine to bounce.

I set up an oval of track on the floor in preparation for Christmas.  The 225E had been setting on the shelf for several years.  I lubed the engine, set it on the track, and off it ran.  What makes the engine incredible is not the fact that it ran.  It ran noticeably smoother than any of my other prewar/postwar engines.  The e-unit cycled smoothly and reliably every time and the whistle worked perfectly.  The whistle is the best sounding air whistle that I own.  There was no hesitation in the whistle like there is on many of my postwar engines and there was no grinding noise like almost all of my other postwar engines.  The engine is also noticeably quieter than my other engines.  Lionel did a good job when they built that engine.

Earl