1949 Lionel 671 Loco & 2671w Tender Lettering Question

[rack776]

Hi I am finishing up the Lionel 671 I have built from spare parts, I have some questions.

My 671 is based on a 1949 style chassis, motor & wheels, I got lucky and found a 2671W 12 wheel tender in perfect condition at an antiques mall and it was cheap, at first I thought it was a repro shell but it looks like it might be a very good original.

How can you tell an original postwar lionel tender body from a new repro?

Mine has near perfect paint & white pennsylvania letters on the edges of the body where some paint rubbed thin you can see the plastic is moulded as "marbeled" or "swirled" red & grey color. The plastic feels "brittle" like a post war box car shell, by compairson my 1947 675 tender is more of a "rubbery" black plastic.

It has no part numbers or any markings, the letters are either rubber stamped or very lightly heat stamped, there is no visable ridge arround the letters, the 3 back up lights are moulded open.

Would a 1949 671 ever have been matched with a white letter 2671w? I was going to paint my cab numbers white to match the nice tender I just got but I was wondering if this could be considered "factory correct" Were the 1949 671s stamped silver or white or both?

If not which engines would have come with this white letter style 2671w?

Thanks for the help  - Jason

[TRAINCAT]

Its fairly easy to tell a new repro tender from an old one. The new ones look cheap and are not exactly like the old. And as you said, there probably won't be any numbers inside. The old ones will have the swirled plastic inside if you look closely or remove a bit of paint inside, The new ones will not. Lionel painted the whole tender, inside and out so you may have to scrape a bit of paint or use enamel brush paint cleaner inside somewhere. Another clue might be that all steps are good, which many old ones are not.

Roger

[TRAINCAT]

"Would a 1949 671 ever have been matched with a white letter 2671w? I was going to paint my cab numbers white to match the nice tender I just got but I was wondering if this could be considered "factory correct" Were the 1949 671s stamped silver or white or both?"

 

Yes that is correct for 1949. From what my book says, the 2671 tender with back up lights could be either silver, or white. It could be silver or white letters on the other models with no lights in 1948.  The 1949 671 engine was the first to not have the silver rims.

Roger.

[rack776]

So to be clear a 1949 built 671 could have had white cab numbers?

a local train shop guy told me 1949 671s should only have silver cab numbers and silver tender letters.  any one have any original White/White 1949 style 671s out there?

If so I'm thrilled to have found a matching original tender for my 671.

My tender does not have the back up light or lense but does have the holes, and my tender shell is all painted inside and out, but it does show evidence of swirled red & grey plastic under the paint chips. I see two steps on the rear, were there any steps at the  the front? , it does not look like any were broken off of the front. Only rust is slight bit on the axel shafts, I think I got a good one!

-Thanks for the response - Jason

[Anonymous]

Jason,

                The repro 3671W/2046W shell that I have has letters molded on the inside of the shell.  I think it's "RWG", but I can't remember exactly.  Every original '49 Turbine that I've seen has silver rubber stamped numbers.

[rack776]

Thanks......Uhh....wait.....I think I am confused again, lets see if I have it right

1. A 1949 671 Loco shell would have had silver numbers not  white numbers

2. A 1949 2671w tender shell could have had white or silver letters

So a silver numbered 671 could have been paired with a white lettered 2671w tender?

Sorry if I am miss understanding I just want to make sure I restamp my 671 cab with the right color numbers.

BTW my tender shell has nothing stamped or moulded on the inside, I think I finaly got a good deal in this hobby!

Thanks for the input - Jason

[TRAINCAT]

My variations book says the tenders had white letters after 1948. Not sure yet about the cab as the color of the numbers are never mentioned.. You apparently have a post war tender body.

Roger

[Train-O]

Jason,

My old post has more info. on these tenders and will cause more confusion, for one and all to enjoy!!!!?

http://cs.trains.com/TRCCS/forums/p/142884/1589326.aspx

Train-O