I vote for the Burlington Gondola as well. They were in so many sets over the years -- and even for separate sale here and there. There was a Penn Central small gondola offered in some sets in the early 1980s, too. A lighter green than the Burlington.
Either the red CN 9013 hopper or the blue Republic Steel gondolas. I now have 67 of the red CN 9013's. I would have 69 if a hobby shop off of Lexington in St.Paul didn't want $12 each for a $5 car I looked at on saturday. I was hoping to reach 100 of the 9013s this winter but I'm not sure if that will happen. Every one of my 9013s gets its plastic pins removed and replaced with 3/4" long #8 bolt and a nylon locknut. I use a needle nose pliers to remove the old plastic pin. Then I use a long nose narrow vise grip to hold the locknut while I screw in the #8 bolt from the top side. I turn it all the way tight then back it off about 1/2 turn since the trucks need to be able to have a little bit of movement over uneven track. Long trains stay upright a LOT better after this modification.
Modeling the "Fargo Area Rapid Transit" in O scale 3 rail.
jwse30 They did make a u36b in Chessie powered and dummy.
They did make a u36b in Chessie powered and dummy.
Yeah, that's what I was thinking of, not the 80's "Limited Edition" one. I don't know why I put U36C....
Trevor
Just to split hairs, They made a U36c powered unit in Chessie, but no dummy. They did make a u36b in Chessie powered and dummy. Might save you some trouble when looking for the dummy unit...
J White
Now that's what I wanted to hear! The Chessie System ones would be cool because there was yellow bodied ones and blue bodied ones. The yellow ones seem to be quite more common, but that would be better because there would be a yellow string with blue cars sprinkled in here and there, which would be really prototypical. Plus, Lionel made both an uncataloged GP20 (which already happen to have) and a cataloged U36-C with matching dummy unit, and both styles of engines share the same motor, so lashing them up would work fine. I think I've made my decision!
I think the Chessie System hopper is more common than the GN one. Gondola trains are fairly common around here coming in and out of the steel mills. Not as common as hoppers, but they do exist. I think the Burlington gondola was the most common, as mentioned above.
I would be curious to see how many of either of these types could be pulled before they stringline in the curves. I'm sure a bit of weight in each car would settle things down considerably.
I've never seen the P&LE boxcar, what's the number on that one? I've been thinking of going for the 9010/9011 Great Northern hoppers, but are those extremely plentiful? I was thinking about the 9013 CN hoppers because they came in almost every starter set for 4 years, but another forum goer (who's name I seem to have forgotten) has already done that so it wouldn't be unique. Plus, unit hopper trains exist on real railroads, I'm not so sure about gondola trains.
the blue republic steel gondola...i seem to always get that in lots....the yellow union pacific 9020 flat car.......so toy like but i love it...always buying them when i can find them...that p&le box car looks interesting i might have to get one
I see(and have) more of the 9140 Burlington & 9141 Burlington Northern green gondolas than anything else.
And, they are in several different shades of green - like 6 or 7 easily identifiable.
Rob
I'm aware that there was red and green versions of the 6462, I have a few of each. I don't think there is a postwar Lionel freight car I haven't seen, but I guess I should never say never. The only reason I'm asking about the MPC cars is because I don't really pay attention to them when I'm digging through "bargain boxes" at shows. I have a few of the Republic Steel gondolas, those show up mainly from large purchases from craigslist, but I don't see making a whole train of them. I guess it would be kinda cool mixing the green and blue versions together though. Any more ideas?
theres a few now for cheap you have blue, green, and a couple of other colors I think of gongolas also lionel made so many sets that they put the New York, New Haven, & Hartford boxcars that in most books its rated at about $5 Theres also a bunch of small flat cars ( about 8" long instead of the 11") And of coarse cabooses you can find a lot of cheap ones. by the way the 6462 was made in red and green also
Life's hard, even harder if your stupid John Wayne
http://rtssite.shutterfly.com/
What is the most common MPC freight car under people's tables at train shows? I want to figure out what the cheapest and easiest to find car to buy a ton of. I have probably about 20 postwar 6462 NYC gondolas and they look quite impressive in a string, but they take a lot of power to move since they have die-cast trucks, plus black is a little boring. I know MPC trucks roll a whole lot better, so what would be nice in a string (and without emptying my wallet in a hurry) ?
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