Jack, thanks for the response. I really don't resell the trains I collect either. The set really is pristine. Hardly played with. Paint is perfect. I just missed out on a 6802 on e bay. Tim
Tim........as I suspected, there are no 1619W sets out there on ebay and only three original 6802 cars but there are a few of the conventional cassics. I'd start looking and eventually pick up the remaining car to complete the set, then worry about what to do next. I agree with CW, would be glad to own it.
Personally I am not into trains for the resale and as such never worried too much about the original boxes, though I dis save mine where I had them despite their deplorable condition.
How is condition of the SF Warbonnet paint and decals on the AA pair?
Jack
IF IT WON'T COME LOOSE BY TAPPING ON IT, DON'T TRY TO FORCE IT. USE A BIGGER HAMMER.
Jack, Thanks for the response. They were not in the original boxes just a carefully packed cardboard one. I did check to see if the flatcar had any marks from car racks that were once mounted there and I didn't really see any. You are probably right that it was a replacement. If it were a set from the late sixties, I've read that Lionel was using up their excess stock to fill orders and they might have used any flat car, but being that the set is from 1959 I don't think so. It will remain a mystery, I guess. Tim
Tim......I agree with CW. And I think you scored well.
You didn't say if the "box of trains" meant the original boxes. But you did say the pieces were "pristine." If you have the original boxes, all the better.
My modest collection with pieces dating back to 1950 reveal that my father bought "pieces of sets," not necessarily complete sets. I got them "new in box" or so they appeared to me, always got the boxes.....but I was a kid, what did I know. They could have been from returns or set breakups. I have, for example, a set of three 242X illuminated passenger cars plus 3 extras and a set of three 243x. Neither of these passenger cars match up (set-wise) to any of the engines my Dad gave to me over the years. So my thought is that it was not uncommon for the train stores to break up new sets and sell stuff peacemeal as well as in complete sets, depending on what customers wanted or needed.
As probably happened yesteryear as now, it is possible as Rob stated that the one set car (the 6802) either arrived damaged at the shop or was somehow broken by the original owner. If the shop did not have an exact replacement in stock, the owner may have accepted the 6414 in swap and called it a day. I'm not sure folks were so fanatical about (set) exactitude and future collectibility back in the day. They were mostly buying trains to run them, or their kids to run them.
In any event, you have found at that garage sale another "lost treasure" of sorts. You could just find another 6802 and buy it if you want the 1619W set to be complete and exactly as sold in 1959.
Were the set mine, I'd study the flatcar carefully to see whether there are any signs of the rack ever being mounted on the flat car. If there are no signs, I would assume your set came from the factory that way.
Because the flcar car loads are removeable, I don't think you can put any special value on the oddity. I'd still be glad to own it, given its origin.
Maybe, although the set is so pristine, and shows no wear, I'm not sure, thanks, TIm
It was probably a service replacement after the original car got stepped on and broken.
Rob
I recently found a box of trains at a garage sale. When I checked my set guide at home, I found that I had a complete 1619W set from 1959. All the components match except the 6802 girder flatcar. The girder was in the box but instead of a 6801 flatcar there is a 6414 plain flatcar with no car racks. Did Lionel use a surplus 6414 flatcar in place of the 6801? As there were no other trains in the box or at the garage sale, I am forced to conclude that they did.
Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.
Get the Classic Toy Trains newsletter delivered to your inbox twice a month