Southern Alco FA A-A

[railfanespee4449]

At a local train shop, I saw a pair of postwar lionel Alco FA's (I powered, 1 dummy) for about $140.00 They were marked for the Southern RR but had been repainted. Would they be a good investment for an operator? P.S. What about a postwar erie switcher with ringing bell in good condition for $110/

[cnw1995]

Gosh, in my opinion, it really matters more whether you like the units or not - more so than if they are a really fantastic deal. These sound like great prices to me - but I'm more an operator and not a collector. I'll defer to others on that.

[ben10ben]

It depends. If they're the early ones with a cast frame, they're probably worth every bit of that to an operator, provided that they run well. If they're the cheaper ones with the sheet metal frame that don't run nearly as well, I would say that they're worth less than half of that.

A bell ringing switcher would be $110 easily, provided that the bell ringing mechanism was still in place. The bell was often removed or disabled by operators, as it did get to be a tad bit annoying after a while.

Both the early series Alcos and early series NW-2s are some of the best running engines Lionel made during the postwar era. If properly maintained, they run extremely well and are very quiet.

[Dr.Fu-Manchu]

The [}:)] Doctor is in !!! The Switcher that railfanesppe4449 mentioned has been changed a bit. The post-war NW-2's came with horns, The Santa Fe early post-war had a bell. It sounds like someone swapped shells at some point. The Santa Fe was #622
and came out in 1949 & 1950. If it were a Santa Fe with the operational bell & Magna-Traction it is worth more than $110.00. So, If it is a Santa Fe with an Erie RR Shell and it is only going for $110.00, test it for Magna-Traction and if it has it, Buy it ! It is worth more than it's asking price. To test for Magna-Traction, place it on a loose piece of track, if the wheels pick the track up when you lift the loco, it has Magna-Traction.
Good Luck !!! Till My Next Missive, I Remain The Humble, Yet Strangly [}:)] Doctor !!!

[daan]

May be I'm wrong, if so correct me please. Alco never built F3's, EMD did. F3's made by Lionel in postwar are the best ever, but I doubt them being on sale for $140. The Alco's are shorter, lighter and as far as I know only have 1 motor, like the GP's. It seems that a $140 is better in place there, and for a repainted one my guess is that it's expensive, ebay offers have original alco's for that money. (depends on how the repainting looks and if it has the right decals etc.)
For a simple spray-can repainted decalless Alco, it's expensive (to my opinion).
If it's a repainted F3, with dual motors; go get it before someone else does!

[lionelsoni]

Dann, I looked back through the topic. I don't think anyone said that Alco built F3s. In fact, I don't see that F3's were ever mentioned.

[daan]

@ Lionelsoni: That's why I sayd "correct me if I'm wrong"[B)]..