over the weekend I aquired a Western Pacific passenger set. It consited of a pair 2355 diesels, silver cloud coach, three silver vista dome cars and the observation. What I need to know is the diesels origanal. They dont match Greenburs's book discription. These have solid port holes never had the clear plasitic incerts. Also the ladders on the side are cast in not added to the side. The horn is in the powered A unit not in the dummy. The lettering is heat stamped in black. Is this a new varition? The person I bought it from said his dad bought the set in 1954 at a hobby shop in Kansas City MO. Any information would be great.
Detailed photos, please. Repaint(probably MPC) shells on 2353 chassis.
Rob
I don't think so. I will try to get pic's tonight. You can tell that these shells are origanal to these frames. The number boards say 2355. And when I removed the shell the screw that held it on was tight like it had never been off since new. It is very dirty along with the cars it had been setting for a long time on a shelf in the basement, the owner told me.
Number boards are easily changed and have been reproduced.
Reproduction F3 shells, painted on genuine blank Lionel cabs, were readily available for a while, I think it was the mid to late 1970's. Not positive on the date, it might have been a little later.
So those cabs would have some age to them now.
Pictures would be helpful.
According to the Doyle book your 2355 should not have those 'cheapened' details as they did not appear until a few years later. Maybe yours is a Madison hardware release?
Madison Hardware could be the answer, they did a lot of stuff like that. Your description of the bodies and horn placement don't match any known regular issue of this engine. 50+ years is a long enough time for variables to have been found.
S.J.
"IT's GOOD TO BE THE KING",by Mel Brooks
Charter Member- Tardis Train Crew (TTC) - Detroit3railers- Detroit Historical society Glancy Modular trains- Charter member BTTS
This sounds real interesting. Also, back in 1954 there were quite a few hobby shops in Kansas City, MO, but the one that was downtown and vivid in my memory was Joe Falk. 60 years later, I drive by that location and always think about it. Joe Falk's hobby shop was located below street level, and you cound see down into it from a plate glass window. You could also push a button and a train would start up and run by on a track situated below.
here is a link to the photos of the locomotive.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/trainurclock/13623000393/
The number boards on your engine jumped out at me. They should be black, with the paint removed from the numbers, which are raised. Your number boards are clear.,
Your right, The numbers are raised but it looks like it never had black on it. Also they are old since they are turning yellow with age.
I thought I read somewhere (possibly Greenburg) that the reproduction shells the lettering was silk screend on the body. These are heat stamped like the originals. Were some of the repros heat stamped?
They are heat stamped. I looked at them with a jewlers loop (I do clock repair so I have one) I can see the valley where the black paint rests. and the mealted plastic ridge around the letters.
According to the Postwar Lionel Reproduction Handbook Guide, which was published by the TCA, F3 reproductions were typically done with either silk screened or dry transfer lettering. However, they mention some other reproduction items that have heat stamping. Therefore, heat stamping is no guarantee that an item is an original Lionel postwar factory product.
I am now wondering if something happend to the origanal shells and his dad ordered replacements from either Lionel or Madison hardware. And these were what was sent to him. It really dosen't matter. It is a good looking set, and i'll enjoy running it on the layout. (although I wiould like to solve the mystery)
I don't think there is any possibility it came from Lionel, the shell is not postwar. At best its modern era, due to the missing vents. Modern era Lionel would not gear up and decorate shells for a product they weren't going to run. Paint masks are expensive to produce. They were in the business of selling complete trains, not parts. I don't recall the exact year it was adopted, they had a policy of only selling shells with an exchange for the damaged one.
As for Madison: they did carry at least some reproduction shells. I am not aware of anything that is unique about them.
That's an even earlier 2343 Chassis.
I thought the same thing, the chassis looks a lot like our Santa Fe
I remembered this morning that Trainworld in NYCity also sold really good repainted shells. They sold the shells only, you had to have the chassis'.
Please let us know when you find the answer on who made it.
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