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(Iron) Horse of a Different Color: A Green Molded Tender?

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(Iron) Horse of a Different Color: A Green Molded Tender?
Posted by M. Mitchell Marmel on Monday, June 9, 2014 9:18 AM

I'm in the process of removing the markings* from an MPC era Lionel "chuff chuff" tender** to be repurposed for use with one of my Marx 666es.  To my bemusement, the underlying plastic was not the customary black, but green!  Was molding tenders in color common back then?

Mitch

*As I've mentioned in the past, generic "Electric Shave" lotion and chunks of "Magic Eraser:" do a swell job of removing paint without harming plastic, witness the above.  After demonstrating this at a train club meeting, the club president stopped using the stuff while shaving...  and there IS a Material Safety Data Sheet label for the stuff!  We use it at work to remove magic marker and tough stains from plastic casings of barcode scanners... 

**Note the rubber bands replacing the original traction tire.  Works great!

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Posted by Penny Trains on Monday, June 9, 2014 6:56 PM

Lionel has a long history of using whatever plastic pellets were on hand for painted body shells.  The practice even carried through to unpainted items like whistle housings and transformer covers which can often be found with a mix of colors in a brilliant marbling.

Lectric shave you say?  Hmm  I'll have to remember that one.  I've been using brake fluid for years but it can take weeks of soaking.  How fast does the lotion work?

Becky

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Posted by rtraincollector on Monday, June 9, 2014 7:35 PM

Back about that time or maybe a little before there was a green B&O tender and I know there was a Green Southern tender now heres the big question where they that style I don't remember but seems the Souther cheap set had a slope back but I believe there was another Southern also steam which I believe was like a 4-6-2 ( not sure of wheel arrangement other than the middle drivers where 6) and it had a green tender

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Posted by sir james I on Monday, June 9, 2014 9:10 PM

Yes RT MPC did make a green unpainted Southern plastic engine with that tender. And in those early MPC days they used whatever was on hand for production.

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Posted by M. Mitchell Marmel on Monday, June 9, 2014 9:58 PM

Penny Trains

Lectric shave you say?  Hmm  I'll have to remember that one.  I've been using brake fluid for years but it can take weeks of soaking.  How fast does the lotion work?

That strip job was about fifteen minutes total; two or three minutes to let the Lectric Shave soak in and the rest scrubbing with a chunk of Magic Eraser.  ;)

Note the MSDS label; this is a bottle of the stuff that I use at work.

And some people actually put this on their FACES!  Tongue Tied

Mitch

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Posted by JeffPo on Friday, November 7, 2014 11:24 AM

My green plastic Southern from the early 70s took me down many miles of track.

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