CTT November 2018 (Vol. 31 No. 8) 1968 Cataloged Set #11600 Questions

[Roger Carp]

Hi and thanks for posting your question. I'm not entirely sure I understand what you are asking, but I would be glad to help. Feel free to call me at Classic Toy Trains: 262-796-8776 ext. 253.

 

Roger Carp

Senior editor

[ADCX Rob]

phrankenstign

...the bottle of smoke pellets shown next to the Lehigh Valley hopper in the top tray....

...why would a set in 1968 sold years later require Lionel Smoke Pellets?  Where did they get the pellets?  Aren't the heating elements different for the pellets and the liquid?

While the liquid smoke units did appear in 1957, it was not exclusively a "liquid" world for Lionel. SP Smoke Pellets were available & cataloged into the MPC era(1973), and the 2029 Locomotive(cataloged through 1969) from this set was always a pellet smoker, as was the 736 also cataloged(for the last time) this year.

As has become well known now, the 2909 type smoke fluid, as well as the aftermarket fluids, all work well in pellet type smoke chambers once cleaned and refreshed with new fiberglass wicking/wadding.

[phrankenstign]

The contents of set #11600 are pictured on pages 34 (top tray) and 35 (bottom tray).  On page 37, the crane car is pictured along with its box.  The box has "LIONEL" printed eight times on the top.  That same box appears to be in the bottom tray pictured on page 35.  If the box with "LIONEL" printed eight times on the top is the crane car box on page 35, why is the crane car unboxed on page 34?

The text makes reference to an "1122 remote-control left-hand switch packed in a brand-new checkerboard-type box".  Where is that box?  Apart from the "LIONEL" printed eight times on the top box, only two plain brown boxes are shown on either side of it.

One last question deals with the bottle of smoke pellets shown next to the Lehigh Valley hopper in the top tray.  I thought Lionel switched over to liquid smoke units exclusively years earlier.  I seem to remember reading the guy who invented the smoke pellets died.  He had been one of Lionel's outside contractors who had supplied the smoke pellets as needed.  He'd retained the formula for the pellets, and nobody else knew how to make them.  When he died, the supply died.  So......Lionel ended up having to come up with a new way of creating smoke for their locomotives.  Once the liquid smoke and the liquid smoke units were developed, Lionel put them in all subsequent locomotives that required the smoking feature.  If that story was true, why would a set in 1968 sold years later require Lionel Smoke Pellets?  Where did they get the pellets?  Aren't the heating elements different for the pellets and the liquid?

I'm confused!