Lionel's #4109ws 1946 electronic control set

[Anonymous]

[:)][:)][?] In CTT december issue on page 82 it show a picture of lionel's electronic control set which was made in 1946. I have not seen it on ebay nor have I heard too much about it. Can any one tell me if one has any information about this set? I guess it was not to popular then other wise they would have made more of them. FG

[1688torpedo]

Hello FG! The Electronic Set was 50 years ahead of it's time.Unfortunately, They were also expensive ( About $150.00) too few were sold to make it a worthwhile venture for Lionel & they used Vacuum Tubes as recievers in the Freight Cars to uncouple without the use of a uncoupling section & to run two trains on the same track without any relays or special track sections. The Vacuum Tubes were too troublesome & would fail quite often. Everything that one can do with Command or DCS control for their trains was what the Electronic Train was designed to do back in 1946! Today; the Electronic Sets are valuable & hard to get. I've never seen one in person in all the years I've been in this Hobby & you would have to have pretty deep pockets to afford one these days. I do believe that one sold at a Stout Auction for about $ 25,000.00 around three years ago(Mint in the Box) If you're looking for one just be prepared to pay lots of $$$$$$ for it. Take Care.

[ben10ben]

It was a good idea, but the cost and reliability was what killed it.

At the heart of the system was a big gray metal box with ten buttons on it. This gray box looked a lot like one of the older type transformers. It had its own wall plug, and four terminal on it. You would wire it in series with the track output, and plug it in. The box contained a radio tube and a few capacitors, and that was basically it. Pressing each button sent a unique signal frequency down the track.

The accompanying set was lead by a special Turbine, a 671R. The tender had two receivers mounted in it, each tuned to respond to a different frequency. One, when it received a signal, would send a jolt of power to the E-unit to cycle it. The other would activate the whistle for as long as the button was held down.

Each car also contained a receiver to activate the couplers. Each receiver would be tuned to respond to a specific button press.

The receiver in the dump car was a bit different, also. If you pressed it momentarily, it would only activate the couplers. Holding it down activated a thermal switch which would cause the car to dump.

The set as I know it contained the Turbine, tender, a gondola, box car, dump car, and caboose.

By the way, there's not much to the receivers. They contain a relay, choke, a rectifier, variable tuning capacitor(or "tuning condenser"). At one time, I though about building my own receivers and attempting to assemble my own electronic set, but I gave up on it. A working complete set is high on my list of things to aquire "one of these days."

I've seen a working set before, and it's really impressive once you get everything working. The track has to be kept clean very clean, though, and it's a real you-know-what to keep the receivers properly tuned.

If you're interested, the K-line postwar service manual has 16 pages of technical information on the electronic set.

[msacco]

I saw the 671 electronic set at a greenberg show here on Long Island a few years back. It was in great condition, at least very good to excellent from my memory. I think he wanted 500 dollars or so. I have only seen that one and it was the trains only. NO control box and other tube stuff you need.
I should have bought it.

Mike s.

[mitchelr]

About 10 years ago I saw an Electronic Control Set at a local auction house. I was bidding on it and quit bidding at $190. The set sold for $200. I'll forever wonder if the other bidder would have kept going if I had continued to bid. For whatever reason, that particular night none of the "regular train guys" (dealers) were in attendance.

Oh the one that got away is the one that always haunts you. I remember a '55 T-Bird that I could have bought for $900. If I had only had $900.[:(][:(]

Mitch

[ben10ben]

By the way, if originality isn't all that important to you, you can actually assemble your own electronic set fairly economically.

A good working transmitter is worth about $100. After that, a 671R and tender will probably cost $150-200, and each of the cars will be $30-50 each. The electronic cars are identified with a special sticker on the side, although, in reality, almost any postwar car with coil couplers can be easily adapted to electronic control. Many were even designed with this in mind. Receivers are plentiful on Ebay, and almost always around $10 each.

Even a normal 671 could be adapted provided that you installed a brushplate from the smoke bulb version.

[Anonymous]

Thank you guy's for the info about this set. I remember as a kid back then my father took me into manhattan every year to see the Gilbert Hall of Science on 25th st and 5th ave then to lionels show room down the block and finaly to Polk's hobby store on 5th ave and 30th st to see all the major train layouts. I remember seeing that lionel electronic set at their show room running on a seperate layout that they built for it. I remember that 671 engine had a small round blue sticker on the side where the engineer would be. The layouts that Gimbel's and Macys were nice too. Ah those were the day's you guy's. I don't think we will ever see them again. Thank you again for all your inputs. Felix

[prewardude]

Great memories, Felix! I wish I could have been around to experience those kinds of things. But alas, I was born the year before the end of the original Lionel Corp., and grew-up during the MPC era. [|(]

Regards,
Clint

[lionelsoni]

The odd cutouts that you might have noticed in the floor of Lionel PRR gondolas were there to accommodate the electronic-set receiver.