Tender Question for 681

[aceape]

Hello all,

Can anyone tell me if the 681 turbine ever came with the 2046w Lionel Lines tender or was it always the 2046w-50/2671w Pennsylvania tender? I have conflicting information as some material says that it did while others say it only came with the "Pennsy" tenders. Just wanted to get some clarification.

Thanks, 

 

[Anonymous]

aceape,

              To my knowledge, the 681 came from the factory with either the 2671W Pennsylvania in 1950-51, then the 2046W Pennsylvania in 1953.  Oh, feel free to stop by the Coffe Pot thread if you'd like to introduce yourself to the group.

[ezmike]

That's my understanding as well.

And, welcome.

Mike 

[Jim Rotella]

I agree with Jim, but I'd like to add one thing. Although the 681's and 682's were supposed to be shipped with tenders lettered "Pennsylvania" , many times the dealers would actually sell the Turbines with the "Lionel Lines" lettered streamlined tenders. Sometimes the dealers would switch the tenders with the 736 Berkshire, either by accident or by request. I think this is the reason why we often see orignal 736's with Pennsy tenders and 681's and 682's with Lionel Lines tenders.

[aceape]

Thank you for your help.  I guess I will start looking for either the 2046W-50 or 2671W tender for my turbine.  Of course the 2671W is the one I prefer but they are pretty hard to come by for sale by themselves.  Would anyone have a lead or be able to point me in the right direction to get either tender?  I have been watching ebay this week, but nothing has caught my eye.  

Not new to the hobby but have been out for many many years. My oh my, how things change over the course of 15-20 years

[sean s.]

 A good rule of thumb to follow is, if your 681 is rubber stamped, it is from 1950, which came with the 2671w 12 wheel tender.  The heat stamped one came  with the 8 wheel.

[Roger Bielen]

If brand doesn't matter, at one time Williams had the 6 axel tenders for their turbine available for separate sale.

[aceape]

Sean,

How can I tell visually the difference between a heat stamp versus a rubber stamp?

thanks,

barney

[aceape]

I saw the williams tenders, but really wanted to find pw lionel.

[phillyreading]

aceape,

Have you ever heard of www.choochooauctions.com ? They deal with just model trains and you may find an item much quicker on there than searching on ebay. Use the search feature and look under Lionel Trains.

The Williams replacement tender for sale is for the 671 not the 681, I bought a Williams 671 reproduction of the original Lionel 671. I bought a second tender for the 671 but I am planning on using it with a pre war 224E or a post war 224 steam loco.

Lee F.

[ezmike]

barney,

 Visually it is hard to tell. I've heard some folks say that one method produces clearer, crisper letters than the other (I think heat stamping was crisper but I'm not sure which is which right now) but to tell you the truth it is nearly impossible to do it by visual inspection only. If you can touch the letters/numbers heat stamping produced a slight indentation, but on the cast metal it might also be impossible to tell.

I have a 681 that came with it's 2046-50 Pennsy tender but my problem is the reverse of yours in some ways. I also have a 2671W LL tender but no engine for it. I've been looking for the correct 671 Turbine and a PW Pennsy shell for some time. Every time I get a line one one or both someone drives the bidding through the roof. I'll tell you what someone told me when I was looking for a 736 Berk, have patience, there are thousands out there, yours will come along, and it did.

Mike

[Anonymous]

Barney,

            To determine how the lettreing was applied, run a finger over the numbers.  If you can feel the numbers, they are heat stamped.  If they feel smooth, they are rubber stamped.

[aceape]

Hello Lee,

 Thanks for the information.  I have heard of choochooauctions and did check their site for the tenders earlier in the week. Unfortunately, they didn't have any.

barney

[aceape]

Thanks Jim,

 I will check that at some point over the weekend.

[rtraincollector]

barney,

 Visually it is hard to tell. I've heard some folks say that one method produces clearer, crisper letters than the other (I think heat stamping was crisper but I'm not sure which is which right now) but to tell you the truth it is nearly impossible to do it by visual inspection only. If you can touch the letters/numbers heat stamping produced a slight indentation, but on the cast metal it might also be impossible to tell.

I have a 681 that came with it's 2046-50 Pennsy tender but my problem is the reverse of yours in some ways. I also have a 2671W LL tender but no engine for it. I've been looking for the correct 671 Turbine and a PW Pennsy shell for some time. Every time I get a line one one or both someone drives the bidding through the roof. I'll tell you what someone told me when I was looking for a 736 Berk, have patience, there are thousands out there, yours will come along, and it did.

Mike

If you just want a pennsy shell for the tender they have a repo and its available from Jeff kane at [e-mail]

[ezmike]

RT,

 I know Jeff well. Initially bought a repro NYC shell from him when I was "only" an operator not a "collector". That worked for a while but now for some reason I "have to have" an original post war Pennsy shell. Still not a collector for nothing I own is in mint or like new condition and I'll run them all but I now have this need to have things correct, go figure.

Mike