I have a very old Lionel steam engine that has no identification number on it. I was told it was built around 1937 and is a 235E but I don't know. It's a 2-4-2, very heavy and runs like crazy! The tender and passenger train I was told are old American Flyer O-gauge. I got this set for my birthday back around 1954 and it was old stuff then too!
Please.......all you collectors and serious fans! Don't get too excited about this engine and train as they have all been repainted at least twice since I was given them.
I have tried to post some pictures but to no avail. I have tried to seach for the information on posting pictures but Kalmbach's search engine just really sucks and gives me everything except how to do it.
If anyone can guide me to how to post I would really appreciate the help with that and eventually getting an ID on my engine.
Many thanks,
Roger Huber
Deer Creek Locomotive Works
The way I do it is to put the pictures in a Shutterfly account. Open it up in there, right click, copy, then paste it in the post.
Hope this helps.
Joined 1-21-2011 TCA 13-68614
Kev, From The North Bluff Above Marseilles IL.
Shuttefly? Never heard of it. I'm computer challenged, as my daughter says.
oldline1 Shuttefly? Never heard of it. I'm computer challenged, as my daughter says. Roger Huber
Roger, Shutterfly and Phota bucket are on-line free picture sites.
I never knew them either but found you have to have one to post picture in a lot of places on the web.
https://www.shutterfly.com/signin/viewSignin.sfly?fid=4948ac77c1467ab28d3ee00937c23351401669812da88e1e
Roger, assuming your date is correct, and your comment about weight and runs fast, I assume it is diecast and maybe a 1688. If it's a bullet nosed streamlined loco, that's probably it. It's a 2-4-2, reasonably heavy, runs like a bat out of hell and pretty common. To the best of my knowledge, Lionel did not use the number 235 on a loco until after WWII.
KRM,
Many thanks for the help. After going to the site and reading almost 12 pages of fine print, terms, conditions and liability waivers required to post a damned picture I think maybe I'll live in the bliss of not knowing just what my engine is. I haven't known since 1954 so I guess I can live the rest of my days not knowing her number. LOL
Sometimes I get reminded of the old statements like...."you don't get something for nothing". Too much there to be good.
Thanks, again!Roger Huber
Roger,
Are you able to send a photo by way of email? If you would like you can send me an email with the photo attached and I will post it for you.
Northwoods Flyer
Greg
The Northwoods Flyer Collection
of
American Flyer Trains
"The Toy For the Boy"
Greg,
I can send them as an attachment to an email. Address?
I will work on posting it when I get home from work tonight.
Your photos came through just fine. Here they are:
I'm afraid that I don't know enough about Lionel to identify the engine for you. I'm sure that someone here will be able to identify it for you.
From what I see of the tender I think that it is the tender for an o gauge Royal Blue streamlined engine. If you send some photos of the passenger cars I might be able to identify them for you.
Greg, it's a #259E and the brass trim would suggest it was satin black. I too would guess passenger cars from the Royal Blue since the tender is that shape - either that or from the gray 4-4-2 torpedo from 1940 along with the passenger cars that came in one of the sets headed by that engine.
Wow!
7 minutes from posting the photos to identification. Great job mersenne6. What years was the 259E produced?
There you go Roger. Any other questions?
The 259 without a reverse was offered in 1932. In 1933 it came out as 259E and had the reversing unit. It was offered in copper and satin black from 1933-35. From 1936-39 it came in gray with nickel trim and in 1939 Lionel offered it one last time in black.
It's a 259E. Basic bottom of the O gauge line from Lionel 1933-40, often in uncatalogued sets. The original color was either black or gray (gunmetal to the collector). And from what I can see of the tender, it's not the one that came with the loco.
Tinplate Guy
Thanks for posting the pictures for me and all the information. This one was originally black. The cars are the Flyer O gauge streamlined Royal Blue cars as is the tender. Is there a way to figure out if it's the 1933-35 or 1939 version?
Sure wish all my other stuff worked as well as this one. I grew up with Flyer S scale trains. We always had huge layouts. How this single non-S scale train set showed up in our house is something I'll never know. As much as I prefer everything about Flyer over Lionel I have to admit this is the toughest piece of equipment I've ever owned or seen. It was cleaned, lubed and repainted by my Grandfather when he gave it to me in 1954 and I cleaned it, lubed and repainted it about 10 years ago. That's all the maintenance it's ever gotten and it has been used under the Christmas tree almost every year since 1954. Great train!
It has to be 1933-35. The later black engine came with nickel trim.
Yep, it's a 259E, type 1. The 1933 version was black with brass and copper trim and had red wheels. In 1934 the wheels became black and all trim was switched to nickel. There should have been a rectangular celluloid insert at the top of the boiler front with the model number printed in black on a white background that lights up.
FYI: on the 259, which was available in 1932 only, the reverse lever is inside the cab.
Becky
Trains, trains, wonderful trains. The more you get, the more you toot!
The more I looked at the photos the more I thought that engine looked familiar. Last fall I went to an estate sale down the block from my in-laws on a whim. I was hardly prepared for what I found - a huge collection of pre war trains being sold by an estate sale firm. I has mesmerized by the trains that were there, very few of which were selling. The second day was mark down day, and I was there early. I kept carrying things to the checkout table until I knew I was running out of funds.
As a Flyer guy I was most interested in those items, but I already have most of the things that were for sale. I found numerous Ives items which I added to my collection, since I didn't have any examples of Ives in my collection yet. I also grabbed a few Lionel pieces that I thought looked nice.
I didn't unpacked the Lionel pieces until today and look at what I found.
It turns out I bought a 259
This is the tender they had paired up with it. Is it correct and what is the number?
Check out the snazzy red wheels
The reverse lever is in the cab as Becky describes. Does that make this a 259 from 1932 or a 259E from 1933?
I think the engine and tender go well together.
I just thought I would add a little epilogue to this thread.
Enjoying the World's Greatest Hobby
Dave
It's a TOY, A child's PLAYTHING!!! (Woody from Toy Story)
Also a 259 from 1932. These have Lionel's original style 2 position reverse (just a polarity switch really). In 1933 the 259E started to use the Ives-designed 3 position solonoid E-Unit we all know so well. Lionel so highly coveted the Ives reverse that acquiring it was one of the primary reasons Lionel became involved in the Ives bankruptcy. Similarly, AF wanted the Ives 1134 steamer and they got involved with Ives so they could add that steamer to their line. Sadly, history suggests Lionel really had no interest in helping Ives survive reorginization and one of the greatest toy makers slipped into history.
But anyways, back to the loco. The tender is the 257T which all the books I have say is the correct one for the 1932 259. The number was stamped in white on the bottom of the tender, maybe there's a trace of it? My 259 is in similar cosmetic condition but my loco's drivers are in serious need of replacement. Now, it's impossible to know 80 years after the fact wether they came as a pair, but mine was paired with an orange striped 258T. The 258T is an 8 wheeled design with a cast shell, another Ives influence.
In case you hadn't guessed, the 259 is my favorite O gauge prewar steamer. The 385E is my fave on the Standard Gauge side of the Lionelverse.
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