The 6486 Southern was followed by the 6485 Chessie System produced in ’84 & ’85 as part of the 1402 Chessie System set. Again what’s with the non-sequential numbering? Perhaps it was all the turmoil Lionel (MPC) was going through at the time. In mid ’83 MPC (Fundimensions) made the horrible decision to move all production to a facility in Tijuana, Mexico. Making the transition even more difficult was the loss of key production personnel who left rather than relocate. The ’84 production year was a disaster with delivery schedules missed and quality very spotty. Production then returned to Mt. Clemens in ’85 the same year General Mills spun-off Kenner-Parker Toys which included Lionel (MPC). Kenner-Parker Toys had no interest in the toy train business and quick spun-off Lionel (MPC) to Richard Kughn in early ’86 resulting in the formation of LTI.
Have fun collecting cheap classics………………………
Papa D
Next up is the 6912 Redwood Valley Express non-illuminated SP-type caboose produced in ’84 & ’85 as part of the entry level 1403 Redwood Valley Express set. I believe this is one of the sets produced in the Tijuana, Mexico facility which might explain why it has no car number or Blt date. Unfortunately, I’ve not been able to find one of these cabooses at “cheap classic” price, so this is just a place holder until I do.
The 6912 was followed by the 6918 B&O non-illuminated SP-type caboose produced in ’86 as part of the 1652 B&O Freight set. The '86 catalog was published by "Lionel Trains Division of Kenner Parker Toys, Inc." with the transition to LTI completed in the spring of that year. Gone were the plastic snap rivets holding on the trucks and the plastic wheels.
This is my favorite. It matches exactly my LionChief Plus 9555 B&O NW2 Switcher I recently bought (which I will soon write about in a different post).
The Nickel Plate Road non-illuminated SP-type caboose was first produced in ’86 as part of 1602 Nickel Plate Special set. Production of this set continued through ’91 making it an easy piece of rolling stock to find at a cheap classic price. The ’86 production came with a coupler at only one end. Later production by LTI had couplers at both ends and cast metal wheels. Interestingly the graphics of the 9060 Nickel Plate Road caboose produced from ’70 to ’72 wasn’t reused.
Papa_DNext up is the 6912 Redwood Valley Express non-illuminated SP-type caboose produced in ’84 & ’85 as part of the entry level 1403 Redwood Valley Express set. I believe this is one of the sets produced in the Tijuana, Mexico facility which might explain why it has no car number or Blt date. Unfortunately, I’ve not been able to find one of these cabooses at “cheap classic” price, so this is just a place holder until I do.
In collecting patiences pays off as I recently bought one for $6.50 plus $7.00 shipping.
The 6918 B&O is nice enough to upgrade.
"IT's GOOD TO BE THE KING",by Mel Brooks
Charter Member- Tardis Train Crew (TTC) - Detroit3railers- Detroit Historical society Glancy Modular trains- Charter member BTTS
Sir James, I agree. The Redwood Express Caboose above actually came with window insert and illumination up-grades. I swapped out these up-grades with my 6918 B&O Caboose. In the process, I also replaced the pick-up roller wiring and switched the lightbulb to a 5mm “Warm White” LED from Evan Designs. It’s rated 7-19 V AC or DC
Here is the end result.
All-in-all, the $13.50 I paid for the Redwood Express Caboose was a pretty good deal.
The 6921 Pennsylvania RR non-illuminated SP-type caboose was produced from ’86 to ‘90 as part of the 1615 Cannonball Express set. It has the distinction of bearing the last MPC road number. Going forward LTI updated to the 165xx series.
Papa_D....The '86 catalog was published by "Lionel Trains Division of Kenner Parker Toys, Inc." with the transition to LTI completed in the spring of that year. Gone were the plastic snap rivets holding on the trucks and the plastic wheels........ Papa D
Do you have pics of the plastic snap rivets and the metal (I presume) ones to compare? When was the switch made, and when was the switch back?
When MPC began producing Lionel trains in '70, cutting cost even a penny or two was everything. The introduction of the plastic snap rivet to attach the trucks to the car body was one of these measures. It produced a somewhat looser attachment that didn't effect function but felt "cheap". MPC also started using plastic wheels on low end cars around the same time. This did effect function since it reduced the car weight and raised its center of gravity. When LTI took over Lionel train production in '86, one of the first things they did was eliminate the use of the plastic snap rivet and plastic wheels. I'll post photos next week.
The plastic rivet did make for a sloppy truck mount, but it sure made making changes easy. I never had the right tools for metal rivets so the plastic ones were nice in that regard but did make the cars look cheap.
The plastic snap rivet used to attach a car frame/body to the trucks for some low end rolling stock is shown below. From an assembly point of view, it was a labor saver compared to setting a metal rivet. I’d guess it cut the labor cost for this manufacturing operation at least in half.
Unfortunately, it resulted in a loose fit between the car body and the truck because it is just an interference at one point around the hole circumference. I’ve tried to show this in the below photo.
It didn't seems to having any effect on function, i.e. cause derailments, at least on my O-27 layout running trains with generally with 4 to 6 cars. It did make rolling stock which used these rivets feel cheap. A lot of folks replaced them with an 8-32 screw with locking nut. Being an engineer (now retired), I found this approach less than satisfying. As a result, I invested some money and considerable time in developing a metal rivet replacement process.
A little research found the correct metal rivet; a 566-16. They can be bought from most Lionel train part dealers or on eBay. A 100 costs about $15. When determining the quantity needed, don’t forget to include about a dozen to develop the process. These rivets are pretty sturdy, so it didn’t take long to realize I was going to need an arbor press and clincher to form the rolled rivet head. I found the Lionel replica arbor press (HH-1000) too expensive for the limited use I’d get out of it. Instead I picked up a simple ½ ton arbor press for about $60.
Selecting a clincher was relatively straight forward. If the clincher dimple is too large or small, then the rivet will crush before the roll is formed. The 566-16 opening is ~0.088”. I selected a clincher with a 0.125” dimple (ST-350-11 also identified as a STX-360-11 or #1). In retrospect, the 0.140” dimple (ST-350-12 also identified as STX-360-12 or #2) might have been a slightly better choice.
A little experimenting was needed to get the correct stop setting on the arbor press to get just the right amount of roll forming.
Further practice was needed to develop the skill required to make sure the clincher, rivet and anvil remained concentric and vertical during pressing. After going through about a dozen practice rivets, I started with boxcars, tank cars and cabooses because they could be done with just the frame and trucks. Hopper cars and gondolas were a little more difficult and required a longer anvil which I made out of a bolt as shown in the arbor press photo. Overall, I’ve done more than 3 dozen pieces of rolling stock and been happy with the result. It’s close enough to the “factory” that it’s difficult for me now to distinguish which is which.
For me this was also part of the fun of collecting, operating, and maintaining Lionel trains.
Here's how I got a Wabash caboose from stock to Giraffe Express trim in about 12 hours:
http://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/topic/from-wabash-to-gi-raffe-painting-and-lighting-an-mpc-caboose-in-12-hours-flat
Great job! Looks better than the original 16505 Wabash caboose. How did you acquire extra MPC pick-ups, wish I had a few. Funny, I'm just in the process of posting the next Cheap Classic on my list which happens to be the 16505.
The 16505 Wabash non-illuminated SP-type caboose was produced from ’88 to ‘91 as part of the 11703 Iron Horse Freight set. It’s the third and last Wabash caboose on my Cheap Classic list. Somewhat surprising, it is not as good looking as the previous two produced during the MPC era, although the are trucks attached by metal rivets, it has operating couplers at both ends and metal wheels which is a big plus over what was used during much of the MPC era.
The 16529 ATSF non-illuminated SP-type caboose was part of the 11721 Santa Fe Special set produced only in ’91. This set also included the 16227 Santa Fe short box car and the somewhat hard to find 16114 Hooker short single dome tank car. Very simple graphics, the “Plain Jane” of my caboose cheap classics. Somewhat unique is the road number (16829) on the body is different than the listing number (16529) which makes searching for this car a little more difficult.
The 16530 Mickey’s World Tour ’92 non-illuminated SP-type caboose was part of the 11721 Mickey’s World Tour set produced only in ’91. In addition to the road number there is also a large“1001” with a much smaller “HELLOS!” below. It is often listed under the 1001 number instead of the 11721 road number. It’s a mystery to me why it has a BLT date of ’91 and a World Tour date of ’92. I guess there is some logic there somewhere.
Sometimes the Blt. date on special run cars would differ from the release date as well. In one case the TTOS GT flat car had to be rerun because TTOS wanted the dates to match.
The 16536 Chessie System C&O non-illuminated SP-type caboose was produced in ’92, ’93(U), ’94, ’96(U) and ’97 – ’99 in different body colors and styles. The only one that falls within the “Cheap Classic” criteria is the yellow 4 window body with dark blue graphics. In was part of the 11727 Costal Limited (’92), 11742 Coastal Limit (‘93U), and 11746 Seaboard Freight (’94) sets.
A somewhat rare brown 4 window body with yellow graphics came in some of the 11742 Costal Limited (‘93U) sets. While I’ve not come across this variation, the premium price it commands and the fact it only came in a uncataloged set excludes it from “cheap classic” list.
A red 2 window body with white graphics 16536 Caboose came in the 11915 Seaboard (96U) and 11915 Chessie Flyer (97 – 99) sets, which are beyond the end of the LTI era. Why the body color change from yellow to red is baffling. It is worth noting that LTI change the SP-type caboose body mold in ’95. The number of side windows was reduced from 4 to 2. In addition, the body and frame were made into a single molded piece with the roof removable. It’s a better design with the drawback that it eliminates the easy inter-changeability of the trucks. I would have thought that with the body color and mold changes the road number would also have been changed. Kind of a throwback to the early MPC days.
The 16543 New York Central non-illuminated SP-type caboose was produced in ’93 & ’94 in the 4 window body version and ’95 – ’99 in the two window body version. In came in the 11735 NYC Flyer set (’93 –’99) and the 11832 (U’97), 11978 (U’98), and 21932 (U’99) JC Penny NYC Flyer sets. While it had a BLT Date, it didn’t have a road number on the body. Like the 16636 C&O caboose, it is somewhat puzzling when the car number wasn’t changed in ’95 with the substantial body mode change.
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