Hi guys as you can guess I a chick. So I am coming to you guys for advise. My husband just died so I now own his dad’s 70 year old train set. It is still in the original boxes. My husband had no interest in them but I do. Right now they are still in the attic, but I remember that they are in great condition no scratches etc. But there was one problem. On the engine the cow catcher was cracked and missing half of the cow catcher. What is the best way to handel this? I don’t want to deminish the value (whatever that is ) by doing something stupid. Also I live in New Jersey. So where would I go that I could trust.
Widdow
You can get a better answer to your question on the TOY TRAINS forum at Trains.com. Those guys are the experts and will probably have a quick and correct answer for you.
Joe
Probably best not to attempt a fix. The real gung Lionel collectors, the kinds with money, can be very picky about original paint and such. Better to sell it as is. You won’t improve the sales value all that much, certainly not as much as a proper repair would cost to do.
By the way. 70 years ago, 1939, Lionel didn’t make HO, they made the larger O and number one size trains. O gauge cars are close to a foot long, whereas HO cars are only half a foot. Lionel didn’t start an HO line until the late 1950’s.
As noted, if it is more than 50 years old, it is not Lionel HO, it may be Lionel OO, which is fractionally larger than HO, and considerably smaller than O.
I am not sure of the hobby stores in your local, but there is a good Lionel one in Strasburg PA.
Hi WiddowB,
Nigel is coorect. If the set is around 70 years old and about HO size it is OO scale. A Lionel OO set in good condition and the original packaging is pretty valuable (I think in $1k to $2k range depending on condition). Lionel made both 2-rail and 3-rail OO sets. Two rail OO is still fairly popular in the UK. Hornby and Bachman still make new OO products. However, in the US OO is all but gone.
There is a good Lionel shop in Mountain Lakes! (Morris Cty)[:)]
Here’s a link that has some pics of Lionel’s pre-war OO scale trains, and a pic of an OO engine. I believe the only OO engine Lionel made was a New York Central Hudson like the one in the pic. Do your trains look like them??
http://www.toytrainrevue.com/oolayout.htm
If this is what you have, I would try to check with a local hobby shop that handles vintage Lionel. I’m sure you could get a replacement part to fix the engine, but I don’t know if it would be better to sell it ‘as is’ or if you would get significantly more if it were repaired first.
Most Lionel trains you’ll find are O scale - OO trains are only about half as big. If you have track you can measure how far it is from between the two outside rails. Lionel O track would have a track gauge of 1-1/4". OO would be about 5/8". (If you don’t have the track, you can measure how far apart the wheels are on a car or engine.)
BTW OO and HO use the same track gauge, even though the scale of the trains are a little different. [%-)] When HO-size track came out, small motors weren’t as widely available as now, so for some manufacturers (like in England) it was easier to make the trains a little bigger than scale so they could squeeze the motor inside, but still using the same track as HO trains.
Lionel was pretty good about putting metal labels on the bottom of each piece of equipment saying something like “Lionel 300E” telling you the maker and ID no. of the car or engine etc. so check the bottoms. Once you have a number like that, a quick web search will turn up more info on what you have.
Of course,
The OP did not state a scale that I can see. BILL
Hi Bill,
Yes she stated what scale she beleived it is in the thread title 70 YEAR OLD HO LIONEL.
She says that she IS interested in the trains, so [tup][tup] in my book.
Doug