Need help! I have several of these that belonged to my late uncle. Appear to be repainted. The track width that this would sit on is 2 inches wide.
Some of them have a single light inside.
Appreciate any info anyone can provide.
-J
2 Likes
The pictured car appears to be a Lionel 338 Observation, produced for Standard Gauge (2ÂĽ" gauge). In addition to having probably been repainted, it appears to have had most of its trim pieces removed.
The 338 was typically paired with the 337 pullman, and sometimes the 332 baggage as well. These cars were typically pulled by a Lionel No. 8/8E or 10/10E.
-El
1 Like
5 Likes
Thank you guys for the help!
Here’s a picture of all of them.
I’ll probably be putting these up for sale somewhere.
3 Likes
Welcome aboard JandDSpeed!
Yes, Lionel Standard Gauge #338 manufactured between 1925 and 1932. They came in two color schemes: mojave with maroon doors, windows and name/number plates (the rectangular openings under the windows) and olive green with either maroon or red trim.
Lionel mojave is a sort of greenish tan and it looks like your uncle (or somebody) bought some off the shelf tan paint in an attempt to do a custom restoration of the set. Lionel did make larger passenger cars in tan and brown and it’s very possible that was what someone was going for. FYI the door, window, and name/number boards come as one single sheet of steel that fit inside the car bodies. They, and possibly the other trim pieces may be laying around somewhere in your uncle’s house.
PS the big red piece with the gear and possibly the corrugated red part with the hole in it look like they may have been part of a crane.
2 Likes
Could you take a few more pics of the cars from the sides, ends, and bottoms, please?
These cars were also available in red with cream trim.
Don’t think anyone offers replacement window inserts for these cars, so you’d definitely wanna see if you still have the originals somewhere.
-El
2 Likes
Thank you everyone for the info.
Unfortunately this all we found. Couldn’t find any other parts or pieces.
I will post more pictures soon. I think because I’m new I can only post 1 picture at a time.
If he buys a model press brake from someplace like Micro-mark, he could square-bend pieces of brass strip to replace the missing nameplate-and-number board strips.
And we had a recent post discussing effective replacements for the window strips.
Good luck. Looks like the big stuff got grabbed and shoved into white plastic bags.
Ellie has it right, never seen replacement window/letterboard replacements. All the cars appear to be repaints…red ones right over letterboards and window mullions.
Repaints, especially wrong color(s) drops the value a bunch. Missing parts not readily available drops it more. Figure your costs to find used, rusty window/letterboard replacements, have them stripped and repainted, assembled, then the red cars…no telling what kind of paint it is, and whether or not you can strip and retain original lettering paint.
You said you’re gonna sell them. Have to know your costs first!
Red cars…look at the paint on the underside of the couplers. Couple of those roofs need hammer and dolly work, which will be loads of fun with tab-retained inside bracing! And Grey under the roofs. And one end of one “Mohave” roof has poor paint coverage.
Cost-wise looks bad for a big-buck return.
2 Likes
No big buck return, but there are folks who like to repaint in custom colors. Those red cars would be just the ticket. And there are folks who might have dented bodies or roofs that could use the tan ones. In other words, there is a market, but it won’t pay huge bucks. I wouldn’t even try to do anything to them other than sell them, if selling them is your plan.
Let me suggest an alternative plan, however. Find yourself a nifty little #8 or #10 engine to go with the red cars. A circle of decent track and a Model R transformer, and you are in business with a train under your Christmas tree or on the floor or maybe even a large dining room table.
There is a great deal of enjoyment in these trains, and you just might find yourself looking to buy rather than sell 
2 Likes
Thanks everyone for the input.
I’m already keeping my uncles large HO scale layout.
Not looking to make a ton of money on these, just want them to go to a good home.