well, me and my brother’d gotten a call from my grandmother that she had our deceased father’s old lionel trains in her attic, and asked if we want them , i stole the phone and said yes. we picked them up last night, and i was rummaging through the boxes today, and i found a few things;
i found some smoke pellets, some had turned to powder, as i’d read, that was fairly normal, but i’d like to know how old they are.
we haven’t set up the track yet, as we don’t know how they’re wired to the huge-*** transformer/control box.
the bottom of the bottle says "6840. under that it sais “6” and under the 6 it says “5”
Don’t be discouraged Eric, most of us old folks don’t get a chance to look at the forum until later in the day. As to the smoke pellets I believe they were used through the 1950’s, I don’t know when Lionel switched to liquid, today there are smoke pellets available but they seem to be expensive. Myself, I converted my old engine from 1947 to liquid, so don’t feel tied to the pellets.
As for the transformer, it should have a letter on it that will tell the model, such as “Z”, “KW” etc. Like any electrical device that has been sitting for a long time it is safest to have a professional check it out. I recommend finding a train shop and asking them to check out the transformer and engine. The tracks could probably use a good cleaning, I use GooGone, do not use steel wool or other strong abrasive.
I’m sure you’ll have a few other replys before the days out. Welcome to the hobby.
NOSCayenne2003, don’t get your undies in a wad. Maybe no one that has read it knows the answer. You will find that on this forum, if we know the answer, we’ll post it. Now [#welcome]. Lots of young guys on here and we will help if we can.
I have a fairly large collection of books and other information on Lionel trains. That being said, smoke pellets are not very well documented. All Aboard by Ron Hollander gives a pretty thorough history of the pellet, but does not get into dates of manufacture of specific bottles. This question is going to require an answer from an expert, so be patient.
Probably a good “starting point” would be to know the numbers on the engines and cars. That would give a time frame (cars and engines are much easier to date.) that the smoke pellets were probably made. The smoke pellets and engine are probably from the same time frame.
BTW - the powder from the pellets works just fine - put about a pellets worth in the stack after you have checked everthing out. Be aware that some collectors prize the original pellets, even if they have turned into powder. These bottles sell for anywhere between $20 and $60 depending on bottle style. So if you want to save the bottle - buy some reproductions.
Like the others have said - get us as many of the numbers from the engines and cars and we can help you determine their vintage.
Having the transformer checked out is a good thing. Do not ever leave it on unattended.
Sorry for the delay in responses - the regulars here are not always logged in all day.
You will see lots of “views” of a post, but there are a lot of folks who read the forum but do not post, or as stated above cannot answer your particular question. Views typically exceed posts by 10:1 or more.
Hello Eric ! Smoke pellets were made by a Lionel employee Named Mario Mazzone who did the work at his home in Brooklyn,N.Y. the approx production years for the Smoke Pellets were from 1946-1969 and they came in clear,dark,amber,and a coca-cola green color bottles.Joe Bonnano came out with smoke Pellets in 1945.But, They were toxic and corrosive and discontinued after a few months on the Market.As far as your Trains go we need to know the numbers on the Engines & Freight cars in order to help you out more.Take care…Keith.
And to add my voice to the fray, first of all welcome. Not all of us who run and operate trains are into the older postwar stuff. Though I do know quite a bit about them, I certainly don’t know everything.
I run lesser expensive non-scale dimension trains with DC current [8] on 027 track and refuse to use any of the choices of digital control. Needless to say, there I things I can respond to and things I can’t.
More importantly that your smoke pellets, are the condition of your trains themselves. If you are a novice at this, I might advice getting someone who is knowledgeable to take a qucik inspection of them - to be sure they are in working order. You might try contacting a train shop, or posting your general vicinity here to see if one of us guys is in your neighborhood.
Certainly if the trains have been in storage for sometime, they will probably need some general cleaning and normal maintenance.
Us folks here my friend can also be a little hot under the collar when it comes to certain train issues… me included. But I can tell you without question there are helpful folks here who are more than willing to share advice, pointers, tips and knowldege with a young fellow like yourself who is interested in the hobby. So patience.
I’ve been screwed over by life more than a few times. I have yet to be screwed over by one of my trains. This is a fun hobby - approach with that attitude and you will enjoy it a lot more.
Wow! I was snickering because this guy was whining that he had waited 10 WHOLE MINUTES and no one had answered his post yet. Getting to the bottom, I see that he got an answer more than 3 YEARS LATER! Just shows, you gotta have patience. [:D]