How do I box the Postwar Lionel O gauge switches (turnouts)?

Classic Toy Trains Forum
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Hi,

I’m almost embarrassed to ask this but have no other option…

I have 5 pairs of Lionel postwar turnouts (#022?) with packaging. Unfortunately, I did not properly put them in the boxes when they were last used 4 years ago. And worse yet, I don’t recall exactly what parts went in each box. I’m usually pretty careful about keeping train stuff organized but obviously did not do it in this case.

Do you all have pictures or other sources that would show “what goes where” in the packaging? Sorry to use up posting with something like this, but I am at my wits end.

Thank you,

Mobilman44

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In the normal orange boxes of the postwar era, there were 5 parts of the entire box itself. The first box is the orange/corrugated master carton. Next are the 2 inserts for the switches, which are basically shaped cardboard. Then you have the 2 small orange boxes where the switch controllers and lantern cubes go.

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Thanks Magicman!

Anybody out there care to add to that - or provide a picture or two?

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As an aside, my one boxed set of O22s, which are from fairly early in the postwar era, did NOT come in a corrugated box. They are in a standard issue Lionel orange, blue, and white box with flaps that open on each end.

As for how they go in the box, you might see

http://cgi.ebay.com/Lionel-O22-Pair-of-Remote-Control-O-Gauge-Switches-Box_W0QQitemZ330198949241QQihZ014QQcategoryZ4146QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

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My first pair of O22s (Christmas 1950, though they must have been sitting on a shelf for a while, because they have the screw sockets) came in an orange & blue pasteboard box, with a separate corrugated liner for each switch, as described by Grayson (magicman710). As I remember – these boxes are long gone – each controller was in a separate small orange & blue box; the controllers then sat in the open space within the respective corrugated liners (the space between the switch machine and the curved branch of the turnout). I guess a fixed voltage plug and its wire (plus the lantern) was packed in each of the controller boxes. The liners were die-cut to accept and hold the ends of one of the switches, with a two-part top flap (like an ordinary corrugated cardboard box) that closed the liner completely on the top. These then slipped into the orange & blue box, one on top of the other. Wish I had pictures, but I hope I’ve managed to get the idea across.

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