Decided I had to make some time in my decidedly crazy work schedule (writing an NIH grant in addition to the usual clinical and administrative hoohah, for those who are familiar with such “trials by paper” to do something with trains. Got the first part of the LCCA New Haven repro set Wednesday, and the packaging is vintage Lionel from the 1950s, and carefully boxed. Only difference is the velcro on the set box so one doesn’t have to rip it open.
Received the B unit, combo coach and baggage and they look, to my untutored eye, like amazingly familiar replicas of 1950s trains, down to the “Lionel Lines” and “Built by Lionel” on the side of the passenger cars and B unit respectively. LCCA and Lionel did a great job on these and I look forward to having the powered loco and additional passenger cars later this month or in June. These are conventional only, but really lovely remakes for anyone who likes postwar type trains that look like they are LN/Mint. Obviously no substitute for the real deal for a collector, but I’m not one. One car has East Hartford on the side, which reminds me of my days at the Connecticut Red Cross Blood Center/UConn in Farmington, CT. A twofer in nostalgia for me :).
This weekend I hope to run them and test out the illumination on the passenger cars.
“Have the cars been restored to original style tooling with aluminum frames & screw-in ventilators?”
Haven’t seen the originals so I’m not familiar with the subject of your question. The frames are metal but the screws in these cars go into the roof moldings from the ends of the cars on the bottom, so probably not. Not sure these cars are the ones you’re asking about, as the ventilators are quite small and the ones you’re referring to may be on the main set, which hasn’t been delivered yet. Someone more familiar with the details will hopefully respond.
He’s talking about the frames on the cars, not the engines. On the originals, the plastic bodies were attached to metal frames with open window vestibules. The roofs were attached with metal screw-on ventilators that held the assembly together.
When Lionel/MPC retooled these cars for the “Lake Shore Limited” set in the 1970’s, all of these construction details were lost.
Sorry guys, I don’t have any reference books on this, but can someone tell me which of the postwar 50’s ALCos are/were available in reproductions? If the list is too long, don’t bother. Thanks.
I think this will disappoint many folks. BUT Lionel seems to be keeping the promise they made to the TCA back in 1974 that the original tooling for the small (2400 series)streamliners would never be used again after production of the TCA Bicentennial Set.
I have read where the presence of metal frames and the correct postwar method of assembly thru the roof were going to be very important to many collectors. Now that we know Lionel did not faithfully reproduce these passenger cars to that level, it leaves room to think that the upcoming Authentics 027 passenger cars will not have these features either. It doesn’t make a lot of difference to me but it will be a deal breaker for many prospective buyers.
Got my New Haven set today. Graphics on the locomotive are sweet!!! 2 roller pickups on non-motored truck. Single roller pick up on motored truck. Horn and bell are electronic. Headlight in powered unit only. Dummy couplers on both units. Comes programmed as ENG 1 like all TMCC/LEGACY locomotives. No numbers in the number boards.
Windows in doors and vestibules are solid. Roof comes off by taking 2 screws out of bottom of car. There are ventilators on the roof that look like the ones that were screws for the PW 2400 series cars. The screws for the roof are 7/8" recessed into the floor. Easy to get out. Think they will be a bear to replace.
I received my NH209 set today and have a few questions I hope someone can help with:
What are the five digit catalog numbers for the powered and unpowered A units, as well as for the B unit we received in May? The car boxes have the catalog number but not the engine boxes. I think not putting the modern catalog number on the engine box is a bit over the top on reproducing the original set, especially since the car boxes have both the original and LLC catalog numbers. I have looked through the instruction book as well as through the LCCA literature–no luck.
What is the purpose of the gears and brass colored sleeve on the axle and the other “fixtures” on the unpowered A unit truck/car body? It looks as if something was not installed.
I use Train Tracker to inventory my collection. Are these ALCOs just classified as the A-A units or do they have some other protypical description in the Train Tracker drop down?
Although I do not have a year round layout, I tested the engine in my lubrication cradle. My wife and I were underwhelmed with the sound quality of the horn and bell. The rest of the set is very nice in appearance, it remains to be seen if the one motor can do a decent job of pulling it.
The engine needs to pull 8 cars if you try to put them all on. I found the engine really has a hard time pulling all the cars. For myself if I put 6 cars behind the engine then it runs fine. So I ll have to mix and match the cars for now.
to do something with trains. Got the first part of the LCCA New Haven repro set Wednesday, and the packaging is vintage Lionel from the 1950s, and carefully boxed. Only difference is the velcro on the set box so one doesn’t have to rip it open.