This was my first engine, and I inherited it from my oldest brother. Needless to say, after three boys there’s nothing left of the packaging. I was wondering if anyone can tell me what engine this is and any other info about it. Here are some shots:
I can take more shots if necessary.
That’s a real fine Lionel 613 Union Pacific NW2 switcher you have. It’s from the early '60s and very hard to find in such nice shape. It came with magnetraction and a battery operated horn…make sure the battery was not left inside. Be very careful if you clean it, the lettering and striping are fragile. If you want to run it it will need oiling and the motor probably could use a cleaning. But most of all you should enjoy it, you have a classic Lionel collectible engine there! [:)]
Neil
It has a horn? Really? Dam, all the years I’ve been running it and I didn’t even know that. I’ll have to open it up and see where the battery goes. I have no idea if the battery is still in there or not.
I actually took it to my train shop a little over a year ago 'cause I thought it wasn’t running right. They took a peek at the insides while I was there, and just oiled it and it ran fine. I’m surprised they didn’t say anything about the battery.
According to my Greenberg books, the 613, issued in 1958, did not come with a horn. If there were a horn, it would be mounted over the rear trucks and easily visible through the cab windows.
If a 613 has a horn, it would have been added-on, a relatively simple modification.
Tom, I found your engine in lionels 1958 catalog.
NEW! No.613 Union Pacifis Diesel- Equipped with powerful Magna - Traction, brilliant headlight, self centering couplers front and rear. A versatile road switcher based on GM’s 125 ton “NW2”. Loco 12 1/4 " long. $21.95
Greenbergs price guide has it for $175 to $350
No mention of a horn.
If you come across a 1958 catalog its on page 6.
Bob
Who’s Tom? [:D] I’m Jim. Or Spanky (see the thread on why we chose our names for the long winded explanation.)
Interesting that it’s a 1958 item - my brother was born in October 1956, so he would have been two if my dad purchased this for Christmas. Also, I’m pretty sure it was a set - I have the original cars (although I’d have to figure out which ones they are), one of which was a crane and another a transformer car, and the original transformer, which is a dinky little thing. I’ll have to query my dad about that.
You’re right: I took it apart and was actually going to post some pictures about where the horn is.
Would it be possible to add a horn to it now? If so, how much work would it be? I know my two-and-a-half year old would love it if it had one.
Oh, one other thing: the guy at the train store indicated that there was supposed to be something on the top of each of the stacks. He said if it wasn’t for those missing, and a little scrape on the top of the cab, it would be worth $500-600. Now, I’ve been playing with this since I inherited it from my oldest brother in the late 60’s, and I have no memory of anything being on top of those stacks. So either he broke them off or they were never there.
Anyone have or know of a picture that I could compare it to?
There’s a relatively large picture of the 613 on page 66 of David Doyle’s Standard Catalog of Lionel Trains 1945-1969.
The only set that included the 613 was No. 1593, “5-Car Diesel Work Train” (1958), which also included the following cars:
6476 Lehigh Valley hopper
6818 Flatcar with transformer
6660 Boom car
6112 Gondola with cannisters
6119 DL&W work caboose
You can add a horn. Here’s a picture of the parts required:
http://pictures.olsenstoy.com/cd/locos/loc600p4.pdf
and here’s a picture of the wiring schematic:
http://pictures.olsenstoy.com/cd/locos/loc600p4.pdf
Please note that the “horn” is more like a buzzer - RailSounds 5.0 it ain’t. If you are into Postwar Lionel, though, it sure sounds sweet.
Chris, looks like you put the same URL in for both the parts and wiring schematic.
Oh, and it definitely looks like that’s the set - I currently have the 6476 LV Hopper and the 6112 Gondola, the remains of the 6818 Transformer car and the 6660 Boom car are at my parents, and I have no idea what ever happened to the 6119 Work Caboose. In fact, I don’t even remember it, which means it may have been a casualty of my brother.
Found a picture of it:
Who’s Tom? I’m Jim. Or Spanky (see the thread on why we chose our names for the long winded explanation.)
Sorry about that Jim. Had a brain fart and mistook you for the other spanky (spankybird)[oops][
]
Oops! Here’s the correct url for the wiring schematic:
http://pictures.olsenstoy.com/cd/locos/loc600p5.pdf
Chris:
Quick question - I am unable to print these pdf pages. Any idea why it won’t send itself to the printer? I’ve been able to capture it by doing multiple screen captures, loading them into PIcture It!, and pasting them all together. But it’s a royal pain in the butt!
I couldn’t do it, either. Apparently Adobe Acrobat includes a feature to prevent printing. I never tried to print anything before because I already have the book which contains the information (Greenberg’s Repair and Operating Manual for Lionel Trains 1945-1969).
Well, I’ll be dammed.
Went over to my parents house tonight and just on the off chance took a look at what was left there of my Lionel trains. And guess what? The work caboose IS there. I just don’t remember it. The boom car is pretty much in the shape I remember - the upper arm is broken and crudely mended - probably by my brother, my dad or me. The transformer flatcar has the transformer on it, but the four whachamacallits that stick out are all broken off. I don’t know if either of these are capable of being fixed.
And I found one other thing. I have an old slot car set - one of the boxes used to store it appears to be the original Lionel box for the above set. When I saw the number on the side, I wrote it down to compare to what you posted, and it’s 1593. I’ll definitely have to hold onto that box!