and came home with this:
Early 2026 train set. Not sure if it was a set or not.
Prewar 224 in need of some TLC.
Prewar 225 in need of some TLC.
A scout engine, tender, and 5 misc. cars were also included in the deal.
I really wasn’t ready to jump into prewar just yet, but the deal was to good to pass up.
Congratulations! [:D] But did you get the screws?
Brian - I hate you!!! [;)]
Seriously, you really found some iconic steamers. Best of luck with them. I’ve been looking for a 225. Wanna sell it? Trade you straight up for a minto 2055 motor?
Nice finds!
Jim
That was a pretty good deal. I whonder what type of boxcar with the guy standing in the doorway is. Does the 2025 run? That 224 looks like someone buried it in the dirt. [:D] Thanks for sharing this with us. Wish that happened to me.
After picking up the screws (Yes, I did get them!), I went back to find a bottle of paint for another project (Yes, I got that, too!), and passed the 2026 set in the display case. No price was on it, and nobody seemed to know where it came from. Turns out it was the LHS’s owner, and he made me a nice deal on it. After purchasing it, he asked me if I was into fixer-uppers? Anybody who reads my posts knows the answer to that one.
After waiting on a few other customers, we walked back to the storage room. I was expecting some beat-up common postwar, and that’s what I saw when he pulled the box out. Under the postwar junk (yes, I’m afraid this time it is junk.), were the 2 pre-war engines and tenders. I had been researching pre-war steamers over the last week, and had even bid on a 225 last night on e-bay, and lost. Couldn’t believe it when I saw the 225 in the bottom of that box!! Couldn’t believe I got the whole mess for less than that one 225 sold for on e-bay last night, and it sold for a lot less than Doyle’s price guide states it is worth.
I don’t think I’m gonna rush into any type of restoration on these engines. I need to do some more studying on pre-war before I start aimlessly fixing these things up. When I first examined the engines, one of the 1st. things I did was look down to smoke stack to see the smoke-unit. “oh, yeah”, I thought to myself (glad I didn’t ask!)… More research is in order.
Jim, I’ve given up on the 2055. Watched too many of them sell on e-bay for under $75.00 with a whistle tender included. Starting with a bare shell is just not the way to go. Because of my love for the 675/2025, the 225E is just a natural fit, so probably won’t be up for sale in the near future.
Berk765, the boxcar is a New York Central X3464.
Very nice indeed!
Oh I wish there was such a hobby shop around the corner here! Good luck with the restoration.
Eggo
No sweat! I’m going to the Big E on Sunday. Hopefully I’ll find a 2055 or even better, a 2065 shell to go with my motor. My projects pile is starting to get pretty large! (I love it)!
Jim
Jim, I’ve got a 2055 shell that might work for you if you don’t find one. Probably will unload it on e-bay pretty soon anyway.
that makes two of us! looks like you scored bigtime.
I’e done a few steamers from bare shells, including a gunmetal 225E I’m doing now.
thanks for sharing.
This is exactly the original set my older brother started with…including the boxcar with the blue man that pops out, the Sunoco tank car, the NYC gondola, and the red caboose. He was born in 1944, but I don’t think he was given this set until several years later, say, when he was seven or eight.
I would be delighted to learn just what vintage this set is (was).
chicochip
I would also like to know if the first picture is of a set. It doesn’t match with any set I have in my humble reference library, but the trucks all seem to match, and sure looks like it could have been a set. Your response encourages me to believe it was.
On a side note, all the engines run, not well, and I’m not going to try again before some maintenence is done.
Great find. I’ve been lucky in 07. Great looking and running 2055, 2065 and 736 all in a few months of each other. From private collections. Jim is good at telling you how to mix up paints to match and touchup Post Wars.
I worked on the 2026 today. It just needed a little tune-up to make it run like a champ. Nice not to have to look for parts, everything was there, and looks like it had seen very little run time. Aside from some general cleaning, lubrication, and some new smoke unit packing, nothing else was required. Nice running little engine, and have allready put it’s predecessor on E-bay.
The 224e’s tender is going to be a problem. It’s going to need a total restoration to make it look good. I was hoping a good cleaning would be acceptable, but it just ain’t gonna work. The engine itself cleaned up nice. Haven’t gotten inside it yet, just cleaned the grime off it.
1949…the 2026 with the 2-6-2 wheel arrangement was from 1948-1949, and the X3464 boxcar was 1949-52… So a set containing both of them would be from 1949…BDT