Transfer cabooses, Whitcomb diesels, steeplecabs, operating steam pile drivers, the 1938 UP steam turbine ( pictured below at bottom) Edwards motor cars, flangers, Osgood Bradley American Flyer coaches, contemporary light rail vehicles, drover’s cabooses, and steam dummies come to mind…
:I wasn’t pondering road names or color schemes, just what prototypes are left. One of the things I miss about K Line was their willingness to expand the envelope beyond the usual suspects. The chromed trim on the 1938 UP prototype and the abundance of smoke…or a steam dummy going down Superstreets would be interesting visually, at least to me. Any other candidates? How about a gravity defying mountain climbing steam set ?
Full O Scale super-detailed models of the original Thrall Car CENTERBEAM Center Partition 60’ Flat Cars from the 1960’s and 1970’s.
Starting with the 5 original Thrall Car CENTERBEAM flat cars for the Northern Pacific built in 1968 and the next 5 for the Burlington Northern with the diamond shaped openings in the beam.
Lionel has never made and released their O Gauge Articulated Flat Cars as actual Multiple Unit Flat Cars in these railroad paint schemes to the general public as cataloged items.
ATSF Santa Fe 6-Units
BN Burlington Northern 5-units
CR Conrail 5-units
SSW Cotton Belt 4-units
UTTX Trailer Train 5-units
UTTX not TTUX.
Full O Scale EMD GP9 Locomotive with Low nose, with and without dynamic brake blisters on long hood depending on the real unit represented.
O Scale or Traditional O gauge proportioned model of the North American Car Company Cylindirical Pressure-Differential Covered Hoppers called the Pd 3000 and Pd 5000.
Traditional O Gauge proportioned models of these distinct modern covered hoppers at a lower price than the super-detailed O Scale models:
When we were “kids” Lionel, American Flyer, and Mark sold train sets that looked like what we were watching down at the railroad station. The engins and cars were scaled down versions of the courant trains.
Today they produce models of trains from the past for us “old timers”.
Lionel, go down to the nearest railroad, market models of those trains to a younger market. Build the market.
I think you have a interesting point to make and it may translate into bringing more kids into the hobby, but I think it’s the kinetics of steam that keeps it on model tracks long after it vanished on the prototype…The whirling reciprocating rods, the smoke, the bells, the firebox glow…and then comparing that to what is essentially an oblong box with a smaller box in the front as found in a diesel, well…I can see why colorful paint schemes, sound systems, and yes, smoke…add to the appeal of diesels…I think the kinetics of Alco and Baldwins with their distinct signatures also keep old prototypes popular. I think railroading today reminds me more of trucks on rails…all of this is highly subjective on my part…but I have to ask if it is more than nostalgia that keeps old prototypes alive and well in O scale…?
I suppose I am inferring that on a contemporary basis, that modern railroading in terms of equipment just lacks the same appeal to the senses that the older types do. Although when a tag team of diesels come up to the crossing there is that sheer sense of power, but it may not translate in a toy. I could very well be wrong but it seems this way.
Of course you look at the prototypes on this “wish list” and more than a few are diesels, not that the thread is representative of market demands in any scientific sense. It must be a tough decision to determine what will sell, and perhaps this is why safe bets like PRR and NYC dominate the small range of choices. I would l
I think you have a interesting point to make and it may translate into bringing more kids into the hobby, but I think it’s the kinetics of steam that keeps it on model tracks long after it vanished on the prototype…The whirling reciprocating rods, the smoke, the bells, the firebox glow…and then comparing that to what is essentially an oblong box with a smaller box in the front as found in a diesel, well…I can see why colorful paint schemes, sound systems, and yes, smoke…add to the appeal of diesels…I think the kinetics of Alco and Baldwins with their distinct signatures also keep old prototypes popular. I think railroading today reminds me more of trucks on rails…all of this is highly subjective on my part…but I have to ask if it is more than nostalgia that keeps old prototypes alive and well in O scale…? I suppose I am inferring that on a contemporary basis, that modern railroading in terms of equipment just lacks the same appeal to the senses that the older types do. Although when a tag team of diesels come up to the crossing there is that sheer sense of power, but it may not translate in a toy. I could very well be wrong but it seems this way.
How about a Baltimore and Ohio Duplex Drive? Quite a tender…I suppose that knocks a O-27 curvature out of the running.
Starter set, traditionally sized versions of modern High-Cube 50’ and 60’ Plug-Door Boxcars that cost half of the O Scale versions. Example of these modern boxcars are the TTX FBOX 50’ Plug-Door Boxcars and TTX TBOX 60’ Plug-Door Boxcars.
Looking through the 1977 book The Freight Train Book by Jack Pierce and found these 1970’s paint schemes missed by Lionel:ahd MTH
SCL Seaboard Coast Line Waffle-Side Box Car
Route Rock “Lionel Traditional” Double-Door Box car
BN Burlington Northern “Lionel Traditional” Double-Door Box car
SOUTHERN PACIFIC AUTO-PAC Auto Carrier
SP 513101
Like the MTH Railking Auto Carrier
O Scale SOO LINE 40’ Box cars in the 1960’s and 1970’s brown and white scheme.
I don’t know wether or not they still do, but MTH at least used to have that on their warranty cards. I remember filling them out with every tinplate number I could remember and then using another another card when I remembered some more! [(-D]
I’ve also sent emails asking them to produce items but I never got any response. One suggestion was for the Tinplate line. I asked why they didn’t bring back lower priced starter sets with 110 freight or 35 passenger cars pulled by electrics like the #33. Granted they’ve done sets with the 10 and 384, but they’re still a bit too far out of my price range. I would guess that 33 style engines would be very cheap to produce, especially if they left out all the electronics. It would have been just what it was for Lionel in the nineteen-teens: a low priced introduction to the world of standard gauge.
In that same vein, I suggested “plasticplate” standard gauge trains. Injection molded ABS versions of the expensive locos like the 392, 408 and 400E. Brass, copper and nickel trim looks just as good on a painted plastic body as it does on enameled steel. I know, I’ve done it! [:D] So why not open a new niche of the market with lower priced sets? A plastic 392 pulling plastic Stephen Gerard cars would look much nicer around the family tree than most of the crappy trains produced and sold as “Christmas trains” nowadays. I mean really, couldn’t Lionel and/or MTH outdo New Bright in this category and price range?
Becky, During the 2009 Holiday Season Lionel tried a Plastic G Gauge Polar Express Set and Pennsy Freight set selling through Wal-Mart and that went over like a lead filled balloon. Wal-Mart sent a ton of them back to Lionel and they eventually ended up being blown out by discounters such as Big Lots and Ollies.
