Thanks for looking..
K.C.
Hi K.C.
That set (Lionel Steel) you are showing brings back a bunch of memories. PreY2K, it was at the turn of the O gauge era when the hobby was taking a lot of heat (loosing business) because of its ongoing flood of plastic cars, plastic trucks & even plastic couplers. Criticism was focused on the tendency of Lionel's ore cars to open their couplers whenever a consist hit a grade, with the engine going in one direction & the ore cars heading down grade, out of control on their own. Because the raw material to make die cast products was cheap, incomes were rising, & the hobby was gaining momentum Lionel decided to answer these criticisms by releasing the die cast set you picture above. Only problem with the set was the locomotive included was completely inadequate to pull the weight of the of the four included ore cars. The set was an important turning point in the hobby for it ushered in the KLine series of high end diecast hoppers, some of which (like the yellow Virginian) are highly collectible today.
Thanks for bringing back some preY2K nostalgia. ... 
