RB,
First pea green, then silver, then grey. Then back to silver after the war.
There are oodles of these things out there, I have seen 10 boxed version on the bay this last year alone.
Hard to tell the difference in the all silver /red base ones... I have heard tell that the prewar red base was richer in color...no proof however.
There were 3 distinct reds for the prewar ones...maroon, deep red, vermillion red.... also there were mixed tank and tower colors during transitions...silver on grey towers, and vice versa.
Originally Posted by Rice Burner:
Hi pd,
Thanks for the info. and your paitience.
What was produced first the silver,(aluminum), tower or the gray tower?
A gray tower has just been listed on E-Bay and I definitely can see the difference in the color of the gray tower and the silver one.
This history is truly amazing.
Thanks Again,
John
Originally Posted by pd:
For the eighteen months or so before Lionel changed over to war production and stopped manufacturing trains, most of the silver-painted equipment and accessories started being painted a gloss gray...supposedly the silver paint had a high aluminum content, which quickly went onto the strategic materials list and was prohibited from use. So the last production 2654, 654, 804, 93, etc. all started being painted a gloss gray, rather than metallic silver.
