Randall posted:C W Burfle posted:LOL, the prototype NW-2 switcher on page 97 sure looks like a General Model Toys engine to me.
CW,
That is exactly what the NW-2 is in its first incarnation. I was told that there is a photograph of this locomotive on the showroom layout or in some advertising, but not sure where or when that was done.
Randall
In 1948 Lionel was in the process of cutting the tooling for the all new NW2 but they needed a stand in for the model for the catalog shots. They purchased a hand full of General Models NW2 switchers which were actually closer to scale than what Lionel produced. Die cast shell, fixed pilots, more scale proportions, etc. Anyway, Lionel painted a few of these up in a basic white scheme with Lionel Lines on the hood and the circle L on the cab sides. It earned the nick name "The Phantom" because it was only seen in a hand full of promo photos on the 1949 showroom layout. It was covered pretty extensively in CTT back in August of 1992.
