@Randy Harrison posted:I am not a Santa Fe fanatic, I but I do appreciate the railroad the livery. My layout slants more toward the Pennsylvania RR as well as other roads in the northeast (hence, my layout's name). However, the collector in me saw a set of these great Lionel iconic classics at a good price. So, I have the exact same set.
I added the "B" unit of the same late 1940's vintage a few months after I bought the double "A" units. I came upon the "B" unit by pure chance. On a whim, I stopped in an old antique shop in Northern Harford County, Maryland on the way home from teaching my private students one Saturday. The shop had a display case at the back of the store with some post-war, Lionel trains in it. The "B" unit was sitting on a shelf with a sign that read, "Box Car $25.00". Several of the port hole lenses were missing and the body needed cleaning. I argued the price with the owner saying that the box car had holes in it and the appearance was a mess. He would not relent on the price. So, acting grudgingly, I gave him the $25.00. I knew I had just hit the jackpot! I took the "B" unit to the now defunct train shop where I bought the "A" units and said to my friend, the now late George Stanton, the shop's owner and Lionel repair man extraordinaire, "George. Will you fix my box car?" George, the curmudgeon's curmudgeon, responded something like, 'THATS NO ****ED BOXCAR!!!' I told Geroge the story that told above in this post to which George responded, "Go back and see if the guy has another 10 of those box cars. I give you the $250.00 to buy them all!"
About two weeks later, I got a phone call from George saying to drop into his hop. He had something he wanted to show me. I walked in and was shown a set of the Lionel extruded aluminum passenger coaches that went with the original Santa Fe Diesel set. George had just bought them in another collection that was being liquidated. George quoted me a price and added his normal, "If you pay in cash, I don't charge sales tax." Though my train budget was rather strapped after the engines and the "B" unit, I went to the bank and came back the next day with the cash. Here they are below.
Randy Great story, now that's the way to make a deal!!
You have a nice looking decal on the front of that F3 had to repaint the power unit due to battery leak but runs fine, in fact I degreased a couple times, and changed the brushes and springs out, got a little better performance out of it always ran better in Reverse, so I decided to move the motors around and runs so much faster, like the old Lionel commercials they use to make. Again, WTG nice looking layout also! God Speed! Mark
