TedW posted:BREEZINUP, your 15” sets really are very nice. Would you happen to know the product numbers for the 4paks you have, if not too much trouble? Thx
Did a little research here, but I think I found all of them. By way of background on the 15" cars (or 16", depending on how you measure) Lionel made 3 types of aluminum passenger cars (at least that's how I think of it). The traditional ones everyone is familiar with, which had silhouette strips; then sometime in the early 2000s they started making some sets (some of them 6-car sets) that had more or less traditional bodies but with detailed interiors and passenger figures (I know they made UP, Pennsylvania, Norfolk & Western and New York Central sets of this type, and there may have been another as well).
Finally, Lionel made a few sets with new, more highly detailed bodies and more highly detailed painted interiors with figures. (The bathrooms even have white sinks and toilets). These later sets had add-on metal details, highly detailed sprung trucks, etc., and (IMO) were the finest 15" passenger cars ever made by Lionel and second to none anywhere. There were only 5 of these type sets made, all cataloged in 2003 Vol. 1 and 2. It seems a lot of folks aren't aware of these sets, which may be partially because they were only made for one year.
There was one set of these highly detailed cars that came only in a boxed set with engines, and that was the UP set, No. 31712, the so-called 50th Anniv. set. It came with an A-B-A set of scale Alco PAs, which were beautiful, but looked too large for the cars. They would look great with 18" cars, but Lionel hadn't started making those yet at this time. I bought the set to get the cars, and sold the engines. One thing about this set is that it included 7 cars, because a sound diner was included in the set, which was pretty nice.
The other four sets were cataloged in 2003 with the four cars sets in Vol. 1 and the two car add-on sets in Vol. 2. You can Google these catalogs and find them. These sets are:
CB&Q California Zephyr - No. 15311 4-car set (baggage and 3 domes incl. dome observation); No. 29149 2-car add-on (2 sleepers)
Santa Fe Super Chief - No. 15312 4-car set (baggage, sleeper, dome and observation); No. 29152 2-car add-on (2 sleepers) (this set is really stunning with its smooth gloss aluminum roofs)
Delaware & Hudson - No. 15313 4-car set (baggage, 2 coaches and observation); No. 29155 2-car add-on (coach and dome)
Southern "The Southerner" - No. 15317 4-car set (combo, 2 coaches, observation; No. 29158 2-car add-on (baggage and coach)
I don't have either the D&H or the Southern sets, but I'm sure they're equally nice.
For the chassis and interior conversion on the Illinois Central set I used the cars of the No. 15340 Pennsylvania "South Wind" 6-car set. This is one of the sets with traditional exteriors but detailed interiors with figures, which work great with the older MPC era aluminum passenger sets. The design didn't change, so the bodies fit on the chassis' just like the originals.
