a tinplate O gauge hypothetical question

you said tinplate, but I'll mention diecast engines. the 1666, 224E and 225Es are great looking, and good deals can be found.The tinplate 1630 cars look great behind these engines.

Be aware that some of the prewar locos may not handle postwar switches very well.

mine, even my Marx do fine with Lionel 1024 and 1121s.

rdeal posted:

...

If one wanted to buy a lionel prewar tinplate engine and three or four passenger cars - - just for fun - something that looks nice - runs good - knowing I am not a collector and will not become a collector ...

fun is a given, so keying on your other two requirements... "looks nice" & "runs good" will put you into one of two categories, a high quality original, or a well done restoration.  an original can run anywhere from a few hundred to tens of thousands of dollars.  the same pieces restored will be a fraction of that cost.

so i have to ask, what sort of bucks are you looking to spend?  something to consider here, a nice original will hold more of its value and would be a lot easier to resell than a restoration, but for the money, a quality restoration will still have most of the charm of an original to all but some diehard collectors.  personally i would rather have a C6 condition original, but i've seen some nicely done restorations that i do enjoy seeing operate.

a few other questions will certainly follow, but to repeat... what's your budget range?
cheers...gary

budget, budget,     budget ? ? ?  - you ask

not sure - but before i go to the show saturday i will put the "budget" in my pocket and that will be the limit

maybe 200.00 -

thanks for all the input - rdeal       P.S. no switches - O27 - dog bone loop

For $200, I would say Marx 495, or similar CP engine, and wedge tender, with some lithoed red heavyweights. The Ives 60/70 series cars are a little difficult to find, but nice ones. I would go more with the Lionel 1690 passenger cars, look good, and if the wedge tender has a scissor coupler mount, will couple to those cars no problem.

If you are stuck on Lionel, however, try the 249/258/259 2-4-2 engines, and good luck on the passenger car front. Might be easiest to find some Junkers and repaint.

You might want to consider the little electric outline tinplate sets. Items like the 248 or 252 locomotives. Here are a couple of pictures grabbed from EBay,

RDeal,

this is what I put together from last September. Pre War Lionel tin plate 261 locomotive and tender, 653 hopper, 651 flat car, 654 tank car, 656 cattle car, 657 caboose, 608 passenger car, 608 passenger car, 607 passenger car.

I got the three passenger cars off ebay for $70. Got the 261 loco and tender at local show for $40. picked up flat car at antique store for $12, Hopper, Cattle car and caboose at local show for $100 for 3 cars. Tank car from a forum member in a lot of cars

for $80 for 11 cars. So Im into a little over $300 for everything listed.

Happy Hunting

Popi

I really like the small prewar O gauge electric engine and 4 wheel passenger/freight cars.
The 150 series and 248/252/253 are great engines.
The basic reason for I like these are that are affordable with repair/replacement parts readily available.
Plus the Tin Plate noise that these cars make going around the track is like music to my ears.
One could find a beat up engine for $30.00 or so and do a rebuild/restore/repaint (for me: only if the the paint is bad or has a bad repaint). They are easy to restore and you will gain a education in doing so and meet a lot of good people getting the parts.
A lot of these engines are 70 to 100 years old and I m always surprised when they still power up.

Popi posted:

RDeal,

this is what I put together from last September. Pre War Lionel tin plate 261 locomotive and tender, 653 hopper, 651 flat car, 654 tank car, 656 cattle car, 657 caboose, 608 passenger car, 608 passenger car, 607 passenger car.

 

I got the three passenger cars off ebay for $70. Got the 261 loco and tender at local show for $40. picked up flat car at antique store for $12, Hopper, Cattle car and caboose at local show for $100 for 3 cars. Tank car from a forum member in a lot of cars

for $80 for 11 cars. So Im into a little over $200 for everything listed.

Happy Hunting

Popi

Looks great, plus you got some great deals on the cars.

basically agree with C.W. (ed: oops, i meant El Classico, too) that in early Marx you will get a fine running locomotive (just going by the typical Marx hugely rugged and reliable motor... even conservatively speaking, i would estimate that well over 90% of any Marx i've ever bought have run fine with little to no work) and for $200, you should be able to find something in excellent (C7) condition.

i'll be a bit more optimistic with Lionel.  if your "good looking" requirement could be relaxed to C6 (considered VG or Very Good... maybe a bit rough and some paint loss on the finish), there are quite a few low-end models that could be had in the ~$200 range.  in fact, right now the best auction deals are on the very common pieces, especially sets/ pieces without boxes.

off Live Auctioneers, here are a few sets that sold for ~$150...

an electric outline locomotive set with a #153 engine & #629/ #630 passenger cars (C6).
i have a similar set with a #150 loco and it's a fun set to run.

if you prefer steam...

this one is a #259 locomotive with 607/ 608 passenger cars.  again in C6 condition.

both these sets are very common and typically don't attract many collectors who usually pick up sets like this very early on in their collections or are themselves selling lower quality sets in favor of better condition or sets which include individual/ set boxes.

one thing to remember... condition does not typically refer to operation, only the cosmetics.  it's not hard to guess most of the time... C4-5 pieces are usually going to require some major work whereas C6-7 pieces have a good chance of running after some general cleaning up, but never assume the best.  this is one good part about a show.  anyone selling should be able to check the operation and if they can't, you can almost be guaranteed it's a display piece.

good luck...gary

RDEAL,

   The 259E and some 2600 rolling stock will probably be the easiest to find, however I like the 249E just a little better, the 249 is the the mid sized engine looks great with the 2600 Work Train rolling stock also.  It may however be a little harder to find and will probably cost a little more money.

PCRR/Dave

RonH posted:

Popi posted:

RDeal,

this is what I put together from last September. Pre War Lionel tin plate 261 locomotive and tender, 653 hopper, 651 flat car, 654 tank car, 656 cattle car, 657 caboose, 608 passenger car, 608 passenger car, 607 passenger car.

 

I got the three passenger cars off ebay for $70. Got the 261 loco and tender at local show for $40. picked up flat car at antique store for $12, Hopper, Cattle car and caboose at local show for $100 for 3 cars. Tank car from a forum member in a lot of cars

for $80 for 11 cars. So Im into a little over $200 for everything listed.

Happy Hunting

Popi

Looks great, plus you got some great deals on the cars.

had to edit my post I originally said $200 and it was actually $300.

also saw on ebay a Lionel prewar 807 caboose in light green body and dark green roof.

really liked the color combination, but did not like the 4 wheel arrangement. I like the

600 series cars with 4 wheel truck(8 wheels total). The Lionel Prewar 657 is the same body

as the 807 except it has 8 wheels. So I found  junker on ebay, I think I paid $12. Stripped it

to bare metal and repainted it light green body and dark green roof.

Popi posted:

also saw on ebay a Lionel prewar 807 caboose in light green body and dark green roof.

really liked the color combination, but did not like the 4 wheel arrangement. I like the

600 series cars with 4 wheel truck(8 wheels total). The Lionel Prewar 657 is the same body

as the 807 except it has 8 wheels. So I found  junker on ebay, I think I paid $12. Stripped it

to bare metal and repainted it light green body and dark green roof.

 

 

Your Lionel prewar 807 caboose looks great.
I always like getting junkers and bringing them back to life.

Rdeal,

  If your show happened already, what did you end up buying? There are some great tinplate bargains out there. As an example, a fair to good cabin car (caboose) could be anywhere from $5 to $15-20.

 Tom 

I see a few people mention the 248. I don't know if this is important to you, but the 248 does not have a reverse. It goes forward only.

As for your question, I think I would go with a 259e (a 258 is the same engine with less trim if it matters) for a steam engine or a 252 for an electric profile. I would go with 600 or 1600 series freight cars, but probably not both. They look odd to me when mixed together. The 607 and 608 passenger cars (pictured earlier with a 259e) make a nice train and are pretty affordable.

If you are not in a hurry, you could probably buy an engine and a freight train and a set of passenger cars for close to the $200 you mentioned.

J White

You're right about those 248 box cabs. Real easy to work on, and there are a lot at the shows these days for cheap. It's all about finding one with good wheels. As long as you have a loop with no turnouts you'll have no problems running them, and those things hum along for ever.

If you're into restoring, it can be cheaper, yet time consuming. I spent about a year picking up junkers for a restoration idea I had, replicating the standard gauge coal train in O gauge headed by a 254. I think I paid about $100 for the trains, and maybe another $30 for parts. 

What ever you end up, keep us updated.

Tim