A couple months ago during the Covid shutdown, a friend in the local Jeep club gave me the family train set from when he was a boy. Now the set predates him as he is my age and the set would have been from the early 1950's. It had been sitting in a cardboard box in the barn for decades. Somehow both marker lights survived all these years. There is little to no wear on anything, smokes and reverse's flawlessly with only a basic service. I got a few accessories with it, after removing several mouse nests, most work. I still have a pile of plasticville to clean up and reassemble. The set's original 1033 is apart awaiting a new cord as the mice did a number on it. What track remained, including a pair of 1980s MPC era remote 027 switches are total rust. So, I am running on my own mix of postwar and MPC era 027 track that has 042 curve diameter and using my trusty RW for power. The smoke element, light bulb are original, I did not even touch the E unit, just a basic oil and inspection/clean up of the decades of grime from sitting in an open box, and mouse crap. Enjoy!!
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That was the set I had as well. 1469WS. While mine was from 1950 I believe yours may have been from 1951 based on the tender. My 6466W tender came with a railing on top of the water deck. They eliminated that railing on most of the 6466Ws but some of the early sets had that railing I assume left over from previous years. The 1950 catalog actually shows the railing on the tender with that set but none in the 1951 catalog. Pretty sure the 2035 was only offered in 1950 and '51. You can actually date the engine by the base of the eccentric crank. I believe one is cut at an angle and the other has a step but don't recall which is what year.
Pete
That was my first set, but mine had the 027 orange Santa Fe animated boxcar instead of the hopper.
It is puzzling why some people store anything so improperly. Hope you wore a mask and gloves when cleaning the highly toxic mouse excrement, which has been proven to often contain a hemorrhagic fever virus akin to Ebola! Some years ago there was a news account of an otherwise healthy Native American youth in a Southwest state that succombed to a hemorrhagic fever virus after having swept up some mouse poop and inhaling the dust. This incident was actually verified by a CDC investigation. Please use caution during further cleaning and do it outdoors. :-)
My 2035 has the two little nubs that "key" the crank to the driver. I am debating what set to get to compliment this one. I am between a 681 Turbine set to keep the PRR theme. Or no theme and get a 2343 Santa Fe set. I plan to add a passing track at the rear of the layout to park one train so I can run the other one. Need a couple remote postwar turnouts first for 027 track. The black ones with the lighted lantern. AD
Oh yes, everything was done outside. I worked 30 years as a small engine mechanic. Seen my share of mouse nests in lawn motor engine cooling shrouds. Amazing where those little buggers will build a nest at! One has to remember, when this was put away in the barn, it was nothing but a toy that was nolonger being played with. I am sure it was forgotten about for many years. They were cleaning out the barn and getting ready to move to a condo I believe if I remember what he told me. When they found the train set, he remembered the autistic guy in the Jeep club that loved trains. Hence how I ended up with the set. They just wanted it to go to a good home. They thought I could fix it up and make a few bucks off it. I was like heck no!, gonna fix it up and enjoy it!! AD
Congratulations are in order! Nothing like celebrating Christmas "In the Good Old Summertime"!
You bet, enjoy until you run the wheels off of it! Not likely though. When this set was manuafctured, Lionel trains were Made in the U.S.A., and designed to last a lifetime and beyond!
That 2035 is a well-made postwar runner! ENJOY! :-)
I too had a set very much like that. Cool indeed.
The set is probably from 1951 since the tender lacks the added hand rail details and this is confirmed by the catalog pics from that year. Its a lovely set, cleaned up really nice and I was super supprised how well it runs and flawlessly sequences its E unit with NOTHING done to the E unit!! It still a bit stiff, both from sitting for years and from what I think is very little actual use. Had the mice not nibbled on the 1033's cord, it would be ok as the portions not chewed up are dry rot free. With the set I got the lighted baggage platform(it had the mouse nest in the enclosed portion, an operating gateman, its base has some corrosion but its not bad. It had an original box, but it was mouse eaten and soaked with mouse "stuff". So it went right in the trash. I also got a crossing flasher with its special track clip and the pile of plasticville buildings to put back together. I will get to those here once indoor train season is upon us. AD
Must be addictive. I have two. As I have refocused almost totally to post-war Lionel. Also have one loop of Flyer. Love my #2035's.
JOE: That is SO cool! :-) once had a couple of those engines: 625 and 2025 if memory serves me right.
Replaced a smoke unit in one and that was quite a job with the compact location of the E-Unit!
Have both years 50-51 2035 engines
The 1950 has the half moon crank and a large round magnet at rear axle.
The 51 version has the 2 pin crank and a rectangle magnet at rear axle.
There heavy engines and great pullers in my opinion.
I think the difficulty to service/assemble them, the nice thick diecast shell is what did the model in as Lionel started cost cutting in the mid 50's. The later engines like the baby Hudsons that replaced the 2035 in those sets had a much thinner diecast shell, a simple drop out chassis. The 675/2025/2035 were more prewar in design other than the smoke unit. They are definatly a heavy weight and pull just as well as the Turbine. Hopefully I can score another inexpensive running mate for this one soon. Watching for a 681 Turbine or a 2343 powered/dummy. Never know whats gonna turn up! AD
My first set too. When I was around 8, I tried to take it apart. Many years of therapy followed.
Hal
The engine, that is.
Hal
Its definatly a handful to take apart. I cut my teeth on my fathers 1655 and my MPC era WP Alco FA1. I didnt get a 675 till my early teens with some of my mowing income. It got taken apart to fix a burnt out smoke unit. And it was done right at a show. The dealer, also did repair work and had his tools with him. He sat me down and had me do the work right there, and he explained the steps to take it apart then reassemble. It was this same dealer that would become a dear friend and I would become his service tech for nearly 20 years once i could drive a car. Thanks for all the great stories and memories. AD
What a great freebie!
I'm sure you are very grateful to the friend that donated it to you.
Enjoy!
Andre
He was just over helping me put some new lift shackles on my Wrangler so the front axle clears the funky oil pan on the diesel I had put in it better. Their family and ours have grown quite close during the Covid shutdown. AD