I still like MPC Lionel Trains do you?

Pat,

I share similar feelings for MPC.  Though I love the modern, big, scale stuff, I miss the charm of MPC / Marx trains.  I have kept all of my childhood trains just for that reason, they are a blast to run and I love the smell of fried ozone each time!  Plus I get a kick out of watching them.  Makes me feel like an 8 yr old again.

 

I always enjoyed the tobacco cars.  There was a certain charm in this era-like the State Set and the Mickey Mouse Train.  I really wish I would have bought the Mickey train-passed on it and now really regret it.

 

Or how about the BN and Chessie SD-40 sets?  UP or IC passenger sets, which are still really desirable.  Great stuff, thanks MPC for the memories.

 

 

wife and I like the mpc billboard cars.

Hi Pat

Well I run mostly my modern trains. I still have a spot for my MPC era trains.and older items. Her are some pic. 

Some pieces were converted to tmcc with ERR. and others sit on shelfs never know what I will run.

 

Nah, I'm totally over MPC. I have a ton of it that I really should get rid of, cause it's just taking up space. Conventional and non scale pieces are obsolete in my world.

I have lots of MPC rolling stock, I liked the graphics and colors, no other criteria :-)

 

Nope.  Engines couldn't pull their own shadow.

.....

Dennis

I could say the same about Lionel Trains Inc. engines. These ones are sort of a happy medium of all three eras: prewar tinplate (Lionel Classics), postwar classics, and modern scale. Nonetheless, there are many favorite trains that are MPC era, and provide a lot of nostalgia.

 

I run both conventional and command frequently, and MPC, LTI, and later TMCC as well as current Legacy share the loops often.

I think we are very blessed do to the MPC ERA. THIS might be called the General Mills Era as this saved Lionel from possibly going out of business. Then, out of his Love for Toy Trains, Richard Kughn, Bought Lionel and This was the Beginning of What we have Today.

So, Many of us saw some nice engines being reproduced, The Norfolk &Western J, the IC Passenger set with beaitiful ABA's, and one at a time great Post War Reproductions...

Then, TMCC,LEGACY, and Now The I -Pad ERA.

Yes, Lionel has survived for many Decades, and that's because, they have always given us Their Best Shot, And we are the reason for Their Success, WE BUY THEIR PRODUCTS.

Happy Railroading!!

 

I have about nine of those very first MPC (by way of Pola) "Standard O" boxcars and reefers. NO add-on details except the brakewheels, but nice diecast sprung trucks and colorful bodies.

 

And I also have the Milwaukee Special set and the add-on cars (except the diner). Engine has Sound of Steam with the whistle and both work fine!

 

 

 

 

 

I like some of the MPC trains. Judging by bidding activity and closing bids, interest in collecting early MPC is on the rise.

No interest whatsoever in what is being made today.

 

My collection covers the entire Knuckle Coupler era so I have many MPC+ PRR pieces.  The collection wouldn't be complete without them.

MPC trains are just something I don't do.  I have a few pre- and post-war trains, and everything else is mostly 1990 or later (most much later).  It's not that I don't like trains from the era - it's just not what I do.

I love MPC.  Great color's.  Consistent in design and manufacture making for a few parts that can be used over decades of production.

 

Did I say I love MPC.

 

Stu

http://www.LionelNation.com/
All Lionel, All The Time

I love MPC stuff.  The 6 wheel diesels tend to pull better than the 4 wheel versions, but the rolling stock can't be beat , as well as the steamers

Rick (PLE_Rick) and I like the MPC era "standard" O cars, the full scale size boxcars and reefers...

 

 

Thanks,

- Mario

I respect the history that got us to where we are now, but I have no desire to replace the modern era with the trains of yesteryear. Just my thoughts.

No MPC here

I still like MPC Lionel Trains do you?

 

No, I’ve been trying to get rid of my large traditional MPC collection.

Anyone interested, email me.

I have some MPC equipment, but I bought it all new, back in the Seventies.  I don't think I've bought any MPC since then.

 

Other then those like myself with sentimental memories who lived through those early e MPC years, I can't imagine anyone knowing what is available today having any interest in it...

In this slowly evolving highly repetitive hobby after fifty some years, the best place for those colorful early MPC era pieces today is a display shelf. 

Joe 

 

 

Best postwar era for colors, And cars with real RR names. As their engines improved so did the ability to buy parts for PW trains as many were very close copies of the original.

My MPC motive power was limited to a couple of small steamers, my plastic 0-4-0, and that was good for up to 10-12 cars at a scale 40MPH. I may have gotten that particular train up to 15 lightweight cars before I added another switcher (8516 NY Central) to double-head it, but by that time the LTI era was in full swing . The only other MPC loco I have is an 8506 0-4-0, which being die-cast wasn't at a loss for pulling power.

 

I do have a fair amount of MPC rolling stock, but the only sub-category I'm actively adding to is the MPC-style autorack, whenever they show up in the catalogs from time to time:*

While the rest of my MPC fleet is pretty much dormant due to the influx of scale-sized equipment, I have no plans to retire any of it--it's just a matter of time before it gets its turn to run.

 

---PCJ

*(Edit: I see the 81003 CP is in stores now--(goes to check usual sources) a 40' train of these is now a certainty)

I still have a few, but no special affection for them. I've been getting rid of them at train shows for the past several years. Many MPC items are waxy-looking, unpainted plastic and have shiny, ugly plastic trucks. I bought most of my MPC stuff when I was just getting back into the hobby, before Lionel and MTH started making a lot of better-quality scale items. It was OK then for what it was, but it hasn't got much going for it now. 

"Nope.  Engines couldn't pull their own shadow"

 

Never heard it put that way; its not only funny, but true!  I know there has been debate if the hobby is "toys" or "models".  I don't care one way or another, however, MPC for the most part were toys hands down (IMHO).  Some higher end steamers and passenger cars were decent, but for the most part they were cheaply produced and poorly engineered.  I have some MPC where the plastic has become brittle and shows stress cracks.  I picked a good time (MPC) to take a hiatus from the hobby.

 

Stack 

quote:

 I can't imagine anyone knowing what is available today having any interest in it...

 

One reason some folks might like MPC is their price point. For the most part MPC trains are much less expensive then the newly made stuff, or postwar.

 

Several folks have commented about a lack of pulling power. I guess my trains were not long enough. I never noticed.

 

To each their own!

Sure, I like 'em.  There was an astounding variety of colorful cars and locos, Postwar molds were used but the decoration was much better, and the cars had fast-angle wheels.  An MPC loco with its traction tires will pull quite a string of the lightweight MPC freight cars. 

For those of us in the cheap seats, MPC works perfectly fine. And I feel a lot less guilty about modifying an inexpensive engine or rolling stock than one of the high ticket ones.

 

So all of you who want to get rid of your MPC, feel free to send it all my way! I won't even charge you for it.

Love MPC era Lionel...in years to come they will still run...can't say the same for big bucks electronic trains...Gotta love "E" units...joe

I retained four representative samples of MPC motive power in my collection of largely tinplate as I consider them to be plastic tinplate ( Plastic-plate?):

1. Colorful graphics

2. More artful characterization of the prototype than "realistic"= toy-like

3. Mechanically simple

4. Inexpensive

The motto on my road is as follows" "Any resemblance to realism is purely coincidental"

P.S I can redecorate them "anxiety free"

 

Still like those 1980s collector sets, photo taken at Carail:

 

 

I've read lots of complaints about bad gears, poor and inaccurate decoration, lack of power, etc. But for my money, they're a more affordable version of Postwar, and just as dependable.

What's not to like?

The reason I don't have MPC era trains is because I am attracted to more realistic trains.

Believe it or not, there are avid closet collectors of the MPC era who thank you for your decision.  

Joe  

I missed that era. My first train was an old Gilbert AF set. Then all my friends received HO sets for Christmas, so that was the thing to do. By the time I found Lionel (mid-90s), MPC was ancient history.

 

I think I have one car from that time period. It's a gondola that I bought for $2-3 not long after I got back into trains. I still run it; it's loaded with rolled coins for weight and sports a 3M Scotch-Brite pad squeezed in snugly underneath. Best track-cleaning car for the money! (I guess with its dedicated coin rolls it is worth more like $10-15 )

That's the only use I have for them too.  I make my track cleaning cars out of the gondolas.

.....

Dennis

I have a lot of great memories from the MPC era. Meant a lot of fine people back when MPC was king.

I darn well better like them!  They are what got me back into the O gauge segment of the hobby.  And if I hadn't gotten back into O gauge, there's not much chance I would have the fun job I have now.

Over the years I've acquired many basic MPC cars from various sets. In the last year I decided to repaint them. I've only done the base paint and have not detailed or weathered them yet. But for the price I paid and a couple of cans of spray paint, I figure I'm ahead -- at least for return on investment.

 

 

 

These are just the ones I turned grey. I've also done some in black and Tuscan red. With a load of scrap iron these will just blend into the layout.

I like 'em.  I try to avoid the bottom of the barrel stuff with non-operating couplers and unpainted sides.  I find the middle of the road and up items from that era quite enjoyable.  I prefer William's flywheel and can motor drive but will buy a MPC engine if the price is right.  Is there a good guide online to servicing the MPC era engines?

 

I have some books that explain postwar era servicing but haven't been able to find anything on MPC.  

 

I love MPC. It brought me back into the hobby. The variety of road names and improved graphics vs. postwar helped sustain the Lionel name and brand following the disastrous "Cohn Era". Although looked down upon by many, MPC was critical in  producing attractive, colorful trains and enjoyable accessories thus saving Lionel from extinction.

Thank you for the kind words.

 

While the manual is somewhat disorganized, at least Lionel makes it available. If the other guys do, I'd appreciate someone posting the links.

 

We have to remember that the manual was designed for hardcopy. Each supplement was intended to be broken up and inserted into the base manual.

While I have an original hardcopy, with all of the supplements, I never merged them.

I purchased my copy from Lionel, before they offloaded the manual to Greenberg.

 

The Lionel manual binders are red. Most are marked directly on the binder. Some came unmarked, and a few had stickers.

The Greenberg manuals are dark grey or maybe black, marked directly on the binder.

 

to each....his own. My favorite comment here was made by my old pal Jimmy Sutter, who linked those MPC trains to the many friends he made during his hobby shop days.I'm happy to be one of those lucky guys that can call Jimmy "my friend."

MPC was readily available, more affordable than PW, and much better rolling than PW when I was young.   The colorful locomotives and cars drew me in.  It did not matter to me that they created a lot of fantasy designs.  They looked good to me and being a toy train guy, I didn't worry about sweating the details.  Most items were durable and I only had one engine where I developed a stutter gear problem from pulling almost 100 MPC cars with a single locomotive.  Lack of pulling power was never a problem.  I really appreciate the lower cost of these items today and am still an avid collector.  MPC is one of the best values out there today in O gauge.

The Quaker City Limited (2nd  set down) is what got me into the hobby.

Oh, I forgot, The Lionel GG1 8753, is What re-kindled my interest in collecting Lionel Trains. I found this engine by accident in one of the model railroader magazines. Chris Model Trains had a package deal if we ordered 12 of these engines, although one had to take a lot of other low end products to get the deal of $185 per engine. i ordered the package deal and had no problem selling the other 11 engines...This engine was a great puller and although it was conventional, it reminded us of those great Post War GG1's.

WOW...Although WE loved the MPC ERA,  Times are better now, and Lionel makes trains for every collectors needs. It's a Great time to be in this hobby.

It goes both ways Tommy. (friend)

Without MPC, we wouldn't be where we are today with Lionel IMO. I had just gotten out of the USMC, was in a new civilian job a few years when I happened to find Train Express in Indianapolis (along with one local hobby shop) as I was based out of Indy.

Once I saw the Southern Crescent set, and then the Blue Comet and Alton Limited sets, I was back on the bandwagon adding to my Postwar items I'd held on to since high school.

The decoration was light-years ahead of anything produced in the PW period, and the mechanicals were essentially PW designs with some updates (nylon gearing was NOt one of the improvements) but at least you could update parts if needed. Fast-angle wheels rolled way easier than PW had allowing longer trains with single motor engines.

i still have my Maple Leaf Limited, UP Gold Coast, and CP Rail Limited sets along with the JLC memorial set. Still great runners and good looking IMO as well. We were lucky MPC came along when they did.

I would guess that nearly half of what I own is MPC. It is brighter and more colorful than most postwar offerings (which makes up nearly the other half...) and the cars are a lot easier to pull. I don't own many of the engines from the time frame, but the ones I do own pull plenty good enough for my needs (15 to 20 9700 series boxcars and a caboose is a long train for me):

 

 

I really like their SD-18. I wish they would have found a way to squeeze 2 pullmors in there. The one in the picture has a lot of added weight to it and one of those Model Power sound systems in it.

 

I recently discovered the "gold box" cars with the die cast trucks. I really like these cars and have bought quite a few in the past year.

 

J White

 

I still have every MPC engine I ever purchased.  Not a lot of them to be sure because at that time I had young children and trains were lower on the priority list.  However, the five that I did purchase were higher end items and all still run perfectly to this day.  I still run them from time to time and still get a kick out of the Mighty Sound of Steam.  As has been stated that was high tech for the times.  I enjoy collecting and running trains from the different eras so I can have the opportunity to watch and listen to the technological progression which has occurred in our hobby over the last 100 years or so.  Some people may belittle and denigrate the MPC era but it kept the torch burning. 

Many more colorful 1970s and 1980s Lionel in these other two photos of Carail.

  

I cut my teeth in model railroading with Lionel MPC.  I've moved away from it during the early 1980s when the non - scale look & proportions became unappealing to me and started getting the early Weaver Quality Craft freight car kits and some Standard O until before high school.  After college then the military, I've been doing 3 rail scale for well over 15 years since and have been  loving it, rivet counting and all.

Having said that, over this past year I've been finding myself going back to those MPC roots and have been breaking out those trains from back then as well as acquiring new ones from that era. 

While agreed that MPC wasn't exactly the pinnacle of Lionel toy train history, I don't think it deserves the bad rap it seems to get at times; it certainly wasn't any worse  than the autumn years of the postwar era during the 1960s IMHO, and some improvements actually came out of it such as the fast angle wheels & delrin trucks as others mentioned which greatly reduced rolling resistance so much that postwar equipment was like dragging bricks around by comparison.  Coupled with the crisper graphics, more vibrant color varieties, and  wider range of roadnames offered compared to postwar I think contributed to the gradual revitalization of Lionel trains and relevance in the hobby.

Plus, as a kid I totally dug the building kits they came out with too during that time; certainly offered something different and better proportioned than most Plasticville structures that were prevalent before then.

sure do, jnust picked this up a few days ago, complete with the box.

Although MPC kept Lionel's name on store shelves in the 80's the quality and look was more Williams looking which I never cared for, and the engines coming from Mexico were a repair mans nightmare.  

 

Jack

It was quite a time...

 

The MPC era was certainly a lively era.  There was just as much excitement and anticipation for the next catalog back then as there is today.

 

It was also a pretty heady "collector" period.  Right or wrong, some MPC items increased in value rapidly shortly after hitting the dealer shelves (or swap tables...)

 

When an ad said "call for price," it usually meant higher than retail...

 

The search was on trying to find who had break ups and the "rare" car from a boxed set.  For the lowest possible price of course...   And, just like today, if you wanted to be sure of getting something, you pre-ordered it.  Yeah, I got caught up in it too.

 

And the stuff was fun to run.  No command control.  Basic and crude sound if any, just put it on the track and let 'er rip.  If it ran poorly, it usually was a simple postwar-style fix.

 

 

Even though my MPC trains are long gone, I don't regret participating in the era.

 

Rusty

 

When I got back into this in the late 80s, I picked up a good amount of MPC, because it was cheap and colorful and light to run. The PW stuff was more expensive, and I was a runner and not much of a collector. I still like it. The BN freight set is still one of my favorites.

 

jay jay has it correct, MPC was affordable compared Post War items.

Thanks

Pat

picked this up a couple of months ago for what the cars are worth(what I was really after). My Wife talked me into it(she's done this on several occasions when I saw something I really wanted, but was dragging my feet)

 

I love my MPC. Fast angle wheels, great paint jobs and low prices. 

I agree with this 100%. 

 

The other thing to keep in mind for people, including me, who like to complain is that today's introductory, basic starter sets are far nicer than the basic starter sets that were available when I was a kid in the 70s, or that were available during late postwar period.  The Lionel, MTH, and WBB starter sets that are offered today at the relative lower price points of the hobby are terrific.  So while MPC offered some dodgy starter sets, it wasn't really any different than what Lionel Corporation did during the, say, 1960s.

 

So that's a long way of saying that in many respects today we are spoiled by the quantity and quality of innovative O gauge offerings available today.

I'm 43. My childhood memories of Lionel trains are from the MPC-era. The Cannonball was my first set bought for me by my Father, Christmas 1976. Important enough I remember the year! A couple years ago I found the set NIB. Ya, I bought it. I display it, along with my first accessory, the mechanical crossing gate, and silver Rio Grande boxcar that my Dad traded the yellow flatcar from the set for, because it was broken.

 

I think I've got about every book, catalog, and flyer concerning the MPC-era. Don't buy MPC anymore, but I'll keep what I have, and I still look through those catalogs every once in a while.

FARR sets, expensive add-on boxcars (they wanted $12.00 for them in the magazines!), bunkcars, cranes, and all lettered for real railroads, not Lionel Lines.

  

hello guys and gals............

 

I loved those early MPC era F-3's but not with the single motor and plastic gears and hollowed pot metal wheels which sometimes are out of round. Guys when did the MPC era ended and what was after that LTI ?

 

the woman who loves the S.F.5011,2678,2003,200

Tiffany

I have just about a complete collection of the "Collector Line" of MPC and love them all! All those Boxed Limited Sets, Aluminum Passenger Sets, FARR Series, Fallen Flag Series, Service station sets,  and all of the End of Year Specials. They still appeal to me to this day, and can usually be obtained for a good price. I still buy postwar, LTI, and the postwar reissues, but there is just something about MPC that I truly love. 

Tiffany,

 

LTI did succeed MPC, and that was in late 1986/early 1987.

 

This topic is posted every few months,but here is my reply again:

I collect and run O scale trains from the 1920s through today.The ones I like the most and that I usually run are the Lionel MPC trains I had when I was a kid.I guess it is the nostalgia factor,run what you know and like.

Dan 

I'm rather fond of the MPC era, as one can do Things to them without any twinge of conscience...

Here's "Lil Stinky",  the Razorback Tracton Co.'s trolleycar steam loco:

With 4 ounces of Harbor Freight wheel weights, Lil' Stinky becomes a stump puller:





And of course, the only Lionel two-foot gauge equipment out there...



;-)

Mitch

Hello Mikado 4501

 

Thank you, smile. Another question  Is the LTI engines better made and made in America?

 

The woman who loves the S.F.5011,2678,2003,200

Tiffany

I have to admit there is something about the MPC Southern Crescent and MPC Blue Comet sets. These were a huge step forward with Painted Engines and SOS sound. I saved all of my money to buy these sets. If memory serves me, The Crescent was under $200.00 for the set and the Blue comet was around $249.00. I remember the feelings of want and lust for these items that I have never felt again. 

 

 

 

To me, I really dug the Burlington Northern set headed up by their new SD40 models, in addition to the Santa Fe SD40s.  Also liked the Santa Fe SD-18s back then also.

 

As a Southern Pacific fan even back then, the selections were pretty slim though for that roadname; the only motive power that really stood out was the SP "black widow" F-M and later on the "Daylight F3s" (even as a kid I preferred the bloody nose paint scheme so neither was hot on my list).   I didn't also care for the SP U-36c they offered in the experimental paint scheme they used on their MK TE70-4S engines.  Too gaudy and similar to the "Burger King" engine they offered in their fast food set.

Add me to the list of folks who really like MPC stuff. I have a bunch of it I've kept, and no way I'll get rid of it. I could go on and on about all the great things Lionel did during the MPC period, but suffice it to say there were dozens of really great innovations and some beautiful engines and cars produced.

 

The graphics and paint on many of the cars (and engines) are just outstanding, and I run many of them with the scale stuff and it's fine. And of course there's the nostalgia because that's when I really got into O gauge.

 

I've never understood the complaints about pulling power - maybe these people didn't have much experience with a lot of MPC engines. Some of the single motored jobs were challenged with longer trains, that's true, although adding some weight improved things and was easy. But many of the other engines were right out of the Postwar period - virtually the same - such as FMs, most all of the steam engines, dual motored F-3s, GG-1s, and many other engines, and they pull just fine.

With the Mickey Mouse set being my first official train, I will always like MPC.

 

Also have a ton of reefers,boxcars from mpc, not scale of course but always had nice paint jobs and graphics.

I like the color and affordability of MPC.  They look great on my layout and my shelves. 

 

The Thread "MPC Fan" is nine pages long  with tons of pictures. It spans over two years, so, yes,  I think there is a lot of interest in MPC.

 

https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/t...pc-fan-thread?page=1

 

 

 

 MPC is on the top and bottom rows as well as the row with the Northern Pacific cars.

 

What's not to like about these reasonably priced, good running and colorful trains?

 

Yes, everything coming out now is super amazing and the features are unbelievable to someone raised on MPC, but it is still fun to run the older stuff every now and then. I don't plan on picking up any MPC stuff beyond what I have left from my childhood.

 

However, I love firing up the Amtrak RDCs, Amtrak Lake Shore Limited (swapped the original engine chassis for a post war version, cut out the front end for the coupler, pulls extra nice), Chicago & Alton steam set and of course the ever popular BN SD40 set.

 

 

I got back into Lionel in 1985 with MPC. Added some postwar and now have a mix of it all. Each era has its plusses and minuses. MPC still gives you a lot of bang for your buck as long as you are OK with its limitations. That's the bottom line. Having MPC as part of the available choices adds to the collecting and operating possibilities for all of us in the hobby.

 

Great stuff in your picture, Dave (Brewman1973)!

 

Another thing that's interesting about MPC that I enjoy, from a historical perspective, are the real early pieces, from 1970-71-72, when Lionel was transitioning from the Postwar Lionel corp. to the MPC era. In many cases, parts from the Postwar Lionel Corp. parts bins were being used to put together the early MPC cars. Even for cars with the same number, there are sometimes different body style types used (the Greenberg Guide describes these different styles - different rivet patterns, boxcar ends, door types and railing types and positions, etc.), and different paints were often used with color variations. Sometimes the same cars would even be packaged in different style boxes, like the famous "Banner Boxes."

 

I have collected three different 9200 Ill. Central and 3 different 9204 Northern Pacific boxcars, for example. Among each of the 3 9200s and 3 9204s, each car has a different style body, with different rivet patterns and ends and doors and door railings, and the paint textures and colors are all different. In fact, one of the 9204s is such a different shade of green that it looks like a completely different car from the other 9204s.  

If anyone knows of a mint or NIB 1260 Continental Limited set at a reasonable price I have been looking for one.

To reiterate on the variety offered during the MPC/Fundimensions era, just look at the 6517 bay window caboose from the postwar period.  That caboose was essentially offered in just two roadnames:  Lionel Lines & Erie (three if you want to include the "TCA Convention" variation and if you want to call that a roadname).  That's it.  And also just two colors:  Red for the Lionel Lines and Erie, & Orange for the TCA car.  Yes there were variations in the shade of color but those were still just the two colors offered.

 

When General Mills took over Lionel train production, we literally saw an explosion of different road names & colors offered on that same caboose since then.

 

Ditto for the postwar near-scale non-operating refrigerator car that came out in just 2 roadnames, Santa Fe (6672) & the REA (6572).  Under General Mills, you also saw an explosion of different roadnames and paint schemes offered just like the bay window caboose.

 

So it's more than fair to give General Mills credit for giving Lionel trains a much needed cosmetic "face lift" to make them more appealing to a wider range of collectors & hobbyists.

 

cheap, maybe. sure cheaper than some of the Postwar versions. But I don't buy any train as a "cheap so I can run it to death" (my words). I run everything I own, and plan on owning them for a long time (I sure hope so)

quote:

Which got me wondering, is there anyone here other then me who owns MPC to enjoy as "collectibles" rather then good cheap trains to do their thing with?

 

 

Most of my MPC trains are 100% TCA mint.

Sso the answer is yes, I do.

 

an observation - I never had any MPC, but in the course of liquidating an area estate, I've now become very familiar with these products, particularly the engines. I've gone through cleaning and testing almost 300 engines in this project, and while many of the modern examples don't run properly because of battery or circuit board issues, I've never had one MPC example I couldn't get running like a watch in 5 minutes. I'm impressed, convinced, and now into them.

 

Tim

For what it was, it was great, and General Mills/Fundamensions did keep the brand active! I especially liked the billboard reefers back in the day!

 

The only MPC I currently have is the venerable "Milwaukee Special" set plus FIVE matching add-on cars, and NINE of the POLA/MPC "Standard O" reefers & boxcars, including the iconic Stroh's reefer.

I will say this:  A consist of MPC era Pennsy heavyweights looks durned good behind my restored 2025... 

 

Mitch

I cringe when I think about my rio grande f3s that couldn't pull 9 cars ..

I have some MPC that are collectible specimens. Special production such as Glen Uhl's Timken boxcar in orange.  I have several mint starter sets from the early 1970s as well, in their original neat-looking boxes. MPC got be back into this hobby so  you won't find me knocking it!

 

Remember: if it wasn't for MPC, we wouldn't have any new Lionel offerings to enjoy today.

Those were the inexpensive single-motored Service Station set engines. If you'd added a little weight to it, that would have yielded more pulling power. All the later MPC F-3s had dual motors.

The small 41 / 53 style switchers were probably my favorite MPC production items. I purchased most of them as they came out, as well as the other motorized units, such as the #52 style fire cars and the #54 style ballast tampers.

The ballast tampers were over produced. I believe it was Charles Ro who had some painted in other paint schemes in order to sell them.

RGS did some very nice custom paint jobs on burro cranes too.

I run a set of the MPC PRR Baby Madison's behind my 675, they do look good.

Yes, MPC made some good stuff. And the free-rolling fast-angle wheels were a real improvement over the old Postwar Lionel wheel sets.

 

Yep, one of the biggest operational pluses.  The biggest bone of contention I had with the General Mills era (I really don't like using MPC since they were only involved with Lionel production the first 3 years or so during the birth of the Modern Era) is the odd choice of using that obscure Symington-Wayne truck design; certainly nowhere close to being representative of mainstream freight car trucks.  They should have either stuck with the AAR style trucks that they did utilize briefly from the postwar period, or chosen a more common 70 or 100 ton Barber-style roller bearing truck similar to what LTI ended up using after 1989.

Yeah, I've wondered about that. But what was worse, I thought, was some of the 1960's Lionel cars with arch-bar trucks under modern cars!

great story, and Thank You for your service!

Great stuff. Here's just a few of mine. Amazing innovation, design, graphics and paint application, much of which we take for granted today. An interesting curiosity on the last car shown, the 9873 Ralston Purina reefer, is the "car used" date information. As far as I know, that's unique, although perhaps some other cars had it. It would be interesting to know the story behind that.

 

 

Not sure what MPC stands for, but what I can say about my post war trains, such as my 2328 Geep, and 2055 Hudson is that they are over 60 years old, and will run for another 100+ years.  Simple electro-mechanical technology ensures that you can fix them yourself and keep them going.

I do admit however that I prefer realism over toy trains. For that need I will use the smaller scales.  

 

Model Products Corporation

 

I think "the company" still exists today in one form or another, although its relationship with Lionel toy train days is distant history.  MPC was a division of General Mills during the 1970's, and that's when toy train enthusiasts are most familiar with it.  

 

Although Lionel's General Mills "MPC era" is typically referred to as 1969-1986, production under MPC only occurred for a few years in the early 70's after which the Lionel products became part of General Mill's Fundimension division in 1973 until Richard Kughn came along in 1986 to start the Kughn/LTI era of Lionel toy trains.

 

David

I was just about to post the same thing!  Yeah, my 675 and MPC PRR passenger cars were made for each other.