Let's see those Generals!

Here's a few Generals

The General

the General Haupt

...and the General McCallum

...good generals all. 

Robert, those are sweet! Are they MTH?

Think they are SMR models

Dave

Dave's right - they are SMR.

"...good generals all. "

Original General basic set. Added the horse car and the Sheriff and Outlaw.

"Well, now, I do suppose that depends on your geographical point of view."

And whether you are still smarting over losing the "War to Defend Slavery."

@johnstrains posted:

Original General basic set. Added the horse car and the Sheriff and Outlaw.

 

I love it! Is this the set from a few years ago, the re-issue?

@pdxtrains posted:

I love it! Is this the set from a few years ago, the re-issue?

No, that's an original from 1959. I am not original owner but I picked it up in excellent shape.

Johnstrains - that's quite a find.

https://youtu.be/YFv3OL1GlzE
Sooner or later, you’ll own Generals.

@Tim O'Malley posted:

https://youtu.be/YFv3OL1GlzE
Sooner or later, you’ll own Generals.

I understand General Balloon had an inflated ego...

Rusty

Lionel’s Confederate States of America’s General set which they produced before it became politically incorrect to do so.  I’m glad I bought it when  I did.😁

I have two of these chromed ones. One has been modded to double head behind this one; cowcàtcher removed and a coupler added to the pilot truck. 

(70s MPC, smoke, & an open frame motor)

I also have two of the PW yellow gift boxes with inserts for the Genrals (like above)  There is a freight car type box and passenger car type box.   When I found them in my garage attic, one had it's unused SO track still inside..shiny.

I have an original green Wells Fargo Gunfighter car to pull with them. A prized possession since I was a boy..clack/bang!  It's the reason I need a General 

There's an original "Halloween" set at our local antique mall right now. Priced accordingly, but would love to have it...

I got the General Set for Christmas 1959. And it comes out every Christmas since.

I acquired this nice original set from a neighbor a couple summers ago. He was the original owner,  his dad bought it for him for Christmas 1960. This was the Deluxe "5-Star" version with Smoke, Whistle, Magne-Traction, Headlight and Illuminated Cars. Played with very little and all in the original box. 

I'm a Standard Gauge collector so I eventually sold it to fund more SG purchases but it was hard to let that set go it was so nice. Had the original receipt from Two Guys  department store... $32.88  !

The additional $8.39 was for some extra Super-O track which he also still had. 

TWO GUYS! Scenes from my childhood in Jersey!

@pdxtrains posted:

TWO GUYS! Scenes from my childhood in Jersey!

 

You bet. That was the  greatest department store ever! I had an uncle who cleaned the hobby department out of all the HO  train stock when they went out of business. 

Have two PW generals, the 1862 and 1872.  The 1872 is the only PW general to have smoke.  Also have the Union Civil War general set, would love the have the Confederate set to go with.  Trying to add pics, but my kitty stepped on the keyboard, and now...….  LOL!!!   I see now where I need to update pics with better and more current!

Jesse  TCA

Here are six of the many Generals that I have.  Collecting these is a side interest to my hobby.  The most recent acquisitions are the two Promontory Point Generals - Jupiter and UP 119, easily the most elaborate paint schemes that Lionel has done.  I also still have my original 1862 General (on the track) and cars that I received in 1961.  I like to run them on the Christmas layout.

Here is our modern Lionchief Mickey’s Holiday to Remember set that is headed up by a ‘General-style’ 4-4-0.  

Got this Coke General set several years ago, $130 from Amazon!  Set up for testing.  It worked, still does.

Pete

I have one General and it's an SMR 3-rail model shown on the left below. Such a pity that SMR did not survive the last recession.

This is not a set but is the Texas and the General representing the Civil War Great Locomotive Chase of 1862:

The Texas is actually the better detailed of the two engines with wooden instead of plastic "logs." The display includes a model of the Union ironclad "Monitor."

Lionel 8701 from the late ‘70s.  Bought it new in the box a couple of years ago. Runs like a champ!

Well Shoot, Hancock52 ...if we're going to go that far how about adding the SMR Yonah to the mix? 

I'm enjoying these. Keep them coming. Many of these are classic Lionel, which is cool. Does anybody have and run a Railking MTH version? There are a few for sale out there: Jupiter, Pennsy, Long Island, etc. Would love to see those if you have them.

Here is an MTH RailKing 4-4-0:

And Lionel’s Lone Ranger version of their ‘General-style’ 4-4-0:

An old shot of my MTH General.  It was a PS/1, but I upgraded it to PS/2.  I'm gathering up some appropriate rolling stock to go with it.

@G-Man24 posted:

I acquired this nice original set from a neighbor a couple summers ago. He was the original owner,  his dad bought it for him for Christmas 1960. This was the Deluxe "5-Star" version with Smoke, Whistle, Magne-Traction, Headlight and Illuminated Cars. Played with very little and all in the original box. 

I'm a Standard Gauge collector so I eventually sold it to fund more SG purchases but it was hard to let that set go it was so nice. Had the original receipt from Two Guys  department store... $32.88  !

The additional $8.39 was for some extra Super-O track which he also still had. 

Mine was the 1959 set. It came in a smaller set box with individual boxes for all the components except the track. Note: The '59 Generals came with a red headlight. Inn 1960 Lionel produced the special General Set for Gifts Galore which people refer to as the Halloween Set. It was orange and black. A red headlight would not go with this set, so all of the General Locomotives produced in 1960 got black headlights.

Here's my set

Since someone brought up the subject of General Sets I thought I'd add this seldom seen version to the mix

SMR General "Set"

  It's a set in the sense that this assembly of SMR scale models mirrors the sets Lionel offered, however, SMR did not sell this assembly as a single item.  They offered the scale model of The General first, then at a later date they offered scale models of W&A boxcars and flatcars and finally they offered scale models of W&A passenger cars. 

Here's my first entry into Generals: an 1862. It took me a year since opening this thread, but the General bug has hit me hard.

I have my eye on the MTH Golden Spike set, with the Jupiter and cars included. It's a set that's now 7 years old or so, and new in box, but P3 and I'm guessing (hoping) it will work fine, since the P3s I've had good luck with. Any thoughts on that from those with better tech knowledge than I do?

Anyway--I'm hooked.

Has anyone added a General since I posted this thread a year ago? I'd love to see the pictures!

Here's my two General sets from the seventies.

Here is my most recently acquired set. I am a big RI fan, but I had to buy the cars and loco

separately with my budget.

Was the full name of that department store Two Guys From Harrison?

@Tinplate Art posted:

Was the full name of that department store Two Guys From Harrison?

Yes! There was one near me in Trenton. Used to go to Two Guys all the time. I saw that receipt and it was like a time machine for me.

Yes, Art, it was originally Two Guys from Harrison, but shortened to Two Guys by locals. Growing up in Hoboken, my dad liked to go to Two Guys, which was nearby in Union City. I’d check out the hobby and sporting goods section. I think my dad had me practice driving in their parking lot!

Only been once to the one in New Brunswick in the fifties. Took the Pennsy from New York to visit a friend. Impressive store for that era!

The before and after

Here's mine, a rebuilt and repainted Sears edition I did about 15 years ago -

Cheers,

- Mike

Well, I finally have something that others are talking about!  Here is mine, humble a layout as I have with my old Rio Grande 222 sitting in the background.  The General is "new", from the 70's I believe.  The Rio was a Christmas present about 1964. 

I love these guys! Here's mine, hard at work pulling logs.

Here is my #1862 General, which I bought in the 90's. I was late to the party.

4-4-0 American type locomotives, a.k.a. Generals are a favorite of mine, especially those of the W&ARR.  Here are a couple of shots of the scale SMR General (as it looked at the time of Andrews Raid) next to the 1970's Lionel version (as the General looks after its last re-build) that I did as a size comparison several years ago.

Andy

These aren't Generals, but I figured I'd share my Thomas Industries 4-4-0's in this thread. Thomas released these in 1951, a full 8 years before Lionel released the Generals.

@Johnbeere posted:

These aren't Generals, but I figured I'd share my Thomas Industries 4-4-0's in this thread. Thomas released these in 1951, a full 8 years before Lionel released the Generals.

Close enough to count! :-)

One of my favorite videos I have ever made:

Here's 1882 from the early 60s, the special sold at Sears. No smoke, whistle or magnetraction, but this is my favorite version of the General, especially the blue car.

@BlueComet400 posted:

Here's 1882 from the early 60s, the special sold at Sears. No smoke, whistle or magnetraction, but this is my favorite version of the General, especially the blue car.

I love this. This set is on my hit list! :-)

For those who have never seen this, here's a link to a very informative discussion of the various Lionel Generals and Sets. This is from the Trainz web site.

I've used it several times in doing research when looking to buy some of the Generals and associated rolling stock.

https://www.trainz.com/pages/l...nd-1800s-themed-sets

Great link! Thanks.

Here is my Christmas Present from 1959 on one of our recent Christmas layouts. The 5 Star General Set 2528WS.

Here are my three lionel Generals, 1862, Rock Island and Virginia and Truckee.

I was 10 years old in 1959 and wanted the 1862, it took me 60 years to get one.

The Rock Island served the town where I grew up, and I now live within 10 mins of

the V&T east depot. There is also the restored V&T Inyo engine and tender that runs on weekends

at the Nevada State Railroad Museum. I am so close I can hear the whistle and smell the

smoke from my house.

Here is one of my Generals. I like the style of this one so I converted it to PS-3 as I very rarely run conventional. This engine was featured in the 1989 or was it 1998 movie Wild Wild West.