Let’s see your Lionel Standard “O” Cars

The few I have are all packed away until my layout is operational. Here's a stock photo of one.

Keith. Thanks for posting I never knew they made that one nice 

Here's another one. Again, stock photo.

Lee, my favorite Standard O cars are the 42' Mill Gondolas. Scale width and nice detailing&paint:

I replace to stock trucks with the MTH roller bearing hidden-tab version:

I like the "WHEN EMPTY RETURN TO DT&I RR" message on this Wabash car.  

Here are a few.

@Oman posted:

The few I have are all packed away until my layout is operational. Here's a stock photo of one.

I may be mistaken, but I thought the original poster meant the "Standard O" cars Lionel made before the newer scale cars, such as this CNR one, which have all the add-on detail parts, etc. There have been many, many of those made in the modern era, beginning during the time Dick Mattox was president of Lionel, and production was shifted to China.

The so-called Standard O cars were made beginning back in the MPC era, in the 70s and 80s. The Wabash and Railgon gondolas shown above are from that era. There were some made in the 90s as well, which some of the above cars were. These cars are standard O in size, but predated the newer scale detailed cars, and have molded in details, such as ladders and grabrails. They were all made in the U.S. while Lionel's production was still being done here.

Lew. Thanks for posting I was hoping you would post your gondola cars before I started this thread I was thinking of all the Standard O cars they made and when I was thinking of the gondola I was thinking of you and hoping you would be posting your gondolas the Wabash  is probably my favorite also. I appreciate it

Dudley. Thanks for Sharing your collection that tank car is on my list to get

Breezinup. Yes you are right that’s my target the MPC years and the 90s Standard O Rolling Stock so guys if we can keep it within those lines I would appreciate it. 

I've always like the Wabash gon as well, for some reason. The bold Wabash lettering on the side is probably a main reason. I have the Railgon as well. Nice cars. Glad to get geysergazers idea for adding the MTH roller bearing trucks. Looks like those lower the cars nicely for a better look.

Here’s my NYC Standard O caboose 

Here are three of the very early MPC boxcars

Here are some of the gondolas from the 80s and 90s with various loads

@breezinup posted:

I've always like the Wabash gon as well, for some reason. The bold Wabash lettering on the side is probably a main reason. I have the Railgon as well. Nice cars. Glad to get geysergazers idea for adding the MTH roller bearing trucks. Looks like those lower the cars nicely for a better look.

Yes, switching trucks does indeed lower the car for a much better appearance.

@lee drennen posted:

Lew. Thanks for posting I was hoping you would post your gondola cars before I started this thread I was thinking of all the Standard O cars they made and when I was thinking of the gondola I was thinking of you and hoping you would be posting your gondolas the Wabash  is probably my favorite also. I appreciate it

Dudley. Thanks for Sharing your collection that tank car is on my list to get

Breezinup. Yes you are right that’s my target the MPC years and the 90s Standard O Rolling Stock so guys if we can keep it within those lines I would appreciate it. 

I figure sooner or later Brian will pick up on the DT&I reference. 

A few favorites that inclined acquisition of multiples.

Hobby-go-Lucky.   thanks for posting those hoppers look great I like the Southern Pacific the best 

Dudley. Thanks again for posting those cars. I just got the P&LE in the mail this week. The gondolas look good I didn’t know that they made a PRR one. Nice 

Lew. Brian will pick up the scent and find us. 

Breezinup. I also lowered my gondola too but I ground down where it mount and move the trucks forward I’ll post some pic of it if I can find them 

Here’s my Lionel F Pulling a manifest of Standard O. The last NYC Pacemaker I Custom painted/ decaled. 

If someone posts a car that you already have feel free to post yours anyway I would like to see it

The J.M. HUBER tank car is a Standard O line car. 

Andrew 

Here is the L&N ACF Center Flow 3-bay covered hopper. 

Andrew

This topic has been moved from 3-rail traditional discussion category to the photo albums category due to the topic emphasizing picture posting.

I believe this Northern Pacific smoking caboose was part of the very early " Standard O ' rolling stock.

@Bill T posted:

I believe this Northern Pacific smoking caboose was part of the very early " Standard O ' rolling stock.

That’s a nice looking car, and scene!  Did you add the details to it or is that all original?

Tom wondered what MTH trucks I used. 30-89001 works nicely. Also, a new truck mounting hole must be drilled in the frame because the stock Lionel trucks have off-center pivot points:

The left hole is the original truck mounting hole. The on eon the right is the freshly drilled one to position the MTH truck so the coupler protrudes the correct distance from the end of the car:

One further detail is to re-use the aluminum shoulder-washer from the OEM truck because the shoulder on the MTH truck mount isn't tall enough to provide clearance when the mounting screw is drawn tight (the Lionel floor is thicker than MTH floors). The shoulder washer can be filed thinner to establish correct clearance.

@rplst8 posted:

That’s a nice looking car, and scene!  Did you add the details to it or is that all original?

The NP caboose is all original, no detail added.

Yes Lionel did a great job on there Standard O Cabooses. Mine is newer than Bill’s but has the same great details as his here a better pic of mine than the one I previously posted but not as good as Bill’s pic 

Here's my collection of Standard "O" to date, less duplicates.  All have been lowered as much as possible, all (except caboose) have had new or excellent used Lionel die-cast metal sprung trucks added, along with extra weight added for better tracking characteristics.  Other additional work as noted.....................

Rock Island box car (one of three that I have).  Stirrups at all 4 corners made from Arrow staples, light interior detailing (scribed wood flooring and wood-grained wall panels).

Santa Fe box car.  Same details as RI box car, plus interior load.

Southern Pacific gondola, with home-made load.

Miller High Life plug door box car, with stirrups added at each corner.

New York Central flat car.  Brake wheel added to one end.

And lastly, a Rock Island caboose (one of two that I have).  This one features a scratch-built cupola that has been moved forward from the original Lionel location, for a little more "Rock Island-esque" look.  Also a scratch-built stove smoke stack, and modified steps at the end sills.

I think these are pretty nice cars, especially if I can find them for a good deal at a train meet.  With just a little bit of work they can easily be transformed into even better looking cars.  And if they're not an exact 1/48 scale, they have to be at least pretty darned close. 

Paul. Thanks for posting these beautiful cars. Yes they have a lot of potential if your willing to take the time like you did. I like them because there not O27 or True O scale they go well with my 1/50 trucks and trailers and most of the time there cheap. 

@Mixed Freight posted:

Rock Island box car (one of three that I have).  Stirrups at all 4 corners made from Arrow staples, light interior detailing (scribed wood flooring and wood-grained wall panels).

Nice add with those stirrups! I’m definitely going to steal that idea if you don’t mind.

Lew, thanks very much for the truck mounting details. I'll be putting this to use.

Paul, those are great looking cars and some great ideas. The arrow staple stirrups are a terrific idea.

I had quite a few at one time, but I'm selling them off.  Here are the ones I have left.

DG...thanks for posting that P&LE green boxcar...by far, my favorite of the Standard O cars...

Thanks, Breezinup for drawing the distinction of the "real" Standard O cars.

Beside the Schaeffer and Miller cars, the Stroh's car from '74-'76 was the other beer car that appeared in this series.

Here’s a few of mine... I know I have a bunch more - I especially want to find my STD. O NYC Pacemaker!!!

It will look like this 😊 I also like this one.

@DG posted:

It will look like this 😊 I also like this one.

Dudley;

What it looks like isn’t my problem... where they are stored is the problem   

I have around 9 tubs full of cars going back to the 70’s. I have a Pacemaker set currently stored on the layout (3 boxcars and a caboose). I’m curious to see how the standard O version from the mid-80’s compares. Here is a short video of what I called my milk and cookies train headed into Manhattan - An NYC Niagara pulling the NYC milk cars from the Century Club II and some Pacemaker boxcars loaded with Stella D’Oro cookies they picked up in the Bronx!!!

Paul, I had the 5 car set of Pacemaker boxcars from the mid-80s (I think) but sold them a few years ago, sometimes I wish I had kept them but they were seldom on the layout. I kept the original one, but it is also seldom out. I understand the problem on finding things, plus remembering if you even have something 😊

EDIT/UPDATE: Well I finally figured out what NYC Pacemaker set I owned at one time - and it was 6-17246 NYC Pacemaker Rolling Stock 4-Pack which included the 3 boxcars and caboose shown in the video posted by Paul. It was cataloged in the Lionel Classic Trains - Volume II - 1998 Catalog. I am looking at the printed version of the catalog and that page also includes the Union Pacific Freight Car Set which I also owned but sold the same time I sold the NYC set. 

Oh well, occasionally my memory works well enough to figure out where to look for what I forgot. 

Ron. Thanks for posting are the For Sale here or some where else? 

Breezinup. Thanks for the pic of the Strohs ca o have that one on the layout 

Paul. Thanks for the video the Pacemaker cars look great I hope some day to have a Pacemaker consist.

Thanks for all who has posted keep those pics coming  

At the time the Stroh's reefer was released, Stroh's beer was truly a fire-brewed beer which gave it a unique carmelization of the malt. It was always my favorite Standard O car and the beer was not half bad either.

Near the end of the Lionel LTI era in the 1990s when MTH, Atlas, Weaver, and others were making scale cars with add-on detail, Lionel tried to extend the Standard O line a few more years by adding loads to flat cars but the best effort was the colorful hopper cars. Even though they don’t have add-on details and maybe not the correct type trucks, they sure looked nice on running trains. I kept almost all of the hoppers and still run them with scale cars on trains.

I have the Canada car. I don't run it as I changed eras and rr focus but when I had semi scale locos I mixed and matched whatever made a train.

Did some more digging... still haven’t found my STD. O Pacemaker, but came upon a few more. I always liked this CP scheme (I have a matching caboose somewhere too!!!).

And a couple of PS-5 covered gondolas, starting with a CP!!!

Paul. Thanks for posting they look nice I have to get some more pics of mine 

Found one of my Pacemaker Std. O boxcars (I’m sure there is another somewhere in my stash). 

Here is a comparison with one of the Pacemaker cars from the 1998 Pacemaker set.

Two things stand out to me. First, there are info marks on the lower right of the Std. O car (not sure what the correct name for this info is). The second is that the 1998 car, although the same size, is significantly heavier than the Std. O car.

Just a note: the PS-5 covered gondolas Paul pictured are not "Standard O" cars that are the subject of this thread.

These gondolas are recent, scale Lionel production items manufactured in China.

Paul. Thanks for posting. Did you check to see if the 1998 has a Metal bottom? I have 2 that are and there heavy but very nice 

@breezinup posted:

Just a note: the PS-5 covered gondolas Paul pictured are not "Standard O" cars that are the subject of this thread.

These gondolas are recent, scale Lionel production items manufactured in China.

I would Appreciate it if you would quit being “Thread Sheriff” on my Topic. If there is something that needs addressed I will take care of it 

@Apples55 posted:

Did some more digging... still haven’t found my STD. O Pacemaker, but came upon a few more. I always liked this CP scheme (I have a matching caboose somewhere too!!!).

And a couple of PS-5 covered gondolas, starting with a CP!!!

Paul. Your Gondolas look fine. Please keep posting and I’m sorry 

@lee drennen posted:

Paul. Your Gondolas look fine. Please keep posting and I’m sorry 

Those gons actually look really nice!  I think I actually like the Santa Fe one the best, and I'm more of an eastern RR kinda guy.

Conrail gondola w/ coal load....

@lee drennen posted:

I would Appreciate it if you would quit being “Thread Sheriff” on my Topic. If there is something that needs addressed I will take care of it 

Well, you must be confused. Below is your post from 9/11. But now when someone posts modern, Chinese-made items, you say "Paul. Your Gondolas look fine. Please keep posting and I’m sorry."

So what IS your target?? Apparently you've now changed it and no longer "appreciate it" if people keep it within the lines of MPC years and 90s rolling stock, as you once said.

(Incidentally, you're not a thread sheriff, either. You don't get to control thread inputs. ) 

lee drennenMember

Breezinup. Yes you are right that’s my target the MPC years and the 90s Standard O Rolling Stock so guys if we can keep it within those lines I would appreciate it. 

Like prototype practice, I made 2 wood chip gondolas from 4. In this case, I used 2 SP Lionel Standard O cars and 1 Wabash and GT Standard O cars plus pieces of styrene.

Terry

Terry. Thanks for posting those wood chip cars  they look very good 

Thanks. Now everybody else's Standard O SP, GT, and Wabash gons are a bit more rare! 

Terry

Orange juice

 Nice Orange Boxes Catdaddy. You have pic of them being pulled a Consist? 

@lee drennen posted:

Paul. Your Gondolas look fine. Please keep posting and I’m sorry 

Thanks, Lee... and no need to apologize. I was born and raised in Brooklyn, so I have pretty thick skin  

As for the gondolas being made in China, while that is true, you have to consider that they were cataloged as Standard O, so that distinction was still used into the early 2000’s.

But returning to the last century, here are two pair of standard O items - they were both from early Lionel Unit Trains. As someone who grew up strictly Lionel, the idea of having multiple identical cars seemed very odd... but, at the time, they looked so good, I had to get some (unfortunately, couldn’t afford the entire sets!!!).

First, from 1985, a pair of BN boxcars:

Second, from 1988, two Chessie hoppers:

@lee drennen posted:

Paul. Thanks for posting. Did you check to see if the 1998 has a Metal bottom? I have 2 that are and there heavy but very nice 

Lee;

Finally got a chance to examine the two Pacemaker cars... the bottoms of both are pretty much identical and fairly detailed molded plastic. But when you open a door on the 1998 car, it indeed has a metal floor over the plastic. The standard O weighs 13 oz. The 1998 car weighs a hefty 1 lb. 8 oz.

I had both the BN set (Engine, box cars, caboose) plus add-on dummy engine and extra box car; but I sold the whole set plus the add-ons a few years. I regret not keeping the box cars. I also had the Chessie Set (engine, hoppers, and caboose) plus the add-on dummy engine and extra hopper. I was smart on that set and keep all 6 of the hoppers and sold only the two engines and caboose. Paul, liked your pictures, brings back great memories.

Incidentally, Lionel has brought back their "Standard O" cars (Lionel's terminology for this category of cars) in their latest catalog. As the description says, these are cars that are scale in size, but simplified in detail. They're less expensive, but have molded in details rather than separately added-on ones, among other differences. For a lot of running situations, though, they're just fine.

Breezinup. Thanks for sharing this the Flat cars look good with the loads and I think I like the Fruit Growers Express one the best. Is this in the 2020 catalog? 

Paul. Thanks for getting back on that. I will have to keep a watch out for that one. I have a B&O and a Rutland that have the metal floors I’ll try to get some pics of them this weekend I’ve been busy this week. 

Dudley. You have some pics of the Chessie cars? 

@Apples55 posted:

Thanks, Lee... and no need to apologize. I was born and raised in Brooklyn, so I have pretty thick skin  

As for the gondolas being made in China, while that is true, you have to consider that they were cataloged as Standard O, so that distinction was still used into the early 2000’s.

But returning to the last century, here are two pair of standard O items - they were both from early Lionel Unit Trains. As someone who grew up strictly Lionel, the idea of having multiple identical cars seemed very odd... but, at the time, they looked so good, I had to get some (unfortunately, couldn’t afford the entire sets!!!).

First, from 1985, a pair of BN boxcars:

Second, from 1988, two Chessie hoppers:

Paul. I was born in The Missouri Ozark Foothills but always had a East Coast attitude I love the eastern states. When I drove over the road I always tried to get loads to New York and Jersey now I’m a city driver in St. Louis and I love it. Now let’s talk about those cars. The BN cars look good I see why you had to have them but the Chessie hoppers are my favorite. Thank you for posting these beautiful cars   

@lee drennen posted:

Breezinup. Thanks for sharing this the Flat cars look good with the loads and I think I like the Fruit Growers Express one the best. Is this in the 2020 catalog? 

Yes, they're in the latest catalog, 2020 Vol. 2.

Breezinup thanks 

Here are pictures of the 6 Chessie hoppers plus a video of them tacked on the end of a train with scale engines and scale intermodal cars. I think they look great on trains mixed with scale cars. You don’t notice the lack of add on parts with train moving (in this case it was running at 12mph scale)

Dudley. Thanks for posting they are beautiful I may have to get a few of them 

@breezinup posted:

Incidentally, Lionel has brought back their "Standard O" cars (Lionel's terminology for this category of cars) in their latest catalog. As the description says, these are cars that are scale in size, but simplified in detail. They're less expensive, but have molded in details rather than separately added-on ones, among other differences. For a lot of running situations, though, they're just fine.

That’s an interesting description of Standard O... If we could take a step into Mr. Peabody’s Way-back Machine (and if you don’t understand that reference, you probably don’t remember the original Standard O cars ), when they appeared back in the 70’s/80’s, as I remember them, they were a few steps above what was generally available at the time. As I have been in the midst of a general organization of my basement train stash, I have unearthed a number of examples from the era. Many of us remember the “tradition” cars of the period - basic, little or no applied detail, and a flat, metal bottom (think your basic 6464)!!! So I pulled out a ‘77 version of a BN hi-cube boxcar to compare to the Standard O BN I posted above.

The hi-cube car is very light, uninspiring plastic undercarriage, with plastic trucks.

The Standard O boxcars had added detail, more heft, sprung metal trucks, and a very detailed molded under carriage...

I guess in this age of “scale” freight cars, Standard O is the new “traditional” cars   

Paul, quit running down to the basement finding stuff, you are wearing me out running down to the basement 😊 Seriously, great contributions to the thread. 

Here what I found on my latest trip

@DG posted:

Paul, quit running down to the basement finding stuff, you are wearing me out running down to the basement 😊 Seriously, great contributions to the thread. 

Here what I found on my latest trip

 

Oh... pa-leeze, Dudley... You’ve been here long enough to know we are, collectively, a very bad influence!!! Stop complaining and enjoy the ride on the slippery slope     

P.S. beautiful cars!!!

Paul, Dudley you both are a bad influence on me I just bought a Chessie Hopper and that BN 40’ car this weekend I’ll post them when they arrive. Today I’ll try to get some pics of my Standard O but it’s probably true with the new Scale stuff out there these are now the the new Traditional. But I enjoy collecting them. Thanks to Dudley I have 3 more I have to find. Great feedback here on the thread Guys. 

The slippery slope just got me into the basement again, but remember who started this 😊

Dudley. Never knew they made a IC one must be pretty rare. Keep sliding 

@lee drennen posted:

Paul, Dudley you both are a bad influence on me I just bought a Chessie Hopper and that BN 40’ car this weekend I’ll post them when they arrive. Today I’ll try to get some pics of my Standard O but it’s probably true with the new Scale stuff out there these are now the the new Traditional. But I enjoy collecting them. Thanks to Dudley I have 3 more I have to find. Great feedback here on the thread Guys. 

Hang on a minute there Lee... as I pointed out to Dudley, you have been around here long enough to know that you, knowingly and of your own volition, entered a den of enablers, so don’t blame us!!! And as Dudley so succinctly pointed out, you started it   (or as we used to say on the school yard, nah-nah-na-nah-nah)

So, back down the slippery slope!!!

And, appropriately, bringing up the rear, a couple of cabeese...

Don’t really care for the opaque windows on the C&O...

OK, I am in for one more slide to the basement and here is what I found 😊

Ok Boys I’ll guess I’ll finish it for now with these I took on the layout today. The last Pacemaker I painted and decaled it with some old Champ Decals. So Nah nah 

Oh wait just to top it off  I made a video. I’ll post more I have later. I guess I did start this but it’s fun watching you guys slide down the basement 

@lee drennen posted:

Oh wait just to top it off  I made a video. I’ll post more I have later. I guess I did start this but it’s fun watching you guys slide down the basement 

Excuse me, Lee... Dudley slides down to the basement, I jump with headlong abandon   

P.S. very nice train consist... would have looked better led by a gorgeous MPC era NYC Hudson   
 

Slip slidin' away
Slip slidin' away
You know the nearer your destination
The more you're slip slidin' away!!!

Paul. Your right I may have to make a consist with my MTH Hudson but I still liked my Post War F3 

I just got to do something about those splinters in the wooden handrails to the basement, my caboose isn’t that tough, maybe this car is caring some metal to line the handrails with 😊

@DG posted:

I just got to do something about those splinters in the wooden handrails to the basement, my caboose isn’t that tough, maybe this car is caring some metal to line the handrails with 😊

 

You just had to post that one my most desired one I’m after. 

Apples55:

Re: Freight cars with multiple numbers.  Observing a train with an entire fleet of box cars with multiple numbers, e.i. BN 6230, 6231, 6232, etc. is not uncommon when they've just been released from a car builder for delivery to the railroad that has ordered them. 

Dateline: 1957.  Location: Dallas/Oak Cliff, TX.  Railroad: ATSF.  Train: Southbound Freight Dallas-Cleburne, TX.  Power: A-B-B-A set of FTs.  Consist: Train of new  Santa Fe tuscan red 50 ft. box cars. 

The story: One September afternoon I was on a school bus returning home after having attended 7th grade classes at W.E. Greiner Jr. High School, when the Edgefield Street crossing lights began to flash, bells ringing their warning, and the bus driver hit the brakes.  Then I hear the engineer as he sounds whistle signal 14L for the Edgefield Street crossing.  Then there it was, a beautitul set of blue and yellow FTs passing right before my eyes, followed by a string of brand spanking new 50 ft. tuscan red box cars headed south for Cleburne Yard, all with multiple numbers!

A couple of girls in the front of the bus were busy shouding off the slogans on the box car sides: Santa Fe...all the way, Santa Fe...all the way, Santa Fe...all the way...until the tuscan red caboose brought up the rear of the train.  Funny how your mentioning the multiple car numbers brought this "silly diddy" up from my memory bank after all these years. 

Now, if I could only trade this memory in for all the % of hard cold cash it's accumulated after some 63 years I know I'm aware I wouldn't die a happy man but at least I'd die rich...LOL

A couple more cars AND just for Lee, one also has a diecast car on 😊

Denver & Rio Grande Western ACF CENTER FLOW 2-bay covered hopper

Andrew

Falcon  Service