Lionel 1957 Girl's Train

Guys thanks for your replies. I am also concerned as to how a layer of black paint could be removed without removing the pink on the die cast metal. Also there are no inner boxes just the outer carton. I am having a tough time coming up with a reasonable price to offer.

Jay in Ottawa

I also question whether the black paint could have been removed without damaging the pink below. I would bet that the shell was stripped and then repainted pink. If that is the case, then the engine is worth no more than a regular repainted 2037. It would no longer have any extra value as a girl's train engine. Only the box and cars would have a value to a collector.

Jim

If the girl used latex paint, there are number of products that can remove it with some degree of success. Kids often use what is handiest, and not necessarily the best thing for a repaint, and I could see the numbers being removed too. One of my favorite runners is a 463W that a kid gave silver highlights to.Took some effort and it's mostly gone, but I know the exact details of how that set came from the factory without worrying that someone put it together. But the point is valid, and even now the set is worth little more than the scrap value I bought it for.

What is strange is that the MKT DID paint some boxcars YELLOW!  They were REA/Storage mail cars for passenger trains.  Just change the doors to yellow.  Keep blue doors for collecting.  Odd the KKT did this, for their passenger colors were RED!