Lionel 97 Coal Elevator – Show your Pix!

Kevin, I think we all, young and old, love the Lionel #97 Coal Elevator.  I remember watching them in the 40's  spewing artificial coal all over the layout.  I don't think anyone actually runs them.  I have one of the remakes from I think the 90's.  It's still in the box. 

Hi Kevin, I don't have any photos on hand, but I'm sure some are soon to come.

I just wonted to say that I know what you mean about the red and green colors on everything, it dose get to be a bit much. I think that is a holdover from the days when all toy train products where for Christmas time, not so today.

 

In any case, have fun and be sure to post the final product.

It's not weathered, but here's mine as a static structure in my little coal corner:

 

Kevin - I don't have a 97 coal loader on my layout, but I've attached a picture of a 164 log loader (foreground) and 497 coal loader (background), each modified to reduce the "yellow and red" appearance with corrugated metal or tarpaper roofs, and a wooden "skin" for the coal loader. All of these modifications don't harm the underlying original accessories.

    Bob A.

 

Kenvin, the coal ramp, the coal loader and the electric crane are my favorite things Lionel made for us kids. I have the ramp and had the crane. Never got the loader. Good for you, glad your getting it. Don

Been glued to the TV watching the Olympics all night.

 

Thanks to you guys for your reponses.  Hopefully more will follow.

 

P.S. Bob - I like your methods of the "de-yellowing" and "de-redizing" of the accessories.

 

-Kevin

Bob A. - very nice. Really looks a lot better than the original. How long did it take you to do that?

Here's two photos of a 97 installed in my old layout:

 

 

John - I described my makeover of the 497 coaling station in a brief article in the July 2012 Classic Toy Trains (pp 70-71). It was a weekend project.  The corrugated roof on the 164 log loader is just O-scale corrugation from a hobby shop laid over poster board in the shape of the original roof, and replacing the original roof -- an evening project. What I like is that both these interventions are simple add-ons that don't harm the underlying postwar accessories.

   Bob A.

"I don't think anyone actually runs them."

i sure run mine!

 

How about a 96?

jackiejr - That's fantastic! An absolutely great melding of a classic Lionel coal loader into a larger coaling facility! Thanks for sharing this.

   Bob A.

i  recently bought a #97 coal elevator. I would like too know if it is prewar or post war,because it has a marbleized tray and loading bin. Is this piece a rarer  item than the black bakelite version. It also has the brown controler with it. any information would be GREATFUL. Thanks, Ray

Bob Anderson

Great job on remodeling the lumber Loader.

NOBODY HAS AN ANSWER FOR MY QUESTION?????????????????????????????????

heres my coal elevator

Here is mine and I run it.

Hi Dazedlion,  I have a postwar Z transformer that has the marbleized case and the rebuilder said they are worth more.  I think maybe some different colored pellets got into the molding machine hopper and this is how they get to sell these odd pieces.

Fun to see this old thread brought back to life, LOL

jackiejr,
What you have done with Lionel's coal elevator is just plain awesome.  Well done!

Hello everyone.  I just joined up this weekend.

Back in 2011 I picked up an old 97 Coal Elevator from Mizell Trains in Denver which went out of business spring of 2013. The 97 Coal Elevator was well used and a little dinged up but the motor and the tray coil and the unload coil worked fine.  I cleaned her up, straightened the bent metal as best I could and gave her a new paint job.

I custom built a uncouple / control rail section of track from a old 6019 Remote Control Track that I took apart.  This allows a car to be switched and uncoupled to the unload position and then the car can be unloaded into the tray.

I then decided to kitbash the 97 to make her look less toy like.

 

The safety cage ladders are Plastruct.  The bottom of the ladders are set into two small holes drilled into the wood.  The top of the ladders are secured to the catwalk by magnets, so they can be easly removed.  The stairs are also Plastruct, but the handrails are thin balsa.  The top of the stairs landing platform and the catwalks are a mix of Evergreen Styrene pieces.  The decking for the catwalks is a plastic mesh I found in a craft store - used for cross-stitch.

The corrugated metal roof is painted corrugated bass wood sheet.  The area under the tower legs I glued sand to a square of cardboard cut to fit the space.  Nothing is glued to the original metal of the 97, so it can be removed ( with some difficulty ) to get back to the original.  The bakelite Base I countersunk into the 1/2 inch Celotex.  I ran the wiring through the plywood to the underside of the layout.  The 2 wires for the unload coil up in the upper portion of the Elevator I ran through 3/16 styrene tube that I hid in the inside leg of the tower support leg.  You can see the tube in the photo above, back left leg.

Above is the underside of the 97.  Note the terminal strips I added for wiring.  You can see the countersink into the Celotex.

Here are the terminal strips on the underside of the layout.  the 2 wires on the left are for the control rails to unload the Lionel Dump Car.  The 3 wires on the right are for the 97 motor functions, which I have connected to a 9.6 volt DC power supply.

( An old Radio Shack wall plug type power supply for an old answering machine or cordless phone )  The black flex tube goes to my controller.  See below.

 

When I bought the 97 there was no controller, so I made one.  I took apart a controller for a UCS Track and re-wired to 2 push buttons.   The left button for the upper unload coil, the right button for the bucket conveyor + tray coil.  The doorbell button is for the control rails in the track to unload the Lionel Dump Car.

 

I mounted my controller to the front of my layout with a hinge.

I worked on this 97 Elevator Project for quite some time.

As you can see  ... still more work to do,  track ballast, ground cover, etc......

 

Steve

Don't have any pics, but the Lionel #97 coal elevator has always been my all-time favorite accessory since the days of my youth. It has a great tinplate look, which I personally would never modify. I currently own the Lionel reissue of the #97 from about 1996-97 and it performs quietly (can motor) and flawlessly, with the occasional jamming of the chute "trap door", which is easily remedied.

 

A great classic and iconic accessory from the Lionel pre-war period!

 

My next two favorites are the original Lionel gantry crane and the original American Flyer oil drum loader. Both great and entertaining performers!

Some amazing shots. thanks.

Steve24944,
Nice job on your 97.  Welcome to the forum!

Thanks Keith