Lionel, jr.

Hi jim,  what era did these come out.  I cant remember. If you can, might be nice to post a picture. 

I don’t have a layout, to run trains, but the Lionel Jr. trains were from the Ives-Lionel transition period of 1930-1936.  They included the Lionel-Ives 1661; Lionel 1681; & the 1936 series of the 1688E Torpedo.  They were renamed Lionel 027 after 1937.

I think it started with the Winner line then was a combo Ives_Lionel thing then the Lionel, jr. all as a low cost train set during the Great Depression. My  1661 steam engine, next to a 2065 looks quite a bit smaller but both are O gauge & O27. The 1661 is about 2/3s the height and 3 1/2" shorter than the 2065. The tender is small, made out of stamped tin. They didn't make many models. I don't have any AF left to compare but they look close. Photos ar har for me to down load but will try after I get the stuff together.

Here's a Winner set. I have several Lionel Jr. and Winner sets in the collection and run them once in a while. Mine don't do well on switches, so perhaps it's time for an elevated loop without switches just for these little gems. 

Set 1052EY

I don't run mine regularly as they are not as much fun as my Legacy engines. I had to butcher an O27- 45° cross to get the big gear wheel pass over it. It still bumps a little.

They are cool as they were only 1933-1934 for the box with Lionel, Jr. on the set name. Papa's set is nice because that, too, is also limited in years.

Lionel purchased Winner and used the House/Station building transformer from them, purchased Ives and used the cars from them. The story is also cool because Lionel had just been rescued from the brink of bankruptcy by Mickey Mouse. Having revenue in the depression was a strong position and so bought Winner and Ives which were in financial trouble.

It proved a concept of a small introductory set that ran on O gauge track could be viable in financially troubled times.

I'll add some pics of my set later. It's the freight set. The set that I have is well played with and not restored. The engine was serviced and I added a modern replica cord and plug to the transformer house to replace the crumbling original. I had a wheel replaced on the engine and it was serviced by Chuck Sartor at "O'nly 3 rail. He happens to have original parts for some these.

I love the smell when it runs.

Edit; here's the pics

These seem really cool... kind of like a modern day Lionmaster or LionChief were you can run the locomotive in a smaller area.  

Here is the one complete set I have, inherited from my dad.  I love that it has the signs and signals included!  Always loved the look of the Jr. series.  I think I also have the Jr. streamliner set, but no photos.

Just to make a small correction, “Winner Lines” was a creation of Lionel, and never existed as a business for them to buy out.  

Picked up a silver tank car today. Put the 1661e on the track and 4 cars and ran the lionel,,jr.  run really good.

great stuff!