Lionel Preamble Express Passenger Set

Yep same here…left the station empty

Daryl

Thanks for posting photos WinstonB. I’m sending my unopened set back. One of the cool features of this set was going to be the passenger figures. It’s a shame.

Figures aside, do you mind posting a photo of an entire side of one of the coaches?  Thanks!

I guess I was lucky because all for of my cars have passengers - 10 to 15 per car.

Don

Here are Don’s photos of passengers. I’m gonna have to open my set up. These look really good!

Well NO LUCK here. Cars are empty. 😡 Thanks Don for giving me a few seconds of hope! Cool Set Box! 👍🏻

It's during the pandemic...

I’ll take the BC cars please! (Before COVID)

It’s a great looking set and nice engine…just kind of a bummer the passengers are MIA.

So some sets had figures and some didn't? I wonder if Lionel will send figures to folks who didn't have them installed? I don't have an issue opening it up and doing it myself if needed. I'm really close to pushing the button on this set, I love bicentennial paint schemes.

I emailed Lionel this morning and they replied that they would send replacement figures.  I’ll post an update once they arrive…

I really have no idea why Lionel stopped including passengers in their high end cars anyways besides a few notables like the Scale Polar Express.  It should just be standard.

@DGuill posted:

I emailed Lionel this morning and they replied that they would send replacement figures.  I’ll post an update once they arrive…

That's great news, I will check and see if my set has figures when it arrives if not I'm emailing Lionel customer service.

Does Lionel have a passenger kit for sale in their product line? Seems like I recall that they did.

@cjack posted:

Does Lionel have a passenger kit for sale in their product line? Seems like I recall that they did.

They do for 21" passenger cars, but at $25 a pop that's a $100 to fill all four cars.

I’m all for getting passengers in my cars but frankly I didn’t buy this set to work on it. I called my dealer and he’s checking on what Lionel’s solution is. I’d like a swap with them covering the freight.

Not to hijack this thread but my Reading cars did not have any people. Did anyone get Reading cars that did? Thanks!

Only specific sets that were listed to have figures should have gotten passengers. The Preamble Express listed figures included, the Lionel 120 - 21” cars listed figures and they came with figures (at least in the set I got).

rgd_fan check the catalog description of your Reading cars.

My Lionel 18" Santa Fe Shadow Line cars had figures (listed to have them) from last year. Granted it's a two pack and not a set. Maybe they ran out of figures at the factory and just started doing it without to get them out the door. If Lionel is going to send me figures I'm fine with that. I do understand some folks don't want to have to open their cars up.

The PRR Broadway Limited had the tape that held the windows in extended onto the frame and effectively glued the shell to the frame causing putting passengers in them to become quite the task.  Heck even repairing a pushed in window was horrible.  It took more time to get the shell off than fix the window. 

Hello.  My Preamble Set also showed without passengers on any car.   My set was #57 as marked on the outer carton.  Wonder at what set # did the passengers get cut from the trains.

Has anyone opened one of these cars up?  How difficult would it be to open one of these.  A big consideration in sending them back versus getting the people from Lionel.

If Lionel sends out passengers, what do you use to keep them in their seats? Model glue? Super glue?

As far as opening up a car, I’m waiting on Lionel before I proceed.

I've never been a fan of hot glue. I use a tiny square of 3M double sided gray sticky tape. I think it's originally meant for sticking trim on cars. Removeable. It's in bubble packs at Walmart's etc.

Super glue is lame unless it's a ceramic cup you are trying to fix.

I have opened plenty of passenger cars and subway sets and always use Gorilla gel glue for figures. Sets fast and I never have to worry about them falling out or getting loose again.

Chuck, I like your idea of the 3M double sided gray sticky tape as it wont permanently install the passenger or damage the seats. Where do you find this particular type of tape?   Also, does anyone have any ball park idea on how many of these sets were made?  Mine is marked # 57 on the outer shipper box.

@MountainRail posted:

Chuck, I like your idea of the 3M double sided gray sticky tape as it wont permanently install the passenger or damage the seats. Where do you find this particular type of tape?   Also, does anyone have any ball park idea on how many of these sets were made?  Mine is marked # 57 on the outer shipper box.

This grey tape is what I use. It's really tough and you can stick an outlet strip to the side of a cabinet with it. I use it very sparingly since it is hard to remove something once it is stuck...almost have to use a metal pry bar if you use too much tape...but it comes off clean. The residue of a piece of tape left can be rolled off with your fingers leaving a clean undamaged surface.

Amazon.com : Scotch Outdoor Mounting Tape, 1 Inch x 5 Feet, 1 Roll : Office Products

I usually just buy it at Walmart or stores like that.

So my dealer said that I have the option to send the cars in and Lionel will add passengers or Lionel will send me passengers to put in myself.

I’m going to take one car apart to see how hard that process is before I decide. Anyone have experience taking these cars apart?

Lionel support told me they were sending passengers but they haven’t arrived.  I checked one car and it’s Just the 4 screws on the outer corners.  Need to watch the led connector when lifting the shell…the wire is just long enough to lay the shell to the side.  I didn’t try disconnecting the wire.

Passengers arrived from Lionel…4 packs of 7 each.  Hey at least they sent some…it’s a light crew scouting locations for the AFT.

@DGuill posted:

Passengers arrived from Lionel…4 packs of 7 each.  Hey at least they sent some…it’s a light crew scouting locations for the AFT.

Good to know as mine should be here next week, but I might add more if I'm going to take the time to open the cars.

@DGuill Are they the 21" passenger ones? can you post a photo of them.

Matt - Sorry never tried posting photos - part number 48-2022070-100; just says passenger cars figures.  What’s different about 21in figures?

@DGuill posted:

Passengers arrived from Lionel…4 packs of 7 each.  Hey at least they sent some…it’s a light crew scouting locations for the AFT.

Does anyone that has received the cars with passengers, how many rode in originally from the factory?  From the looks of the pictures, it looks to me more than 7 per car even if they all sat on one side and if we are going to do the labor, we should at least get the same amount.   My two cents!

@DGuill posted:

Matt - Sorry never tried posting photos - part number 48-2022070-100; just says passenger cars figures.  What’s different about 21in figures?

Lionel 21" passengers tend to be a little smaller than scale at least to me. I can wait until next week and compare them.

21-passenger-scale-figures-pack-6-83653

@DGJONES posted:

I guess I was lucky because all for of my cars have passengers - 10 to 15 per car.

Don

This should be the same number of figures  Lionel sends to customers for their cars. However, the listed feature states " Detailed interior with figures." No numbers. There's always a loophole.

@WinstonB posted:

This should be the same number of figures  Lionel sends to customers for their cars. However, the listed feature states " Detailed interior with figures." No numbers. There's always a loophole.

Winston. Thanks for highlighting Dons previous post.  At least we can dream about what each one of our cars should have and what Lionel can do to make it right.

Rory

Well! Received my Lionel figures today. What a  joke. A mentioned, only seven figures per bag for each car.  Between four to five of the  figures in each bag are repeat of the other bags,  no variety. If you look at an image of 6-83635, someone grabbed the same seven left most figures and threw them my bags.http:http://www.lionel.com/products...igures-pack-6-83653/

There was so much excitement about this set, yet it’s another self-inflicted black eye. At some point, something has to change….

Whether it’s a smoke box paint job, truck swap to remove plastic junk trucks, shell swap for paint that matches nothing, or a glue job for passenger cars, at some point your customers will stop paying premium prices for DIY projects…..

I can understand some of you being frustrated and I hear you trust me. Even with no figures the cost of this set was priced really well. $750 shipped and I received a beautiful E9 Legacy engine and 4 awesome looking passenger cars. Everything is working so far, no electrical, motor issues, paint problems, and all my passenger cars are perfect. If the only thing I have to do is install figures then so be it, it's worth the price of admission for me. This is my humble opinion and I'm sure it's not shared, but I try not to sweat the small stuff. Enjoy the set as it's absolutely stunning and worth it.

@BNSF-Matt posted:

I can understand some of you being frustrated and I hear you trust me. Even with no figures the cost of this set was priced really well. $750 shipped and I received a beautiful E9 Legacy engine and 4 awesome looking passenger cars. Everything is working so far, no electrical, motor issues, paint problems, and all my passenger cars are perfect. If the only thing I have to do is install figures then so be it, it's worth the price of admission for me. This is my humble opinion and I'm sure it's not shared, but I try not to sweat the small stuff. Enjoy the set as it's absolutely stunning and worth it.

I, actually, agree with your point of view. That's why I kept the set and contacted Lionel for the figures knowing it was going to be a DIY fix. I have , also, fixed two other small issues with loose trucks on the cars. The passenger figure varieties they sent are useless except for populating one car. As it stands, others have a better set than I do for the same price. So, another phone call on Monday.

@WinstonB posted:

I, actually, agree with your point of view. That's why I kept the set and contacted Lionel for the figures knowing it was going to be a DIY fix. I have , also, fixed two other small issues with loose trucks on the cars. The passenger figure varieties they sent are useless except for populating one car. As it stands, others have a better set than I do for the same price. So, another phone call on Monday.

I agree that 7 figures per car is really low, and like you I like to pack my cars full of travelers. Luckily I have two unopened Lionel passenger packs which I will be using to fill the cars along with the ones Lionel is sending.

I hope you can get more figures WinstonB.

Just received my Preamble Express Set - No People....

Jim

I received mine Aug. 30th & was unopened until 5 min. ago after reading these posts. Yes, I have people (no #57).

What I love about running this set. ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING.

Nice looking set, but the car interior lighting really calls out the lack of riders.  I would definintely add a bunch!

Got some passengers headed my way👍🏻 I ran my set today and it is very impressive. The only issue I have is the alignment of the E unit rear coupler with the front coupler of the Combo car. The E unit coupler sets up higher than the Combo car, almost by half way. Anyone else notice this or have issues? On level track it didn’t matter. On a dip in the track the cars disconnected from the engine.

@N&W 1218 posted:

Got some passengers headed my way👍🏻 I ran my set today and it is very impressive. The only issue I have is the alignment of the F unit rear coupler with the front coupler of the Combo car. The F unit coupler sets up higher than the Combo car, almost by half way. Anyone else notice this or have issues? On level track it didn’t matter. On a dip in the track the cars disconnected from the engine.

I don't have an issue with the F unit and Car 1, but Car 1 and Car 2 disconnect sometimes. I think it's the coupler on Car 1 so I took a bit of glue and locked it down for good.

Besides that it's a beautiful set and well worth the price.

N&W 1218, Matt

  It is a E unit not a F unit.

JohnB

JohnB,

E unit it is my mistake.

After reading the postings concerned about the number of passengers that Lionel is sending folks, I went back and checked the actual number of passengers each car in my consist came with:

Car number one - 7 passengers

Car number two - 6 passengers

Car number three - 6 passengers

Car number four - 15 passengers

As a whole, looks like 7 is the expected number of passengers for this set.  Not sure how the observation managed to get so many more passengers.

I guess everyone wants to ride in the observation car.

Happy railroading,

Don

@N&W 1218 posted:

JohnB,

E unit it is my mistake.

No problem Kevin, great looking sets with or without passengers. Looks like Lionel is correcting their mistake on some of the sets.

JohnB

Thanks for the count Don! Sounds like there’s a Preamble Party in the Observation as it should be 👍🏻

The passengers were all gathered to the observation car to hear President Ford’s inauguration of the Freedom Train…

@cjack posted:

The passengers were all gathered to the observation car to hear President Ford’s inauguration of the Freedom Train…

That is a great bit of history (just looked it up).  Would make a great static scene.

Further to DGJONES' comment regarding the number of people per car, I wonder if the length of the car has any bearing on the number that Lionel puts in each car?  The reason I ask is because I own a 6 car set of Lionel 15 inch N&W 'Powhatan Arrow'  Aluminum Streamlined cars (6-15333) and they also have seven (7) passenger figures per car - even in a combo car.  Consequently I'd be curious to know if Lionel has a policy as to the minimum number of figures - depending on whether the cars are 15, 18 or 21 inches in length.  🤔

Picked up my set from McCormicks hardware last week--no passengers--no big deal as I waited 47 years for someone to make this set because I was the guy who took on the job of painting&lettering the 4 cars and the Diesel that 1st pulled them which was a U 33C from the Delaware&Hudson.Did all painting outside on a siding track at the Lebanon NJ passenger station which was privately owned by Ross Rowland.So thanks to Lionel for making it,as for me having to put in some passengers---no problem.  Chet

That's Amazing Chet.   So would you agree that Lionel hit the colors spot on and did they paint the cars as good as you did?  From the pictures that exist of the real train, they did an awesome job!  Thanks for being part of such a historical undertaking and even more thanks for sharing this awesome experience with us.

Rory

Rory,yes Lionel did a super job on the colors.When I saw the Preamble pictures in the catalog the roofs looked white and told myself well I'll be repainting them.When I opened the box and saw that they were painted silver it was right on.I actually have a unopened gallon of the CON LUX steel guard Pacific blue that was left over,I also still have the pounce pattern for the lettering--hand lettered--no decals back then.  Thanks for the nice compliment.    Chet

@DGuill posted:

I emailed Lionel this morning and they replied that they would send replacement figures.  I’ll post an update once they arrive…

My set is scheduled to be delivered until Oct/Nov?. I did the Lay-Buy program from Mr. Muffins. How hard is it to open the cars and insert the figures - if mine are empty?

ALL ABOARD!!!! I installed 60+ passengers in my set yesterday. Still waiting on Lionel to send me my allotment. What a difference 😎

N&W 1218,

Looks Great! I did the same with GGD figures with 12 per car. I tested fitted the Lionel figures and they looked too small and plain for such an iconic train.  I like the business attired figures, such as yours, much better. In the end, the big man upstairs  works in mysterious ways.

N&W 1218,

     Cars look great with all those passengers.

JohnB

@N&W 1218 posted:

ALL ABOARD!!!! I installed 60+ passengers in my set yesterday. Still waiting on Lionel to send me my allotment. What a difference 😎

Looks awesome! How did opening up the cars go? Any issues or tips?

Good question! The issue with me would be how easily the car was opened up with out any wear and tear

@cjack posted:

Good question! The issue with me would be how easily the car was opened up with out any wear and tear

Very easy. Four small screws, one at each corner. Gently raise the body shell so you don't pull apart the electrical contact for the lights until you are ready to do so. I had enough room without disconnecting the lights.

I agree with WinstonB! It was a breeze and the double sided 3M tape was the way to go. No glue drops everywhere and they are really stuck to their seats! I even put some in the lounge area and grandma is having a smoke in the restroom. Don’t tell anyone, 🤫

My set arrived today sans passengers, but Lionel was very nice about it .

I've never opened a car before, so it is good to hear that folks say it is easy to do.

It is a great set, however, and I was glad to actually find one in stock !

I have a question on the observation car, I was able to easily open the 3 coaches, but I can't figure out the observation car. I have the 2 small screws at the front end off, but the rear is a bit strange and I don't want to break it. I see two small screws for the scale dummy coupler, but that's about it.

BNSF-Matt: On the presumption that you've already tried turning the truck in question each way as far as it will go to see if there's a screw head or two hidden beneath the truck, perhaps @N&W 1218 can chime in and help clarify this issue, since he implied (above) that he installed figures in all of his cars.

Good Luck!

I see screws under those two holes in the middle of the sides of the truck.

@cjack posted:

I see screws under those two holes in the middle of the sides of the truck.

Oh my, I can't believe I missed those. Yup that's them.

Thank you much!

Looks like my set departed the station before the passengers were on board.  I bought the set because I already have 17 of the American Freedom Train cars.

Did I correctly see that it's somewhat easy to remove the shells to insert the passengers - only 4 screws on each corner of the cars?

@paulp575 posted:

Looks like my set departed the station before the passengers were on board.  I bought the set because I already have 17 of the American Freedom Train cars.

Did I correctly see that it's somewhat easy to remove the shells to insert the passengers - pn;y 4 screws on each corner of the cars?

The easiest passenger coaches I have ever opened. 2 small screws on each end, lift gently and flip the seats. If you flip the right way you don't even have to disconnect the wire.

Good eye Chuck (CJack), When I put my people in, I removed the rear coupler detail only to find out I didn’t have to. Just go right through the truck hole. 👍🏻 😎

I look for the easy way...