Lionel 'Sets' and 'Outfits' ??

How about posting some examples?

I suspect, a "set" probably includes track and transformer, while an "outfit" may be just the loco and cars.

The only relationship I can see is that Post War are usually  listed as 'Sets', but in Greenberg's "Prewar Sets" book, he lists everything as 'Outfits'. Can that be the only difference??

Greenberg books are excellent at most info., as they would be here if they wanted to differentiate between Sets and Outfits. Don't remember exactly when, but somewhere in the early 50s, Lionel began listing all their sets as "outfits", as in 1955 Outfit, etc.

Not sure how long it lasted, but for a few years, for sure. Outfits and Sets are exactly the same thing back in postwar years; both came with track and if '027', a transformer, with few exceptions. One notable exception was "The General" in '57, one of the earliest "Super O"sets/outfits, then again in '58 or '59 and a bit late. Also, the "Land, Sea, and Air" pack, like the "General" sets, came with no track or transformer. I can look up exact specifics if anyone's interested...

After browsing my Lionel catalog collection, I see an interesting mix.

I have most prewar catalogs from 1923 to 1941.  Looking at several random examples, I see Outfit in all of them.

The lone train in the 1945 catalog is called a set.

The 1946 catalog is mixed.  For the 1401 outfit, the description says "This popular priced set consist of....".  Set and outfit are used through the catalog as if they were the same word - now obvious distinction.

In 1947, I see the same.  Some are just called train.  For the 2123WS Lionel Freight Set, the description says "Train comprises...".  1949 is similarly inconsistent.

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So I think the answer to JDH's original question is all or none of the above :-)

Thanks for all the detailed responses... maybe even some more coming??   There is something to be said for Lionel's consistent inconsistency in naming and numbering! Part of the fun is trying to figure it all out.