MPC?

Model Products Corporation - A subsidiary of General Mills at the time.

Model Products Corporation under General Mills.

A new beginning 1970's

Before General Mills there was General Medaris. Probably not the same thing.

MPC = Mostly Plastic Cr ap.

I like MPC era engines, especially steam, I liked the thoughts behind the Fallen Flags theme and the Famous American Rail Roads collections.  I agree, the rolling stock, although colorful was same oh same oh and rather light weight.  I think I have 4 engines now, the Chicago and Alton, the Turbine, 2 each Great Northern and 3 each Atlantic Coast Lines 'Silver Shadow'.  The 'sounds of steam' is underwhelming...I run everything 'traditional' with sounds off.  Last night I ordered the Joshua Cohen engine and hope to find an affordable N&W 'J' in the near future.  I'll have to trade, or sell some of my stuff to finance the 1981 N&W #611.  The fun is in the hunt, gotta love the hobby.  Be safe folks.

@BMT-Express posted:

MPC = Mostly Plastic Cr ap.

Oh, please:  not THIS Cr ap again.

peter allen 072518, take a look here:  https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/...l-out-the-mpc?page=1

MPC  Still buy it,  still run it.

@peter allen 072518 posted:

what does MPC stand for? Does it stand for something or is it it the shorting of a longer word.

From general reading I take it this is the Lionel time frame after post war but before tmcc.

Buy 'em, clean 'em, and run the wheels off 'em!

Probably the reason Lionel still exists today. Lot's of cool offerings. Great conventional runners, lot's of colors and fun, fun, fun!

Bob

@palallin posted:

Oh, please:  not THIS Cr ap again.

I concur, I like my MPC, kept me in the hobby early on because I could easily afford it and I still pick up a lot of it at train shows when I see it.

I don't understand why there is such derision of cheaper items by some in our hobby. I guess it's in all hobbys but hey we're all not Rockefellers here and we buy what we like and can afford.

Nothing says "Hey another train guy like me" more than "Oh, you got that cheap crap".

Jerry

MPC era products have some of the best graphics I've ever seen. I always look for MPC F3 sets at shows and such, always bargain priced and a complete joy to own AND operate.

John

Lionel Corporation sold the tooling for its then-current product line and licensed the Lionel name to General Mills in 1969. That ended the so-called "Postwar" era of Lionel, which began in 1946. General Mills then operated Lionel as a division of its subsidiary Model Products Corporation, or MPC, beginning in 1970. The MPC/General Mills era ran from 1970 to 1986. In 1986 the company was sold to a wealthy Detroit area real estate developer and model train enthusiast, Richard Kughn, who operated Lionel as Lionel Trains, Inc. (the LTI era) from 1986 to 1995. It was during this period that Lionel developed TMCC and RailSounds.

@BMT-Express posted:

MPC = Mostly Plastic Cr ap.

<eyeroll>

Yep, all that stuff turned out with zinc pest and blown out circuit boards is so much better.   Meanwhile all if my 40-50 year old MPC locomotives run good as new, and my biggest maintenance expense is the occasional $1.50 traction tire.  

I rarely get annoyed at comments on the forum but this gets under my skin. 90% of the stuff was made using Postwar tooling and has superior decoration.  It’s just back-in-my-dayism at its worst.

Is there something on the box or car that identifies it as MPC?  I was totally out of the hobby during that era. When I restarted for a bit in the late 80s I remember that Kughn was in charge. I did buy some new stuff then, mainly operating accessories and some gondolas and boxcars.

Heres some mpc era engines that are postwar made specs.

The GP9 has magnatraction and worm gear Pullmor type 1 engine. The complaint is it has plastic gears. If you keep them cleaned and greased it runs quieter than a postwar geep.

The 785 which it came out in 1987 ,but was just a gray version of the 783 and 784 hudsons of the mpc era. This is a very close reproduction of the postwar 773 minus magnatraction. Excellent runner and nicely detailed.

So, in my opinion as I'm mainly a pre and postwar guy, if you look for and research what you're buying, there are lots of mpc era Lionel that are of high quality. Also growing up in the 80s these are the trains I dreamed of having.

Prewar and postwar had great and not so great products as well.

I started buying my own trains when I was in college in the 70’s when MPC was in it’s prime. Trainworld opened a store on Avenue M in Brooklyn, right next to the subway stop I used to use going to school and work… and my feet were “firmly” planted on the slippery slope

MPC offered a more colorful and varied line when compared to most post war offerings. The standard O offerings were eye opening - larger, more realistic, and in some cases, cars not offered in the post war era. While I don’t run them anymore (I’m a command control-a-holic!!!) I still have and treasure a number of MPC engines. If you run conventional, I would certainly recommend the MPC era engines. Regardless of how you run, many MPC cars are worth having on your roster. And finally, in the 70’s and 80’s, Lionel made a number of 15” aluminum passenger cars which were excellent and look great on smaller layouts.

@Donnie Kennedy posted:

The GP9 has magnatraction and worm gear Pullmor type 1 engine. The complaint is it has plastic gears. If you keep them cleaned and greased it runs quieter than a postwar geep.

Thanks Donnie, there's another locomotive I didn't know I needed!

Jerry

@Apples55 posted:

........And finally, in the 70’s and 80’s, Lionel made a number of 15” aluminum passenger cars which were excellent and look great on smaller layouts.

Yes, they really are excellent. Beautifully finished. I've added interiors and passenger figures to several sets.

I love my MPC - it defined "Lionel" in my younger days. Colorful, easy to maintain, and just plain fun.

@baltimoretrainworks posted:

Thanks Donnie, there's another locomotive I didn't know I needed!

Jerry

Need some F3’s, Jerry???

@breezinup posted:

Yes, they really are excellent. Beautifully finished. I've added interiors and passenger figures to several sets.

@breezinup

Unfortunately, I don’t think I have the talent or skill to modify my cars, but your detailed interiors are a definite upgrade. I especially liked the painted cars like those you show. While I liked my Pennsy cars, I was blown away by the smooth sided NYC set - the beginning of my being classified as a New York Central guy!!!

@Apples55 posted:

Need some F3’s, Jerry???

Paul, you're a bad influence. Lol. Everytime I get a NYC train I blame you.

@Donnie Kennedy posted:

Paul, you're a bad influence. Lol. Everytime I get a NYC train I blame you.

I resemble that remark, @Donnie Kennedy

As a student of History, I learned 20/20 hindsight is perfect, but we must study a situation with what was known at the time.  MPC was the main event from 1971 to about 1988 or so.  Those were our choices. Purists looked down at MPC at the time, comparing it unfavorably to Post War Lionel. I was one of them. But, I learned to accept the evolution of a great hobby. We still go forward. I have MPC, Post War, Pre-War and Legacy.  Love all trains, as they are representative of a certain period of time. There's both good and bad and in between. To quote Boris Johnson, "Them's the breaks." Moral: enjoy trains. There's always something new coming down the tracks.

Nothing wrong with those MPC New York Central passenger cars......(on the top shelf) in the 1st group of pictures you can see the full set of 20th Century Ltd cars with the add-on sleeper and diner.

Then, we move over to the other wall and you see the New York Central ABA (4 shelves down).

Still a great set......I have traction tires added to the wheels and ERR TMCC/RS boards added by Mike Regan

Peter

I still buy and run trains from this era.  The oldest sound of steam board is an 8206  from 72 and it still works. Over the years, we have run long trains with multiple engines for hours on end and the only casuality I can think of was a loose eccentric  screw on a 783 that caused it to spin and sheer off the ears.

Like member Tommy F., I try to ignore all the bad things said about our trains but it does get under your skin sometimes.

The one thing that makes up for the comments is to  take a look at the forum and  and see what era trains seem to have the most problems brand new.

The biggest problem I can remember is when Lionel shipped the JLC engines in 82, it was very cold out and a  some of the tender trucks broke during transit.  We received a box of six wheel tender trucks for replacements and I still have that box of trucks today.

Harold

Growing up in the 1970s, my first model trains were MPC sets in 1971.  Still have quite a bit of MPC. MPC trains have an amazing feature, they actually run with virtually no issues.  Wish I could say the same thing for trains made in the past 10 years, I have quite a few of them and many of them have been back to Lionel, some even multiple times.

For something as dependable as postwar, MPC was affordable then and still affordable now. Nothing wrong with it.

@Apples55 posted:

Need some F3’s, Jerry???

Jerry

@baltimoretrainworks posted:

Jerry

I personally think Paul should sell you those Pennsylvania dual motor f3 for a good deal. He's mainly a NYC guy anyway.. 🤣

@Apples55 posted:

I started buying my own trains when I was in college in the 70’s when MPC was in it’s prime. Trainworld opened a store on Avenue M in Brooklyn, right next to the subway stop I used to use going to school and work… and my feet were “firmly” planted on the slippery slope

MPC offered a more colorful and varied line when compared to most post war offerings. The standard O offerings were eye opening - larger, more realistic, and in some cases, cars not offered in the post war era. While I don’t run them anymore (I’m a command control-a-holic!!!) I still have and treasure a number of MPC engines. If you run conventional, I would certainly recommend the MPC era engines. Regardless of how you run, many MPC cars are worth having on your roster. And finally, in the 70’s and 80’s, Lionel made a number of 15” aluminum passenger cars which were excellent and look great on smaller layouts.

So The Voices were planted by an acapella group singing in the Avenue M subway station!  We may have made a breakthrough.  Or not.

I know MPC used the postwar tooling, but I was wondering if MPC engine shells were made in plastic as opposed to their original postwar metal shells?

My experience with MPC is generally unfavorable.  Extremely light-weight rolling stock, and plastic-bodied engines that sat high on their trucks.  I compare it to my postwar GG-1, which I abused the **** out of as a child and never flinched!  Then again, I had the lower-end stuff.

Donnie, I was actually looking at the NYC F3s, they are on my wishlist. My big 4 are the Santa Fe F3s (have), UP M10000 (have), NYC F3s (looking) and the Hiawatha (just lost out on a sweet set on Ebay ). But that now leaves my war chest intact for my first foray into Allentown, I know I'd have better luck at York but I have a previous engagement.

Jerry

@Frank Mulligan posted:

I know MPC used the postwar tooling, but I was wondering if MPC engine shells were made in plastic as opposed to their original postwar metal shells?

My experience with MPC is generally unfavorable.  Extremely light-weight rolling stock, and plastic-bodied engines that sat high on their trucks.  I compare it to my postwar GG-1, which I abused the **** out of as a child and never flinched!  Then again, I had the lower-end stuff.

The Hudsons are still diecast shells. I believe the Berkshires like the 8002,and 8003 are diecast as well.

@Apples55 posted:

@breezinup

Unfortunately, I don’t think I have the talent or skill to modify my cars, but your detailed interiors are a definite upgrade.

Paul, actually I don't begin to have the time or skills to do it, either. I shortcut the process by picking up a set of newer Lionel aluminum passenger cars that came with interiors and passenger figures, removing their chassis' with interiors, and slide the older aluminum shells onto them. (I then transfer the silhouettes and sell the cars that had their interiors removed.)

@Tommy_F posted:

<eyeroll>

Yep, all that stuff turned out with zinc pest and blown out circuit boards is so much better.   Meanwhile all if my 40-50 year old MPC locomotives run good as new, and my biggest maintenance expense is the occasional $1.50 traction tire.  

I rarely get annoyed at comments on the forum but this gets under my skin. 90% of the stuff was made using Postwar tooling and has superior decoration.  It’s just back-in-my-dayism at its worst.

Amen, brother! I'll take that $1.50 traction tire and the occasional coupler repair any day compared to a $1,000 modern locomotive crumbling away with zinc rot. And think how much MPC that $1,000 could buy nowadays. Someone on a budget could get a lot of railroad to run!

@D500 posted:

Before General Mills there was General Medaris. Probably not the same thing.

Now that’s pretty funny. No, not the same thing. Seems like General John Medaris didn’t last very long at Lionel. But he certainly had an interesting and significant military background.

@Putnam Division posted:

Nothing wrong with those MPC New York Central passenger cars......(on the top shelf) in the 1st group of pictures you can see the full set of 20th Century Ltd cars with the add-on sleeper and diner.

Then, we move over to the other wall and you see the New York Central ABA (4 shelves down).

Still a great set......I have traction tires added to the wheels and ERR TMCC/RS boards added by Mike Regan

Peter

Peter;

I still remember when I first saw the passenger cars in the catalog… WOW!!! Although I only have room to display the F3 A-A, I do have the non-powered B unit squirreled away somewhere in the house (same for the Pennsy A-A) - didn’t they add horn capability??? I’ve thought about upgrading the powered A units with ERR, but don’t have the skills to do it myself and getting someone to do it would be pricy (and it wouldn’t be the same engine I purchased ).

@baltimoretrainworks posted:

Jerry

My work for the weekend is done Always happy to help a fellow traveler on the slippery slope!!!