New Subway Sets

@amtrack5899 posted:

Will anyone be making new subway sets? When was the last one made? I have several of the MTH Railking subway sets and they are some of my favorites. Who owns the tooling for them? Would it be possible for a dealer to request a special run?

Thanks

Rich R

Lionel at the moment has the exclusive use of the TA and MTA logos. MTH lost that right over graffiti on the the cars. For me if it is missing the logo I stay away from them as the large TA was optically a big part of the design.

All the subway tooling, RailKing and Premier is in MTH's possession. Anything can be a dealer special run if the dealer can pony up the necessary minimum order. Lionel's in-house transit tooling is its Legacy R30 and derivatives, and the shortened Metro-North M7(currently LionChief).

---PCJ

So if we get a dealer on board and enough preorders for a r-30 would Lionel make them?

As per RailRide the tooling for the Railking subway sets was maintained by MTH. MTH does do special orders for various stores. It would be worth a try. I’m all in on a Railking subway set if some one wants to make it.

I would get another one of the Lionel versions with the opening doors. I still think that's the best feature of all.

I got into subway modeling only because of the opening doors on Lionel's R-27. I bought the MTH R1 even though the doors don't open, only because I think it's one of the best subway models ever made, and I didn't want to miss out on owning one. I would not buy any other subway models unless they were made with opening doors. My preference is for a R36 or R40, and perhaps a Lo-V.

MrMuffins has had some special run Vision Line engines done. These were variations on what was already being produced. Recently he did the Vision Line Big Boy 4000 with the Big Boy chalk mark and is doing the Vision Line Erie Triplex with blackened wheels , cylinder heads and rods.  I believe he has done other special variations on runs that were in production with Lionel as well. I don’t know if he has done a specific run just for himself from Lionel.

@Robert Cushman posted:

So if we get a dealer on board and enough preorders for a r-30 would Lionel make them?

Typically dealer special runs are different paint schemes on an item that the manufacturer is already planning on producing.

If I remember correctly the minimum # to make a paint scheme viable was something like 40 units.  It has changed many times and different manufacturers have different minimum quantities.

I'd imagine the minimum number to produce a specific item that wasn't cataloged would be several hundred, and I'm sure they'd only do it if it was already a part of their product planning, so it doesn't mess up schedules at the factory.

I'd be in for Lionel Legacy subway set, especially a set that models early subway cars, circa 1930s.

I've priced some of MTH's period-specific subway sets and the owners are asking prices in the stratosphere, and I am not comfortable forking over $500 for a 20-yr. old set that has batteries in it. Plus, MTH's subway bell/horn or whatever they call itsounds can be ear screeching

I would be in on a Lionel Subway set as well. Is this something that should be posted on the general topics forum or the Lionel forum to see how much interest we get. Maybe a dealer will take notice and follow it up.

Rich R

I guarantee based on the resell prices of the Lionel Legacy subways that we could get enough but I didn't know if Lionel would just remake something from 10 years ago because we all decided it was a good idea for them haha.

@Robert Cushman posted:

I would get another one of the Lionel versions with the opening doors. I still think that's the best feature of all.

I would be weary about another set with the power doors.  I've heard horror stories about this door feature on both the original Acela AND the subway cars, probably why Lionel did away with it on the new Acela's.  My original Acela has been pretty much trouble-free so fingers crossed and my new ones don't have this feature at all so *phew*.  As nice as it is to see in motion, it's just 1 more think to break.

Someone in my local club has that Lionel red bird set with the opening doors and although the lead unit doors work, we cannot figure out why the rest do not...still a mystery...probably missing something.

I would love to see more subways, especially old subways and subways with cool features like opening doors.  Whether from MTH or from Lionel.  (Although I wish MTH would hurry up with the very long-delayed TIU/WIU - my existing MTH setup doesn't work perfectly and I'm hopeful a new box would solve the problems.)

all you need to do is make the proper decals and your good to go with MTH Subway. I bought my first subway set when MTH last produced them. A friend of mine had the correct logos, put them on for me - problem solved.

The item numbers are 20-21142-1 - O Scale Premier R40 4-Car Subway Set with Proto-Sound 3.0

The item numbers are 20-21142-3 - O Scale Premier R40 2-Car Subway Set Add-On (Non-Powered)

The proper logos were installed and then they were put in the box. Unfortunately, I never took pictures or even tested them. The on complaint I had was with the dealer for using crappy packaging when it was shipped which cause the purple box to be damaged.

Other than the minor change I made they look great.

eBay has the following set listed on three (3) different post. MTH item numbers - 20-21142-1, 20-21143-1 and 20-21145-1

@RailFan820 posted:

I've heard horror stories about this door feature on both the original Acela AND the subway cars

I had a couple of doors stop working on my R27, but I took the mechanism apart and did some light oiling and they resumed working. Otherwise I haven't had any issues with them. "Your experience may vary", of course. I'm just sharing what happened with mine.

The thing about the doors is that subway cars have so many of them, and use them so much, that something important is missing from the model if the doors don't open and close. To paraphrase Anita Bryant, a subway model without working doors is like a day without sunshine.

@West Side Joe posted:

I got into subway modeling only because of the opening doors on Lionel's R-27. I bought the MTH R1 even though the doors don't open, only because I think it's one of the best subway models ever made, and I didn't want to miss out on owning one. I would not buy any other subway models unless they were made with opening doors. My preference is for a R36 or R40, and perhaps a Lo-V.

An R-46 would be great as well.