Pictures of the First?? 3 Rail Scale engine

Rob, yes it was.

Someone help us with the math.   What would $75.00 in 1937 be worth in 2014 dollars. 

$1,236.63

It varies on how you calculate inflation. Using Shadow stats inflation calculator the BLS would put it in about 2014 dollars at $1219.96 to more than four times that figure looking at the shadow stats bar. One way to calculate it is look at the average price of a starter home, then about $500 (or was that post WWII) and use that to recalculate the value.

The dies cost about $50,000 dollars to make for the 700E in the 1930's. Considering it was basically a huge leap forward more than 2,000 dollars today, would be a reasonable guess.

Or at least as expensive at the latest high end fully featured brass imports from Korea. With every smoke effect possible, cylinders, whistle, stack, moving bell, depleting coal load tender, animated crew figures, moving whistle, to find a modern equivalent of the same leap in detail is hard to imagine for a comparable engine.

I am glad Lionel made it back then since the the prototype has no survivors. One of the most innovative steam engines on the the New York Central. How many engines can you say had a fire box welding problem from low grade iron contaminated coal? Or hauled trains at speeds it was never original designed to pull with out complaint once fitted with a booster?

Thanks, Jeff and Allin.

At this price I wonder how many were produced?  Bet someone can tell us.  A harder question to answer is I wonder how many are still out there.

Model trains were more mainstream before WWII than today.  Not as much competition. 

In 1937 you could buy a decent car for $500 so it was a month's wage for some people.

I found out how many at one time. There is the first batch and a revised second version in 1938 with each engine casing having a number of its casting. I think it was continuous in casting number between both versions.

Don't know about others, but I'm am left feeling a little confused by all of this.

"How many" till the end.  Could you reword/clarify this a little differently? Do you mean left right form numbers? Consecutive numbering of casting pairs? A serial number on each? Many batch numbers assigned to across each version, early/late? Sorry, I doubt its wrong, I just want to learn, and found it confusing.... Yes, my blood sugar is fine right now 

Interesting. What kind of couplers are on the the 700e?$75 dollars was a lot of money In 1935. Here is the CPI index calculator.  You can input any dollar amount for any year to see what something would cost in today's dollar.

The couplers on engine and tender are stock as it came from the factory.

During this same era Lionel also came out with the 700 series scale freight cars and a caboose all with scale sized couplers.  

As for quantities I was just hoping someone would know how many 700Es and/or 700K's (kit version) were produced in 1937 and 1938.  This to give us some idea whether they were a mainstream or niche product. Like were they a standard mom and pop put a train under the Christmas tree item or were they relatively rare.

Thanks guys for doing the math and the perspective on what a house cost.  The price in today's environment would make them appeal to the enthusiast mainly.  But, model trains were more mainstream in the pre WWII era.  And it seems that there are still a lot of them around even with the boiler shell impurity thing taking many out of circulation.

Definitely not mainstream.  Maybe ask Lionel, or those guys who wrote the book?  I have the book; I shall go look.

On the scale coupler: Lionel was so far ahead of its time with this teeny item - it may still be one of the best operating scale couplers in O Scale.  The 700 series set the standard for a quarter- century!

$75 was indeed a lot of money in 1937.  In 1938 my Dad took his first full time job and the pay was $75/month.

I admit I haven't called Lionel to ask.  Would still like to hear from anyone who knows --approximately -- how many 700E's were built.

http://train-station.com/cgi-b...E.html/SID=285580914

there is a little bit of information

and a little more edited in

http://books.google.com/books?...20hudson&f=false

hope that last link works, given Lionel made a profit there were more than 867 just to pay for the tooling

Thanks, Allin

If it was a water scoop you'd be right but it's not a scoop at all and wasn't depicted to be one.

Yep, Nick is right....and it scoops electricity just fine the way it is!

Jim