Interesting post above by Mark Spadaro on the brake wheel orientation led me to check my Postwar Celebration version of the bay window caboose, and it seems like they got it corrected by then:
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My first 2 Lionel train products were train sets when I was in grade school. The first couple of separate rolling stock pieces I received were the 6–9872 Pacific Fruit Express box car and the 6–9334 Humble Petroleum single dome tank car. Over the past couple of months I’ve been picking up more of these same pieces. I’m not sure exactly why I‘m doing this… 😁
Edit …Forgot to mention I still have my original cars. They’re rolling along with the newest acquisitions in the video. 
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@VJandP posted:My first 2 Lionel train products were train sets when I was in grade school. The first couple of separate rolling stock pieces I received were the 6–9872 Pacific Fruit Express box car and the 6–9334 Humble Petroleum single dome tank car. Over the past couple of months I’ve been picking up more of these same pieces. I’m not sure exactly why I‘m doing this… 😁
Edit …Forgot to mention I still have my original cars. They’re rolling along with the newest acquisitions in the video.
Nice unit trains… Welcome to the slippery slope 
circa about 1980,lots of hair,and mpc
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Another new arrival! #9610 Hi-Cube Boxcar.
At one time, this car was highly sought after because it was issued only as part of one set. Since Lionel moved on to more detailed scale cars (that also tracked a little better), all the MPC Hi-Cubes have fallen out of favor (except the run of Disney collectables that are still gathered by Disney fans, or so I am given to understand).
Still, it's the right era, the right roadname, and fairly attractive. The color looks washed out in this pic: the yellow is quite intense. (Received wisdom is that yellow rolling stock doesn't sell as well as other colors, but I have no data to back that up, and don't care anyway 
)
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I've always liked the Hi-cube cars - thanks for sharing. The Disney Hi-Cube are a niche market, white box cars simply don't appeal to me either. On the other hand, I think most of the MPC is really nice, good looking engines and light weight rolling stock doesn't hurt either.
Yet another addition to the rolling stock pool: T&P #7302.
This car is one of the shorty, 027 stockcars that had their genesis in the postwar era, some used as "action" cars with the gunfighters rising and falling at each end, shooting at one another. No such action here: Just about as plain as an MPC car gets (it does have one working coupler and metal, fast-angle wheelsets) but fits in well with the company's low-end rolling stock assortments. It will find a place right in front of the caboose so that the train crew can keep an eye on the critters as the train highball tries to beat the 28-hour rule to the next stockyard.
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Palallin- neat car and the plain paint scheme makes it more realistic (after all they did carry animals 😁). Not only that but the RR is the “Texas and Pacific” which was not a common MPC road name and the real T&P did carry cattle.
Don
That car also fits well in a General set.
@terry hudon posted:circa about 1980,lots of hair,and mpc
You look the same !
The rolling stock acquisitions are arriving quickly! Next up is a Frisco #9751 boxcar:
(The photo washes out the red just a bit: it's brighter than it looks.)
Released the same year as the U-Boats from some weeks ago, it accompanies them perfectly. One of the MPC derivatives of the famed postwar 6464-series boxcars, the car comes with two operating couplers and a separately applied brake wheel. An innovation in this series of releases is the lower door guide, which looks a great deal more realistic than the old metal slat. Lettered with the famous slogan "Ship It on the Frisco," the car carries the now Fallen flag proudly. It is a little depressing to think that, when this car was released, the proud Frisco had not yet been assimilated* by the Been Nuthin'. I miss those days!
*Resistance was Futile, Alas!
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@palallin posted:The rolling stock acquisitions are arriving quickly! Next up is a Frisco #9751 boxcar:
(The photo washes out the red just a bit: it's brighter than it looks.)
This is awesome! Thanks for sharing. I really need to get busy and share some pictures too of all this cool MPC that has been arriving here.
love at 1st sight ! the tca had a layout at the pittsburgh home and garden show,one of the loco i was able to run was this gold jcp ep5,i had to have one,this is running with williams madison car!
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Terry,
Can you get that EP5 to run without the "MPC wobble"? If you had to do something to fix it, I would appreciate your letting me know what it is. Mine is pretty, like yours, but it has never run that well. Thank you.
Big motive power news today! I have been looking for a nice set of MoPac GP20s, and, through the generosity of a fellow forumite (and Snoopy the Beagle for letting me int he house!), 3 engines--2 powered #8562 and 1 dummy #8565--have arrived on my layout!
Here, nose-to-tail, they pass in review in front of the farm on the curve near Notch, MO. The two powered units run great, and the dummy is lighted. No sound or smoke, of course, but the motors have a sound of their own--and I get tired of cleaning up smoke residue 
And I can do a fair air horn using one side of my mouth and a nostril 
The MoPac didn't actually own any of the GP20s, but it was the largest owner of the nearly-closest-to-almost-related GP-18s, so MPC got it close-enough-for-RR-work.
My projected MPC acquisitions are nearly complete--I still need a MoPac caboose, a #6110 hppoer, and the T&P boxcar. But I have been thinking about a few additional pieces, just, you know, because MPC!
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@Palallin : What GREAT engines, I love the stylized eagle symbol, much like the current USPS symbol. You mentioned a Lionel T&P boxcar. Well I don't have one of those (certainly not MPC) but here is a T&P refer you might like. Its # 16131from the Richard Kuhn era 1994 - Lionel Trains Inc (LTI). These seem to pop up regularly on the Bay and their cost is very modest.
Finally, I guess I wanted to show you my MoPac train collection...a Marx #688 type GE 70 ton switcher and a matching caboose. All with the same stylized eagle emblem. OBTW probably not telling you something you don't already know but these Marx 70 Ton's use the same power and control as your Lionel and the drawbar is just a tab/slot coupler. With minimum modifications and by pulling an automatic Lionel car right behind the engine to give you auto coupling you might just get a simple, cheap, and fun yard switcher for your MoPac trains.
Best wishes, cool acquisition's for sure.
Don
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Hi, Don! Thanks for the kind words!
The boxcar I'm looking for is the 9463. That reefer is a great car--used to have one--but I *have* to limit myself somehow, so the limit is MPC only. I am about to run up against real display/storage problems, so thus far, and no farther.
Same-same on the Marx MoPac. I have a very small collection of 8-wheel Marx inspired by my first set, and there are perhaps two more sets that I need to feel it is complete. Alas! the Marx set you have is not among them, eye-catching though it is. That pic really shows how good Mr. Marx was at getting maximum mileage out of his molds while using decoration that was actually as or more realistic than the more expensive Lionel of the time!
Ah, if only my room and my money were as expansive as my imagination!
@Ray Lombardo posted:Terry,
Can you get that EP5 to run without the "MPC wobble"? If you had to do something to fix it, I would appreciate your letting me know what it is. Mine is pretty, like yours, but it has never run that well. Thank you.
it was nos,thats the 1st run it ever had,humm
Was going to do a Santa Fe/Amtrak switch yard. Never got to it.
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@Bob Parsley posted:Was going to do a Santa Fe/Amtrak switch yard. Never got to it.
Marvelous image, sir! Great concept, well executed!
A great number of important MPC pieces there, all in beautiful shape.
The newest addition to the fleet, and the largest MPC freight car I own: the 6110 MoPac Quad Hopper:
These cars came in two slight variations, with and without the holes for the spreader bar above "Route of the Eagles." As you can see, this example has them. The black w/white lettering scheme looks a little plain, but I prefer to think of it as classic!
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always wanted this reading set,dont know why ,but found one at a great price,want no more !
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@terry hudon posted:always wanted this reading set,dont know why ,but found one at a great price,want no more !
Nice, colorful set. Always thought that one (Quaker State Limited) and the Chessie Royal Limited were the "best" of those limited edition sets.
It would be nice if Lionel would make sets like this one today. This is a great set.
I like to collect the old MPC Sets by building them my own, one car at a time. It's challenging but fun, and I can usually do it as cost effectively as buying a whole set at once if I shop around.
I'm two cars away from having a like new Maple Leaf Limited Set. One of my favorites that's eluded me until now.
Will post pics soon.
johnstrains,
What two cars are you missing? The British Columbia Tank Car from that set was my favorite.
Mid-Atlantic Limited
Royal Limited
Maple Leaf Limited
three sets that I previously owned. Only a few cars from the Royal & Mid-Atlantic sets remain in my accumulation. The Maple Leaf Limited was sold as a complete set. Once I got hooked on TMCC, the sets with non-command engines became expendable. I still own a few non-command engines but they have something special about them so they remain.
@jim sutter posted:johnstrains,
What two cars are you missing? The British Columbia Tank Car from that set was my favorite.
Although I don’t run it these days (I’m a command control snob ), I still have the complete Maple Leaf Limited set. I have always loved the CP maroon/grey livery, and I have to agree, Jim - the BC tank car is the highlight of the set, if not my collection.
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@jim sutter posted:johnstrains,
What two cars are you missing? The British Columbia Tank Car from that set was my favorite.
Hi Jim,
I need the BC tanker and the crane car but I recently found them and are on the way.
Should have my completed set by early next week.
Johnstrains,
That great news. That's one beautiful set.
@Apples55 posted:Although I don’t run it these days (I’m a command control snob
Nice!
Some of those box sets from the late 70's and early 80's were just beautiful. There paint jobs were superb.
@Apples55 posted:Although I don’t run it these days (I’m a command control snob
You should do what I do, and pick up a PWC Geep (they have TMCC and RailSounds, electrocouplers, directional lighting, etc.) and swap the shells. It's really easy - probably takes less than 15 minutes. If you look around, you can find these Geeps without laying out much dough. Then you'd have a command control set to run.
Yes, I similarly I added a Lionchief Reading GP7 to my (favorite) Quaker Limited City set. providing a well deserved rest for the sets original U36 after 40 years of reliable service. no harm no foul. Considering doing same for the Gold Coast set. Tho I am an MPC advocate I would admit the first off the line MPC Union Pacific SD40 in the set not a great runner. Paid $$$ for the Gold Coast at the height of the 'collector era. can't afford to sell it now!
Another new addition: the MoPac #9171 lighted caboose:
Alas! My lighted caboose, isn't. That is, no light. I need to look into to it to see why.
Experienced MPC collectors will note that mine is a tall cupola version; these came both ways, a not-uncommon variation of the times.Very little runtime evident on the wheels.
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As I said much earlier in the thread, I had decided to assemble a small MPC collection of all the Frisco, MoPac, and T&P engines and rolling stock. With the arrival of the caboose above, I have only one car left--the #9463 boxcar--to complete the MoPac/T&P train*, but the Frisco train is complete. Here two pics: Lionel MPC's tribute to the Frisco!
*Note: There is also the Quicksilver Express, which is notionally T&P--has a T&P nose herald, anyway--but the rest of the graphics are "Quicksilver Express," which, while catchy, is not exactly a synonym for the Texas Eagle 
Well, we'll see if I trip over one reasonable.
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"Experienced MPC collectors will note that mine is a tall cupola version; these came both ways, a not-uncommon variation of the times. Very little runtime evident on the wheels."
Palallin,
I Did not know this. I have the low cupola version. Lighting is from the #9150 rear plain truck, no coupler, with #9160-17 pickup assembly and wires to the bulb. Likely a loose wire. Mark
Speaking of MPC, does anybody else enjoy collecting these "Mint" cars? Here's MPC's "Denver Mint" version - lots of fun and comments from visitors!
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I have these ten cars (Not all are MPC, but all are Mint cars).
I did give it some thought, but never bought the "Mint Set" engine or caboose.
6-19406 West Point Mint Car #19406
6-19419 Charlotte Mint Car #19419
6-19677 Fort Knox Mint Car #6445 Archive series
6-19688 PWC #6445 Fort Knox Mint Car
6-7515 Denver Mint Car #7515
6-7517 Philadelphia Mint Car #7517
6-7518 Carson City Mint Car #7518
6-7522 New Orleans Mint Car #7522
6-9319 Silver TCA Bullion Car "Silver Jubilee"
6-9349 Gold Bullion Car #9349 "San Francisco Mint"
