Tinplate 260E and 700 Series Cars Questions

I don't have the set, but do have a few of the 263's. Watch for issues with the tetherless draw bar. Easy to fix, but still an issue on many of them.

Listed below are the families of the loco's in order of which came first.

260, 255, 263, about 11 5/8" long

261, 262, 249, about 9 3/4" long

Steve

Thank you for the info Steve.  What makes the families of the locos different from one another?

Phoebe Snow Rt,

   Brian I own the 263E original & MTH Repro P2, the 249E & the 259E, each engine is a slightly different size starting with the larger 263E and working down in size as listed.  Depending on which 249 & 259 you purchased there maybe no red light for the cab fire box.  Also the tenders might be different depending on the year purchased.  All are real nice tin plate, and run well with my DCS, on my FasTrack & RealTrax layout.  They also run real well on the Atlas Industrial rail track also.

PCRR/Dave

249E with Baby Ruth Cars & 1682 Caboose.

The 263E & the 259E running opposite directions on the Christmas layout.

Brian,

   You are welcome the 259E we always consider part of the 2600 series Lionel Tin Plate, we considered these trains as mini Tin when I was a kid.  The 263E is part of the 800 series O Gauge Tin, and larger than both the 259E & the 249E which is the in between Lionel size tin, between the Mini 2600 and the 800 series.  It took me a long time to get my hands on the 249E and I am glad I was able to purchase it from a member here on the OGR forum, the 249E is in extremely good condition for its age, I was very lucky.  Now I have all 3 original Lionel O gauge Tin plate sizes for my layout.  The 249E & the 259E have no firebox light as originals.

Some runners have added the firebox light to their 249E & 259E, which does make them look real cool.  Hope you find and purchase which ever set you want, good luck

finding either in perfect running order today.  The 263E repro is available in both conventional & P2 from MTH.

PCRR/Dave   

Brian, glad you like the photos.  When I first purchased the 260E with proto 1 back in 1999, I got a set of 800 series freight cars to go with it.  When I saw the 700 series passenger cars a couple of years ago, I thought they would look nice under the Christmas tree.  I am sure glad I got them.  Love running these with the 260E under the tree. 

Just last year, I got the 263E with proto3 in two tone blue and a matching set of 2600 series passenger cars.  The 2600 series cars are 10" in length while the 700 series are 11" in length (not including the couplers).  Height wise, the difference is about 1/4 of an inch.  As Steve stated above, the 260E and 263E are the same length.  I find both passenger sets look fine behind their designated engine.  My preference is the 260E with the 700 series under the tree.

Here's a shot of the 263E on the layout:

In answer to question #2, the 260 and 263, I believe are approximately the same engine. They share the same frame and same shell.  The differences are subtle, the 260's wheels have true spokes where the 263's wheels have spokes cast into a solid wheel.  Also the the wheels on the 260 are painted (I prefer the red ones) whereas the 263's wheels are not painted and are flat black.  Also the 260 has flags, the 263 does not but the 263 has the two plastic jewels as I believe they are called on the front of the engine, I prefer the flags.  One last difference, the the 263's driving rods are a bit more elaborate than that of the 260.  All in all, I think the most notable difference are the wheels and although I have more than one example of each I prefer the look of the 260.  

Hope this helps,

John.

Brian,
    IMO the 263E and the 260 are pretty much the same engines with some small twists, I have always liked the 263E better, John likes the 260.  I have both 263E Lionel original and the MTH Repo P2 they are my favorite engines. IMO Johnny's
Baby Blue 263E is incredible Tin, love to own one in the near future.
PCRR/Dave

 The original Lionel & the MTH P2 263E Gray's with some of the original Lionel 800 series rolling stock.

Johnny – Thank you for the extra photo that you provided.  The Blue Comet paint scheme is a certainly a crowd pleaser and thank you for the info that you’ve provided.

John Clifford – Although there are minute differences in each loco (260 and 263) that you’ve pointed out, I guess I was really confused that Lionel would produce locos that are almost identical.  I had never seen these in person and the only areas that I had exposure to them are either online or in a catalog. 

Dave – The side-by-side comparison that you’ve provided is fantastic.  The original and MTH versions look terrific.  An uninformed person may be hard pressed to pick out the real deal.

Brian,

    Here are the 249E & 263E sitting side by side, you can see the actual difference in

size, even thou the engines are almost identical in feature.  The tenders are completely different however.  The 259E is even smaller yet, unfortunately it is packed away, so I can not picture all three together for you to see.

PCRR/Dave