@jrmeindl That is definitely a great story and memory of your dad! The Turbines are well made and will probably last another lifetime or two as long as they are taken care of. I enjoyed bringing this set back to life, and I am glad you enjoyed the video.

@@CornyVR. Too bad you did not get to keep your grandfather's set. I'm currently going through the set and should have it ready in a few more days.

@johnfroio4910 Hopefully, I will have the 265E ready in the coming week.

@@TwistedMacGyversTrains Thanks! It was a lucky find from last year.

@@terrystrainsdownunder9856 Thank you! I could not resist these when offered. Just have to service them before I put them into operation.

I look forward to seeing them running on the rails again 😊😊 Thanks for sharing Al 👍👍

Great Condition 👍

Thanks!

@jrmeindl Thanks! I think the boxes did a great job protecting the trains over the past 85 years. I think I have most of the detached end flaps. Thankfully, it came with the boxed transformer, all the instruction sheets, and the manual. It's kind of neet to see the original tube of lube with instructions.

@@alsvintagetoytrains7042 Interesting finding a tube of lube. I've been going thru my dad's collection and have found a couple of original tubes as well. I gather the few that I have found are from the early 1950's or late 1940's. One tube looks as if it hasn't even been used or used very little.

@jrmeindl It is interesting to see what you find in the old time capsules when you open up a set box from long ago.

Thanks! Can't wait to service and clean these up for operation.

@Cyber_Horse_Studios87 This is the Lionel set that got me stated in collecting vintage Lionel more than 25 years ago. I'm glad you enjoyed seeing this 94 year old set in its captivating glory.

@@alsvintagetoytrains7042 honestly it’s a beautiful engine! I myself have the Lionel Scout 1001, which while I know many would cringe in horror at the sight of one, it’s my most functional O gauge engine even though it was released in 1948. It even runs so fast it had a habit of hurling myself off the track. My other O gauge model is Lionel’s original release of the 4-4-0 General. Unfortunately while it does run, even at full power it barely crawls and I don’t really know why.

@Cyber_Horse_Studios87 Lionel made lots of great trains and many to fit the various budgets from large to small. I don't mind running any of Lionel's inexpensive trains. I believe the only mistake Lionel really made was using the scout coupler that did not work with any other postwar coupler. I'm sorry to hear about the sluggish General 4-4-0. It sounds like it needs a good cleaning and servicing. Sometimes, the original grease gets so hard that it impairs the operation of the train as you described.

@@alsvintagetoytrains7042 that’s probably it. I just wish I knew how properly clean it… also yeah, the scouts couplers SUUUUUUCK. XD Plus trying to replace the lamp in that thing is such a huge chore.

@@paulbervid1610 Thanks! This passenger set is one of my favorites.

@richardgiammarino7568 I believe them to be 1941 production. All three are original "Manhattan" pullmans, and one of them has no numbers, just the Manhatten name. Was this one car just an error, or was it meant to be one of the few that were numbered 2624? I'm not sure, but they are great looking original prewar pullmans in excellent condition.

Thank you!

@willslowik7264 I thought about that early on in the planning back in 1998/99, thinking I did not want to be limited to what I could run. In 2013, I bought my 1934 M-10,000 that was designed for use on O-72 curves. I'm glad all of my main lines are O-72. Only my inner loop has sidings and interior cross loops with O-31 curves/O-22 switches.

@CanuckRails A good valid question that is always hard to answer. I guess you should start by trying to define what you consider classic? Are you looking at prewar Lionel or postwar Lionel? Are you considering other manufacturers like American Flyer, Ive's, Bing, Hefner, Marklin, or others? I obviously got hooked on Lionel and have not really strayed too far away from that. I have found that I really collected Lionel starting around 1925 to about 1957, focusing more on 1935 to early 1950s. But I do have some American Flyer and Marx accessories here and there along with a couple Lionel MPC era stuff. I would highly recommend getting some of the DVDs made by TM productions Tom McComas like "I love Toy Trains" series and his series on "Toy Train Layouts". I would also invest in some references. I have an hour long video that talks about available references that are out there. Many of which are out of print. The bottom line is to either collect or operate (or both like me) what appeals to you. I kept my two layouts simple and "toy like" and not as realistic as some like to do. For me, the layout is intended to highlight the trains that run on it. Know what you are buying before you buy. I'm kind of picky on originality of the item. For example, one of my early purchases was a Lionel 681 Turbine that came with a tender that was not original to that engine, like maybe a 2466W tender. I was disappointed to find that out later on. The seller never mentioned it, and I never asked. I also use only old-school conventional control using ZW and Z transformers to keep with the period of trains that I operate. Many like the modern trains with DCC, TMCC, or other modern remote control systems. Lastly, take your time deciding what works best for you. I'm a little old-fashioned with both layouts (prewar & postwar) using only old style tubular track, with my old transformer power. Hope this helps. Al

@@richardgiammarino7568 Agreed! They are.

@@paulbervid1610 Thanks.

@@johnfroio4910 Thank you!

@lucasquintanilla1673 That is a very tough question! Late prewar slightly more than early postwar. I like the attempt at realism, starting with the M10,000, Hiawatha, and then the pinical with the scale & semi-scale Hudson in 1937. The Madison cars and scale freight cars just before the war were great as well. I like my postwar almost as much! 1934 to 1957 would probably be my best range of Lionel from the M10,000 to the 746 N&W steamer.

@@alsvintagetoytrains7042 do you have any MPC items from 1970 to the mid 80s? What about any modern items since Richard Kuhn bought Lionel in the 80s?

@@lucasquintanilla1673 I have very little MPC and nothing modern other than some MTH lamp posts replicating old Lionel. 95% of what I have fits between 1925 and 1965. Most between 1934 and 1957.

@@alsvintagetoytrains7042 with the exception of a single MPC era O gauge Santa Fe Bluebonnet F unit diesel with freight cars and a caboose and a HO gauge preamble Express streamlined diesel with American freedom train cars (which I’ve never been able to run because of the different gauge and the necessary equipment) almost all of my items that I ran as a kid are modern era specifically the 2000s. I have a Pennsylvania flyer starter set from the 2000s with some freight cars and a Pennsylvania caboose along with the polar Express train set from the 2000s with accompanying passenger cars, a great train robbery train set with a wild west engine that is Union Pacific along with some assorted 19th century style freight cars and a hand car along with a 19 century style wooden passenger car at the end, another train set that I got was the Hogwarts express with British passenger cars and a British steam, locomotive, and Finally I got a O gauge Thomas the Tank Engine with Annie and Clarabel. At one point my grandparents got a freight car and a caboose as add-ons one was a flat car with a tractor on it, and the other was a wooden dark blue caboose that I think was a bay window caboose. The MPC era set was a Santa Fe blue bonnet, diesel with assorted freight cars and the type of caboose with, the area where the conductor would’ve been being at the back of the car rather than all of it. That one was used the least often because by the time we got it, I’d pretty much stopped playing with toy trains. nowadays I intend to use these again, but a lot of stuff with college and unruly pets plus difficulties in getting the stuff cleaned and set up again have prevented me from using them again. Most of what I would probably want is stuff from the 90s to the present although I won’t complain if I can’t get stuff like fancy features like cruise control and crew talk (although I wouldn’t be opposed to that) all that they have to do as all I really care about is the type of engine that I can get my hands on as well as the rollingstock. The only features I really would want all that much are whistle horn and bell sound effects even if they are the postwar style ones. Honestly, my toy trains were supposed to have bell sound effects on them, but they never worked for some reason. The diesel never had any sound effects to it, so I’ve always wanted a diesel horn sound effect on one of my trains. I’m really most interested in getting the streamlined engines like the Dreyfuss Hudson, the Commodore Vanderbilt, the Pennsylvania T1 and the Mark Twain Zephyr. I can tell you when I was young I absolutely dreamed of getting the cool futuristic looking trains like that. I suppose what they say really applies to me is that the curse of watching I love Toy trains as a kid is really wishing you could get those train sets when you were young and when you go back into the hobby when you’re older, you decide to look into whether you could get those engines only to be shocked at the massive price tag

@lucasquintanilla1673 My first set was an early inexpensive MPC freight set from about 1971 with a gray plastic 8141 steam engine & a "sound of steam" tender (more like sound of static). The common cars only had one plastic operating coupler and one fixed. My friend had his older brother's set with a great 736 Berkshire engine and more realistic cars, making my set look like a little plastic play toy. I got the bug collecting Lionel when I worked a deal on a beautiful 1930 tin plate set (Boxed outfit 241E with a very nice 260E engine). I traded two old hunting rifles for it. This was around 1998. So now I am collecting what I like from the prewar & postwar era, and hence, my channel regarding vintage toy trains. I started the channel back in 2018 more to document my collection and to share information that I learned along the way. It's hard to believe this is actually my 200th video.

It was a fun research project, and it is always great to learn some of the history.

@TomzTrainzandAccessories Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed the video. There is something magical about these old bell ringer switchers.

@@henryszubielski8601 Thank you! It is one of my favorites.

@paulbervid1610 Thanks! I enjoy the old vintage toy train layout.

@paulbervid1610 Agreed! It was huge, was 6 feet long, and weighs a ton. Any kid would have been thrilled back then.

@@alsvintagetoytrains7042 I wonder if you plan to do anything special with this toy train for its one hundredth anniversary in 2025?

@lucasquintanilla1673 That is a great idea! I will most likely present a video next year in December, a few weeks before Christmas. You can hold me to it.

@@alsvintagetoytrains7042 what do you think that video will be about? Maybe how a Christmas in 1925 would’ve been like with classic Lionel toy trains? At the very least you should mention that it is the 100th anniversary of that toy train.

@TomzTrainzandAccessories It is definitely one of Lionel's iconic sets from the 1950s. I added the B unit to the 2353s and added the baggage car.

@@alsvintagetoytrains7042 Same here. I added a Large Door #2530 Baggage Car, a 2343C “B” unit, and added an extra #2532 Astra-Dome car to give it a just a little more extra length to the set. I did take out the GE57 incandescent light bulbs in all of the passenger cars, and installed LED lightbulbs to help eliminate the power drop in amperage so the engine could pull that long consist. The mighty F3’ pulls it with no problem.

@TomzTrainzandAccessories Very nice! Hard to find the large door baggage cars. I have not converted to any LED lights as yet. But the ZWs seem to handle the load just fine. I use a Z to handle the accessories.

@johnblair8146 A very good question. Lionel seemed to use other manufacturers on their early catalogs. Note the Ives Dome Station. Looking online, it appears to be a Weeden Machine shop or something like that. See the link from a forum group. ogrforum.com/fileSendAction/fcType/0/fcOid/143467552935321952/filePointer/147690501395191877/fodoid/147690501395191872/imageType/LARGE/inlineImage/true/31C656F8-C965-4732-887B-3F8BABA7C894.jpeg

@TwistedMacGyversTrains I can understand why you trashed them! They do make great paper weights or door stops.

@@richardsobieck9660 Thanks! It was enjoyable researching what I could find out about these old transformers.

Yes indeed!

@Brayden4472 I love toy trains was a great series of videos. Tom McComas, the founder of TM videos, just passed away a few days ago.

@@alsvintagetoytrains7042 oh really!!? I had not heard that!! That’s awful!!! May he rest in peace

He was very knowledgeable about toy trains, and he was a great guy. He really helped grow the toy train hobby.​ @Brayden4472

This is the set that got me into me into collecting vintage Lionel. I swapped a couple hunting rifles for it 25 or 26 years ago.

@@northpennvalleysteamrailroad Thank you!

@@TwistedMacGyversTrains Thank you! This is the set that got me hooked on vintage Lionel back in 1998. I traded a couple hunting rifles for it and we both thought we got the better end of the deal. Lionel prices were at the peak levels back then.

@@IndianaNorthWestern Me too!

@@johnfroio4910 This is the set that got me started collecting vintage Lionel trains. I swapped a couple of hunting rifles for the boxed set with some additional freight cars. The best part is that we were both happy with the outcome of the transaction.

@@ronalddevine9587 I love these old classics as well. This was Lionel's top of the line O-Gauge steam engine in 1930.

@@alsvintagetoytrains7042 And still runs like new. The modern junk won't make it.

@@colestrains1 Awesome! They were definitely very well made back in the day.

@@jrmeindl Thanks! I'm sure you enjoy your 3 variations of NYC F3s. They are great engines.