@Don McErlean posted:NWL : I would refer you to Schuwiler's book, pgs 72-73 for what he calls the Type XII tender and pgs 94-95 for a rather lengthy discussion on the Type XX or 401 locomotive. Too long to quote here, but the key item might be that he mentions the 401 went uncataloged in 36 & 37 and when it returned to the catalog in 1938 it was GREY like yours. He then states that the locomotive returned to black in 1939. There is quite a lot of variability in this engine over these late 30's years and Schuwiler takes a number of paragraphs to try and describe the chronological order of things. To me, such a number of changes speaks to the possibility of quite a number of variations showing up in sets as they were sold, sometimes perhaps even by the dealers at the point of sale. OBTW beautiful 301 sets, I really loved the blue one.
Just to make matters even more confusing, I have a Type XX loco which appears to date from 1935 but it is a 2-4-0 vice 2-4-4 and has a huge whistle mounted on the back of the motor that basically fills up the cab!
Don
Don,
Technically, only one of the sets may be a 301 set. The red set with 4 cars and the 4603 is Set 1 from 1938 and the blue set with 417 locomotive is set 303 from 1939.
I do have a gray 4603 (that would be the correct number for a 401 type loco in 1938) engine, but it has decals on it, with no actual numbering and copper trim. The gray 4603 engine is with my 1938 set 1. The gray 4603 has the streamline type tender, with billboard stripe on it. My gray 401 engine is lettered 401 (on the side not pictured) and has the nickel trim, similar to the black 401 engines. That points to my motor actually being from 1939 or later, as the engines were not numbered in 1938. I have seen a couple of the gray 401 engines sell and they are somewhat difficult to find.
The whistle in the type XX locomotive is likely one of the uncataloged variations from 1936 or 1937. I know that I have a number of these motors with the whistles, as well as some of the cheap Hiawatha locos with whistles.
Here is a picture of the other side of the 401, note the 401 lettering below the cab window.
Here is a picture of the gray 4603, note the copper trim and decals
Here is the 417 locomotive that heads up Set 303 with the blue cars
NWL
