Relying on memory, I have searched the internet for photos of the 1953 Lionel railroad cars my dad owned. He did not buy any completes train sets; they were all in separate Lionel boxes.
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My parents bought some of those same cars, and a Santa Fe A-B-A diesel set, for me in 1953. I don't have my folks or the Lionels any more, but I wish I did.
MELGAR
The two photos of ZW transformers are interesting. In the first one which looks like an ad, there are four separate circuit breakers shown on the outside of the case.
In the second photo, there are what appears to be calling vents, in the form of holes.
I have never seen nor heard of either.
Dan, I was surprised to learn last year that Lionel makes updated versions of these.
The two large handles each controlled a track. The two smaller controls were designed for accessories, but you could use them for two more tracks. I actually question that, because accessories use much less current than tracks, but that's what I have seen posted.
That ZW transformer, the N&W work caboose and the crane car are all modern Lionel reproductions and not from 1953.
Bill
Dan the first ZW looks to be a ZW-L but he may have just used it to show a ZW
The second one now I have never seen either, unless someone did it to let it get air to cool easier.
Common, but very nice, items from the period! Your Da had good taste in trains! 
Mitch
MELGAR posted:My parents bought some of those same cars, and a Santa Fe A-B-A diesel set, for me in 1953. I don't have my folks or the Lionels any more, but I wish I did.
MELGAR
I think you and I had the same train in the same year.
- 2353 3-unit Santa Fe F3
- PRR operating boxcar
- NYC gondola with some barrels made of wood
- Sunoco triple dome tank car
- PRR N5c Caboose
The pieces shown are from various years of production. Most notably, the 726 Berkshire may be from late '46, but more likely from 1947, 48 or 49. The tell tale highlights are the beautiful semi-scale tender, and steel rimmed wheels. When magna-traction appeared in 1950, the Berkshire was numbered 736 and that beautiful tender disappeared.
I had the NW-2 and some of those cars. Now sadly long gone.
I have replaced some of them with reproductions.
Vincent;
Like your dad, my older brother and I started out with Lionel trains that weren’t in a set, but picked individually by our parents. Unlike you, I am fortunate to still have pretty much all of them.
As has been pointed out, the ZW pics are not real PW examples. Here are two of mine which I still use. The one on the right was my mine and my brother’s which we got when I got my first train in the very early 60’s, so it’s a little after the time you are talking about. The one on the left was a refurbished model my mother bought from Charles Ro (in the late 70’s if I remember correctly).
Our ZW replaced the little transformer which came with my brother’s set - I just found it the other day when I was looking for a bunch of O-gauge track I had squirreled away...
We also had the “Colossus of Rhodes” No. 145 Automatic Gateman...
We also had a similar tank car and a very similar caboose...
I hope you are able to find a few of your memories for your collection.
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Great pictures, Paul, and I appreciate the information.
Vincent: I have a 1953 Lionel catolog if you would like any thing copied from it a would happy to help you.
Rick, you're a genius! It never occurred to me that there might be a 1953 Lionel catalog. I found some partial links to it, such as http://postwarlionel.com/1953/
In 1950 when I was 7 I received a Lionel train set that included many of the same pieces pictured above and I still have them. My set includes the ATSF switcher, the gondola car, an orange operating box car (the door opens and a figure appears), the searchlight car, the crane care and the gray work caboose. I had the motor of the switcher reconditioned some years ago and it runs well up to this date. I will take a picture of the set and add it to this thread.
John F
And of all the equipment in my dad's 1953 Lionel train sets, this was my favorite: http://postwarlionel.com/every...mers/zw-transformer/
Incidentally, I did notice that many Lionel cars had slightly different versions, and most were made for more than one year. My dad bought the two sets in 1953, but some of the cars might have been manufactured before that.
Number 90 posted:MELGAR posted:My parents bought some of those same cars, and a Santa Fe A-B-A diesel set, for me in 1953. I don't have my folks or the Lionels any more, but I wish I did.
MELGAR
I think you and I had the same train in the same year.
- 2353 3-unit Santa Fe F3
- PRR operating boxcar
- NYC gondola with some barrels made of wood
- Sunoco triple dome tank car
- PRR N5c Caboose
Tom,
Correct. It was the 2207W set with a list price of $70.
MELGAR
