200 series freight cars

380/380E, 9/9U/9E, 381/381E, 402/402E, 408E, 390/390E w/390X Tender would all be appropriate.  I am sure someone will chime in if I missed any.

All but the 9/9E/9U were cataloged with the 200-series freight cars.

 

Ron M

Is a 392E appropriate?

Not really - coupler height.

 

Ron M

Hmm. That's interesting.

I'm new to tinplate. So is it also true that there might be a couple height issue if I wanted to run 200 and 500 series cars mixed together?

Me thinks I need to get me a guide!

 

yup.   lionel 10 series, 100 series, 200 series, 500 series, ives, flyer, dorfan, mccoy, cmt, etc.... different couplers, different heights, various compatibility issues.   the purist will tell you, don't mix, they don't look good together anyway.

 

but none of it is insurmountable.   they're toys.   when i was growing up, my dad's set was an ives 1134 loco and tender pulling: a flyer body ives 92 box car, a pure ives 93 livestock, a lionel 212 gondola, and a lionel 517 caboose.   we put an ives coupler on the front of the gondola and always ran them in that order.   until i was 30 years old, that was my idea of a freight train.   it's still what looks best to me.  there's no wrong way to do tinplate.

 

at this point i usually recommend peter riddle's "America's Standard Gauge Electric Trains", edited by OGR's own Allan Miller.   one of the few standard gauge books out there and it's a great one, clears up a lot of the misconceptions about standard gauge you'll hear on forums and ebay.

 

i say, run what you want, when you come across a compatibility issue pretend you're 8 years old again and find a set of pliers.   but then, i never was much good at following the rules.  

 

Here are all the Ducks in a row. Flyer, 500 series, 200 series.

 

I changed the coupler on a 392E and have run Flyer cars (same coupler height). 200 series cars have giant wheels and are clunky compared to 500 series and Flyer cars.

 

A 400E is too big for most Standard gauge. It only looks good pulling State cars or 200 series cars. Many feel it is too big for Blue Comet cars and I think 418 cars are too short for it.

 

IMHO the best way to do STG is buy the medium size stuff.