212 Gondola question

why not fill it with Christmas colored Hershey  Kisses or other Christmas candy?

Steamer posted:

why not fill it with Christmas colored Hershey  Kisses or other Christmas candy?

Not an option.  I have very little self control when it comes to candy! 😂🍭🍬

I put Lionel ornaments on a fake snow bed in my 212. I just bought some LCT LCL containers. The original Lionel ones can go for big bucks. I think gondolas were open to childhood creativity back in the day. You can put anything you want in them. Release your inner child.

George

A perfect place to give some mini stuffed animals a ride.

Steve

I believe that the gondola came with or without the containers, and as noted in a previous post, the original containers aren't cheap.  Wooden barrels are the only other "official" load I've seen.  Barrels are readily available and inexpensive.

I vote for plastic dinosaur.

Gondolas came with nothing, barrels, or in the case of "work trains" barrels and tools. LCL containers were ALWAYS separate sale.

Rob English posted:

Gondolas came with nothing, barrels, or in the case of "work trains" barrels and tools. LCL containers were ALWAYS separate sale.

Hi Rob.  Thank you!

I bought/won a LCT green 212 today   I also bought some of the large barrels for it.  This is going to make the train a conventional/traditional LCT 400e and eight 200 series freight cars, half of which are LCT and half MTH Lines.  I am happy with this. 

I have been think about it, and there are many valid options on this, including unrestored or restored originals and but for me (1)lI ike the reproductions, (2) I like the LCT "Lionel Lines" badges, but also (3) I like the idea of having the MTH name on some of the cars.  I feel like the train is an homage to the originals, but also respects MTH for their part in making the reproductions over the years.  I feel like this set will stand up well in the test of time, and I hope it is passed down for generations via my daughter for years to come under the Christmas tree.

Good luck Jeff.  Sounds like a great train. MTH definitely has had an impact on the market by bring affordable repops of rare trains Line the Ives Olympian, or the crackle painted 400E.

I use various loads such as repro MTH wooden barrels and oil drums, and also a nice set of 12 LGB gray simulated pipes in my maroon LCT 212. The MTH drums came in both small and large sizes, and the large ones are more suited for standard gauge cars.

Thank you all for your suggestions!  I got 4 of the large barrels, but it looks like you can fit at least a dozen in there! So I did go with candy! I got a big bag of the barrel candy, individually wrapped, in assorted flavors.  Colorful, traditional  and they are barrels. 😁

Here a video: https://youtu.be/VNb4zyJezrg