773 Conundrum

Run It.

I finally obtained it! I got a very nice 773 for a very good deal. It's a 64/65 773 with the 773W tender (no original boxes). It is very nice - in fact, so very nice that it presents a conundrum. It seems like it has never been run or ever seen smoke pellets, or anything like that. However, I'm an operator, not a shelf queen collector. Do I pop the cherry, or should I find another example to operate?
 

Just my opinion: If you are positive that you are an operator, and have no interest in collecting, by all means run it.  On the other hand, if you have a glimmer of collector in you, and think you might enjoy owning something unusual, then keep it in it's never run state. It will only be in that condition until you run it.

Which way will you enjoy owning it more?

Only you can decide.

Run it. I bought a nearly NIB 1515ws set. Almost no run time. It is on my layout now and will be run and run and run....

You only live once brother.. Run the wheels off that baby!!!!!!!!!

Here are your instructions.................

Return it neatly to its box.

Cover the box with Christmas gift wrap.

Wait until the weekend or a day off when your morning is free and clear.

Get the box, remove the gift wrap, smile about the gift you have just received, and go run it!

Lou N

Let that motor growl! Run it for sure!

Here is a better suggestion. Sell it. Take half the proceeds and purchase another 773 which has already been run and in excellent condition. At the end of the day, you'll have a used engine. Your only decision is whether you would like to have extra cash in your pocket by trading in a mint engine. If you run the mint engine, you are just burning cash for no reason.

I would dump it as some people still exist that buy that old stuff.  It is not a 1950 model and I would then take the money and buy the Williams 773 with the great can motor.  Being a runner, that is what I would do.

Sorry GREGR, I did not see your post but agree with your thinking.

They were made to run.

A - have to say this: the Williams clone of this loco is not a great runner - unless you want to go 150 mph all the time. Ask me how I know.

B - as they say over on the Velocity Channel, it's only original once....

C - I'm an operator, but as said somewhere above, if there is even a glimmer of the "collector" (preservationist) in you - and there is in me - do not run it. (See item "B".)

D - you can buy runners anywhere, anytime; common as dirt. Your barn find is not common.

E - "collecting" is as collecting does, and I'm taken with that excellent Williams brass (that Wms product line did run well) from Samhongsa. I have a Williams NIB Southern Rwy black - but striped - USRA Mikado, factory fresh, never out of the box from Korea in 1980 or so. It will stay there so long as I own it. This stuff is not "new" any more; 1980 is 37 years ago. The Williams is much older now than the Lionel 1937 700E was in 1955. Only original once.

I bought a used Wms brass MIke that I upgraded and have run a lot.  

I'm not a believer in shelf display items unless they are completely inoperable.  The post war 773s whether they are mint or operator class were manufactured to run so my advice would be to operate it and enjoy its running characteristics.  I have one 1950 version and one 1966 version and both are in excellent plus condition.  I run both of them.

I don't recall anything in the catalog about NOT running it. PLAY WITH IT.

Two different views on Williams.  The 773 is an excellent runner die cast with a can motor.   Williams 773 locomotives are available today.  The old Williams brass ran good.  

If you decide to operate your 773, be aware that it may take a few hours of running to break it in. Prior to break in, it may seem like the motor and gears are tight.

GREGR's suggestion is the very best ya gonna get.  With his suggestion you will be getting something you know works - while this thing may or may not.  If you "preserve" it - like for who?  Folks who demand that "preservation" are becoming fewer and fewer.  The party is pretty much over for that kind of "preserved" item. 

Run it.

  If you "preserve" it - like for who?

For yourself.
As said by D500: "D - you can buy runners anywhere, anytime; common as dirt. Your barn find is not common."

Some folks enjoy owning uncommon items.

Run it.

Run it.  It's a toy.  And it's not so rare as to be a museum piece.

GregR posted:

Here is a better suggestion. Sell it. Take half the proceeds and purchase another 773 which has already been run and in excellent condition. At the end of the day, you'll have a used engine. Your only decision is whether you would like to have extra cash in your pocket by trading in a mint engine. If you run the mint engine, you are just burning cash for no reason.

A few counterpoints to consider before taking this tack:

1) A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. You have looked for some time to find a 773 at a price acceptable to you. Do you really want to start hunting again?

2) How good a deal did you get, really? Is the 773 you got really, really light years better than the 773 you thought you were getting? Will you double your money, or will you end up getting just enough out of it to buy one of those well-used engines which you passed over earlier because you thought they cost too much?

3) How much do you like having really, really nice things? You have an opportunity to own and run a gorgeous 773. Or you can sell it and possibly buy two slightly dinged-up but presentable locos.

4) Unless your hobby is selling trains, you lose nothing financially by running a mint 773. You went shopping for a nice 773, with a price in mind. You found one at that price, and when you got it home you realized that it is even nicer than you thought. If you run it--with care, of course--you will at worst be lowering its resale value to match what you paid for it. Even-Steven.

I have a number of friends who are world-class classical musicians. The string players all lament the Stradivari, Guarneri, Amati, etc. instruments that are encased in museums. They were made to be played. (In fact, the instruments remain in better condition if they are played regularly than if they are not.) Just like these instruments, your 773 was made to be played with. Run it.

 If you have solid benchwork and track work, there should be little risk in damaging it. I run just about everything in my collection, even my prewar 763 Hudsons, which most people say are "too fragile" to run. That's what they were made for and sold for. Run it. 

bmoran4 posted:

I finally obtained it! I got a very nice 773 for a very good deal. It's a 64/65 773 with the 773W tender (no original boxes). It is very nice - in fact, so very nice that it presents a conundrum. It seems like it has never been run or ever seen smoke pellets, or anything like that. However, I'm an operator, not a shelf queen collector. Do I pop the cherry, or should I find another example to operate?

The 1964 is a simpled version compared to the 1950 and earlier prewar 700E versions. Personally I don't see it as any more collectable than the Williams copy which is a very good piece. When you get to value the 1964 Lionel in excellent condition but without boxes isn't worth in a dollar sense anything much different than a new Williams. Maybe someday, maybe not it will appreciate in value compared to the Williams as these post, post war Lionel's become more rare with a dwindling supply but that may be a long way off.

In the mean time you can enjoy it as a runner or if you believe that it will become financially special keep it as a display and buy a Williams.

Bogie

Eat your heart out!  In 1965 right after I got married I bought a new in box (less tender) 773 for $50.00 dollars and a three car train of plastic O27 passenger cars.  Until I bought a new 736 I ran and ran that old 773 until I burned the motor.  I took it back to the shop where I bought it for repairs.  They offered me $125.00 to buy it back.  I declined and demanded that they fix it and return it to me.  I then proceded to wear the motor out again and have it repaired again.  Later I had the smoke unit replaced with a modern smoke liquid burning unit.  About  ten years ago the poor old motor began squeaking again.  It now rests in quiet solitude in its box while newer engines handle the traffic.  Would I sell it?  Maybe for $800.00..........any takers?

As a Postwar operator and quasi-collector, my personal view is that an unrun vintage item in corresponding cosmetic condition is something special worth preserving. While the engines of course were made and sold to be run, the situation is very different 50 years later. If someone wants to run something (and I'm all for that), I suspect there are plenty of runners in nice condition out there. But there probably are relatively few in unrun condition, and I for one would favor enjoying that or passing it on to those who get a kick out of old things in that type of condition.