I am down to maybe getting a post war Navy ALCO B unit and repaint it for UP. Anybody have any idea why Lionel seemed to leave out the B unit on many of the A-A loco sets? Other than money?
Original Post
Replies sorted oldest to newest
I hate to see you paint that B unit if it's from the postwar era as it isn't an easy one to get. That is a desirable B-unit.
I have found several Navy B's in various conditions in the 50 buck range, and looked at those, other than defacing one of several B&M B units that were unique for only having the logo and not the rail line name printed on them. I also hate to change and modify vintage stuff into something it isn't, so maybe print it out on paper and double side tape it over the Navy unit..ha ha.
It may be cheaper to locate an MPC Alco B unit and repaint that. I'd think twice about repainting a perfectly good vintage Alco B unit. As others have said, B units by themselves are not easy to find.
Chris
LVHR
Is the UP Alco a cast frame or the later sheetmetal? If the early cast frame, the MPC unit won't match it at all.
Maybe there are fewer B units because Lionel could save a few bucks by only running A unit shells and using them for powered and dummy engines. To produce B units would mean changing over the injection molds to B molds, perhaps switching the painting masks to B unit masks, etc.
@palallin, the idea presented here is to use a complete MPC B unit and paint it as a UP to go in hand with a postwar Alco A unit. No need to be concerned if the Alco A unit is cast frame or not as no Alco A shells are being transposed.
For anything post war, unless it is C7 or higher, there is no real value in it anymore. I don't see any issue with repainting a Navy one in poor condition. You are bringing new life to an otherwise junk locomotive.
The sheet metal frame B-unit will sit higher than cast frame A units.
Rusty
@Rusty Traque posted:The sheet metal frame B-unit will sit higher than cast frame A units.
Rusty
It isn't like a glaring 1/2 difference... it is barely perceptible unless you are seeking it out, and there is no Alco B unit frame that will exactly match the cast Alco A frame. If one really were that particular, a whole MPC ABA could be had and repainted.
The difference is pretty obvious when you put them together. Take GG1 4877's advice and use a poor condition PW unit.
Well the B unit elf must have landed at Ebay, today, there are 11 single B&M B units for sale over a large price spread. There are also a few AB B&M sets for sale if anybody is looking.
