Best Lionel passenger cars for 773 Hudson.

Moonboy posted:

It sure is a beautiful set.  I hope I can find the entire set including the 6th car.

Are you referring to the 50th Anniversary 18" cars with the detailed interiors or the 1990 - 91 cars with the silhouettes in the windows?

If it is the 1990 - 91 cars shoot me an e-mail.

Mike

Moonboy posted:

It sure is a beautiful set.  I hope I can find the entire set including the 6th car.

Go for the Postwar Bakelite cars

Mike, I was referring to the Lionel 50th Anniversary set with all 6 cars.

Has Lionel introduced any new 15 or 18 inch Madison cars to go with their Vision Line 700e 5344 engine?  I would love to buy that engine some time in the near future.

About the same time the Vision Hudson was released they offered 6 18" green heavyweights. These are same cars, different names and numbers as a set offered around 2007 but without the SS diner that came with the earlier set.

Like I said earlier there are dozens of sets that would work with your engine. Many have better detail and features than Lionel cars at a lower price. Later MTH and K-Line in particular. 

Pete

The newer Lionel NYC Baby Madison cars look great behind my Mikado "junior", and look great behind smaller/traditional engines/switchers, but they'd look silly (I think) behind a real scale model.

Sheesh...so many options!   😨

I've got to say that I'm very leery of the Chinese made Lionel items. My brother just recently received his preordered SP passenger cars, all 9 of them, and the quality control is the worst I've even seen in Lionel.  Every car had flaws and damage. If Lionel doesn't stop having stuff made in China they're going to loose a huge market share.  My brother and I will NEVER pre-order another Lionel item!

Does anyone know when Lionel started having China manufacture their products?

The bottom line for me is this...I want the Madison style passenger cars I buy to be made some place other than china.

Lionel made the Rail Chief 4 car articulated set to go with the 1990s Hudson. Catalogue number 6-51201.

They are deep maroon , metal,with a high gloss finish and look great. 

I have  never run set for sale since my layouts curves are to small to accomodate them.

Moonboy posted:

Sheesh...so many options!   😨

I've got to say that I'm very leery of the Chinese made Lionel items. My brother just recently received his preordered SP passenger cars, all 9 of them, and the quality control is the worst I've even seen in Lionel.  Every car had flaws and damage. If Lionel doesn't stop having stuff made in China they're going to loose a huge market share.  My brother and I will NEVER pre-order another Lionel item!

Does anyone know when Lionel started having China manufacture their products?

The bottom line for me is this...I want the Madison style passenger cars I buy to be made some place other than china.

Sorry to hear about the problems.  Lionel moved most production off-shore in around 2001. 

MTH has never had domestic production & has used Korea and China as manufacturing centers.

AFAIK, Atlas and Williams produces no domestic trains.

Note that Lionel is the only train maker to manufacture SOME trains in the U.S.  

scale rail posted:

Only one answer.....Don

Agreed, especially if you are trying to recreate the 773's 1950 aura.  They can be reasonably found at train shows and $bay.  Also, keep in mind to make sure you acquire the cars from the same vintage; since the "Lionel Lines" stamping alignment is different depending on the particular year made.  Plus, IIRC those madison cars are only 16" in length coupler to coupler.

Moonboy posted:

It sure is a beautiful set.  I hope I can find the entire set including the 6th car.

According to their website, Nassau Hobby has one set available.  Don't know about extra car.

50TH-ANNIVERSARY-SET

OK guys the attached video is of my 1950 Lionel 773 Hudson pulling four 15 inch Lionel Madison cars circa 1991.  I think they look pretty darn good behind that beauty. 

Sorry for the double video but I've just started posting videos and I'm still a work in progress.

Here they are from a different angle along with that sweet air whistle sounding its  magic melody.

Okhiker..They look great behind your hudson. Nice layout also.

Jsulli21 posted:

Okhiker..They look great behind your hudson. Nice layout also.

Thanks for the compliment.  I love that Hudson.