Crackle Black Lionel 259T & 257T

Accodrding to Doyle Standard Catalog----900-1942, The 257 came with 257T, but "Some of the uncataloged ...locomotives came with a 259T."  258 came with 257T, and 259 came with 259T.  The 261, produced only in 1931 came with a 257T 

Ron,  First off, how closely did you examine the 259 tender, to see the complete tender, with the body & frame?  Was the frame also crackle finish, along with the body??  The 259 with the Crackle finish is catalogued as 259TX, (X denoting a change from normal issue).  This tender was issued in two Outfits only, numbers 21 Special (257/257TX; 603,603, & 604), and 21X Special (257/257TX; 629X, 629X, & 630X--Red with Cream trim).  There was never any Outfit issued with a 259T with Crackle finish, per Dave McEntarfer Lionel Sets, nor Greenberg's Guide to Prewar Lionel, and the TCA Standard of the World book.  The only saving grace to the Doyle book, is his addition of many, many photos.  For Doyle, that is as far as it goes, as he basically Plagarized the contents for his book, from previously work of Paul V. Ambrose (Ambrose & Bauer Auction fame), who sued him in court, and won, thereby preventing Doyle from future publications.

A distinct possibility is that someone took the body of a 257TX, and the trim of the 259 to create a one of a kind.  Both share a four wheel frame.  Lionel could have assembled ONLY one 259 tender in Crackle finish, or the 259 was painted in Crackle finish by the previous owner, to create this "orphan".  Crackle paint has been available in the open market, as one option.  The other option is knowing the process of making paint "Crackle" when it is applied.  

Thats my $.02 on the subject!!

Doc I have a  pair of 259TX in crackle black. The only problem with your comments is the 257T is die cast and the 259 is pressed steel. 2 differing tenders. Mine blacklights as original. One was paired with a ca 1934 259E in gloss black. ..the other is an orphan.

Rob, I can believe you, and Lord only knows what Lionel did back in 1932-36 time frame.  I am inclined to think that someone at Lionel put together a few of the "Orphans" in Crackle Black paint.  From 1930 to about 1937, Lionel was struggling to stay alive, following the 'Depression', and used a lot of Ives holdovers, in the mid decade, with great success.  This was also the same time frame that Lionel was moving away from the high priced "0" gauge tinplate, and was progressing into the Die Cast phase.  In today's market, and collecting, there are some pretty good 'Orphans', that are just beginning to see the light of day.  Crackle finish has been around for many years, as is obvious with some trains, and loads of Radio gear from the same period.  Because there are so few of these tenders known to exist, I would say it is safe to presume (not assume) that they are RARE.  It's fun to see and also collect variations of certain items.  Let the discussion continue!!

TeleDoc posted:

Rob, I can believe you, and Lord only knows what Lionel did back in 1932-36 time frame.  I am inclined to think that someone at Lionel put together a few of the "Orphans" in Crackle Black paint.  From 1930 to about 1937, Lionel was struggling to stay alive, following the 'Depression', and used a lot of Ives holdovers, in the mid decade, with great success.  This was also the same time frame that Lionel was moving away from the high priced "0" gauge tinplate, and was progressing into the Die Cast phase.  In today's market, and collecting, there are some pretty good 'Orphans', that are just beginning to see the light of day.  Crackle finish has been around for many years, as is obvious with some trains, and loads of Radio gear from the same period.  Because there are so few of these tenders known to exist, I would say it is safe to presume (not assume) that they are RARE.  It's fun to see and also collect variations of certain items.  Let the discussion continue!!

Some more pix of this orphan. From these you can see this piece is an ORIGINAL factory item. (Couldn't find the left side shot.)

Ron M