Way back in the stone ages when I was 10/11 years old I remember poring through the Lionel 1957 and 1958 catalogs and absolutely drooling over the Norfolk and Western 746 J Class Northern. At that point in my life I never saw anything so magnificent. The smooth and exquisite bullet nosed shape of the engine with its striking orange and yellow stripe accompanied by a streamlined tender also with the orange and yellow stripe completely captivated me. I would stare at the catalog renderings of this beautiful steamer for hours and wished that I could have one. This was out of the question of course because the price tag on the 746 was far more than we could ever afford. Instead I had to be content with running my Grandfather's little Lionel 249 2-4-2 but content I was because this little engine and tender also has a matching orange stripes and when I watched it run I made believe I was watching the 746. An 11 year old kid's imagination is capable of almost anything.
In any event, the years passed but nevertheless my interest in toy trains never completely waned nor did my love of the 746. When I reached my late 20s and early 30s the toy train rebirth was in full swing but with increased interest came increased prices. I had a family to raise so the 746 remained out of reach. When I retired in 1997 command control systems and larger engines were coming into vogue and like so many I got caught up in the frenzy with TMCC, DCS and scale sized engines. At train shows and auction sites I would still admire the post-war 746 but I spent my dollars elsewhere. The 746 was still pretty much holding its value and I felt I wanted more "bang for my buck" so I always went for the bells and whistles of the modern era engines.
Over the last couple of years I found that my interest in post-war trains was returning and since I kept all of the old engines I had purchased I began to operate them more and more on my layout. I also began searching for that old 746. As I searched I found that a 746 in reasonably good shape still commanded a fairly high price. I try to maintain a fairly strict train budget (the operative word there is try) and old habits die hard so I resisted the urge to spend the high dollar amount that most of these engines were going for. Finally, last week I accidentally stumbled on a 746 in excellent to like new condition with everything working superbly that was listed with a starting bid far below the usual asking price. The bidding was to end in less than two hours and not a single bid had been made. I placed my bid and held my breath figuring for sure there would be a bevy of last minute bids on such a fine engine. It never happened. I won the auction with a base line starting bid. This was a case of being in the right place at the right time. This engine was not listed in the regular post war 1945 to 1969 listings but rather the modern era listings. I guess at this particular point in time all of the 746 bidders were concentrating on the post-war era enabling me to slip through the cracks and virtually "steal" a premier post-war engine.
When I received the engine I placed it under the tree and ran it through its paces. Smooth as silk and a great smoker with a sweet sounding air whistle and barely a scratch on it. Then I retrieved my 1957 and 1958 catalogs and turned to the pages which advertised the last great steam engine the old Lionel Corporation ever produced. I turned all of the lights off in the living room save the tree lights and let this venerable old legend strut its stuff. The smoke billowed from the engine and the soft, haunting sound of its air whistle sweetly echoed from its tender. I stared at the 746 pictured on the pages of the old Lionel Catalogs. Time stood still. I was both eleven and sixty six. A young boy's dreams had come to fruition to the delight of this old man. I may be prejudiced but only the magic of toy trains makes such an odyssey possible.
