I acquired this oddball item recently, from the collection of a deceased friend who got it this way from somewhere else. It's a Lionel #2422 "Chatham" car with an unknown motor installed in it. It's a sloppy kit-bash job, but it's somewhat amusing and it runs. "One of a kind." The powered and unpowered 3-rail trucks have matching side frames.
Can someone identify the trucks and motor from the photos? Thanks !
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Bowser trolley trucks, maybe? I wonder why the builder didn't just buy a Marx RDC?
I like the bulb sticking out one end......does have a 'primitive' charm!
What the . . . . .?
Bowser trolley trucks, maybe?
naaa... Bowser truck side frames don't look that good. And that AC motor looks more robust than a Bowser AC motor.
Possibly Q car co?
FWIW: 
I bet with a little work, this car couold be remade into an 027 NYC Pullman MU powered car-or a NH Mu powered car with a GG1 Pantograph.
I think this may have been the intent of this car's creator in the first place.
Dave O King?
Hmmm..... Lee Willis may have had something to do with this.
No, but it is cool. Probably done quite some time ago.
Like Rod said, in this era of plentiful models, many forget there was a time when product availability was nowhere near as extensive. If you wanted something unusual or something you couldn't afford, you made it out of whatever was available.
Having started out with my trains in that era, I've got to laugh at the arguments and whining these days about placement of some piping or headlight positions on our new products.
I had wanted one of the New York Central powered commuter cars that I always saw while trainwatching around the New York City area. My father found a powered diesel truck somewhere and adapted it to a Lionel heavyweight "Madison" car, and I had my commuter car.
Realism was secondary to the satisfaction of having a unique model running on the layout. I've always appreciated these one-of-a-kind creations. If we could only know the whole story behind their imaginative creation. 
Jim
I bet the builder was real proud of his creation and rightly so.
When I think back at some of the odd-ball things I built way back when...
Rusty
Actual RR's. improvised with some of their equipment, to fit a need, especially when they had to save costs.
Ralph
Cases in point of improvisation include the conversion of Metroliner cars into cab control cars for push pull operations on Amtrak, conversion of most of the Heritage coaches in to baggage cars by plating the windows and placing a large baggage door in the center, and turning F40PHs in to "Cabbages" by taking out the prime mover and using the carbody for baggage with a baggage door installed on the side.
Of course the most egregious conversion was cutting GG1 4846 in half and using one half as a snow blower. Eek!
And thus, the first Lionel "Doodlebug" was born 
I think it looks cool, who ever made it was probably really proud of it when it ran. I like to see unusual things like this especially if it something within the basic skills of a modeler.
I ran across this one on Ebay, kind of neat looking, looks like an easy project too:
Jerry
Those are trolley parts that I have seen, possibly my Rapid Transit Trolley.
Gene Anstine
It doesn't look hideous to me. I think it was a creative "kitbash".
looked pretty good until I saw the screws in the sides. Now you have something for the kids to run without fear of hurting a classic.
quote:looked pretty good until I saw the screws in the sides.
I have a couple of Minitoys trolleys with screws in the sides. They were made that way.
I kind-a like it. It's resourceful, honest, and tells a story.
yeah, my Marx steamers have screws thru the cylinders. What spoiled the look for me was the sides were pulled in from the screws being over tightened.
I want a Legacy version of this for my layout. 
Many Thanks for all the feedback. I guess this motor may be older than I suspected, and will take some more research to nail it down.
It looks like this unit originally had another home-made "bumper" on the front end. The "bumper" on the back is made of wood, painted black.
The "headlight" is a repositioned interior light with the bulb poking out the front end. Kinda crude, but it has "character".
Eventually I'd like to do some minor improvements on this thing, and install an E-unit for reversing capability. The motor seems to be a fairly good quality unit.
It looks like the motor from the AMT Budd car.
It looks like the motor from the AMT Budd car.
Hey, that's a promising lead! I'll check that out, Thanks !!!
I agree with Nicole, I never saw a ugly toy train.
Sounds like a good topic starter ,"Ugly model trains you've made" or just "Ugly model trains" .
I'd like imagine this might have been someone's pride and joy. Glad to see you are carrying it forward. Interested in seeing your improvements to it.
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