If you could make a train set.What would you put in it?

What Marx once made, and that are popular with interested collectors today, is

work trains: a set with a crane car and flat cars.  They made these in their "six

inch" series, and in their "scale", "3/16th" series.  This last included a series

of work trains, made up with a #999 2-4-2, one or two flat cars, with either

a cardboard pipe load and/or a lumber load, a gondola, a crane car, and a caboose.

I would like to see similar work trains made, possibly with a Consolidation or

Mikado (or even an aged 4-4-0 that is almost out to pasture), a couple of modified

box cars turned into crew, dining, or tool cars, a flat car loaded with wheels, a

crane tender, a crane, and followed by a modified ancient open platform combine.  All

the cars should be painted in work train gray, or other worktrain colors of specific

railroads.

Quality , something I haven't seen in a new set in some time. guess that is why I like the old trains. Just another funny old guy with funny ideas. Gary

It would be the next one on my "wish list", the NS Business train.

Hows about a LionChief Plus Polar Express RTR set with two graduated helix's, a rickety bridge connecting them on top and a dipping straight connecting them below to simulate the train running across the frozen lake with ice cracking underneath it.

As a kid way back when, I always wanted a train of boxcars. I do think that today's sets have a good mix of cars and engines to choose from.

Another was the Marx Tales of Wells Fargo playset with electric train set. I remember receiving this set, it had everything a young boy would ever want. Electric train, metal western town, cowboys and indians, horses, stagecoach and wagons. I remember classmates visit home just to see this set, then go home and ask for one also. I even had many upper classmates wanting to see this set. I was pretty popular for several weeks. I remember mom saying it was the only one Sears had, and a lady was just putting it on the display shelves.

I could be interested in a mail train...   You know, predominately baggage cars, express boxcars, maybe an express reefer, and a coach or two...the last one of which would have a simple scissors gate across the rear opening, but there would be two very cool functioning marker lights at the back end.

Motive power?  Something iconic, workaholic, phantazmagoric....like a 4-8-4 with 74"-80" drivers and a deep throaty whistle that makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up and your leg start to twitch!

Forget the track and power pack.   It'd be somewhere between wrong and useless for many of us.

OK?  Thanks!  

From whom shall I expect to order it?

(Yeah, right.)

KD

my set would be 4 PRR Decapods, 2 in front and 2 pushing. About 100 PRR H21a hoppers and a PRR Cabin car.

USRA Mike with a crane, crane tender and a gondola or two, maybe a flat with wheelsets, bunk car add on

2-8-0 with 3 Overton Passenger cars in Rio Grande

Mine would have a

*  LionChief Plus Mikado

*  one operating log dump car with operating track

*  rolling stock with 1 boxcar, 1 gondola 1 hopper 1 tankcar and lighted caboose

*  Include the LC+ wall transformer.  

*  Track would be an oval with a passing track - so two remote switches.

*  One lighted block signal, which the user can set to red with a pushbutton and a timer to go automatically back to green after a delay

*  one inexpensive and easy snap-together building kit, perhaps with a light.

*  almost forgot a couple of figures

.

josef:  That Marx Wells Fargo set is out there, and I have seen them sell in live auctions, and on the bay, not inexpensively.  My brother and I intermingled our Marx #999 sets and his Marx western ranch and western town on the living room floor. 

I would not want that type of set now, for the Marx buildings and figures included with it are larger than O scale...however, a set with scale figures and buildings should not

be impossible.  Marx also made both "six inch" and "3/16" mixed train sets, with both freight and passenger cars, but neither they or any I can think of from other mfrs. meet my image of an ideal mixed train set.  For me, that would be a Casey Jone (4-6-0) with a mix of freight cars and a postal baggage combine on the end. This is

what the Rio Grande used to run up the Aspen branch.  For a diesel postal train,

the Rio Grande's Yampa Valley Mail was often run with an Alco Pa, baggage, RPO(s),

and one or more often mismatched (heavyweight/lightweight) coaches in its trip up to Craig in northern Colorado.  These are sets we can put together, but mfrs. might not

think a train of mismatched coaches such as the YVM was very marketable.

For kids, it's a no-brainer. All gondolas or all flats. And a small military diesel switcher, perhaps an SW-7. Alternativenely a small tank engine with military markings. The figure eight and loop gets very boring. But kids love to load and unload flats and gondolas.

An entire Vision Superchief set, with an ABBA set of Warbonnet F3s with all the goodies in them, and twelve cars, all with interiors, and lots and lots of detail.  

I'm with you Lee on this one. 

A 1938 20th century limited Smithsonian set with Legacy.

I remeber some top-of-the-line sets from the 50's(the "J") & 60's(the last 773) that came with operating cars,accessories, track, RCS and a pair of switches, and a ZW.

While I wouldn't expect such a thing today, a starter set could contain an operating car or perhaps a manually operated accessory of some kind (a gantry crane), or an RCS and a pair of manual switches. A bit more exciting than just a train in an oval. 

But probably not. Too expensive.

JLC Allegheny steam engine 40 hopper cars and a caboose.You would have to buy your own track and power.I know,no body would buy it.It would cost to much.Well he asked.Nick

I like to thank every one who replyed to this.It is fun to think what if every now and then.

There has really been a lack of South East Roadnames on starter sets.  A SAL F3 or RS3 pulling a few freight cars would be nice.  Also maybe a ACL Champion starter set with an E6 and a few streamlined passenger cars would be too.  

Several years ago Lionel offered all these cars in Santa Fe silver....except the GP7 was black.

They should all be offered again in several road names and as a set.  It is a great looking work train.

Lionel Legacy crane and boom tender

...along with

-tool car

-8,000 gallon tank car

-40' flat car (idler) w/load

-40' flat w/wedge plow

-GP7 or GP9 to pull it

-maybe add a gondola to it

Lee, see the Lionel Anniversary set.  That came with the Warbonnet F3's in

A-B-B-A configuration plus seven cars.

     Hoppy

The Silver Meteor, the Southern Crescent, or the DL&W Phoebe Snow, or the N&W Pocahontas....done as complete trains with appropriate motive power.  You could optionally sub a GG1 on the Meteor, or some Red Birds on the Poke !  All done to the highest possible standards !

An ES44C4 and two 3-car-articulated 53ft wells with an ETD device at the end.  And 53ft containers to fill the well cars.

Missouri Pacific "Eagle" Passenger set

A-B-B-A Alco PA's in Santa Fe War Bonnet scheme pulling 12 El Capitain cars from GGD.  

A small but serious engine with coil couplers, a mix of container flats and gons, plus a forklift and/or crane! You can go on ebay and find RC freight handling equipment for amazingly short money. It's a little oversized but fine for a starter set. Why the o gauge world still charges hundreds for freight-handling accessories is a mystery. A $25 forklift could add a ton of play value to any layout, big or small. The tooling is already out there, so why not?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/QingYi-B039-Mini-7-Engineering-Remote-Control-RC-Forklift-US-Seller-/321309671772?pt=Radio_Control_Vehicles&hash=item4acf8c815c

I would create a mid-range Army steam set consisting of flat cars with tank, halftrack, jeep loads, an army box car and a troop passenger or red cross observation car at the end of consist.  Steam locomotive should be a Mikado with fan driven smoke, TMCC w/cruise and 5.0 Railsounds.  No track or transformer.

Steve, Lady and Tex

A whole lot of time, energy and love and support of all my friends I've made here! As well as equipment, naturally!

I wouldn't make it for myself, I would make it for posterity to pass on.

Mike Maurice

As nice as it was I never liked that set. Plus old technology. 

It must be legacy with all the goodies and scale cars.

I thought the Lionel Anniversary set terminology was universally understood to be in reference to the #1464 Yellow U.P. Alco passenger car set.

HOPPY... This should make you HAPPY.

The complete set on Ebay.  Current bid $950.99  

that new lionel engine, one that costs over 2k

  An RMT Beep with the old K-line (Marx)bay window caboose and a pair of the O-27 size hoppers or gondolas.  Or, an RMT Bang and RMT cupola caboose and two frieght cars.  Or even just a locomotive and caboose set. Offer it as a gift set-no track or transformer. 

Alan P:  Thanks for the tip, I ordered one of the forklifts to check it out.  Scale is 1:32 so it is bigger than 1:48, but as forklift sizes can vary a lot, it may look just fine.  I am building a factory scene with a loading dock and couple of flatbed trailers that the forklift can shuttle between.   If it looks and works OK I may also be able to run a short spur to service the factor - more loads to shuttle.   -Ken

I would love to see the current Lionel Baby Berk offered as a RF&P engine with a loaded Pennsylvania Gondola, a Seaboard Airline Boxcar, a ACL covered hopper, a C&O empty hopper and a RF&P caboose. A RF&P add on boxcar would be gravy. 

The Hogwarts Harry Potter set engine in British Rail lined large logo lined black pulling private logo Thomas gondolas and a new mold British caboose would be great.