Let’s see your Lionel Standard “O” Cars

The few I have are all packed away until my layout is operational. Here's a stock photo of one.

Keith. Thanks for posting I never knew they made that one nice 

Here's another one. Again, stock photo.

Lee, my favorite Standard O cars are the 42' Mill Gondolas. Scale width and nice detailing&paint:

I replace to stock trucks with the MTH roller bearing hidden-tab version:

I like the "WHEN EMPTY RETURN TO DT&I RR" message on this Wabash car.  

Here are a few.

@Oman posted:

The few I have are all packed away until my layout is operational. Here's a stock photo of one.

I may be mistaken, but I thought the original poster meant the "Standard O" cars Lionel made before the newer scale cars, such as this CNR one, which have all the add-on detail parts, etc. There have been many, many of those made in the modern era, beginning during the time Dick Mattox was president of Lionel, and production was shifted to China.

The so-called Standard O cars were made beginning back in the MPC era, in the 70s and 80s. The Wabash and Railgon gondolas shown above are from that era. There were some made in the 90s as well, which some of the above cars were. These cars are standard O in size, but predated the newer scale detailed cars, and have molded in details, such as ladders and grabrails. They were all made in the U.S. while Lionel's production was still being done here.

Lew. Thanks for posting I was hoping you would post your gondola cars before I started this thread I was thinking of all the Standard O cars they made and when I was thinking of the gondola I was thinking of you and hoping you would be posting your gondolas the Wabash  is probably my favorite also. I appreciate it

Dudley. Thanks for Sharing your collection that tank car is on my list to get

Breezinup. Yes you are right that’s my target the MPC years and the 90s Standard O Rolling Stock so guys if we can keep it within those lines I would appreciate it. 

I've always like the Wabash gon as well, for some reason. The bold Wabash lettering on the side is probably a main reason. I have the Railgon as well. Nice cars. Glad to get geysergazers idea for adding the MTH roller bearing trucks. Looks like those lower the cars nicely for a better look.

Here’s my NYC Standard O caboose 

Here are three of the very early MPC boxcars

Here are some of the gondolas from the 80s and 90s with various loads

@breezinup posted:

I've always like the Wabash gon as well, for some reason. The bold Wabash lettering on the side is probably a main reason. I have the Railgon as well. Nice cars. Glad to get geysergazers idea for adding the MTH roller bearing trucks. Looks like those lower the cars nicely for a better look.

Yes, switching trucks does indeed lower the car for a much better appearance.

@lee drennen posted:

Lew. Thanks for posting I was hoping you would post your gondola cars before I started this thread I was thinking of all the Standard O cars they made and when I was thinking of the gondola I was thinking of you and hoping you would be posting your gondolas the Wabash  is probably my favorite also. I appreciate it

Dudley. Thanks for Sharing your collection that tank car is on my list to get

Breezinup. Yes you are right that’s my target the MPC years and the 90s Standard O Rolling Stock so guys if we can keep it within those lines I would appreciate it. 

I figure sooner or later Brian will pick up on the DT&I reference. 

A few favorites that inclined acquisition of multiples.

Hobby-go-Lucky.   thanks for posting those hoppers look great I like the Southern Pacific the best 

Dudley. Thanks again for posting those cars. I just got the P&LE in the mail this week. The gondolas look good I didn’t know that they made a PRR one. Nice 

Lew. Brian will pick up the scent and find us. 

Breezinup. I also lowered my gondola too but I ground down where it mount and move the trucks forward I’ll post some pic of it if I can find them 

Here’s my Lionel F Pulling a manifest of Standard O. The last NYC Pacemaker I Custom painted/ decaled. 

If someone posts a car that you already have feel free to post yours anyway I would like to see it

The J.M. HUBER tank car is a Standard O line car. 

Andrew 

Here is the L&N ACF Center Flow 3-bay covered hopper. 

Andrew

This topic has been moved from 3-rail traditional discussion category to the photo albums category due to the topic emphasizing picture posting.

I believe this Northern Pacific smoking caboose was part of the very early " Standard O ' rolling stock.

@Bill T posted:

I believe this Northern Pacific smoking caboose was part of the very early " Standard O ' rolling stock.

That’s a nice looking car, and scene!  Did you add the details to it or is that all original?

Tom wondered what MTH trucks I used. 30-89001 works nicely. Also, a new truck mounting hole must be drilled in the frame because the stock Lionel trucks have off-center pivot points:

The left hole is the original truck mounting hole. The on eon the right is the freshly drilled one to position the MTH truck so the coupler protrudes the correct distance from the end of the car:

One further detail is to re-use the aluminum shoulder-washer from the OEM truck because the shoulder on the MTH truck mount isn't tall enough to provide clearance when the mounting screw is drawn tight (the Lionel floor is thicker than MTH floors). The shoulder washer can be filed thinner to establish correct clearance.

@rplst8 posted:

That’s a nice looking car, and scene!  Did you add the details to it or is that all original?

The NP caboose is all original, no detail added.

Yes Lionel did a great job on there Standard O Cabooses. Mine is newer than Bill’s but has the same great details as his here a better pic of mine than the one I previously posted but not as good as Bill’s pic 

Here's my collection of Standard "O" to date, less duplicates.  All have been lowered as much as possible, all (except caboose) have had new or excellent used Lionel die-cast metal sprung trucks added, along with extra weight added for better tracking characteristics.  Other additional work as noted.....................

Rock Island box car (one of three that I have).  Stirrups at all 4 corners made from Arrow staples, light interior detailing (scribed wood flooring and wood-grained wall panels).

Santa Fe box car.  Same details as RI box car, plus interior load.

Southern Pacific gondola, with home-made load.

Miller High Life plug door box car, with stirrups added at each corner.

New York Central flat car.  Brake wheel added to one end.

And lastly, a Rock Island caboose (one of two that I have).  This one features a scratch-built cupola that has been moved forward from the original Lionel location, for a little more "Rock Island-esque" look.  Also a scratch-built stove smoke stack, and modified steps at the end sills.

I think these are pretty nice cars, especially if I can find them for a good deal at a train meet.  With just a little bit of work they can easily be transformed into even better looking cars.  And if they're not an exact 1/48 scale, they have to be at least pretty darned close. 

Paul. Thanks for posting these beautiful cars. Yes they have a lot of potential if your willing to take the time like you did. I like them because there not O27 or True O scale they go well with my 1/50 trucks and trailers and most of the time there cheap. 

@Mixed Freight posted:

Rock Island box car (one of three that I have).  Stirrups at all 4 corners made from Arrow staples, light interior detailing (scribed wood flooring and wood-grained wall panels).

Nice add with those stirrups! I’m definitely going to steal that idea if you don’t mind.

Lew, thanks very much for the truck mounting details. I'll be putting this to use.

Paul, those are great looking cars and some great ideas. The arrow staple stirrups are a terrific idea.

I had quite a few at one time, but I'm selling them off.  Here are the ones I have left.

DG...thanks for posting that P&LE green boxcar...by far, my favorite of the Standard O cars...

Thanks, Breezinup for drawing the distinction of the "real" Standard O cars.

Beside the Schaeffer and Miller cars, the Stroh's car from '74-'76 was the other beer car that appeared in this series.

Here’s a few of mine... I know I have a bunch more - I especially want to find my STD. O NYC Pacemaker!!!

It will look like this 😊 I also like this one.

@DG posted:

It will look like this 😊 I also like this one.

Dudley;

What it looks like isn’t my problem... where they are stored is the problem   

I have around 9 tubs full of cars going back to the 70’s. I have a Pacemaker set currently stored on the layout (3 boxcars and a caboose). I’m curious to see how the standard O version from the mid-80’s compares. Here is a short video of what I called my milk and cookies train headed into Manhattan - An NYC Niagara pulling the NYC milk cars from the Century Club II and some Pacemaker boxcars loaded with Stella D’Oro cookies they picked up in the Bronx!!!

Paul, I had the 5 car set of Pacemaker boxcars from the mid-80s (I think) but sold them a few years ago, sometimes I wish I had kept them but they were seldom on the layout. I kept the original one, but it is also seldom out. I understand the problem on finding things, plus remembering if you even have something 😊

EDIT/UPDATE: Well I finally figured out what NYC Pacemaker set I owned at one time - and it was 6-17246 NYC Pacemaker Rolling Stock 4-Pack which included the 3 boxcars and caboose shown in the video posted by Paul. It was cataloged in the Lionel Classic Trains - Volume II - 1998 Catalog. I am looking at the printed version of the catalog and that page also includes the Union Pacific Freight Car Set which I also owned but sold the same time I sold the NYC set. 

Oh well, occasionally my memory works well enough to figure out where to look for what I forgot. 

Ron. Thanks for posting are the For Sale here or some where else? 

Breezinup. Thanks for the pic of the Strohs ca o have that one on the layout 

Paul. Thanks for the video the Pacemaker cars look great I hope some day to have a Pacemaker consist.

Thanks for all who has posted keep those pics coming  

At the time the Stroh's reefer was released, Stroh's beer was truly a fire-brewed beer which gave it a unique carmelization of the malt. It was always my favorite Standard O car and the beer was not half bad either.

Near the end of the Lionel LTI era in the 1990s when MTH, Atlas, Weaver, and others were making scale cars with add-on detail, Lionel tried to extend the Standard O line a few more years by adding loads to flat cars but the best effort was the colorful hopper cars. Even though they don’t have add-on details and maybe not the correct type trucks, they sure looked nice on running trains. I kept almost all of the hoppers and still run them with scale cars on trains.