Lionel 6-19209 O-27 Florida East Coast single door boxcar
The Florida East Coast Railway (reporting mark FEC) is a Class II railroad operating in the state of Florida and since 2007 has been a subsidiary of Railroad Acquisition Holdings, LLC. The FEC was historically a Class I railroad owned by Florida East Coast Industries (FECI) from 2000-2006, FOXX Holdings from 1983-2000, and the St. Joseph Paper Company prior to 1983. Built primarily in the last quarter of the 19th century and the first decade of the 20th century, the FEC was a project of Standard Oil principal Henry Morrison Flagler. The FEC is possibly best known for building the railroad to Key West, completed in 1912. When the FEC's line from the mainland to Key West was heavily damaged by the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935, the State of Florida purchased the remaining right-of-way and bridges south of Dade County, and they were rebuilt into road bridges for vehicle traffic and became known as the Overseas Highway. Today the FEC route continues between Jacksonville, FL and Miami.
This model is a very basic O-27 railcar that includes a plastic body and non-sprung plastic trucks. The underframe is plain stamped sheet metal. The Lionel model was produced by Lionel Trains, Inc., Mt Clemens, Michigan. (BLT 1-89) The Lionel model lettering shows the classic "Speedway to America's Playground".
Looking for photos of a prototype FEC boxcar with this lettering.
This car is intended to be used on a small O-27 layout.
Since the original model is very light metal sprung trucks have been installed for added weight. The original plastic trucks are attached with a rivet that needs to be drilled out and replaced with a 2-56 machine screw. The photos show both the original model and the modified model.
