Lionel E-6, why not reissued?

No one here has these E-6's?

John:

 

Don't have a set, but would like the Sante Fe version. This would be a good candidate for a remake in scale detail.

I have the Milwaukee Road set. They are decent pullers, no problem with 8 or 9 scale (20-21") aluminum cars. Only the lead unit is powered and the sound is in the trailer. Detail is good but a bit fragile for a diesel. The paint on the Milwaukee version strikes me as a bit pale and washed-out looking compared to prototype photos. The smoke units are a bit problematical with condensation blocks forming in the stacks, but it does look cool when the smoke is working right, with smoke pouring out of four stacks in each unit. I've never done the Mike Reagan upgrade on these units and that probably would help. On the whole, they are nice units but not my favorite passenger diesels.

 

I may alter the paint job - Lionel painted them solid light gray with the lightning stripe design, which is as-delivered. The Milwaukee later repainted this set in the later E-7 scheme with a black roof, which adds some contrast to the light gray and IMHO looks better. It wouldn't be all that hard to do the roof and the yellow pinstripe separating the black and gray, and I might just do it when I get time. 

I have several sets and love them. Santa Fe, Southern, Rock Island, ACL and Milwaukee Road. I do not have grades, and to me they seem to run great. I never understood why they didn't sell better. I will post some pictures later this week.

 

Gerry

I have the AA TMCC set and love them, but I run them in an AB set now or LA. I used a dummy PRR B unit to make the B unit. I had them running at the San Diego club a couple months ago, and gave them a work out. Only the A unit is powered but it pulled a 14 car train with ease on level track. The train was a combination of Lionel 18" aluminum cars and MTH 18" plastic cars, and it was HEAVY.

 

Of course I fixed the pilot on the A unit, and put Kadees between the units to pull them closer together. I am looking for a powered E8B to make another pair with the dummy E6A.

 

 

 

I intend on mix and matching my sets of GGD SC and El Cap cars to run different trains so I can use my E6 pair to pull a Santa Fe train. Although they did not pull they El Capitan train, they did pull several other trains through the years, many in CA. So having the 2 sets gives me multiple options for specific trains, or I can always make up my own train and use whatever power I choose. I will also be fixing pilots on my set of TMCC PA's ABA set to pull these cars.

 

I wouldn't wait for a Legacy set. Find a good used pair and pick them up.

Laidoffsick

 

Great pics and I love the way you closed the gaps. Which Kadees did you use? Easy conversion? Would the same ones work on a set of Lionel scale f-3's.

 

John

I wish lionel also painted them in the EMC e3 demo colors.. what ever they were.

I used Kadee 740, but none of the Lionel conversion are "easy" and they take a lot of time. I haven't decided how I am going to do my F3's and F7's yet, that's the only reason they are not done. I'm still debating. The front pilot is just a matter of cutting a spacer to fit, paint, and then attach it.

I have the Burlington E-5 A-A set that I use to pull my California Zephyr, GN Empire Builder and NP North Coast Limited sets. They pull my 7-8 K-Line 15" cars with no problem.

OK, since the Santa Fe pictures are above, I'm attaching pictures of the ACL, Milwaukee Road, Rock Island and Southern.

 

Gerry

 

Simple answer, not popular enough.  Lionel, rightly or wrongly, does not see sufficient reservations to make it happen.  Think differently?  Talk to CharlieNassau and/or CharlesRo to see if you can get enough people to lobby Lionel otherwise.

The answer is not so simple . . . . . 

If a product has doubled in value on the secondary market, by definition, there is great demand. Why does Lionel not reissue:

1) Legacy sound tank cars

2) Die cast ES44AC locos

3) EVO GE

4) Milwaukee S-3

 

All of the above have proven that on the secondary market people are paying much more than the original price.

 

Lionel has been unable to predict accurately enough what the public will or won't buy.

The lead time, currency fluctuations, manufacturing backlogs, and failure to deliver in a timely manner has shaken the production chain to the point where they are unsure what, how, when, and for whom. 

 

I remember talking to three or four "marketing" reps at York all of whom were younger than my son. I explained I would not buy the new steamers without whistle steam. They said it was too expensive, too big for the bodies, etc. etc. I asked why they would put it in, show the market how cool products could be at a certain price point, and then take it out and leave the product at the same price point. They said that the locos were not shabazz shabang without unglook and turpentine. I said, "Whaaaaaaaa?" What are you saying ? Ummmmm, I couldn't figure it out.

 

The proof is now they are making the number to order.

 

Economics 101

Gotta love that ACL purple...what was Tom Rice thinking when he said "Paint them black!"?!?!?!

Gerry:

 

Thanks so much for posting photos of your fleet of beautiful E6s. I hope that one of the manufacturers steps up to the plate and makes them.

 

With the recent announcement by GGD of the Sante Fe Hi-Levels, this is positive proof that some do listen, so the more threads about the E6s, a manufacturer may take notice and we could see them again.

 

These engines were a very smart acquisition on your part.

 

Thanks Brian. We just have to make sure that you and Elizabeth get here sometime to see them.

 

Gerry

 

Good observation above Eliot - almost horrifying that the marketing reps are "younger than your son". WHat does the world of trains look like from their perspective one wonders?

 

Here's our lone Burlington E5A that I had painted into Southern's No 2800 in the Tuxedo scheme awhile back. Also pictured is MTH's SR E6 'Tennessean'. Such beautiful lines...

Wow, your Southern 2800 sure looks a LOT better when compared to that poorly painted/lettered CB&Q E5 (which should have had stainless steel side panels).

 

No arguments from me.  I thought they were redoing the ethanol tankers with sound, hmmm.

 

You very seldom will see the ATSF E6s show up on Ebay and they do go for pretty good prices.  But the others generally go for pretty cheap.

 

Tee Hee, yeah Eduspeak is kinda funny.  Spouting a bunch of stuff they learned in business school that they probably don't understand.

 

Like I said talk to a volume dealer,  Lionel listens to them.

I have been looking for set of rock islands for many a moon to no avail.
I have two sets of the Santa fes and they are smooth as silk!

Gerry

 

Thanks for the great pictures. Love that Rock Island.

JWC:

 

If you determine in the future that one of the two sets of Sante Fe E6s is a surplus to you, please contact me.

 

Probably wishful thinking. 

I will think about it. they are shelf queens right now with very little run time. Dont know how I ended up with two sets. But somehow when you find a really nice locomotive you feel the need for two. I guess I am the train hoarder.

you wouldnt happen to have the Rock Islands or a legacy H7 would ya?

I need the Rock Islands to pull my Golden State cars which have been on shelf duty for about 15 years.

How come your grab iron came off at the top on the ACL unit?

 

Thanks for your nice comments HW. The Southern is a dummy w/TMCC and has smoke. I sometimes run it pushed by a Legacy Southern Tuxedo U30C behind it pulling 6 Southern silver streamliners that we custom decaled for cities/towns where I've lived.

J Daddy - I saw a set of Rock Islands on the bay just a few days ago but can't find them at the moment. They seem to pop up there from time to time.

 

Drop me a line to my email in profile please. I have an idea that you might be interested in.

JWC:

 

I wish I had them for you. But alas, no. Thanks for asking. When you get a hankering to sell one of your two sets, just let me know.

You and me both, I almost bought the K line E9's. bot realized they do not have cruise. Hmm may have to upgrade with a ERR board. BTW, how did you find the dome car?


       

What's the story on the dome pictured above?  Am assuming these are K-Line 72'ers?

There was a single vista dome offered for $299 on the bay that ended unsold last week. At present there are two sets - a 5 car set for $245 (including a dome) of 'various lengths' and an 8 car set for $700. I'm not real familiar with these but they certainly are pretty.

Those are some beautiful engines. I really want a B&O E6. New MTH Premier E6 ABA sets will (may) be available soon, but I don't like the wires and the fact you can't operate the A units separately. I'd also like another B unit or two. The Lionel sets seem to be more flexible with both powered and unpowered A and B units. This does not appear to be the case with Lionel's soon (we know what that means) to be shipped E8/9 sets. Decisions, decisions...

I bought all of these cars when they were first issued by Kline. They were from the Kline Collectors club. They came out with 1 or 2 cars each year.

These cars were from the Kline Collectors Club and were offered over a period of years to KCC members. There was actually two different sets. One was the scale size 18" cars which are shown in the picture and the other was a smaller traditional size, 15" if I recall or maybe 12". The shorter version had a total of 12 cars.

that explains why I see partial car sets for sale.
the 18 inch cars look grear except for the stubby baggage and RPO cars. They look so out of place.
Seems Kline did this on their UP sets as well.

Guess I don't notice the short cars that much since they are sitting on a shelf.

 

I have 9 cars which I believe is the full set. How many you have?

18"/72' baggage/combo is correct for the prototype (aka it's scale).  The rest of the streamline cars were 85' long and should be represented by 21" cars.

 

If you go with the 72' cars for everything else a 15"/60 foot car would at least be "proportional".

You got it. Simple supply and demand. If a few people want an item that isn't available or only has limited availability, they can bid the price as high as they want. That doesn't mean that there's sufficient demand for a manufacturer to profitably do another run of the item. Simple economics 101.

 

Gerry

 

I used the grab irons to grab them.

 

UGH.

 

Gerry

Didn't see this post until this afternoon.  It's not the best picture to view the set but here are mine.  What else can I say...they're beautiful engines, to be sure.  I'd love to see them reissued.

 

- Mike

 

 

If you count factory error, the K-Line 18" GS set had 10 cars.  While the real GS had no dome cars, the planned K-Line set had two.  There are a few domes out there that have the name of one of the domes, and the number of the other, on it making three domes total.

 

The Lionel RI E6s are pretty close to the correct colors of the engines that pulled the GS in the late 1940s.  The engines also have the RI engine numbers on them of the actual engines that pulled the train, making them the ideal engines to pull the K-Line set.

 

Ron