Lionel's Penn Central/Conrail Merger cars.....Update 2/28/16

Nice set, thanks for the pics.  I like the modular layout.

Thanks for bringing this one up Peter ( PutnamDivision).

I am a huge fan of those cars. When I started collecting trains in the early 2000's I wanted to focus on one area so I started collecting Penn Central MPC boxcars because there were so many of them at the monthly train club meets I belonged to (AGTTA in San Diego). Apparently people don't like PC.  I've always liked the look of a unit train but one with variety. These overstamp cars are great for that.

I like having a group of like cars and then the variety that comes with these over stamps. Running a train with the brown Pennsy overstamp to PC some full deco Green PC cars and a green PC car overstamp to Conrail adds some variety and let's the train tell a story.  

I have nearly all of these overstamps. A lot of dealers still have them NOS. I think I'm only missing the CNJ/CR and the LV/CR.

Of the whole group I think my favorite is the NYC Pacemaker/PC it looks really cool in a long string of standard Pacemaker boxcars. So many train makers have made boxcars in this paint scheme in traditional toy train size they are fairly common at train meets so I have quite a few. 

Im happy to see that over the last ten years or so others in the train hobby have come around to at least grudgingly appreciate PC. I would love that new PC passenger set from Lionel but I think I would like it in the smaller traditional toy train size. 

I love the Conrail blue too.  One of the first boxcars I had in the 1980s was the blue boxcarn with fixed couplers.  Still have it, just need a blue Conrail engine

I remember first seeing this set in the catalog and being excited that Lionel was thinking of something new and totally different. The N5c caboose had some (all?) of the side porthole Windows filled in just like Conrail did with its own cabooses. Early Conrail really did have lots of old freight cars patch painted over. I was excited by the idea.

Then it seemed like Lionel missed the boat when the set arrived. The locomotive had a plasticy starter set feel to it. The Pacemaker boxcar was more of a 50's era car, not something on Conrail. Then the add on cars weren't really patch repainted to match the original concept. It was just a freight car with silver or white "Conrail" painted on the existing logo. To me anyway, the catalog art had a brilliant idea behind it. Shop workers fixing freight cars was so cool. Then the set came and it was such a let down.

Fascinating chapter of railroad history.  

On one end of the spectrum, railroads were meticulous to the "T" with passenger trains like the California Zephyr -- which represented exquisite first-class details and attitudes everywhere you'd look.  And then on the other end of the spectrum we have this Penn Central / Conrail era which seemed to epitomize the "do as little as you need to" approach, where even the paint-schemes were more of a minimalist afterthought -- just mere overstamps on top of existing aged rolling stock.  Interesting...

This Tuesday I'm due to receive Lionel's new Texas Special 21" passenger cars.  And if I'm impressed enough with them, I may treat myself to the new PC passenger train in the 2016 Signature Catalog.  They'd go nicely with the JLC PC "blackjack" GG-1 I stumbled upon last year.  I'd prefer 18" cars, but might make one more exception to acquire a somewhat "unique" set of the 21" variety.  Maybe...

David

Also a big Conrail Blue fan here.  Although I don't own any, I always thought those cars were interesting.  

Rocky Mountaineer posted:

And then on the other end of the spectrum we have this Penn Central / Conrail era which seemed to epitomize the "do as little as you need to" approach

Actually, it was more of a "do what you can with what you got" approach.  Penn Central was bankrupt early on, and Conrail was formed from a group of railroads which were in dire straits.  They did what they had to do to move trains and try to become profitable.  Looks were, indeed, an afterthought in those days!

Love Conrail. I have good memories of hearing their horns passing crossings at night from where I use to live in metro west Boston.  If I saw that set today I would pull the trigger on them less the engine with the pullmore motor.  Very cool Peter! 

Hi,

Can anyone list all of the additional cars that came out after the set was made? I have some, but would not mind trying to get more. I also have the K-line paint booth and car. I had to get this, since was father was a painter during the Reading/Conrail era. Thanks for posting this flashback.

Jim

This is one of my favorite sets. I think there was three 6464 Overstamp Boxcar sets that came out between 1998 and 1999. 6-21756 Penn Central & Erie Lackawanna/Conrail, 6-29286 Reading/Penn Central & New Haven/Conrail, 6-29281 Jersey Central/Conrail & Lehigh Valley/Conrail.

Thanks for all the great comments.....I wish the engine that came with the set was more like the 2380, 2383 and 2028 Geeps from 96/97, which had a decent Pullmor with a drawbar pull of about a pound, TMCC and a killer version of RS 2.0....

Peter

A few videos......I solved the pulling problem by MUing the Lionel SD-18 with the RailKing SD-60.

Peter

I am running some of those cars on my layout right now.  Love the look of the over stamped graphics.  It took me a while to get the first cars from the set but I have all 8 now and they look great mixed into a long freight.

Rolland

I am now running these guys on my home layout......I do not have any early Conrail diesels worth running (the SD-18 from the Conrail merger set is a dog, and even worse on Atlas track). I am using Legacy PennCentral RS-11s or a nearly 15 year old Conrail SD-70.

You will notice that the remake of the 44 Mobile Missile Launcher set does not like Atlas track... I wish it had a can motor and traction tires!.

Peter

Nice looking, Peter 

Good luck, John 

Peter, they are both some nice trains (I also have most of the Conrail over stamped cars.) ,but I hope you don't shoot someones eye out with the missile engine!