New Lionel Black Bonnet F3 Arrived...PICS!

the black bonnet is one sharp looking paint scheme  enjoy

The boxcar & tankcar  date from the postwar era, but yes, MPC did change both frames to plastic when they took over in 1970.   Also, the boxcar lost the rivets along the side too.

The gloss on the F3 looks really nice!

Some folks are put off by the shiny paint.  I'm not one of them.  That loco looks really sharp!

Thanks for sharing pics of the Lionel BlackBonnet. Did Lionel (does Lionel) also market pass. cars or freight cars to go with the Power Units?

Paul

Paul, they just did the engines.  K Line made a couple of freight & passenger cars in that scheme a while back though

Thank you Chrisopher. I have all the K-Line Freight and Pass cars in the BlackBonnet Livery. It is perhaps my favorite pass train.

If Lionel does produce cars I would be interested in adding to my consists.

Paul

Right. These 0-27 boxcars are very much like their no. 6014 postwar predecessors, but got a new molded plastic bottom piece in place of the metal frame used on the 6014 series. The first of these short (8 1/2 inch) boxcars in the modern era was the no. 9040 Wheaties car in 1970.

There are actually two types of bodies used in the MPC-era for these cars, the first being a postwar carry-over Type IV body with partially complete rivet rows. Only a few of these boxcars had those; the rest (and all of them after 1973) went to the Type V body which removed all the rivets, making a smooth-sided car.

This was done to provide a greater stamping area for decorative printing/painting. Painting processes used in toy trains at that time couldn't accommodate non-smooth surfaces very well. 

only 65 years late... a production slippage record?

Pardon my asking what may be a very basic question, but is that black/red/yellow paint scheme actually prototypical?  Or was it Lionel-only?

Very sharp paint scheme. Thanks for posting the pics.

besides the Warbonnet the only prototypical Santa Fe liveries were the Bluebonnet and Yellowbonnet.  with all the 'bonnet' paint schemes the majority of the locomotive body was bare metal and never painted as the Lionel black warbonnet.  i would hesitate to call it a blackbonnet since the nose is still in the red warbonnet color.

I believe that the story goes somewhere in the 1947 Lionel catalog printing process the silver color came out as black, even though the real F3 Lionel was making was always silver. It was more of a catalog printing error than a production error.

Sam

That Santa Fe boxcar in back looks pretty cool!

Another rumor I heard in addition to the one stated above is that it was from the picture of the prototype the artist(Rob Sherman I believe) was going by. The sunlight reflecting off the engine made it look black.

Bill

I well remember the "blackbonnet" catalog from those earlier years because when I saw that catalog depiction way back then I immediately knew that I wanted it.  I never received it, of course, because it was never produced at the time.

I tend to give far more credence to the account of artist error resulting from the lighting making the prototype image he worked from appear black.  I would tend to discount the report of it being a printing error because that would not account for silver appearing as silver on the tank car that came with that set and which is depicted in the same piece of catalog art.  Anyone familiar with printing processes would know that such an error would not likely result from a problem in the process.

Many years later--just a few years ago, to be more precise--I bought all four Warbonnet paint schemes (red, yellow, blue, and black) on models produced by Williams.  Still have all four, and all are still new in box because I'm waiting to get a wall case so I can display all four in my home.  I still consider the F3 in Santa Fe Warbonnet scheme, no matter what the colors, to be among the most attractive locomotives ever to ride the rails.

Mike W:

Where did you purchase the Black Bonnet from?  I ordered one from Trainz, but a week later, they informed me that the supplier (Lionel) had none to ship.  I am looking for one, but can't seem to find it.  

Actually Len Carparelli was the first to do it.

When you have a chance, could you please post a photo of the locomotive set up as a train with the cars? I'm curious how the F-3 looks together with the O-27 cars. Thanks.

This guy has them in stock:

http://www.mariostrains.com/li...ck-bonnet-f-3aa.html

Is that Santa Fe boxcar a double door? Was that ever produced?

Bill

These are some of the K-line 18 inch black passenger cars. I think they made six different cars. Don

Hi Mike,  Thanks for posting the pictures, I am especially drawn to the Scout add on set!  I completely overlooked those in the catalog,  the Airex box car and tank car look great! Also,  looks like there is a big speaker in the Santa Fe,  please let us know about the sound.  All the best, Dave

I know a store in Utah that has many quite a few of the black cars from K-Line. Some freight and some passengers.

Problem is they close their doors next weds, right now they are 50% off list

Here you go, Terrance.  I haven't purchased one yet.  I have other orders in the works.

https://ogrforum.com/t...kshires-video-update

Tim

Thank you for the link, I was trying to recall if the tank car in the set was grey or black?

Nope.  Looks like a cross between the 2458 & the 3464.    This would be a great archive item from Lionel

Black warbonnets:  Sacrilege!      

 

Another rumor I heard in addition to the one stated above is that it was from the picture of the prototype the artist(Rob Sherman I believe) was going by. The sunlight reflecting off the engine made it look black.

 

Bill

Not saying you're wrong (I have no idea, one way or the other), but what kind of sunlight makes silver look black? I used to be a professional photographer, and never saw such an effect.

It's not so much sunlight being the direct cause, but rather an overall "trick of the light" in where reflection from the ground or from other nearby objects and shadows can give that impression.

Look at the image of the locomotive in the link below and you can see how it can be potentially be confused for black on the left side of the engine:

http://www.toytrains1.com/images/trains/391069.jpg

Black warbonnets:  Beautiful!

Actually, in my opinion THE most beautiful of all the warbonnet paint schemes.  The Santa Few should have actually used it back then, although I can understand their desire to show of the gleaming streamliner cars.

Black, while a beautiful and striking color, is actually the worst color for modes of transportation, especially trains.  Dirt, scratches, blemishes, etc. stand out more on black than any other color.  And all those conditions are ripe on train equipment!

If well maintained ( = $$$ ), black can be the most exquisite color on cars -- as well as trains, especially Santa Fe trains.

They do definitely need to be kept clean and well maintained, but they sure are pretty when kept that way.  Again, we're talking about back in the era when many railroads took great pride in keeping their passenger equipment (in particular) well maintained to showcase their image.  Things are different today when most, with some significant and outstanding exceptions, couldn't care less about their public image.