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My wife inherited a nice pre-war Lionel O-Gauge collection from her dad. It has not been used in many years and a lot of the wiring needs to be replaced. It has all original paint and a nice patina. There are some scratches but nothing too bad. The engine is No 260E black with a No 260 T black Tender. We have cars 811, 812, 813, 814, 814R, 815, 816, 817, 820, and a Derrick car that doesn't have a number that I can find. All but two of these are in original boxes but some of the flaps are missing. There are two hand control switches, a Lionel Multivolt Transformer Type B, a No 66 Whistle Controller, a No 440C panel Board, a No 61 controlling Rheostat, a No 440N Signal Bridge, a No 438 Signal Tower, a Power Station (no number), a No 93 water tank, a No 271 Two Span Bridge, a No 720 Crossing (X track),  a No 077 Crossing Gate, 21 pieces of straight track and 11 curved pieces.

There are a few other odd and ends but this list covers most of the major items. 

So, what do we have? We plan to get it running but don't really know where to begin. Suggestions (other than selling it to one of you )!

Jim

 

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Hi Jim, and welcome to the forum .

Sounds like you have a great train set, there. Lots of fun once you get it going. There's plenty of folks on here that will chime in, I'm sure, with all kinds of good info. Sometimes all those freight cars need to get 'em running are a drop of light oil on the axles/ wheels, if there are not alot of rust issues. They really made those things to last back in the day.

That transformer sounds like an area of concern, the power cord probably has some cracks in it, not safe. Might want to wait until a good toy train tech can open it up and give it a once-over before you try plugging that in. 

Last edited by Penn-Pacific

Jim,

Welcome to the forum. What you have is a complete layout, train and controls for a 1931 layout. Very cool indeed! I hope that both of you like that era as this would have been the cat's meow.

I would suggest that you do nothing ,but, get a train education first. See if your library has the David Doyle book on Lionel pre-war trains. Put your information or a new post on the tin plate forum. Meet those folks.

Treat these items with the respect that they deserve for surviving all of these years. Learn how to clean and care for them properly. Then, decide if you want to play trains, keep them as a keepsake or sell them. All of the equipment will work with a little TLC.

I happened to find a video of the engine, tender and a small consist. Good luck with the collection!

Welcome Jim,

That is a very nice pre war set you have, sounds like it is a complete set.  I would service the engine and tender and lube the axles on the freight cars. Not sure on the transformer but it might be an A.C. transformer so maybe you can use a more modern transformer with it like a post war type transformer.

I have 2 pre war engines & tenders; a 224E and a 249E.

Lee Fritz

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