What are the 3 or 4 passenger cars that belong with a post war Lionel 2353? There are so many out there that I just wanted to know which ones came with the original set. Either answer here or at nick.disandro@yahoo.com
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16 inch aluminum
2530 REA
2531 Silver Dawn
2532 Silver Range
2533 Silver Cloud
2534 Silver Bluff was available as a separate sale item (as where the other cars)
I am always surprised that the Lionel Lines cars had "script" like for the CB&Q and the CZ. To me, SANTA FE and car name in ATSF "script" would have been great. Only thing to change would be the lettering on the name plates, which were aplied to the body.
Now, the CB&Q lettering still with the WP F3's: GREAT for the CZ.
The ATSF 2500 cars with the red striping: ATSF did not have any cars like that!
Did the 2353's come as 2353C, the B unit?
Both cars came one powered and on not. I don't know if there is a C anywhere on either unit.
If we want to talk strict factory originality, then the 2353s came in two different sets.
The first was in 1953, which was a continuation of the 2190W "Super Speedliner" outfit from the previous year. The only change was that the the 2353s replaced the earlier more detailed 2343s. The passenger cars were the same: 2531 thru 2534. The passenger cars themselves have three different variations. The name plates are either fastened with round rivets, hex rivets, or simply glued. Since packaging at the factory was indiscriminate, original factory sets usually came with mismatched name plate styles so technically any style or mix of styles is fair game. I myself prefer matched round rivet cars, as these were generally the earlier ones.
The second set was new for 1954, the 2234W "Super Streamliner". Same 2353s, but this time the 2530 REA baggage car replaced the 2534 "Silver Bluff" Pullman. The baggage car does have a very rare variation with larger doors, but none of the original 2234W sets were reported to include it. The same concept of mixed name plate styles also applies here.
In any case, the B unit appears to have been a separate sale item so it's fair game. Hope this info helps. My source is David Doyle's "Standard Catalog of Lionel Train Sets: 1945-1969".
Originally Posted by DominicMazoch:
Did the 2353's come as 2353C, the B unit?
The 2353s did not have a similarly numbered B unit. The 2343Cs were still available for purchase when the 2353s came out.
The 2343C came in two variations: The original, which had screened vents on the roof and matched the 2343 (as well as the 2333), and the second, introduced in 1953 with the 2353, having louvered vents to match the 2353.
Martin
