Pull out the MPC!

@JC642 posted:

Over 30 years now and this mirror is still hanging on my basement wall. Time flies

Love it!!! I also have one of those hanging in my “crappy” basement. It has hung in different locations over the years, both in Brooklyn and now in PA. If I remember correctly, I got it when I purchased the MPC NKP Berkshire - the 8215 - from Charles Ro back in ‘83, so it is close to 40 years old...  (boy does that make me feel old ).

I want one. Maybe my Bride or Santa will make this happen later this year. Thank you for the inspiration!

how i wanted them to make a u36b ,and when they did i just lost my mind ,i have a chessie system wm runs like a bat

I may still have a few pieces of  MPCs ahead of its time TRUTRACK

It isn't a train, but it's one of my favorite MPC-era items:

When I was a kid, my Dad's repair guy had one of these clocks in his shop, so when I found this one for sale, I grabbed it.

@terry hudon posted:

how i wanted them to make a u36b ,and when they did i just lost my mind ,i have a chessie system wm runs like a bat

Here it is. Motive power for the Chessie Royal Limited Set.

Sounds like a coffee grinder at times, but still runs great.

@JC642 posted:

I may still have a few pieces of  MPCs ahead of its time TRUTRACK

Does anyone out there have a TRUTRACK System layout?

I've never seen one

Johntrains,

Your Chessie locomotive is the prettiest locomotive Lionel ever built. Unfortunately, that six wheel truck on your diesel needs constant greasing.

Here’s some box cars I picked up at train shows 20 years ago.

I may have missed it, but here's my Gold Coast Limited set from 1983 which I'm saving for a newly minted grandson (4 months). Should he turn out to be a train guy, he may even get to run it on a Super "O" track layout as well.....

Picked up several 9700 Series cars in the last couple of weeks I think I know have almost half of them.

Growing up in the 70's, MPC was my introduction to trains. Here are some of my favorites:

Living in the Atlanta area, you have to have one of these.

My first purchase when I joined TCA.

I must have been good because I received the dockside switcher and Spirit of 76 for Christmas 1975.

My first Train purchase. Bought it at Lionel Play World.

I always laugh when I see this. North Carolina & St. Louis instead of Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis.

This is me in the summer of 1976 at age 13 having fun!

Having forgotten exactly when I acquired them decades ago and having arranged them on the display shelf in order of their catalog numbers, I was thinking that these three 9700-series boxcars suggested that MPC had gotten a really good deal on yellow plastic pellets that year.  I was all set to make a comment to that effect when I stopped to check out the exact year.  Surprise!  9739 (D&RGW) and 9740 (C&O Chessie) appeared in 1975.  However, 9738 (Illinois Terminal) did not show up until seven years later when it was issued as part of the Continental Ltd Set in the Spring 1982 Collector Center brochure.  Lionel MPC held onto the number 9738 for SEVEN years until deciding to use it.  Will we ever know why?

An MPC customer service story:

My order of new Lionel releases had just arrived (I forget from which mail-order dealer), and I was frustrated to find that one car (again, I forget which) was missing one of its wheel/axle assemblies.  Of course, spreading the plastic truck sides and inserting one would be simplicity itself, but first I had to procure one.  Rather than contacting the dealer, I wrote to Lionel explaining the problem and simply asking for a wheel/axle assembly, and one arrived in the mail in an amazingly short time.  What surprised me was what followed next.  First I received a heartfelt letter of apology from Lionel followed by a box with a brand new 9450 GN stock car in it along with a note saying that Lionel hoped this would help make up for my earlier disappointment in their product!  Was that an adequate apology?  I certainly thought so--and still do.

Your Great Northern Stock Car was always my favorite stock car made by Lionel. I always felt that, it was really sharp. When Lionel sent you this free stock car

they were still making trains in the United States.

Who can remember MPCs first attempt at layout buildings? 

I hope I can share this and not run afoul of our rules. Cabin Fever has a current auction in play that ends on March 2, 2022. Lots of MPC. Just saying.

Another area where MPC excelled was that of special cars for the various train organizations.  Here are three made just for the LCCA.  I think the 1980 car was a Lionel product but it doesn't have a "built by Lionel" mark on the side.

1973

1980

1984

@JC642 posted:

Who can remember MPCs first attempt at layout buildings?

Good old foam village packaging. . . One of the reasons it’s nearly impossible to find sets from 1970-71 in nice condition. . . .

@JC642 posted:

Who can remember MPCs first attempt at layout buildings?

There was even a billboard advertising Foam Village for Lionel by Myco.

Well I have really been enjoying this thread and re-visiting a lot of my MPC.  When I got back into trains because of my boys MPC was in fact Lionel!  So much of my early purchases especially in the mid to late 70's was Lionel. I have a few sets, some of which others have posted, so here is one I don't think has been posted yet.  It is the 1973-74 (maybe 75) Rock Island Express.

Here is the box cover with an illustrationof the contents and the train.

Here is the box end, showing the train in more detail.  In fact the contents do match this picture exactly.

Here are the contents per the above picture.  Note there never were any cars for the auto rack however there probably were canisters for the gondola (long gone now after nearly 50 years).  Note the original "blue" transformer however.

Here is the mighty die cast 4-4-2 Lionel #8304 locomotive with the "Mighty Sound of Steam" !!

She still runs fine however (after some lubrication) and will easily pull the train.

Best wishes

Don

Some of my stuff is pulled out and packed to move.  But these are tank cars

These should be boxcars

I think these are engines not yet packed

Reefer, hoppers and stock cars

FARR cars

passenger, and Blue Comet passenger,radioactive cars,Xmas etc

SD18’S

Stunning colors, good pullers and great play value (I mean the toy in the box- not the box itself).

@aussteve posted:

Some of my stuff is pulled out and packed to move.

Stunning colors, good pullers and great play value (I mean the toy in the box- not the box itself).

Wow, Steve, that is one incredible collection!!! Two observations...

First, obviously you are, like me, one of those who keeps all the boxes

Second, all that’s missing in those photos is a key duplicating machine and I would have sworn the pics were taken in Madison Hardware

Apples55, yes the MPC boxes come in a small number of different sizes making them easy to stack and make shelves for.  The boxes are like the trees in my yard.  You can always get rid of it, but once it's gone. . .

This thread has been fun going down memory lane. Here are the two first sets my brother and I owned. Thanks for all the trains Pops.

1974 Rio Grande Service Station

1985 Yard Chief

This thread is about as long lived as my MPC trains!

Here's some early MPC F3's earning their keep on my layout. I should add - these single motor, no frills B&O's are my wife's favorites - even over my postwar and modern era F3's. That paint scheme is a classic!

I have picked up several GP. F3, and FM shells over the years with intention of swapping out road names from time to time on my engines.   I picked up a set of those B&O MPC shells a while back I think for $5 each and they were boxed.  They are sharp looking for sure.  I knew they needed a good home.

The Bicentennial Special.  In an era of slim pickings, who didn't want it?

TCA grew its membership big time with this guy.

How about some 3 dome tank cars?   Gotta love that super glossy 9313 Gulf, and the 6302 Quaker State is an old favorite.

What a great thread. Obviously there's a lot of MPC fans out there. I'm late to the party. I was a HO kid during the MPC era so I've been adding pieces on the used market. I bought this B&O F3 A and found the B unit later.

I'm with Don, this B&O F3 set is a beauty.

Bob

1984, the year MPC got serious with Lionel production.

Can you believe it,  All of it was made in the good old USA... Impressive!

And the hits, just keep on coming.

@JC642 posted:

1984, the year MPC got serious with Lionel production.

Can you believe it,  All of it was made in the good old USA... Impressive!

Definitely...

And let’s not forget the 783’s first cousin, the 785. While it technically falls just outside the MPC era (issued in 1987), it’s MPC pedigree is clear!!!

@Don Winslow posted:

This thread is about as long lived as my MPC trains!

Here's some early MPC F3's earning their keep on my layout. I should add - these single motor, no frills B&O's are my wife's favorites - even over my postwar and modern era F3's. That paint scheme is a classic!

Don (and @RSJB18);

I have to agree that the B&O scheme is great - typically colorful MPC. I still have two of my MPC F3’s, though these have 2 motors and aren’t as colorful.

@Don Winslow posted:

This thread is about as long lived as my MPC trains!

Here's some early MPC F3's earning their keep on my layout. I should add - these single motor, no frills B&O's are my wife's favorites - even over my postwar and modern era F3's. That paint scheme is a classic!

You’re not alone—my wife was down in the basement the other day, saw that same ABA set on the shelf and says “I like those blue and white ones!”

I guess the lesson is, ensure marital bliss with a set of B&O F-3s

The TP&W set from 1980, although it contained track and a transformer, it was considered a collector set. First modern era reissue of the Allis Chalmers car and also the manual operating gantry crane.

ALERT: Long Post.

So, I have briefly told the story above that, Christmas of 1976, my grandparents took me to the store to buy my Christmas present.  It was to be a train, an entire set.  (We ended up at JC Penny purchasing a TYCO Chattanooga Choo-Choo somewhat contrary to my desire, but Grandpa's heart--if not his sense--was in the right place.)

The first place we stopped was Sears (back when Sears was a retail giant and still presented a full line of toys at its bigger stores).  This visit was late, late in the season, and the shelves were largely stripped.  Oh, there were some separate-sale rolling stock, some accessories, but no sets.  Nada.

Among the odds-and-ends in a display case, however, were a few individual locos.  Now, I am going to tell you what I saw.  I am also going to tell you why others say that I didn't see it.  I will finally give tantalizing hints that I just *may* have been right.

What I saw was a pair of blue-bonnet FA Santa Fe Alco A-units, coupled back-to-back.  Since the 8351 was cataloged that year, no problem so far.  But one of the pair I saw had an open pilot and a coupler so that the AA pair could pull a train.  Lionel experts will tell you that I was mistaken.  The D&H blue-bonnets were sold in that configuration, but the Santa Fes were not.  They mistrust my recognition or my memory.  And I have only a little evidence to support my claim, but this evidence bears some weight with me.

First of all, I had been operating a red Santa Fe FA for four years by that point, and I was familiar with the nose herald and the "SANTA FE" printed on the sides.  I recognized the iconography; it made an impression on me.  I dearly wish I could say that Grandpa bought them when I told them I would be delighted to have them, but they were adamant that I would have a whole set (and so we were off to JC Pennys and a decade-long detour into HO that I can't say I regret so much as I wish that I hadn't missed out on so much MPC when it was new.)

Remember, I have only my memory to rely on (and I will readily admit that the years have taken their toll).  HOWEVER, there is a tantalizing fragment of potentially corroborating evidence from no less a source than Roland LaVoie and Michael Solly's Greenburg Lionel Guide 1970-1991, Vol. 1.  Under the Alco listings (pg. 20) for the 8020 FA, we find:

"(D)  Powered Alco FA-2 unit; blue and silver body.Reportedly part of department store special and, therefore, scarcer than red version.  Reader comments requested."  Values listed are $100 Exc and $150 Mint, and these values suggest there had been enough sales recorded to establish them.  But, "scarcer than red version" is an understatement:  I have not seen such a unit, so I don't know whether it was open or closed pilot:  the red versions were made both ways in the early part of that decade.

Or maybe I HAVE seen such a unit--the number on the engines didn't survive in my memory the way the other markings did.  Perhaps I saw a leftover pair of blue 8020s, or maybe I saw one paired with an 8351, or maybe it's all wishful thinking.  When people ask me where and when I would go if I had a time machine, one of the places/times I list is Sears @ Northwest Plaza in St. Louis County on a late morning just before Christmas of 1976.  Not only could I catch a glimpse of Grandma and Grandpa again, but I could grab hold of what might be a chimera but would certainly solve a mystery for me.

In the meantime--time machines being in short-supply and moderately expensive--I have created a pair of AA 8351s, inspired by my memories.  One is an utterly common, closed pilot, stock engine:

The other has had the pilot carefully opened and equipped with a front coupler:

I run them together with the E-units locked out to prevent unwanted tugs-of-war.  Since both are powered, they will pull a very respectable train.  Between them, I run a 8021 b-unit repaint.  It had been sadly customized with a very sloppy paint-job, which I stripped and put back into factory colors.  (Since it is a repaint, I have toyed with replacing the black and red stripes with blue . . . .)

Anyway, there is my blue-bonnet Alco tale.  Long-lost discovery or figment of my imagination:  you decide for yourself.  But I will continue believing unless someone lets me borrow a time machine.  And, if anyone spots a blue-bonnet 8020 or an open-pilot 8351, I *really* want to hear from you!

Apple55, Your Tuscan Pennsylvania diesels were always favorites. I ran them so much, the metal wheels were grooved. When Lionel made them, I thought I died and went to Heaven. I also had a set of the Brunswick green ones. The wheels on these were grooved also.

@palallin - The topic of a blue and silver 8020 has come up before on this forum, check out page 7 of this post. I was the one who posted the photo from the Greenberg guide on page 6 of the thread.

https://ogrforum.com/...pc-fan-thread?page=7

Check out the reply on page 7 by noted Modern Era guru @PaperTRW.  He does an excellent job of explaining the early MPC Santa Fe Alcos.

@jim sutter posted:

Apple55, Your Tuscan Pennsylvania diesels were always favorites. I ran them so much, the metal wheels were grooved. When Lionel made them, I thought I died and went to Heaven. I also had a set of the Brunswick green ones. The wheels on these were grooved also.

Wow, Jim... I only had the occasional carpet central in those days so I never had got any grooves in my wheels!!! I really like the 5-stripe Pennsy scheme and preferred Tuscan to the Brunswick. The Tuscan pair (occasionally with the additional B-unit) looked great pulling the MPC aluminum Pennsy Congressional cars. I also used my MPC 8753 Tuscan 5-strip GG1 to pull the Congressional, and it seemed to do a better job when I had all 8 passenger cars on the track.