@Palallin, I went through the same deal at Blair's Toys in San Bernardino where I grew up. Dealer "accomodations" were the S.O.P. at that time. I appreciate your recollections about your Grandfather. By mentioning them, they endure.
John
@John Meyncke posted:Could be wrong...usually am...My understanding was that the car swapping occurred at the point of sale to accommodate customer whims. LHS's were loath to let a customer walk over rolling stock quibbles. That's why you sometimes have wonky sets.
John
Yes, this car swapping certainly may have happened at the point of sale. But certainly in the early days of MPC it went on right at the factory. There have been documented brand new early MPC sets found where a piece of two of rolling stock was substituted. For example a gondola shown in the set illustration or catalog photo, may have a different gondola substituted.
@palallin posted:Interesting! Thank you for that image, Ed! I have never been able to find a copy of that year's catalog. This may indeed be the right one. Never had any canisters or the uncoupler. Wish I had the box!
I have seen about a dozen boxed variations of the Double Diesel and the Twin Diesel sets from that early-'70s period. Obviously, all were made up out of the same limited selection of rolling stock. Smart use of limited assets to create the highest level of variety possible.
Here is a link for the 1972 Sears Christmas Wishbook, lots of other Christmas Wishbooks are on the same website. See page 531.
https://christmas.musetechnica...Sears-Christmas-Book
Two photos I found of set 1292 and the box. The set box is a generic style which was used for other uncataloged sets in the same time frame.
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Thank you very much again, Ed!
Yes, I have seen that box used for all sorts of sets with different configurations of generic, individual foam protectors. The link and the pics go a long way toward helping me!
breezinup...Right you are! That White Pass Tank car of mine was too late to be MPC. Thanks to Jerry Williams, who gave me the information, I located it in a Lionel catalog and now know it was part of a 3 car "add on" set to the White Pass basic set...Neat to know that it really is close to scale...I got a kick out of the lettering..."kerosene service only"... lot a lamps to fill I guess. Still its a really great car for $10 (P.S. as a life long engineer I am genetically CHEAP!).
ed h: Thanks for posting the Sears set picture. I just got that 1972 MPC Santa Fe Alco A at our first train show in nearly 2 years. I will look in my compendium of Sears toy offerings to see if I can find the set to get a grip on the rolling stock that came with it.
Bob Paris: That may be the most beautiful train room I have ever seen. Now I am embarrassed with my pile of old Lionel boxes under the layout! Beautiful job!
Best wishes to all
Don
I am slightly embarrassed to say that 60% of my trains are MPC. 10% MTH PS-1, 15% postwar (nearly all accessories or engines) and 15% LTI. For me the high end MPC engines and cars have been fabulous performers. The vivid, sharp graphics and colors are a joy. I can easily pull 30 or more non die cast cars. No worries about engine electronics failures, power spikes,, resets or ground planes. I love the smell of ozone,, smoke pellets, the engine noise and the clickety clack track noise.
It's definitely not the ultimate in toy trains, but it is for me.
I would not be embarrassed to say that 60% of your trains are MPC. You collect what you like and what makes you happy. I started this thread to see some MPC and to get people talking and sharing their stories which has been nice.
Most folks who look down on MPC are probably not going to read a topic called Pull out your MPC.
@HSD68 posted:I would not be embarrassed to say that 60% of your trains are MPC. You collect what you like and what makes you happy. I started this thread to see some MPC and to get people talking and sharing their stories which has been nice.
Most folks who look down on MPC are probably not going to read a topic called Pull out your MPC.
Don't worry, you're among friends. One of the longest and most enthusiastic threads (full of great pictures) ever posted here was about MPC trains. This was probably 6-7 years ago. It reappears every now and then.
Now I need to go get out some of my MPC. 
@aussteve posted:I am slightly embarrassed to say that 60% of my trains are MPC. 10% MTH PS-1, 15% postwar (nearly all accessories or engines) and 15% LTI. For me the high end MPC engines and cars have been fabulous performers. The vivid, sharp graphics and colors are a joy. I can easily pull 30 or more non die cast cars. No worries about engine electronics failures, power spikes,, resets or ground planes. I love the smell of ozone,, smoke pellets, the engine noise and the clickety clack track noise.
It's definitely not the ultimate in toy trains, but it is for me.
There is nothing wrong with MPC, and don't be embarrassed. I am a big fan of MTH and Postwar Lionel and I still buy select MPC stuff I like. I am working on collecting the 9700 Series of cars now and recently picked up 2 MPC Locomotives and 1 Non Powered MPC Locomotive.
MPC made some great engines. Yes, they did make some crap but so did the Lionel Corp. And don't forget the steamers with real RR markings, not just Lionel Lines. Tons of colorful boxcars. I would welcome them back, And fast-angle wheels.
@John Meyncke posted:My favorite MPC...it took me forever to find the B unit.
John
I just picked this up 2 weeks ago from a very very small local shop. Walked in and said this is talking to me and brought it home. I found the B unit at Grzyboski Trains (my 3 hour away LHS).
Bill, Good for you! I've always liked this NH scheme. My B unit search was a multi step process as well. I got the AA set from Charles Siegal mail order years ago when he was still in Pennsylvania. Shipped to me in Southern California.
The B unit, shell only, came from Train World on a blow out sale. I think the shipping was more than the shell even years ago when they used to run multi page ads.
The elusive B unit frame came about years later when I realized the Williams' Golden Memories B unit frame is an exact fit for MPC shells. I think I got that mail order from Train World on blowout as well. I gave the shell it came with ( oddball road name) to a friend and the frame fit my project perfectly.
Like I said, it's one of my favorite sets. Smooth running, crazy sounding horn, great paint scheme.
John
One of my favorite sets from 1980, the Chessie System Royal Limited. Very colorful locomotive, the first re-release of the Radioactive Waste car, a crane car and also a JLC boxcar. These sets today can be found in new condition right around their original 1980 price ($175 - $200).
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@ed h posted:One of my favorite sets from 1980, the Chessie System Royal Limited. Very colorful locomotive, the first re-release of the Radioactive Waste car, a crane car and also a JLC boxcar. These sets today can be found in new condition right around their original 1980 price ($175 - $200).
Mine, too. Bought the set sealed in the box about 10 years ago. I think this one and the Quaker City Set are my favorites of those "limited edition" sets.
Hard to believe the earliest MPC pieces are now 50 years old. . . Time flies.
Modern Lionel has features that those of us growing up in the 70s and 80s could only dream about, but nothing beats Postwar and MPC in my book. After a day of battling ‘smart’ everything just to start a car, call someone or watch TV, it’s nice to go downstairs, move one throttle and it all just works.
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I remember back when the limited edition sets, service station sets, FARR sets, and many of the engines were hot items. Some were up around 1000.00. Most were still sealed. And the 15 inch pass sets, NYC, IC, N&W, SP, UP, PRR and the smaller Chessie, Blue Comet, Wabash, Southern etc. The SP pass set was usually well over 2000.00. The GG1s, SP steam, Wabash FM, N&W steam, and other FMs also had high prices along with certain cars. The Lifesavers tank car and CNW Hopper car were over 125.00 and the 5712 LL lines reefer was 200.00 to 300.00. They were great pieces just overpriced for a time.
I think the high end MPC and LTI pieces were the best "Lionel scale" pieces ever issued. And ultimately the prices came back to earth.
In the mid 70’s, TrainWorld opened a store on Ave. M, a couple of blocks from where I was living in Brooklyn - right next to the subway station I used every weekday. While not an enormous store, they had shelves on all the walls that went nearly from counter height to the ceiling lined with colorful MPC and other trains. They were the first dealer I knew who did [a lot of] “set breakups”. Since I was paying my own college tuition at the time, I didn’t have a lot of money for trains, so I couldn’t afford whole sets, but I could usually get one or two nice cars from a set. I think I have one car from each of the FARR sets.
I also picked up two of the BN boxcars from the first unit train I ever remember seeing from Lionel.
The boxcars were Std. O and appeared so much larger than the 6464 sized cars I was used to up until then... I think this was the beginning of my decent into scale madness 
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@ed h posted:Lots of great other sets from the mid 1970s to early 1980s.
I have the Maple Leaf Limited... I’ve always liked the CP paint scheme. And the British Columbia is also very striking.
My "proof of concept" for a display railroad I built in the 1980's:
Rusty
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I wonder about that depressed center car with the transformer that came with the Mid-Atlantic Set. It must be one of the longest pieces of rolling stock Lionel ever made. Or maybe the longest? I have that set but it's packed away. Should get the car out and measure it.
@johnstrains posted:I wonder about that depressed center car with the transformer that came with the Mid-Atlantic Set. It must be one of the longest pieces of rolling stock Lionel ever made. Or maybe the longest? I have that set but it's packed away. Should get the car out and measure it.
Regarding MPC, there were two different cars that had four trucks. A xfmr car and a bridge girder car. Both of those cars are still usually pricey today. Other than passenger cars, I can't think of any car that had more distance between the trucks. And nothing with more trucks. The fast angle wheels were a huge innovation in the MPC era, especially on these cars and pass cars.
@joe krasko posted:right you are Ed...
Stand corrected. But the 60's CN noodle livery, especially on cab units, have survived the test of time.
On Sears sets, there could have been swaps for their sets.
The paint job on the Chessie diesel out of the Royal limited set is unbelievable. My favorite MPC tank car is the British Columbia from the Maple Leaf set. My favorite MPC caboose is the New York Central bay window from the New York Central Empire Express set. Also, from the Empire Express set is my favorite box car the Great Northern. Except for the electronics and the remote control features, these sets are far nicer than the sets they are making today.
Hello All:
Here is the MPC portion of my overall collection to date. I'm always looking to add to the roster constantly. Quite a few items I purchased from fellow forum members.
Michael
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MPC was Lionel when I returned from Germany in the mid-70s. That was back when Mike Wolf was a simple retailer of Lionel before he established a competing brand. Ordering from the price lists when they were first released, I ensured that MPC became and remains a stalwart part of today's O Gauge Paha Sapa Lines RR in eastern Wyoming. An almost complete collection of 9200, 9700, and 9400 series boxcars provide most of the wall decor in the train room.
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Wow, Bill, that layout is impressive.
Nice collections, all!
As to the four truck depressed center flats with transformers or bridge girders, they were first made in the mid-fifties post war era.
Here is the B&O set and cars. Lets see the other two.
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I wish I could show my MPC. I have just about the entire collection of all the top of the line sets, service station sets, limited editions, engines, cars, JC Penny items, variations etc and about 30 sealed 6-8190 Diesel B unit horn kits :-)....Unfortunately it is currently in a warehouse storage until my fiancé and I build a new house with a big basement for me....I would love to get another updated MPC guide out someday
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@Rich Wiemann posted:
I have two of those SD18’s- one with the case and one without. Thought the first one had a bad power truck and got a good price on the second… fixed the truck and now keep one on display while I run the other lol.
ZWpower13, make sure that when you get your new train room, you start a post and show some pictures.
@mlavender480 posted:I have two of those SD18’s- one with the case and one without. Thought the first one had a bad power truck and got a good price on the second… fixed the truck and now keep one on display while I run the other lol.
Picked up the pair of used Santa Fe SD-18s for $15 a few yrs ago because the pwr truck was stripped. Found a NOS pwr truck for $30 at York. I had a set MOB but was afraid to run them. The trucks were non repairable (basically) with the side frames swedged on. I had been told the worm gear was plastic. So I never ran them to avoid stripping the gear out. When I bought the NOS truck at York for $30 it had a metal worm gear and I thought it was a later production piece. I got home to repair the $15 unit and found it had a metal truck also. The armature was not bolted into the motor making it seemed to be stripped. I looked at my brand new unrun Sd-18 and it had a metal gear also. So I had not run the SD18’s in fear of stripping out a plastic gear that turned out to be metal after all. I like the 6 wheel trucks. MPC 6 wheel cranes also look good to me.
Here's the depressed center transformer car that I mentioned above from the Mid-Atlantic Set.
16 inches from coupler to coupler. Easily one of the longest pieces of rolling stock Lionel ever made.
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aussteve You said,"I am slightly embarrassed to say that 60% of my trains are MPC."
It is my understanding that "MPC" stands for "My Personal Collection" - so the only question I have is,"Who owns the other 40%?" 
I will always view MPC trains as being something special because when I returned from the service shortly after a Thanksgiving a long time ago and went over to the local hobby shop it was MPC trains that welcomed me back from exile. The dealer had a number of sets and various cars and engines for sale. I was interested in the Milwaukee Road Heavyweights but I didn't care for the engine that came with the set. The dealer said no problem - pulled the cars out of one set box - and asked me what my pleasure would be with respect to head end power. I chose the #8206 Hudson and that train was the first thing I ran after assembling a layout on the rec room floor.
I received this MPC set for my birthday in April 1980:
Long live MPC!
I love my MPC-era rolling stock, but have replaced my MPC engines with LionChief Plus or LionChief Plus 2.0 engines. Love the speed control and improved sounds and lighting with the new LionChief Plus engines. LionChief Plus engines running with MPC-era rolling stock is my happy place.
Here's my MPC Milwaukee Road passenger cars running with a LionChief Plus Milwaukee Road Hudson:
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