Pull out the MPC!

Another couple of MPC cars. I won the JC Penney car as a door prize at my local train show a few years back.

I think these MPC Passenger Cars are a good example of the good and bad sides of the MPC era. The cars looked good, were the perfect size to run behind my original PW 637, had some nice detail (including very crisp gold lettering). In addition, they were relatively inexpensive when compared to the aluminum cars of the time.

But, on the down side, the couplers were the pits (and you think the recent Lionel couplers have issues )!!! Going forward was fine, but I would not recommend going in reverse. The coupler was a solid, free swinging, non-operating piece of plastic held to the bottom of the car by a single screw. But I still have the set (except for the Truman Campaign Car) and they still have a place in my heart.

@Apples55:  You know I agree with you.  Those PRR cars first came with a set called " The Broadway Limited" which included an engine, tender and 3 cars... 2 Pullman and an observation.  Then later Lionel offered an add on that included the RPO and maybe the baggage, then even later they offered a "Presidential campaign" car with all sorts of stickers to put on what was really just another observation, finally, and much later by my recollection, they brought out a dinning car.  This all stretched over several years so it took quite awhile to get them all.  When done, I am not sure the original engine could pull the whole train.

Don

Here is a real oddball set I picked up a few years ago. Its an uncataloged set from 1981, set number 1157, the Wabash Cannonball. Its odd for the following reasons:

-the tender is a New York, New Haven and Hartford from the 1980 set the New Englander. And yes the, mismatched tender is correct for the set even though its called the Wabash Cannonball.

-for a fairly low end set, it has the 9354 Penzoil chrome tanker from the 1980 catalog.

-the 9376 Soo Line boxcar is another uncataloged item, it came in this set. I believe it may have also been offered for separate sale. Its a fairly hard to find item.

There are certainly more than a few different oddball sets out there from the early 1970s to the mid 1980s time frame.

@Don McErlean posted:

Well, I posted one of my sets a few days ago, but wanted to keep this post going.  So I "discovered" this early MPC box car from 1970 and thought I would post that.

Here is the Lionel (MPC) Union Pacific # 9203 box car from 1970.

This is the end view, showing that this is the original box with the proper stamping on the flap.

You know, the odd thing about this MPC is that folks like me who are in their 70's still seem to think about MPC as "new" trains (or at least I do) .  In fact MPC started 52 years ago and quit 37 years ago!  I guess they just aren't "new" anymore. 

Don

Here’s a question for those following this thread:  has anyone ever seen a 9203 without that short row of rivets to the right if the door?  I’ve seen at least 50 of these cars and all of them have it.   I believe the 9203 and some IC 9200s are the only two cars that feature it.  

If this is the case, it indicates that 1) there was only one run if 9203s made and 2) they were almost certainly the first 9200s produced.  

The odd rivet row is yet another of those  fascinating vestigial tails seen on early MPC.   Other examples include the spreader bar holes on the quad hoppers and the circle-L logo on the ends of the early single dome tank cars.  

Here are two more of the class of 70 to go with your UP.  Could not find the box cars.

Being a kid of the 70's, MPC is my era.  It's great to see this thread is now six pages.  I finally got down to the cold basement to photograph some of my collection.

Mini Max dark blue with the internal supports.  Early production light blue cars had roof sag.   These two cars show a variation of the General Mills placement.

All these are recent additions to my collection.   I was going to stick with just real railroad liveries.   But, why limit the fun!

Just realized another advantage of MPC: no worries with zinc pest!

The PRR passenger cars were my birthday present when I was 10 years old, that was 48 years ago. My parents and I drove through an Upstate NY snowstorm to get them and I still have all the cars on my layout and I still cherish the memories.

@Mark Holmgren 110217 posted:

Just realized another advantage of MPC: no worries with zinc pest!

Yup!   Big thanks to the General Mills / MPC team for this improvement and all the paint schemes.

Delrin plastic works as an excellent replacement for metal because of its high-tensile strength, low-friction and high-wear resistance

@Don McErlean posted:

@Apples55:  You know I agree with you.  Those PRR cars first came with a set called " The Broadway Limited" which included an engine, tender and 3 cars... 2 Pullman and an observation.  Then later Lionel offered an add on that included the RPO and maybe the baggage, then even later they offered a "Presidential campaign" car with all sorts of stickers to put on what was really just another observation, finally, and much later by my recollection, they brought out a dinning car.  This all stretched over several years so it took quite awhile to get them all.  When done, I am not sure the original engine could pull the whole train.

Don

Don;

I didn’t get the Broadway Limited set, I just collected the “add-on” cars. One of the boxes still has a price sticker on it... $18.95!!! The 637 pulled those with no problem... now you’ve got me thinking about looking for the cars from the set (another bad influence has been identified ). So, of course, I had to check Grzyboski’s website - they have a new, ancient stock Truman Campaign Car. Guess I’ll have to pay them a visit next week - I do need to drop off two items for a little repair work!!! And yes, they did add a dining car in the late 80’s. I’ve got one and that did have much improved couplers.

@Mike McCutcheon - I have this thought kicking around in the back of my brain - didn’t those Mini-Max cars have plastic wheels???

I too have a set of the MPC PRR passenger cars.  I purchased a set of three at Allied Model Trains in Culver City, CA back in the late 90's.  They used to have a large wall of used trains in one corner of the store.  Only one car had a price tag.  It was something like $35.  I asked George, one of the sales/service guys if that was per car or for the set.  He said the set.  (Just a side note, George looked just like David Crosby...after a rough night!)   I found the add on Postal Service car on the bay.  I added it in tribute to my father who worked for the Post Office for many years.  I also agree that the couplers are not the best and the cars are very light.  I plan on adding some additional weight inside.  That should improve their ride. 

John

I wasn’t interested in the Broadway Limited engine when the set came out. I bought just the passenger cars from Trainworld as they broke the set up, and I got the set box. I pull mine with the Pennsy Little Joe EP-5. I also have the extra cars, Diner and RPO.

While I have a fond affinity for this era, besides my very first 1974 era Lionel “O-27” set and a far more recently acquired 1977 era Budd passenger transit set I recognize the limitations of this era. This most significant downside for me isn’t either the engines or the cars; it was the track and the transformers.

@Apples55 posted:

@Mike McCutcheon - I have this thought kicking around in the back of my brain - didn’t those Mini-Max cars have plastic wheels???

Paul,

Metal wheels.

I believe it was 1997 when we put all of our Lionel box cars on sale for $18.00 each all you could carry. I know we had over 130 different cars  from the 9200's, 9700's and the 9400's. All of them were brand new boxed.

When I was a teenager, these cars were guarded treasure.  Some of the box cars from the sets,  Do you remember going to the train show and waiting for someone to break up the Limited Edition set that just came out so you could get the cars,  you and 35 other people.

Here are some for the C&O folks with a RF&P thrown in.  Does anyone remember the Chessie Piggyback train that ran through with RF&P power and always had a Chessie safety cab on the rear.

Here are some paper roads

Always liked the colors of this car

@CA John posted:

I too have a set of the MPC PRR passenger cars.  I purchased a set of three at Allied Model Trains in Culver City, CA back in the late 90's.  They used to have a large wall of used trains in one corner of the store.  Only one car had a price tag.  It was something like $35.  I asked George, one of the sales/service guys if that was per car or for the set.  He said the set.  (Just a side note, George looked just like David Crosby...after a rough night!)   I found the add on Postal Service car on the bay.  I added it in tribute to my father who worked for the Post Office for many years.  I also agree that the couplers are not the best and the cars are very light.  I plan on adding some additional weight inside.  That should improve their ride.

John

I picked up the same car several years ago. The lights had to be re-wired and the couplers do suck. It's going to get new ones eventually.

This Is a late MPC car from 1985. I replaced the plastic trucks from that time with nice diecast trucks and couplers from Lionel a little later on.

Hey Apples 55, CA John, Rich Wiemann, RSJB18 ... if we had a club we could put all our MPC PRR passenger cars together and make a really long " Broadway"... probably need to double head to pull it though. I also have, what are what appear to be about the same cars, in different livery of course, offered as part of a "Blue Comet" set and a "Southern Crescent" set pulled by a much larger steam engine and sold as separate pieces although advertised as a "set".

@ed h : That set you posted is a bit of a mystery.  If you check my post of 1/ 22 Lionel did produce a catalogued set by the name, "Wabash Cannonball" in 1972-73 and I pictured it in that post.  Interesting that they re-used the name.  I do have the SOO uncatalogued box car (so called "plug door") but I got it from a dealer I used to trade with when we lived outside Philly and I suspect he broke up the set you pictured.

Great stuff everyone...Keep posting

Don

@ed h posted:

Here is a real oddball set I picked up a few years ago. Its an uncataloged set from 1981, set number 1157, the Wabash Cannonball. Its odd for the following reasons:

-the tender is a New York, New Haven and Hartford from the 1980 set the New Englander. And yes the, mismatched tender is correct for the set even though its called the Wabash Cannonball.

-for a fairly low end set, it has the 9354 Penzoil chrome tanker from the 1980 catalog.

-the 9376 Soo Line boxcar is another uncataloged item, it came in this set. I believe it may have also been offered for separate sale. Its a fairly hard to find item.

There are certainly more than a few different oddball sets out there from the early 1970s to the mid 1980s time frame.

I can remember a couple of other cars that only came in a lower end set that were hard for me to find back in the day.  The 9373 Getty tank car,  9448 Santa Fe stock car, and I think the 7808 NP pig palace car.  Now days you can pick them up pretty cheap, but back then it was expensive.   Sellers couldn't get much for the rest of the set so that drove the price up on the one car people wanted.   The Service Station Sets, Fallen Flag sets,, and Limited Edition sets usually had several "good" cars in each set.  If I remember right the 6114 CNW Hopper was the hardest to find by itself.

@Don McErlean - There was a Wabash Cannonball set in 1977 (set 1762) and also 1979 (set 1962). The engine is my set is the one from the 1979 set but it has the mismatched tender from the 1980 set The New Englander (set 1050).

I guess the Hi-Cubes deserve a mention - these are two of my favorites

I had been into HO for a while, when I received my first Lionel set for my birthday:

Right after I had unwrapped it, my dad told me not to open it.  I was a little confused.  Next day he took me and the train set back to the store and bought me this one:

Box is long gone, but I still have the train.

Yes, Robert, the hi-cubes definitely deserve a mention.  I had quite a few before I had to start thinning the herd, and here's a beauty from 1976 that hasn't found a new home yet.

I remember when Lionel made the Hi-Cube cars with plastic trucks and wheels. They were #9626 Santa Fe, #9627 Union Pacific and a #9628 Burlington Northern. When I received my shipment from my Lionel distributor, I was not to happy. It was like they were going backwards instead of forwards.

Love MPC stuff.

Another oddball item, this one is from 1980, the 8001 Nickel Plate Road 2-6-4.  This was uncataloged but similar to the engine in the 1980 New Englander set.  At some point, someone must have changed the trailing truck on mine, it should be a 2-6-4.  It should also have the mechanical sound of steam, but my tender doesn't have the cutout for the rolling disc. The engine body is plastic rather than diecast, it has smoke and an operating firebox light. Kind of unusual in that this loco and the one in the New Englander set were the only larger six wheel driven steam locos that had a plastic body.

Ed, that plastic body is strange! The 2 wheel trailing truck is an improvement, IMO. JohnA

Here's some Hi-Cubes and covered hoppers.

Does anybody here have a picture of all the tobacco cars? If you do, could you please post it.

@John A posted:

Ed, that plastic body is strange! The 2 wheel trailing truck is an improvement, IMO. JohnA

Agreed, the 4 wheel trailing truck with just the two open wheels just doesn't look good.

Jim,  there is a picture of 8 tobacco cars  back on page 3.    They are with a few group pictures, not enlarged.

Doug

The Canadian Pacific Service Station Set from 1973 plus a Chessie U36B.  I have the N&W hopper car from the CP set but can’t find it in the train room. The CP dummy B unit was an add on option to the set. The Chessie engine was from a set but I sold the cars several years ago and only kept the engine.

The era represented by mpc had so much color and variability on the railroad cars. I really like that time period. Modern stuff is almost boring to me. Intermodal = boring. No colorful boxcars ect. No southern serves the south.

I have the complete Broadway Limited set in my PRR by Lionel collection, but I swapped all the early trucks/couplers out for the complete truck/coupler assemblies that came with the later cars.

No MPC discussion is complete without chrome tank cars and the soda pop boxcars: