Pullman?

It is a Lionel Jr. 1700E, 1701, 1702 set from the late mid 30's.

I think they were intended for kids who did not have track, nor permission to place any track around on the floors of their homes. So, they crawled around on hands-n-knees and pulled/pushed the little train around and probably called out, "Toot toot!"

That is a Lionel jr in Hiawatha livery.  Not very common. uses a 0-27 of Lionel Jr motor.

great find....wish I'd find stuff like that.

Steamer posted:

I'm looking now at my 1936 and 1937 catalogs.  Those car bodies are identical to those shown in the drawings of the 1071E Lionel Jr. Distant control Streamliner excpet that the catalog shows a four car trian..

The same car bodies, identical to the Lionel Jr., are shown in the 1551 Whistling Mechanical Streamliner.  That was a windup train that Lionel cataloged in 1936 and 1937.  It had three cars in the catalog drawing.

According to Doyle's book, the streamliners were mostly chrome, as Lionel advertised in its catalog, but some of them were painted Hiawatha orange.  I see no information about the mechanical trains in Doyle, so don't know if any of them were painted orange.

Lione's current streamliner offering confuses the issue by showing a three car Lionel Jr.  Lionel's early catalogs show only a four car train.

Putting that all together, we don't have enough information to say whether the train from Jeff's brother is electric or mechanical.

I learned about Lionel's mechanical trains quite by accident.  A postwar collection that I acquired had some prewar items including two rail track taht looked like Lionel stampings.  With some research, I got to the back pages of the 1936 and 1937 catalogs and saw the windup trains.  There are drawings for two rail track includiong No 1555 90 degree crossing and 1550 pair of switches, with a switchstand and lever that looks like the 1024.

mlaughlinnyc posted:

Putting that all together, we don't have enough information to say whether the train from Jeff's brother is electric or mechanical.

 

I believe it is electrical, since the mechanical version has a hole punched in the top of the lead unit for the brake lever of the windup motor.  In Jeff's picture of the top of the train, it appears that the hole isn't present behind the exhaust stacks.

Here is a boxed set of Lionel 1550 mechanical train switches from my collection:

I can't believe MTH charges $400 for that set.

Brian Liesberg posted:

I can't believe MTH charges $400 for that set.

They never made them if I remember correctly. Not enough interest.

Steve

...and, in case you are wondering if it is based on a real train - it is - the Gulf, Mobile & Northern "Rebel".

Steve "Papa" Eastman posted:

Brian Liesberg posted:

I can't believe MTH charges $400 for that set.

They never made them if I remember correctly. Not enough interest.

Steve

It's one of the cheapest electric sets Lionel made, maybe interest would have been higher if they had it priced to reflect the quality.

Might have been a nice intro tinplate set for around $150.

Here's a photo of thje Rebel.  Looks like the right body shape, but Lionel didn't leave room for an engine compartment.   Note the exhaust stacks over the front rows of passenger seating.

Yes, from the mid 1930's O27 streamline diesel offerings. This color is rather rare, and sells at a bit of a premium, but in this condition it doesn't matter as at best someone would use it to make a complete restoration job. Needs a motor, and full restoration of bodies. If there's one positive, the smokestacks are in tact. Instead of waiting for the next question "what is it worth" I'd offer up $20-30. But of course you have to find the right person, and online will be the lower end as shipping needs to be added.

Tim

mlaughlinnyc posted:

Here's a photo of thje Rebel.  Looks like the right body shape, but Lionel didn't leave room for an engine compartment.   Note the exhaust stacks over the front rows of passenger seating.

that would be a good train to model using Jefflook's find. There are a lot of regional trains from that era that used the same basic model. I thought of using a 1700 junker to make the Comet which was used out of Boston by the New Haven. Would just need a second head end car for that model.