Question on doing a repaint on a Lionel 259E Loco.

Ron the answer to your questions for me would be the condition of the shell and the look you want for the finished engine. By that I mean are you looking for a higher end smooth finish or a drab overworked but reliable engine. If you doing one color or multiple colors requiring a lot of masking. This would make my whole or apart decision. Either way I would take the trim off, unless you take the Standard 1835E approach with painted trim.

Some pics would help answer some of these questions. This sounds like a fun project for a great running little puller. I have several of these and they just fly around the track . Keep us posted with your conversion.

Thank for the reply rich, I did disassembled a donor 259E shell that I found under a table at a train show.
I still have the 259E with motor and better trim that I did not take apart.
I do have the front and rear trailing trucks on both as they are not in the picture.
Looking to do a two part paint olive drab and black and putting US Army on the tender in black letters.
Just have to pick up a boiler front as this is missing on both shells.

Questions:
Does the marker light on the boiler front come in bras for the bras trim and nickel for the nickel trim?
The side round logo on the engine is a bit faded; I think they sell sticker types, would the sticker type fit over the existing emblem with no overhang?

For those, I just remove the trim.  I leave everything that will be body color.  My thoughts on trim color are make it black.  I was using the Eastwood Chemical blackening kit on mine,  Journals, couplers, all trim.  Good excuse to blacken all that trim that is otherwise unsightly as well.

Army train you say...  I have a 262 Army train about half done

I strip everything off, soak the tinplate in Draino, which will remove all the original paint down to bear metal, prime with an auto etching primer then use a good quality spray paint any color you want. I bake the unit in the oven at 200 degrees for 1/2 hour...This makes the finish look like the train just came out of the box. Buy new chimney's and rails if they are dented or rusted.

A tip for the tabs...DON'T BEND THEM BACK.... Make sure you flatten the tabs as flat as possible, this will make it easier to reassemble. Twist them with a needle nose plyers just enough to hold them tight.. If you bend them back there is a good chance the tab will break.

Enclosed are some repainted 259E's.