Question: Should I repaint this Lionel 252?

Ron...if it were mine I would go ahead and paint it as you like....that's the fun of toy trains....good luck..joe

Joe is of course correct, it's yours do what makes you happy! It's definitely not a rare piece but...the paint isn't that bad. What color did you make the frame?

Looks good as it is--but of course if you wish to paint it.

Hi John, the frame was painted black but have to strip it again. If I do the orange and blue repaint, I the frame black the cow catchers orange and paint the wheels orange. I did this on a #8 standard gauge and it came out nice😊

Repaint...Repaint.... Repaint...they all look good with a new coat

If you're at all concerned about preserving an original, another option would be to find a "junk" shell (which yours is not IMO), paint it the color you want and sell this one. There are still collectors out there who only want original/untouched trains in their collections.

I vote to leave it original.

Just a update on my 252 repaint.

I have decided to repaint the shell as I have two others 252 in green that have original paint and are original and waiting to be assembled.

The repaint on this shell, will be in Lionel colors orange and blue.
The frame has been painted and awaiting the couplers to be put back on.
Note that the frame is black with orange cow catchers.
The motors wheels will be repainted as orange.

The shell will basically be painted orange with a blue roof, blue lower stipe on the bottom of the frame, the doors on each end of the engine will be blue and the last thing to be blue will be the side covers above the grills.

I also found a easy way to mask the flag stanchion, if anyone is interested in this just ask.

I will be posting the completed frame assembly with motor and reversing switch when I am done.

Ron good choices. Are you pulling the wheels off to paint? Did you find rattle cans for your colors or airbrush? Flag holders aren’t these screwed onto the frame? Looking forward to seeing your finished engine. Do you plan on pulling matching passenger cars or stock freight or passenger cars?

Hi Rich, the flag stanchions are riveted to the frame, I used heat shrink to to mask the stanchions with a piece of tape on the top of the heat shrink tube to block the paint spray.
I then used a brush with clear paint to coat the stations as I had problems years ago with the clear attacking the black paint.
I used Rustoleum spay cans  (orange, blue and clear )and it is close enough for the Lionel color.
Since the wheel are solid and not spoked I will do it assembled. Originally I did the wheels in red when it they were off, just have to do one side at a time and let dry.

Not sure what I will pull with it I have a bunch of old freight cars and cabooses that may get a similar paint job as they are really beat up.

On the one hand, it ain't that bad, I mean if it was a 381E in that condition I would never paint it , but heck it is a 252....  So definitely no harm in repaining it . Opinion only

How's the project coming Ron? I just finished a 250 in color matched green. The tabs on these cab inserts are pesky, had one break more than once for sure. This time, before painting, I reinforced suspect tabs with a small bit of solder at the base of the tab. Worked like a charm.