Railroad Museum of Long Island Spring 2017 Lionel Collectible Car

n2qhvRMLI posted:

Hi TINPLATE ART,

Nassau Lionel Operating Engineers produced a great number of Grumman Corporation Collectible Cars in years past.  (And they did have a flatcar with a Lunar Lander riding on top! :-)  We explored adding Northrup Grumman as a Collectible Car partner a few years ago.  Alas, they showed no interest in promoting their Long Island history through our Collectible Car Program.  Time will tell if Northrup again wishes to highlight their storied past on Long Island. 

Thanks for the ask,

Don

Not to derail your thread too far away from RMLI, but I didn't know of that one's existence (club issue long before they offered them to the public as well, I guess?).  I do know of the Museum Row car which was a TOFC, and I believe there was a picture of the Lander on the side of the trailer.

-Dave

DAVE 45681 wrote:

Not to derail your thread too far away from RMLI, but I didn't know of that one's existence (club issue long before they offered them to the public as well, I guess?).  I do know of the Museum Row car which was a TOFC, and I believe there was a picture of the Lander on the side of the trailer.

-Dave . . . . . . . . . .

THANK YOU DAVE!

I stand corrected . . . . . . . I just called George Faeth, my friend and collector who has ALL of the NLOE Grumman Collectible Cars and who has the flatcar with the LEM(s) on it.  George explained to me that he custom built the lunar lander flatcar, (which holds two lunar excursion modules), and numbered one of the landers for the first moon landing: 72069.  George also custom built another flatcar load of two Lunar Command Modules, numbering one 12767 for the fateful day we lost three astronauts, Roger Chaffee, Virgil “Gus” Grissom and Ed White II, in an Apollo capsule fire, January 27, 1967.

So, although NLOE created many Grumman Collectible Cars, they DID NOT build the LEM flatcar, it was a custom, one of a kind :-(  I apologize for any confusion, we're not going to find that one on e-Bay or in the TCA and LCCA Exchange offerings!!

Don

Gentle Forum Members,

This short video hit the Internet Friday morning, I think it snaps everything we've been chatting about into focus.  Enjoy! 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2i3F7bI1Vc

Don

Great video Don. Explains the history of North Folk chips and the potato industry on Long Island well.       Lenny

The point I was trying to make is that the potato chip commemorative car is too East End oriented. Brooklyn, Queens, Nassau and Western Suffolk have a lot of history to commemorate. Consider that commemorating some historical events of Brooklyn, Queens, Nassau or Western Suffolk would sell more cars because there is a significantly larger population of model railroading / toy train enthusiasts living in or with roots in Brooklyn, Queens, Nassau and Western Suffolk.

More suggestions I make are cars commemorating events that can be found in Ron Ziel's "Steel Rails To The Sunrise," or Vincent F. Seyfried's "New York & North Shore Traction Company." There were two cars manufactured in Port Jefferson, the "Only" and the "Metropol." There were two World's Fairs in Flushing Meadow Park on Long Island and the 1939-'40 Fair gets little attention. Did you know that the Long Island Rail Road ran special trains to William K. Vanderbilt's Cup races in the early 1900s? Car No. 8, The Black Beast which ran in Vanderbilt's Cup Races is in a museum known as the "Black Beast Garage in Roslyn. Long Island was a hot bed of stock car racing with a very famous track in Freeport. Checkout the Hines Racing Museum.

Now that the time has passed to order the North Fork Potato Chips boxcar, could you drop a hint as to when the next car announcement will be made?  Thanks.

BWANA BOB!  

Thank you for the shout out, I apologize for the delay in making an announcement about our next "sweet" boxcar.  The initial rendering of the car was sent to our "partner" for approval and they suggested we had made the car too "modern" with the logos and artwork.  They requested we use more historical imagery on the car - which our committee thought was a pretty cool observation - considering we are all about railroading of the historic past on Long Island!!

Our graphics committeeman has been working on a new/old rendering of the car, and with the April Museum opening and a number of other events on our calendar I haven't pestered him for it!  You are right, we closed the order period on the "North Fork Potato Chips" boxcar May 5th, (final total order to Lionel is 430 cars!), and it is time to ramp up the new car!  So I'm off the computer to call our artist and see if the rendering is complete. Once our partner gives the green light to the artwork I will be back with the announcement.

Stand by!
Don

HINT:  Our partner is now based in Chicago! 

Looking forward to the announcement (and to the North Fork Potato Chips boxcar!)

Just dropping by to see if there's an update.

Hi John D. and all Gentle Forum Members!

It has been a Hell of a few weeks!  Recently, when checking on progress of the North Fork Potato Chip boxcar, we were informed that LIONEL has create a new corporate policy, to produce blank plastic "Made in America" boxcar bodies at ONLY two times per year, May and October.  Since our order-by date was May 15, we have been informed now by LIONEL that our blank plastic "Made in America" car bodies will not be produced until October!!!   This is a great disappointment to the Railroad Museum of Long Island and portends back to the "bad old days" when we were left hanging waiting for deliveries from the Chinese factories!  Our concerns have been expressed to LIONEL and we await word if they will be able to somehow speed up production of our blank plastic "Made in America" car bodies for this contracted order.  Once I have some updates from Concord, NC I will share them with the Forum.

As for our next, "sweet railcar," the first designs were rejected by our corporate partner for being too contemporary and we have been asked to use an older design on the car.  Not a problem - but sadly our graphic artist/committeeman has had some medical issues this spring and is just now getting back in shape to work on the new-old design :-)  He's "back in the saddle again" and I expect to have some direction from our corporate partner toward the end of July.  That would make a mid-August release of the new "sweet car!"

All this in a days work at the Collectible Car Club!  :-) 

More information as it becomes available, thank you for your patience and understanding.

Don Fisher, President Railroad Museum of Long Island

Grampstrains,

I don't guess anymore, I just don't know!  We have had a thirteen year, very profitable relationship with LIONEL LLC, sometimes I just have to "shake my head" in wonder 

Don

One week to mid-August - maybe we'll see the sweet car announcement?

My google-fu has totally let me down as I have not been able to guess the mystery "sweet". 

BWANABOB!

I can't make this stuff up . . . . . . . . we submitted ver. 2 of the car livery to our partner, and it was rejected!

On the positive side of this saga, we now have the right to livery the car with another sweet product from our partner in addition to the first product!!  This has excited the volunteers working on the Historic Lionel Layout at RMLI as the second product is near and dear to a number of them.  We are still working on a design that will please everyone!  Between the challenges of livery design and the latest ordering policies at LIONEL, this "sweet" car may be pushed up to the Spring of 2018 so we can get our car order in just prior to LIONEL's May blank-carbody ordering period.

A positive development in the production of the North Fork Potato Chips boxcar . . . . we received the decorated pre-production model on July 24th, it is beautiful!  We immediately approved the fine quality painting and livery work on the car and hope it means production is moving forward.  No news from LIONEL is good news   We remain destined for delivery of the North Fork Potato Chip boxcar during the last quarter of 2017.

Hang in there with us BWANABOB, I have come to understand the need for "the patience of Job" when it comes to Toy/Model Train production!!

Best,

Don Fisher

Thanks for the update Don! Looking forward to getting my 'tater chip car! 

Yes, thanks Don. Your efforts and updates are truly appreciated.  So is the second sweet product also LI related?  I'm so frustrated at my inability to come up with a reasonably sure guess.

We're in Riverhead for our annual week at the beach.  Enjoyed my first ever bag of North Fork potato chips last night with dinner.  mmm mmm

I picked them up at the new Riverhead Cider House.  Another mmm mmm! Good cider. Nice place. Hope to visit again.  Hope they stick around long enough to maybe get a car of their own some day :-)

I retired from Grumman in 2008 after 43 years. Since the takeover by Northrop in 1995, Northrop execs have been negative about promoting Grumman's heritage because it opposed their goal to shutdown Grumman on Long Island. I was able to get some Grumman literature into the hands of the Cradle of Aviation, but I did so on my own.

In 2019 it will be 50 years since the Lunar Excursion Module went from Bethpage, Long Island to the Moon. That's an awesome journey worthy of a commemorative O-gauge freight car.

GOOD MORNING GENTLE MEMBERS!  BWANABOB, JOHN D. and BOBBY OGAGE!!

Gentlemen all, and patient gentlemen at that!!  Thank you, you patience is about to pay off!!  As the saying goes, "the third time is the charm!"  Our partner in Chicago has approved version 3.0 of the "really sweet" LIONEL Made In America" boxcar offering from the Railroad Museum of Long Island. 

We are making a couple of subtle text changes to the lettering on the car and I am awaiting an official SKU number from LIONEL and then we'll be releasing the image of the car.  Order forms will follow once we have a better understanding of LIONEL's delivery dates for blank car bodies at Concord, NC. 

As mentioned earlier in this thread LIONEL's new Corporate Policy is to purchase blank plastic car bodies from its supplier in America only during the months of May and October.  I believe with the anticipated ramp up time of our marketing and pre-ordering the RMLI will not be able to make the October 2017 deadline for the new car.  Sadly, we will not be able to deliver a new car in time for Christmas, (it looks like the 2017 Spring "North Fork Potato Chips" boxcar has become our 2017 Fall offering.), so I am anticipating a June - July 2018 delivery of the "really sweet" boxcar.  We'll see what develops in the next day or three.  You will hear it here on the "O Gauge Railroading" Forum first!  I promise you.

And yes BWANABOB, the "really sweet" boxcar is a Long Island First!  As the Museum wants to teach a little Long Island railroading history or give attention to some Historic site or event on Long Island, (after all, we are the Railroad Museum of LONG ISLAND :-), each of our cars will have a "Long Island" part to its story.  

Some more hints for you: this delicious candy that is now known throughout North America and around the World was developed and made at the company's first location on Fulton Street in Brooklyn . . . . . (yes gentle readers, as much as some Brooklynites may disagreed - Brooklyn is on Long Island!). The successful company soon moved to a "modern" six story brick factory, (that still stands today), on Henry Street and in 1949 moved to a larger, modern factory with its own rail spur in Carle Place.

JOHN D. I hope to see you this weekend at the Museum in Riverhead.  I'll be working the gift shop on Saturday and I'll be at our Greenport site on Sunday.  Enjoy your time on Long Island!!

BOBBY OGAGE, I agree with you, Northrup is an interesting company to deal with.  We have approached them on a number of occasions, even having old employees intercede for us, no deal - they just are not interested in promoting the history of or the name of Grumman.  It is sad but not uncommon in this day and age, it seems as if everyone wants to change history :-(  

Stand by gentlemen, the "really sweet" LIONEL "Made in America" boxcar is coming very soon to a computer screen by you!
Don

My wife [Riverhead native you'll recall] is bound and determined to figure this out.  The last set of clues really helped.

Do their sales spike dramatically around Halloween?

Do they offer their signature candy in a variety of sizes that are basically the same candy cut to different lengths?

Did they have an Owl as a spokesperson many years ago?

Did you know Just Born started in Brooklyn? They moved to Bethlehem, PA--our current home town! They are the purveyors of my personal favorite candy: Mike & Ike! They are better known for Peeps though.

Hi, Hi JOHN D. and your wife!!

I image their Halloween sales do increase, but every candy manufacture loves the Halloween Season :-)

To the best of my knowledge, the candies we are working with come in only one size.  They do have a variety of flavors - some of the flavors are seasonal.

I do not believe they ever had an owl as a spokesperson, but they do use a particular bird for advertising and naming purposes.

Brooklyn was always a great City, even before the five boroughs.  Long Islanders historically looked to Brooklyn as "The City."  It was the origin of the Long Island Rail Road from the East River up Atlantic Avenue to Jamaica.  So much came to fruition in Brooklyn, I love the place!! :-)

OK Gentle Forum Members, keep guessing for another day or so. 

He and I have agreed to keep the secret, but I will publicly congratulate Brother Stu Rankin from METCA, correctly identified the candy and the manufacturer to me in an e-mail at 11:12 AM this morning, about an hour after my post!!      He's good :-)  :-)  :-)

Enjoy!
Don

n2qhvRMLI posted:

Hi, Hi JOHN D. and your wife!!

I image their Halloween sales do increase, but every candy manufacture loves the Halloween Season :-)

To the best of my knowledge, the candies we are working with come in only one size.  They do have a variety of flavors - some of the flavors are seasonal.

I do not believe they ever had an owl as a spokesperson, but they do use a particular bird for advertising and naming purposes.

Brooklyn was always a great City, even before the five boroughs.  Long Islander historically looked to Brooklyn as "The City."  It was the origin of the Long island Rail Road from the East River up Atlantic Avenue to Jamaica.  So much came to fruition in Brooklyn, I love the place!! :-)

OK Gentle Forum Members, keep guessing for another day or so.  He and I have agreed to keep the secret, but I will publicly congratulate Brother Stu Rankin from METCA, he correctly identified the candy and the manufacturer to me in an e-mail at 11:12 AM this morning, about an hour after my post!! He's good :-)  :-)  :-)

Enjoy!
Don

The last clue was a giveaway. Mason Mints. 

When I was in college worked at Grumman for 2 summers.  Worked for a couple of weeks in the clean room for the LEM setting up jigs and cleaning parts with freon.  Saw a lot of neat stuff the LEM, f14 full scale prototypes, gulfstream. My mom worked there for 25+ years.   A great place to work and a great company

Marty

TR18,

Excellent, you've got the manufacturer/candy maker . . . . . . . . . now guess what candies we're featuring on the car!

Enjoy,
Don

Ah! My wife's guess was Tootsie who now own Masons Mints. Tootsie rolls come in all sizes and who could forget the Owl determining the number of licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie pop?! Close but no cigar.

Never heard of Masons Mints or Crows but I've had Dots [both the spiced gumdrop and the modern movie candy].

Since Peaks and Mints were made in LI I'll guess those are the candies to be featured on the car.

Google...making me look smart for over a decade!

Totally forgot I ordered one of these until it was on the door step this evening. What a nice surprise to come home from work to! 

Well done RMLI! 

Got mine today, too! Well done!

Got mine two days a go and it is  beautifully done

Mike

Yes, a beautiful addition to the RMLI fleet.  Now awaiting the delicious details on the next offering....

I see that the 2018 RMLI car is the Dots/Crows boxcar.  Cool.  Any chance it will be orderable thru Paypal?