The 199 Microwave Tower

@CALNNC posted:

I pick up stuff needing a fix, and found this #199 microwave tower with a missing top, or so I thought.  It was missing one Fahnstock clip and the vertical wire attached to it, along with the entire top with the dishes and lights.  I found a top for it, and can replace the wire and clip, but the wire protruding from the top are too long for the dish housing and lamp which seems to indicate somewhere along the line, there is a different tops.  Even though the base is imprinted with #199, New York, New York, and made in the USA, apparently not MPC unless this was old stock.  I have yet to find the microwave tower with red tower and black base.  The dual searchlight tower is red, but does anybody have info on red and gray #199's.  All the issues I can fix, but just curious about why this one is so different, or maybe somebody kluged something together and that is the tower I found.  Thanks.

https://www.tandem-associates....l_trains_199_acc.htm

Tandem assoc is a great resource I use regularly, but their description mentions nothing about the coloration of this one. Perhaps at the end of the Lionel or beginning of the MPC run with bins of unused parts.  Definitely not a dark gray base unless Lionel calls black dark gray, and tandem says the C variation had a black cap, but no mention of a black base, maybe an oversight.

Tandems description:

"It has a DARK GRAY plastic base and a usually TAN top piece with a GRAY colored plastic tower that was inscribed "LIONEL" in RED letters on two sides.
The tower has two wire clips on the bottom as is illustrated to the right and was inscribed, "MADE IN U.S. OF AMERICA / 199 MICROWAVE TOWER / THE LIONEL CORPORATION / NEW YORK, N.Y."
The B Variation has TAN plastic base, See No. 195.
The C Variation is the same as A but has a BLACK plastic cap on the top of the tower."

Doesn't really matter, just thought there might be some history to it.

That's a 2195 MPC floodlight tower.