Thoughts on this 773?

Well, that tender is not 773.  I bet that, like many of us, he just got an old 763 and hung a few modern parts on it.  The cylinder block, at least, is 700E, or at least not 763. And the tender is probably Madison Hardware.

Doesn't make much difference now - with the advent of the 1-700E, the true value of the earlier Hudsons is somewhat diminished.

It looks a lot like a 1950, 773 with prewar drivers from a 700E.

Bogie

It is a 763 with upgraded or replacement motor. 773's didn't have all the handrail stanchions. Pilot has been replaced with a 700E or 1-700E with the drop coupler which a 763 and 773 didn't have. With the button style coupler on the tender says Williams to me.

When I was 13 years old, around Christmas of 1966, Madison Hardware advertised the 773 Hudson for $55.00. I took my Christmas gift money and hopped the subway to 23rd St. When I got there they told me for an extra fee, they would change the drive wheels to the open spoke type, while I waited. I didn't have the extra cash so it didn't happen. But I did get the 773 Hudson and still have it.

The 773 you have definitely looks like the 1950 version. But perhaps Madison had the extra 700E wheels and was making this same offer through the years.

Changing the motor on the 763 to  a 773 motor could be difficult. The mounting is complete different unless someone made an adapter kit. 

Definitely not a 773 boiler. 773 boiler had 4 cast in stanchions that held cotter pins.

Changing the wheels to open spoke would kill the Magne-traction, and I'm not sure the axles would be the same for both style of wheels

So I would guess a 773 frame (no magnets) with repo open spoke wheels with a 763 boiler and 700E pilot.

Forgive my ignorance. Why are people assuming its prewar / postwar? Couldn't the boiler and other parts be from the Modern era?

Looks like the trailing truck says 700T4

CW, several clues. Old style wide pick-up rollers. LTI's 1-700E trailing truck and other parts were painted a semi-gloss black, Cylinder casting has extension for valve gear (eliminating a 1964 version), but is not drilled for the booster pipe like the LTI reissue. No mold parting line on top of the boiler casting.

The smoke lever assembly is visible in 2 of the pictures. Can you confirm that a smoke unit is present?

Nice-looking locomotive no matter what it is. You are indeed fortunate to have a family memory like that!

Thanks for all the thoughts!

It does have a smoke unit.

Some good ideas here - my uncle did have some sort of relationship with Madison - later day.

He had the Lionel wheel press - and not above his pay grade to have cobbled this together.

My grandfather always had a big scale loco rigged up on a display board on a shelf in the family room - controlled by a light switch. He had it shimmed so it just floated as it ran. When you're 7 years old - that's cool!

But - I was never quite sure which loco it was - these guys had a pile of 700s

I was sort of hoping to get "that" loco - I ended up with this one.

As it turns out - I don't think there was any one loco on that shelf...I've found pictures of a bunch of different steamers on display boards - so who knows!?

That ALMOST looks like a scale-wheeled sucker.  Could it be one of those originally sold to run on T-Rail?

Fred

The 700-T4 you see is the part # for that piece, a Journal bearing cap.