What is the Rarest and Coolest Train Item you own?

I model modern railroads so diesels are my thing.  I agree with MichaelB that the diecast ones are tops.  So my coolest and rarest is my Lionel diecast UP 7459.  According to OGR member posts there were only 50 or so of these second run road numbers.  

I have a beater 2347 C&O Geep that is one of 300 plus, supposedly one of rarest postwar diesel locos...

Coolest maybe this chromed 265E that I also have chromed 2613/4/5 pullmans for ...

My favorte project is this stretched 265E..

Have had a few unusual or low production items over the years. First I remember was a LOTS 'Michigan Central' early convention boxcar that a member traded to me for something. He told me there were only a few made - 25 or so?

Another time I  bought some PW Lionels from the widow of a fella who passed away in Pass Christian MS. Nice stuff - NYC F3s, a 726 Berkshire, some other smaller steamers, a ZW and some common freight cars. Several boxes of 'stuff' from his layout. Looking through the items at home I found two plain Jane 027 gondolas that were part of the dealer's display 'Magic Mountain' disappearing train set.  I wrote to her and likened them to some 'rare coins' or similar and included a check for $200 additional. She cashed the check but I never heard back from her at all...

@Bill DeBrooke posted:

What is the Rarest and Coolest Train Item you own?

Nothing great, just a lowly 1007 caboose in tuscan.

My rarest and coolest item isn't a train.  I have a set of backdrops with a story.

A close friend was a child in the mid to late 1950s.  During that time, his father bought virtually everything that Lionel made during that period for him and his younger brother.  In addition to the trains, his father commissioned a sign painter to create a set of backdrops; the businesses were named after family and friends.  The bad news is that the trains disappeared when he drifted away from the hobby in early adulthood.  Decades after his family sold the house, my friend heard that it was going to be demolished so that a McMansion could be built on the property.  He stopped by, explained that he grew up in the house, and asked for permission to take a final look.  In the basement, the backdrops were still attached to the walls!  He asked if he could have them and was told that anything remaining in the house was going into the dumpster, so he quickly removed them.  He doesn't have room for them, and his brother has no interest, so they are "on loan" to me.

The backdrops are painted on hardboard.  I mounted the best ones in a couple of layers to save wall space and create more depth.

I'm amazed by the fact that they are truly unique, but despite being one of a kind they are essentially worthless, although they are priceless to me.

My friend visits once or twice a year and he always enjoys seeing the backdrops and running trains.  He never lost interest in trains, and now has an HO layout for which I built the benchwork.   

@Mallard4468 posted:

My rarest and coolest item isn't a train.  I have a set of backdrops with a story.

A close friend was a child in the mid to late 1950s.  During that time, his father bought virtually everything that Lionel made during that period for him and his younger brother.  In addition to the trains, his father commissioned a sign painter to create a set of backdrops; the businesses were named after family and friends.  The bad news is that the trains disappeared when he drifted away from the hobby in early adulthood.  Decades after his family sold the house, my friend heard that it was going to be demolished so that a McMansion could be built on the property.  He stopped by, explained that he grew up in the house, and asked for permission to take a final look.  In the basement, the backdrops were still attached to the walls!  He asked if he could have them and was told that anything remaining in the house was going into the dumpster, so he quickly removed them.  He doesn't have room for them, and his brother has no interest, so they are "on loan" to me.

The backdrops are painted on hardboard.  I mounted the best ones in a couple of layers to save wall space and create more depth.

I'm amazed by the fact that they are truly unique, but despite being one of a kind they are essentially worthless, although they are priceless to me.

My friend visits once or twice a year and he always enjoys seeing the backdrops and running trains.  He never lost interest in trains, and now has an HO layout for which I built the benchwork.   

That is definitely a cool story!

Hi OGR,

Many great trains and pictures before mine. Thank you for sharing! My RAREST train is a Lionel 1946 set engine/tender & 4 cars. It is set the No. 2115WS Work Train comprised of:

#726 Berkshire 2-8-4 (worm drive, smoke bulb)

#2624W Tender (‘Lionel Lines’ 12-wheel, die cast)

#6-2420 Searchlight Wrecking Car - ‘D. L. & W.’ lettered, grey, work caboose with operating searchlight

#6-2458 Automobile Car - ‘P. R. R.’ lettered, dark brown, metal, double opening box car doors each side

#6-2460 Crane Car - ‘Bucyrus Erie’ lettered, black, 12 wheel, manual movable crane arm and crane hook

#6-3451 Automatic Lumber Car - ‘Lionel Lines’ lettered, black, operating log dump car, 6 log

Set label acquired with above train in 1988 for son Ken Jr.

All of this:

Top- 1960 Set 1805 (mine as a kid) Repro helicopter.

Next down- 1945 Set 463w. I added the crane and brown-cover dump car.

Next down: 1946 Set 2115w. I added the dump car.

Next down: 1955 Set 2253w (My wife's as a kid) NY Zone on the hack.

Bottom: 1956 Set 2274w, Can't fit all of it so just what you see.

It took 62 years to acquire all of this!

@Mallard4468 posted:

My rarest and coolest item isn't a train.  I have a set of backdrops with a story.

I'm amazed by the fact that they are truly unique, but despite being one of a kind they are essentially worthless, although they are priceless to me.

That is as cool a find as it gets!

"Worthless", you say?  You MUST be kidding!?

With that sort of provenance, and its STUNNING visual impact, I think you'd be quite surprised in putting this up for auction.

And, if you ever do, let me know...in advance, of course!!!  (I know...You never will...or should!)

KD

The Lionel prototype for their Standard Gauge Commodore Vanderbilt set. Note, the missing grab bars they took off of the cars when they needed extra parts.

Scott Smith

Rare only because as far as I know this was only “As Built” version of the 3rd Rail SP GS4. The rest were made in the post 1945 scheme. Whats goes around comes around and now 4449 is run “As Built”.

As for coolest, those are my 2 to 3 rail conversions.

Pete

Well the rarest item that I have in my collection would have to be this pair of American Flyer uncatalogued 1106 passenger cars that were lithographed for Canadian sales as "Dominion Flyer"  with the CNR name below the windows.  Their production date, according to my guide book, is not precise but is just listed as "ca 1920's" .  The guide book lists these also made with red vice blue lithographed sides and in blue with 8 wheels but I have never seen either of those variants.  I bought these in the 1980's off a flea market table when we lived in Dayton, Ohio.  They were offered with a range of very early Flyer and Hafner 4 wheel passenger cars, some incomplete.  I bought the whole table (can't remember the price but it was not bad and my wife was with me so it couldn't have been too outrageous).  The seller was overjoyed to go home early.   Although I don't know precisely how rare they are, in all my subsequent years of collecting and going to train shows I have not seen them again.

Best wishes

Don

My Lionel Legacy Susquehanna C420 made for METCA. I don’t know how many were made, I was told 30 or so. All I know is I have never seen another or even know someone who has it.

Two curiosities.  A pair of early K-Line cars made in 1987 from Marx tooling with Allied Full Cushion trucks.  These cars have glossy gold lettering.

@cbq9911a posted:

...with Allied Full Cushion trucks...

Those look just like Lionel's Symington-Wayne trucks.

@ADCX Rob posted:

Those look just like Lionel's Symington-Wayne trucks.

They are I think K-line either copied or "designed" the same style truck for their early cheapie cars and so a lot in the 80' used them.

A 1938 700E all original. No repro anything.