What's your favorite 027 Early Alco FA Lionel Unit

I have an Erie set... and the black w/yellow striping and yellow nose emblem scream "Classic Railroading".  Lionel did a fabulous job on the cast iron framed FA's.  My set runs smooth and slow if desired, some 60 years after they left the assembly plant.  Amazing.

 

However, I think my favorite would have to be the Rock Island set, on account of my exposure to the Rock Island during my childhood in KC and later in Arkansas/Oklahoma.

 

Andre

I have a Misssouri Pacific 205 set.  This a very plain rendition.  I collected it only because of my interest in the Missouri Pacific. The Erie, yellow Union Pacific, and Rock Island liveries are more attractive and truer to the prototype. Pat B.

I like the 2031 Rock Island because it is the most colorful.
In addition to the four pictured above, there is a grey and silver 2023 Union Pacific too.

The yellow/gray UP 2023, by far.

 

Rusty

Don,

 

I am so glad you started this thread.

In the early 50's my friend, Richard Walker, brought his all silver Union Pacific FA 2033 units over to my house for us to play with. I always wanted a set of 2033's in silver.

 

Ooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, I forgot to mention the great FA in my mind forever. As a boy I wanted the Santa Fe O gauge diesels like everyone else. My parents lived in a small apartment house across the street from Yankee Stadium so we could only have a small O-27 layout. 

 

One day, my mom said, we're going to get that Santa Fe F3. I was beside myself with happiness. When we got down to NYC, the salesman told us that F3 would not run on our O-27 tracks and I ended up with the Santa Fe #204 units I still have to this day. Love them.

 

This week I received my set and I am a happy railroader.

 

Eliot

Although we had American Flyer (the 310 K5) a neighbor had the Erie set and I really liked that train. The horn was loud and it was fast!

I still like that one...

I like the yellow UP units. The new Lionel CC versions of these look great.

Rob

ERIE was/is my favorite because I saw them in action in New Jersey and rode the ERiE many, MANY times to Jersey City and Hoboken and return.

Could you be more specific?

 

Pete

 

 

How? Why?

Rock Island. I redid a pair in the later, less common freight scheme. This shot is prior to finishing the new number boards and window. These Lionel FA's are a classic.

 

It's Uncle Pete 2023s in yellow and gray, for sure!  My first Lionel Diesel, back

in '64...for Christmas.  What a day that was, when I could retire the crusty

Marx 666, and cut loose with horn, headlights, operating couplers, and of

course, Magne-Traction!  U-Rah!

The silver and gray 2023 from 1951.   My first set of trains.  On the layout right now.  Run like a champ.

The Erie, as mentioned.  Also the blue and yellow Santa Fe.

     HOPPY

I wonder if there was any ideas about making other road names early on when the die cast frames were still being made. Don

ERIE!

I've seen the Erier.  Seems the thing would pull every thing on the railroad.

Among my all-time favorite catalog pages from 1952. I'm not sure why, but these two sets just seemed to stand out for me. Similar sets appeared in the 1953 catalog also.

 

 

 

Image from John Holtmann's excellent Lionel Catalog Archive Disk 1945-1969 available at

 

HSL Hybrid Systems Ltd.

 

Jim

 

You can still read the 2031 on the number boards on this 1976 hand-repaint of a 2031 Rock Island. It was given to me by a college friend, who had himself painted a non-prototypical half blue, half gray B&O scheme on it. This was my first attempt at a repaint and use of Champ Decals. It still is an excellent runner.

 

B&OBill

I like 'em all, but the Erie just stands out for me.  Very attractive and a great runner.

The Erie, no question.  I've been looking for a nice example for several years now, and I won't rest till I find one.

 

I think I like the Erie because is't all business. Black with a touch of yellow, classy. It looks like it can work. The other nice thing is it fits in with F units very nicely. Were most 027 steam engines look small, the Alco FA's look good and not out of scale. There's a very nice one on the Bay now. This is it. Don

The UP in yellow and grey is my favorite. I guess that is because I got an A/A set brand new, when I was about 6 years old. I still have it, in the original box. It still runs great. I have always remembered to remove the batteries dring any extended storage. As we all know, forgetting that step often lead to an early demise of those engines.

Jeff

Funny thing about this thread.  I am currently doing a total restore on an Erie.  I picked it up from a Blackfeet Indian from Montana.  It really wasn't in that great of condition so I did the sacrilege and decided to restore it.   I always thought that the Erie was the plain Jane of the early Alcos, but Erie has always had a special place in my railroad psyche.  I grew up in NYC and always had the NYC in mind as the railroad of reality.  I went to summer camp in upstate NY, and one day I saw an Erie girder bridge over the road with its big a** Erie lettering.  Something as simple as that stimulate thought and imagination in my 12 year old or so mind.  It brought home to me that there were actually other railroads than the NYC.  It like opened another world to me.  You have to understand the psychology of NYC residents.  It's something like: there's NYC and the rest of the world, and who even cares.  NYC residents are what I call metrocentric.  So like this was mind expanding.  It's like finding your first new girl across town.  Well, maybe not, but at 12 years old it kind of was.

Anyway, I now find the Erie to be representative of a work horse as stated above.  I really look forward to finishing this enjoyable restoration and using it as a runner for postwar cars.  It's been a lot of fun for me.

Alan

Hey Don

 

I have the Erie freight set in the original box, un-run.  Engine box still sealed.

 

What have you got to trade?

 

 

I can throw in the sealed ZW if needed.

Can someone post a photo of the beautiful green & gray Alcos that were on the cover of CTT from several years ago?  The were done by Len Carpelli (sp) I believe to match the green 2400 series cars. It was "the 027 Passenger set Lionel should have made."

I lost the photo when my old computer died last year.

My favorite is my combination 2033/218 Santa Fe ...its made up from a junk box set of broken sheet metal frame 218's with busted front aprons and a cosmetically destroyed 2033 that I bought from Choo Choo Eddies about 15 years ago for $50.00

A little shaving and sanding and they fit perfectly on the die cast frame and some silver paint for the trucks.

Makes for a bullet proof Santa Fe Alco !

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bob, that is a nice job! I have a nonpowered die cast frame, will be on the lookout for a M&StL with a damaged pilot, to go with my 229 A-B. Interesting.

With Lionel coming out with re-runs of the UP and Rock Island die-cast Alcos, I'd love to see a whole line of die-cast FAs in new paint scenes. These are great runners and lookers and are perfect for those of us with small layouts. The postwar paint schemes are fine, but just imagine all the possibilities.

Hi Bill, gee nothing in that kind of shape to trade. I have 726,736 lots of original 6464 box cars, some Madison cars. A converted 746 with Daylight front that i want to make back into a 746 if i can find someone to repaint the engine. I saved the long stipe shell thank goodness. What do you need? A Don

Actually I do not need more trains.  i overbought and have too many for my purposes. Can't really sell them as postage from here is too expensive.

 

What I do need is a restored or restorable 42 to 46 WWII jeep, 1:1 scale, for my mid century automobile exhibit and movie rental business.  Any out there?

Bob, that's a fabulous conversion and a great idea.  Any thoughts on how to add a "B" unit to that consist?  I toyed with the idea of sawing two dummy die cast frames in half and using b units trucks from the era but shelved the idea due to time/money/family concerns.  Maybe this winter.....:-)

taycotrains:

 

Excellent idea!  How do you mount the body to the underframe?

 

Have considered some repaints of the cast frame FA's, but just haven't. In fact, my current Erie's were purchased for a repaint (Frisco)... but after I serviced them, cleaned up the shells, and tuned them up... they run and look so darn good I can't bring myself to repaint!!  Like I said above: That Erie scheme is a RAILROADY looking classic!

 

However, buying junkers (good die cast frame w a crappy shell) and a cheap stamped frame version in a plentiful paint scheme with a junker shell (broke apron/etc)... maybe I won't wince as bad when it comes time to dunk it in the stripping tank!

 

Andre

The silver UP 2033.  With the matching passenger cars this was the set that I grew up with that my Grandfather and Father set up every Christmas.  Along with The General set and #60 Trolley.  These sets fueled my passion for passenger trains.

 

It was exciting when the Christmas layout was finished and it was time to put the "D" battery into the powered 2033 for the horn!  It was time to grab the ZW throttle and run the trains for the Christmas season!!

Bill, might have a line on one. Don

My first Lionel loco was a MPC blue/yelloe/silver Alco FA2 purchased i 1975. Ran it for hours on in - it was indestructible. Made me realize that size was more important than the detail available in HO.

Gotta chime in.  Darn nice conversion, Bob!

 

Rusty

Scale Rail, Len Carparelli can restore your 746 back to original.

Rob

NH 209 set is my favorite. Still have it with the original master box & the old Lionel paper. The set sits on my train shelves for display.