who had lionel F-3's as when you were young ?

A set of 2343's. Started my love of passenger cars as the 4 car aluminum set came with them as a Christmas gift.

 

Still love the F3s and have several sets currently running on the layout.

I had a Super O set with Santa Fe F3's that I recieved for Christmas in 1961. Setting them up years later to go around the tree got me hooked on this fantastic hobby.

Wanted Santa Fe set from Fred Eaton's bicycle shop - showed Lionel catalog to my Dad - he took one look at it and noted the $59.00 price.  He said: "The name is Clarke, not Rockefeller!"  I had to stick with my Erie Alco.  

 

 

 

For Christmas 1954, I received the #2353  F3s as part of the freight set from the 1954 catalog. I still have the whole set, and it is always on the layout.

My dad bought me a used 2333 SF set in the mid '60's, followed by a used 2344 set soon after. The 2333's are still my go-to diesels... lots of miles, a lot of "scars" and wear-n-tear, but they are real champs. Here it is pulling my "Wegmans" train:

 

Big fan of Lionel F3s.  Inherited my dad's 2383 set as one of my first trains.  Have run the wheels off of that set over the years.  Now they are a go-to set for my two boys.  They wanted to add the black bonnet to the 2383 set, which we did. 

Christmas of 1954, my parents gave me a set of Lionel Southern F-3  locomotives.  I still have them.

I had the 1954 catalogue 2353 double A set with 4 passenger cars. Purchased with my own money then. Subsequently added a dummy B and an AMT diner to the consist.

Wish we did. All Dad could afford at the time was a set that had SF 218 Alco's.
We always admired the F-3's, especially the SantaFe's

1987 - I was 9. I was told those Illinois Central F3's that were (re)catalogued were out of my reach. 

 

It wasn't until I was in my 20's that I was able to acquire my first set of F3's...there's definitely something magical about them.

How cool Tiffany!

My wife was a train girl too. My father in law had his boyhood trains and in the 1980's my wife played with them.

Thanks for sharing

Hello Erik C Lindgren...........

 

Thanks A Million................. SMILE    Maybe your wife can join this forums !!!!

 

the woman who loves the S.F.5011,2678,2003,200

Tiffany

Received the Santa Fe 2383 for Christmas '59, along with a 2243 B unit. a year or two later added a second B unit. I still have and run them and besides the great memories associated with them the ABBA is a great looking combo. 

 Same here.  My uncle gave me this set for Christmas 1953 and I still have it.  I was 9 then.

On Christmas morning 1954 Santa left me a brand new 2245 F-3 AB bright red Texas Special passenger set.  Can't get much better than that.

 

Steve, Lady and Tex

I was 10 in 1959 when my folks took me into Stevens Hardware in West Roxbury, MA and got a New Haven 2242 AB set.  Luckiest kid on the block that day.   Rich

My first train was either the Christmas of '53 or '54, where Santa Claus (my dad) got me the Santa Fe warbonnet A-B-A's. (The power supply was even a ZW)

F3s were way, way out of my parents' financial reach.  I got my 2026 for Christmas 1951.  Then six years later, in 1957, I also got a #53 US Army switcher.  And that was it.  I loved those two locomotives (and still have them, in original condition), but anything as extravagant as an F3 or GG1 was out of the question around our place.

 

My older brother got a set wth 2353 Santa Fe f3s.

I played with them unil I tuned 10 and gave them

to me in 1959.

I inheireted my dad's Marx Santa Fe FT AA led set. So we went with the competion. I still have them and run them at Christmas.

I received this for Christmas 1957 or 1958.  It still runs very well.

 

 

I got a 2343 AA set for Christmas 1951 and still have them on shelf display.

Mikey

    My dad came home one summer day with 2 train sets one was A SF diesel switcher pulling 4 or 5 cars and the OTHER one was the Cannonball Express B&O F-3 AB set pulling about 10 cars they were HO. Now that I am older we are into O gauge and I bought my dad the SF war bonnet ABBA with passenger cars but I still like the B&O F-3. Choo Choo Kenny 

For Christmas in 1956 I received a Wabash set with the 2240 A & B F-3's.  Still have it, and it still runs great.

F3's were never on my radar as a child. My first F-units were K-Line's first ones (the 6-motored C&O set offered through their club).

 

I did come into possession of someone else's childhood 2343 F3's via an estate sale. They started out like this. Obviously well played-with:

 

After cleaning up the chassis/running gear and buying replacement shells+trim parts at York, they look like this:

 

 

I'm sure the original owner would feel a bit of peace of mind knowing these are now being cared for, following his departure from this world.

 

---PCJ

 

 

On Christmas 1961 received Rio Grande 2379

I have Warbonnet F-3 envy!  I wanted the Lionel Santa Fe F3s so badly, but we couldn't afford anything but Marx 2-4-2s, etc. Hard to believe today but those were premium locos back then and my parent wisely thought we shoulkd spend money on warm winter coats, and things like that!

 

Might be why I have a dozen Warbonnet Fs today - overcompensating.  

I received a 681 freight set for Christmas, 1950.  The following Christmas, my aunt, who in the scheme of things, married up, gave my cousin a 2343 AA freight set. It had two more freight cars than my 681 set. 

 

Growing up we ran these sets every Christmas season.  The 2343 definitely handled my figure 8 trestle set better than the 681. 

 

I still have my original set, and as fate would have it, I also added my cousin's 2343 set to my collection.

We just could not afford the F3's. I do remember wanting them.

 Funny, same thing here. To this day my dad at 90 still reminds me of the

 616 Santa Fe switcher he paid $21.95 for in the early 60's.

 

 

When I was a young boy, there was a thrift store right across the street from where we lived, my father worked for the Santa Fe railroad as a carman and my mother stayed home raising us 5 kids, so there never was much money for anything extra. One day I went over to the thrift store looking for trains as I alway did and found a box full of track, a transformer, a few cars and an AA set of 2343 Santa Fe F3's, I asked for the price and was told $15.00 for all, of course I could not afford them but a friend of mine bought the box of trains, I was so jealous! Later I ended up trading my friend some of my toy guns for the box of trains and ended up with my F3's!

All the Lionel trains i had as a child were hand me downs.  good stuff, and yet all steam.

 

My buddy across the street had some F3's  circa 1960's.  I so vividly remember holding those B I G engines in my then eight year old hands..They were so cool looking and the gleaming red and silver obviously still etched in my mind!

And the growling!!!!

 

I received my SF 2343 in 1950, I was 7 yrs. old. Still runs well on my atlas track even though they're nickle silver. I do use steel track for ramps. 

I asked the ol feller in the red and white suit for a set of 2333's and he said OK.

I got a 736 freight set with a KW and a set of 022's.

THANKS,,, kid down the road got my 33's,,,,,,,,,,,,,dad said I would enjoy the steam more  he was right.   Got my '33's 10 years later, still new in the box

 

Rod

My wish was like everyone else in the world of Lionel.  I wanted the War Bonnets with the aluminum passenger cars.  Ended up with the Lionel SF 218 AA and four blue stripe 2400 series passenger cars.  Bought a matching B unit with Christmas money I got.  Years later I received a used 2245 AB without any cars.  This was my first F3.  Still have all of the above trains and they run to this day.

Reading this forum file brings it all back including lot of mixed memories.  Like so many, I was never that fortunate to receive a pair of Santa Fe's while growing up although one kid in my neighborhood did have everything that the rest of us simply lusted for; 2343's, a 671, lots of accessories, and a ZW transformer.  He wouldn't let us touch anything but we could stand and watch him operate his trains.  Needless to say, we thoroughly envied him while at the same time just as strongly disliked him; but we just couldn't resist the lure of his glorious Lionel trains.

 

Once I reentered the hobby, the first thing I bought was a pair of '51/ '52 horizontal motored 2343's, added two 2343C's, and the QSI sound system.  When they are on the point and although some 60+ years have elapsed since I last stood watching in awe, while it may well be over compensation on my part, I have to say that it sure feels doggone good.   

I got this set for Christmas 1958.....

 

 

At about 1:50 you can see me opening the box....

 

 

Thanks, Mom & Dad!

 

Peter

 

 

Not really young in the sense of the thread but acquired my Southern 2333 green F-3s used when in my late thirties during the 1960s. Now it is about worn out and so am I.

 

 

That's really great you have the original set and the video to go with it. Thanks for sharing.