How old is my lionel trains

The first have a spring-loaded pin under the coupler. Modern Lionel trains —present : After General Mills sold Lionel, the company based its new trains on old designs and focused on realism. In , the Polar Express train enjoyed immense popularity and became an instant collectible.

Lionel continues to release new and innovative designs today. The identifier on vintage Lionel trains consists of four numbers; you can find them on the bottom or right side of the train. Other manufacturers, such as American Flyer and Marx , printed numbers on their trains as well. Know that Marx used three-number identifiers since they look similar to O gauge Lionel trains. To put together a vintage Lionel train set, purchase items that appeal to you.

Some collectors take interest in trains from a specific era, others look for collectible Mickey Mouse sets , and still others build collections around trains with certain road names, such as Union Pacific , Southern Pacific , or Great Northern. Some locomotives produce smoke and whistle sounds. For beginners, modern era rather than post-war diesels such as the GP-7 or GP-9 are a good choice.

Look for a locomotive with three positions: forward, reverse, and neutral. Once you have an engine, you can decide which kinds of cars you want to start your collection. The different types of rolling stock available include:. Boxcars : Search for old boxcars for a realistic look.

Refrigerator cars : Refrigerator cars include beer cars , candy cars , and more. Gondolas : The post-war gondola model is inexpensive and available in various colors. Flatcars : Flatcars carried military equipment, logs, and Christmas trees.

Cabooses : Cabooses are the little red car at the end of your train. If you are interested in lighted cabooses , look into the or models. You may be interested in a single-throttle or double-throttle transformer. The transformer from the s is a good choice for a single-throttle transformer. A powerful transformer around watts of power allows for plenty of future expansion. Lionel is well-known for its accessories. Beginners may be interested in track-side signals, such as semaphores and or crossing gates.

You might want to add a 45 gateman shack to your set. Obtain a structure such as the whistle shack or signal tower. Lighting, in the form of a searchlight or flood towers, is a nice addition to any set. Lionel train track is recognizable because it has three rails.

Gauge refers to the distance between the rails. Lionel O gauge tracks come in two kinds: O and O It takes eight pieces of track to make a circle. An O gauge circle has a inch diameter, and an O27 gauge circle is 27 inches in diameter.

Although O27 trains will run easily on an O track, running O trains on O27 track is more problematic. Because O gauge train cars are longer, they can derail or get stuck in the turns of the tighter O27 track. Knowing the value of trains is of interest for beginning enthusiasts as well as seasoned collectors. Demand often determines the value of a train with some vintage Lionel trains selling for close to their original price and others going for much more.

Rare trains are generally more valuable as well. As quality increases, so does value. Tenders Electric Engines Accessories. Lionel Rolling Stock Identification Guide. Master Index. We would welcome your comments for improving these pages as they are always being re-arranged as we attempt to simplify and make this site more concise. Lionel's web site features links to online communities for collectors and train enthusiasts; reaching out to online community members for help will also help you find the age of your train.

Matt Browning has been writing about health, science, food and travel since His career has spanned advocacy, medical communications and public relations and his stories have won awards from the Virginia Press Association. Browning earned a Bachelor of Arts in English language and literature from the University of Virginia.

By: Matt Browning Updated April 12, Share It. How to Sell Matchbox Cars.