# Shot in the dark



## franchise37 (Jan 12, 2022)

I’m looking to buy the train set I had when I was little ( I know this is a shot in the dark as I am a novice as well)

from what I remember the front car was black with a light that pulled roughly 6 other cars. One car was “coal” and a dark red color. Another was a gold-ish / dark yellow color. The frontcar lit up and made the whistling sound. The tracks themselves I wanna say made your traditional train track sounds.
For reference I am 32 years old and want to say I had this around 1993-1994

any help would be appreciated
Thanks


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

I can't identify the set from that description. Some more information on scale, or any railroad names / markings would help.

I have to say, though, that the hobby has changed a lot since the early 90's. You may find something similar, but the odds of finding that exact set are pretty slim.


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## OilValleyRy (Oct 3, 2021)

What scale is this? A whistling loco makes me presume O, but maybe there was a gimmicky HO set with a whistle?
Steam or Diesel?
Most coal hoppers were brown (dark red) or black, so could be anything from Burlington to ATSF.
The yellow one though was almost certainly a Peabody coal hopper. Those were yellow with green letters.


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## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

As mentioned, it's a little difficult to 
determine which trains yours might be
from your description. Did your train
run on a track that had 2 rails...or 3 rails?
If 2 rails, do you recall whether the track
may have been just short of an inch between
rails or was it more narrow? Did the 'car with a light'...we call it
the locomotive have large wheels connected
by rods that moved as the train moved? If so it
would be a 'steam engine'. If the locomotive
had 2 trucks with small wheels and no moving rods it would be
a diesel. The answers to these questions may
help our members.

Don


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## mesenteria (Oct 29, 2015)

franchise37 said:


> I’m looking to buy the train set I had when I was little ( I know this is a shot in the dark as I am a novice as well)
> 
> from what I remember the front car was black with a light that pulled roughly 6 other cars. One car was “coal” and a dark red color. Another was a gold-ish / dark yellow color. The frontcar lit up and made the whistling sound. The tracks themselves I wanna say made your traditional train track sounds.
> For reference I am 32 years old and want to say I had this around 1993-1994
> ...


I'm with the others, it's almost certainly O gauge, three rail, probably Lionel, and if you can find a catalog from that time you might find it very quickly. 

Lionel Catalogs - 1993 (phrankenstign.com) 

Archived (lionel.com)


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