# 5342 steam engine



## alaft61ri

I was on e bay came across this 5342 asking 55.00. Needs work so i put it googel to look it up it came up lional. They say its american flyer. Has anyoe heard of 5342 steam engine.


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## mopac

Does not sound like a Flyer. It does sound like a Lionel number. Lots of sellers are not train people
and don't really know what they are selling. I have seen what was called Flyer but I did not recognize,
it was Pre War Flyer. Which is O gauge.


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## AmFlyerFan

I was looking at some supposed AF stuff on Craig'sList a while back, no pictures. The seller said it was his Dad's from long ago. (3 rail track.)
Buyer beware as usual.


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## AmFlyer

There is and engine on ebay now with the cab number of 5342. That is just a 1946 or 1947 320/322 that a previous owner renumbered. It looks like there are some round head rivets so it was likely a 1946. No tender, no boiler front, poor condition. I would not take it if it was free.


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## [email protected]

5342 is a Lionel number also. It is a pre-war OO gauge Hudson that is slightly smaller than s gauge.


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## AmFlyer

I am not familiar with all the unique detail identifiers for Lionel OO engines. From the pictures in the ebay listing I could not rule out the possibility it is a OO Hudson.


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## [email protected]

Here is a picture of the Lionel 5342. I have a full set. They are built and run like Swiss watches.








They came in 2 and 3 rail versions. They are 1:76 scale and highly detailed. Lionel only made OO gauge from 1938-1941. Not very popular, even advanced collectors know very little about them.


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## [email protected]

A few more pictures:


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## AmFlyer

Thanks for the pictures. I have seen some Lionel OO in the past but never dug into the details of OO. The engine shown is more detailed than the Gilbert S gauge one. The engine on ebay is a 1946 Gilbert S gauge Hudson. In the pictures of the engine bottom the two brass contact buttons are even visible.


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## alaft61ri

Ok thanks it does look close to a flyer thanks for pictures and info.


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## Lionel 5342 00

alaft61ri said:


> I was on e bay came across this 5342 asking 55.00. Needs work so i put it googel to look it up it came up lional. They say its american flyer. Has anyoe heard of 5342 steam engine.


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## Lionel 5342 00

I have the Lionel 00 gauge 5343 engine , I'm looking for tender and any other matching car's , and track to go with it .


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## AFGP9

I just checked my Greenberg Lionel Price guide and nowhere is there a 5342 listed for anything standard O gauge. Of course they don't list OO anything in their listings. The picture posted by retired [email protected] sure looks like a very well detailed locomotive. Looks like a lot of moving parts.
As mopac said, there are a lot of sellers on eBay who have no idea what they are selling. I don't know where they get their pricing. I've seen it happen too many times.

Kenny


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## [email protected]

I love my OO set. I have only 1 set, and extra cars. It is the super detailed 001 three rail hudson with a whistle tender. It took a lot of work to get it running correctly including sending it to Arizona for a frame straightening because the frame was warped. I believe the Lionel OO Hudsons should be worth what the O gauge Hudsons are worth, but they are not. OO Gauge is relatively unknown, even to advanced collectors.


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## Snowman




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## [email protected]

That ones a good looker. I was told to store the loco upside down otherwise you will have trouble with the e-unit. Ever heard of such a thing?


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## AFGP9

I can't say I've ever seen a OO gauge anything. Like I said about the first photo, lots of detail on the engine, especially the side rods. Now I notice there is a gear on each driver. That thing should pull a good number of cars. Not only that but besides the pick up rollers on the engine, there is one on the tender which should make for pretty good electrical contact plus no wires to fool with. Nice. 

Kenny


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## [email protected]

By the way Snowman, that loco is the 1938 version with the drawbar pin and chain. They only made it that way for one year.


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## artfull dodger

I collect and run American OO of which most is Lionel. Track gauge is 3/4 of an inch vs 5/8 of HO scale. UK OO uses the same scale but on HO track. OO and HO competed for the same market in the pre WWII years and obviously HO won the battle. The Lionel stuff is top notch for its time, the full scale detailed Hudsons, 001 and 003 were mini 700e Hudsons and rivaled brass HO models for many years. Wasnt till the late 70's HO brass did a HO NYC J1e look better than the OO ones from the late 30's! Lionel made 2 and 3 rail versions, you can convert the 2 rail to 3 rail pickup, but not the other way around. Frames do warp, this is not a zine pest issue but a design flaw with the Hudson itself. The screw thru the smoke stake goes into the headlight bulb stand, however this does not seat and touch the inside of the boiler shell. This allows the screw to pull upwards on the frame right above the cylinders. The cat walk ladders then push downwards on the pilot deck warping it downwards till the cowcatches hits the rails. Its not real hard to fix once you strip the engine down to a bare frame with just the drivers still in place. I had one done by the gentleman in Arizona, but he gets very backed up with repair work so I figured out how to do it myself with a couple small wood clamps and my micro butane torch to heat the frame up a bit. Its trial and error but I got both of my engines straight again. While the motor noise would be considered coffee grinder by todays standards, they run smooth and steady with worm gear drive to the rear driver, then spur gears to the others so the side rods are just there for looks. 

Track is the hard part of enjoying OO. Lionel track can get quite expensive, they made both 2 and 3 rail but only switches for the 3 rail. Switches can be $250 or more per pair. Track can range from $8 to $25 per section for 3 rail. The 2 rail track was very prone to warp badly and is nearly impossible to find, especially straight sections. Gargraves does made brand new track for both 2 and 3 rail. Its very much HI rail so it ruins the scale look IMHO and there are not switches. If you choose the 2 rail route, or able to hand lay the 3rd rail, you can use On3 flex track and turnouts as the track gauge is the same as OO and even with the deep flanges, prewar OO runs just fine on it.  There are many other brands of OO, such as Nason, Scale-Craft, Midlin, Tru Scale and many others. There is also a nice online blog that covers all of the facets of American OO and whats out there lurking at train shows, on ebay or attics/basements. I have several videos of my OO running on my youtube channel and am planning a new 3x8 OO layout with a double track loop, most likely using On3 flex due to the high cost of Lionel 3 rail sectional(which is what I really want!). Mike


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## artfull dodger

Here are some pics. Mike

003 full scale detailed Hudson for 2 rail
003w whistle tender









001 full scale Hudson(1938 version) for 3 rail track
001w whistle tender









freight cars and track that make up my original 1938 OO 3 rail set. 

























The track in relation to how it fastens together is unique for 1938, the draw bar pin on the Hudson is on a chain(later versions were sprung loaded) and the freight cars colors were unique that year. The caboose was also lettered Pennsylvania(it is a PRR cabin car to). In 1939 the track changed, switches were added, 2 rail was added, the box car became a PRR car, Hopper changed to black from grey and the caboose had NYC on it but still a PRR prototype. All freight cars were fully diecast and are knockoffs of the Scale-Craft cars of the time. But the Hudson was a total jewel, most OO engines were crude sand cast brass or diecast kits and detailing was left up to the modeler, like a Bowser kit or early decast Mantua with little to no detail. But not the Hudson, it was RTR, detailed as good as its O gauge brother. The semi scale version is still scale size, but is more like a Lionel 773 postwar O gauge Hudson, bare in the detail dept. Mike


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## [email protected]

Lionel OO is really a jewel. To me, they are mechancally perfect, running better than their O gauge brethren. It's a shame that Lionel did not continue their OO line after the war.


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## artfull dodger

Its been said the reason OO and the scale side of O like the 700e didnt return was the cost to make them sky rocketed from the prewar levels and it was not cost effective. I am not sure I believe that completetly, after all the early 726 and Turbines were quite complicated, especially the first year run of the Berkshire. But OO was also a dying scale, even pre WWII. HO was where the action was at and I am sure by 42 and end of production due to the war effort, even Lionel could see that. Its been talked about that Lionel might have thought they could create another gauge coup like they did with Standard Gauge(which is totatlly made up marketing hype). But with the war, there was not enough variety in the Lionel line up to really get the ball rolling much. More engine selections, passenger cars for the Hudson and greater track variety were needed. Sadly it wasn't to be and we only have the little gems that did make it to production. AD


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## artfull dodger

Here is a video of my 1938 first year of production OO set running under our tree. AD


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## AFGP9

Looks and sounds great. 

Kenny


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## [email protected]

That display is similar to what I had set up last year. I cannot set set up my OO this year so I set up my a loop of track with my Flyer 342AC pulling a short consist instead.


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## alaft61ri

Nice sounds great.
Al


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## artfull dodger

The music is from the GRP Christmas Collection, kind of a light jazz style Christmas collection. Glad you liked the video. Mike


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## emailcmd

artfull dodger said:


> The 2 rail track was very prone to warp badly and is nearly impossible to find, especially straight sections.
> Gargraves does made brand new track for both 2 and 3 rail. Its very much HI rail so it ruins the scale look IMHO and there are not switches.
> If you choose the 2 rail route, or able to hand lay the 3rd rail, you can use On3 flex track and turnouts as the track gauge is the same as OO and even with the deep flanges, prewar OO runs just fine on it.
> There are many other brands of OO, such as Nason, Scale-Craft, Midlin, Tru Scale and many others. There is also a nice online blog that covers all of the facets of American OO and whats out there lurking at train shows, on ebay or attics/basements. I have several videos of my OO running on my youtube channel and am planning a new 3x8 OO layout with a double track loop, most likely using On3 flex due to the high cost of Lionel 3 rail sectional(which is what I really want!). Mike


Hello artfull dodger, and very interesting to read you, thank you for all these details.
I am loking for information about OO gauge and Hudsons 1938/1942.

Can I ask please, regarding what you said about tracks : what would be today the "equiovalence" of OO gauge if a young collector wanted to run 001 Hudson Loco but without original 3-rail tracks ?

Thank you in advance


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## artfull dodger

The only modern day options for track is On3 flex track and switches for 2 rail use(or you can hand lay the 3rd rail. Or Gargraves makes 2 and 3 rail tinplate "hi rail" style track but no switches are available or ever made to mate with that track sadly. I sold off my 00 but still have a parts 004 Hudson that might come back to life someday. I might return to the scale if I can find enough of the original 3 rail track to build a 3x8 layout. But right now, that would take a small personal loan from the bank! Mike


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## emailcmd

Snowman said:


> View attachment 547857
> View attachment 547858
> View attachment 547859


Very nice thank you


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