# Life-Like CSX promotional train sets.



## I love Trains (Jun 19, 2019)

Life-Like made some very beautiful CSX GP38-2s in my opinion, most of these are rare, I personally admire them, there are several different variants of them, often given to retired employees of CSX or purchased otherwise. There is also a lot of Life-Like CSX rolling stock, have any of you heard of these little sets? If so I’d love to talk about them with you.


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## Velociman (Jul 12, 2019)

I have a Life-Like CSX set I bought through the company intranet about 1993. Very nice. Used it once and box it up. Believe is has locomotive, a flatcar with double-stacked Sealand containers, a Tropicana car, a tank car, possibly a gondola. No idea of the value.


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## I love Trains (Jun 19, 2019)

*Thanks for replying*

Thanks so much for replying, I was wondering, if the set number is #8914 as that is a very nice set.


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## I love Trains (Jun 19, 2019)

If it was numbered 8914 on the set box and the engine is in the CSX bright future paint scheme I have payed 189.99 not including shipping for what I assume is a complete set, probably similar to yours. I love these sets very much.


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## Velociman (Jul 12, 2019)

Yes, it’s an 8914. As I say, used once for an hour then repackaged.


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## I love Trains (Jun 19, 2019)

*Life-Like CSX train sets*

Well, there are actually two #8914s. One has the engine in the bright future paint scheme and is called CSX transportation train set, I think, the other 8914 is called something like "Global transporter set" I am not 100 percent, and that 8914 is more common than the other 8914 on ebay.


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

A Life Like train set is not worth $189.99.....sorry, that's my opinion....and many others....hwell:


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## I love Trains (Jun 19, 2019)

Well, most Life-Like train sets may not be worth that much, there are rare versions of sets that in my personal opinion, may be worth that, despite the actual quality, when you take into account the rareness of it, even then, I am just saying what I paid for one, not perhaps, what it's worth, I appreciate your feedback/reply. Sincerely I love trains!


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## SantaFeJim (Sep 8, 2015)

Old_Hobo said:


> A Life Like train set is not worth $189.99.....sorry, that's my opinion....and many others....hwell:


Like EVERYTHING else in life, the value of something is totally determined by what somebody is willing to pay for it.

YOU may have an opinion, but that is only an opinion. That CSX set does not appeal to me, but does not determine its value.


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## I love Trains (Jun 19, 2019)

Yes, but in a way, people value things in other ways then perhaps other people do, for example, I might value a watch at 80.00 and you might 40.00, but it's both Our opinions, I never stated that's what it IS worth, just what I payed for what I assume is a complete set/ my opinion. And when thinking about the worth of this set, when thinking about it's worth, I request you think about that they most likely were not mass produced like Life-Likes Santa Fe train sets. No offense nor malice is intended in any part of this post.


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

Well, I did say it was my opinion.....and you know what they say about opinions.....:laugh:

And yes, an item is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it.....and that goes hand in hand with what P.T. Barnum used to say.....:laugh:


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## I love Trains (Jun 19, 2019)

*Thanks for replying*

Yes, that is a very valid point, I appreciate your reply!


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## firedog359 (Feb 3, 2012)

I know this is an older thread but I didn't want to start a new thread with the same title. I collect Life-Like promotional sets and I have 4 CSX promotional sets. These are all numbers matching sets. The box number and the parts list number match and the parts list sheet is date stamped.The first one is # 8914,"CSX Transportation", Year 1995, Date 24793
The second is # 21424,"CSX 1996", date 07295, The third is # 8917 "1996 Anniversary set"
Date 00695, The fourth is # 8983 "CSX express" Date 11698. I can provide a description of the engines and cars in each set if anyone is interested.


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## SF Gal (11 mo ago)

Is this what your referencing? I found this picture on the internet.









What is the craftsmanship of LifeLike products as I never bought any of their products.
Better than the old Tyco brand?


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## firedog359 (Feb 3, 2012)

The set in the photo is a retail set. The sets that I have were sold through the CSX company intranet to employees and then made available to the public through the life like catalog and shipped to the buyer in a plain white or brown box with the Life Like co.name and the item #. Life like's quality is average. It's not as good as Lionel or the other higher priced makers. Life Like was made for buyers who could not afford those high priced sets.


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## I love Trains (Jun 19, 2019)

firedog359 said:


> The set in the photo is a retail set. The sets that I have were sold through the CSX company intranet to employees and then made available to the public through the life like catalog and shipped to the buyer in a plain white or brown box with the Life Like co.name and the item #. Life like's quality is average. It's not as good as Lionel or the other higher priced makers. Life Like was made for buyers who could not afford those high priced sets.


Do you still have them?


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## I love Trains (Jun 19, 2019)

I love Trains said:


> Do you still have them?





I love Trains said:


> Do you still have them?





firedog359 said:


> I know this is an older thread but I didn't want to start a new thread with the same title. I collect Life-Like promotional sets and I have 4 CSX promotional sets. These are all numbers matching sets. The box number and the parts list number match and the parts list sheet is date stamped.The first one is # 8914,"CSX Transportation", Year 1995, Date 24793
> The second is # 21424,"CSX 1996", date 07295, The third is # 8917 "1996 Anniversary set"
> Date 00695, The fourth is # 8983 "CSX express" Date 11698. I can provide a description of the engines and cars in each set if anyone is interested.


That 8914 in particular is very nice in my opinion. I have some of them. I just finished repairing the engine to one. Would love to do business.


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## firedog359 (Feb 3, 2012)

Thank you for the offer but my sets are not for sale. My collecting is a passion for model trains, especially the Life Like Promo trains. I have over 20 sets made by Life Like that I have collected over a 20 year period. As you know, some of these sets don't come up often but thank you for the offer.


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## I love Trains (Jun 19, 2019)

I love Trains said:


> Do you still have them?





I love Trains said:


> Do you still have them?





firedog359 said:


> I know this is an older thread but I didn't want to start a new thread with the same title. I collect Life-Like promotional sets and I have 4 CSX promotional sets. These are all numbers matching sets. The box number and the parts list number match and the parts list sheet is date stamped.The first one is # 8914,"CSX Transportation", Year 1995, Date 24793
> The second is # 21424,"CSX 1996", date 07295, The third is # 8917 "1996 Anniversary set"
> Date 00695, The fourth is # 8983 "CSX express" Date 11698. I can provide a description of the engines and cars in each set if anyone is interested.


That 8914 in particular is very nice in my opinion. I have some of them. I just finished repairing the engine to one. Would love to do business
View attachment 578486



firedog359 said:


> Thank you for the offer but my sets are not for sale. My collecting is a passion for model trains, especially the Life Like Promo trains. I have over 20 sets made by Life Like that I have collected over a 20 year period. As you know, some of these sets don't come up often but thank you for the offer.
> [/QUOTE Ah yes I get it. Thanks for the quick reply! I truly appreciate the info you shared though.


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## I love Trains (Jun 19, 2019)

By the way, do you know any good places to look for these?


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## firedog359 (Feb 3, 2012)

The best place in my opinion is eBay.


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## I love Trains (Jun 19, 2019)

Ah yes. It's a shame most people don't notice the novelty of these sets. Do you have a favorite?


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## firedog359 (Feb 3, 2012)

That is a difficult question. With the promotional sets, each is unique in it's own way. The basic engines and cars may be the same but the branding and logo's make each car unique so no two sets are alike. I guess my favorites would be my CSX sets and that's only because I grew up living on a farm and the CSX main line ran through our front yard less than 150 feet from our house so I grew up seeing these exact cars and engines passing our house daily.


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## I love Trains (Jun 19, 2019)

firedog359 said:


> That is a difficult question. With the promotional sets, each is unique in it's own way. The basic engines and cars may be the same but the branding and logo's make each car unique so no two sets are alike. I guess my favorites would be my CSX sets and that's only because I grew up living on a farm and the CSX main line ran through our front yard less than 150 feet from our house so I grew up seeing these exact cars and engines passing our house daily.


Oh that makes sense. I also grew up right next to a large yard for CSX. They had a huge storage area there with dozens of engines. There was also an independent scrap facility that scrapped the older engines. It was a fun place ha.


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## I love Trains (Jun 19, 2019)

I was recently working on a lifelike engine and lacerated my finger. I got lucky, just barely clipped the tendon, but had to get stitched up. I hadn't even planned to work on it either, sad mistake. I guess sometimes it's better to leave things the way they are LOL.


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## I love Trains (Jun 19, 2019)

Do you like doing repairs?


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## I love Trains (Jun 19, 2019)

So you wouldn’t want to sell anything from your collection, but would you ever consider trading?


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## Chops (Dec 6, 2018)

SF Gal said:


> Is this what your referencing? I found this picture on the internet.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Interesting question as to the comparative qualities of LL vs. Tyco. As a Tyco fan, the key factor is sex appeal. The Billboards are quite fun, and some more rare than others. It seems that Bachmann and LL, and to a smaller degree, Athearn started their own line of fictional Billboards and it seems Tyco was first, with a new lithograph process. 

Prior to the 1990's, the prime mover in Tyco locomotives was the MU 2 motor, a powerful, cheap, and durable open frame three pole motor that is churning my Tycos about 50 or 60 years later. Then sometime in the '80's, a change was made to install a Ringfield motor called the Power Torque. Those things were notoriously crap subject to cracked pinion gears and actual fire from brushes. 

My recollection of the '70's and '80's of LL stuff was that it was the cheapest of the cheap, but they did do a lot of cool Billboards and even Billboard sets- last night I saw a Cambell soup LL set (I bid on it) on a popular wheel & deal site for $15. Somewhere around the turn of the century, LL transformed yet again and was producing some very good, if not high end, plastic diesels that competed with the better items out there, such as Walthers and Proto 2000. They seemed to have entirely dropped their Billboard line by then. 

This week I snagged a lovely FP 40H in a fictional factory paint scheme for Regional Transit Authority. It has the same, simple, chunky lines of old Marx, but is matched with a five pole motor and has a heavy chassis weight. Lov'in it:









So, perhaps this offering is a cross between truly higher end prime mover (5 pole, e.g.) and simplistic molding and horn hooks?


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## I love Trains (Jun 19, 2019)

Hey Chops really cool info and pic. Also SFGal it's similar but different engine and different version. That's the retail version, but the one I'm after is the promotional variant that would be sold through the company catalog. One recently sold on ebay, so sad that I missed it: 1995 Life Like Promotional CSX HO Train Set New Never Used Still In Orig. Box. | eBay Thoughts?


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## Chops (Dec 6, 2018)

I'd just say keep hunting on eBay. I am not sure, but I have the impression that when you enter a search term it generates some kind of tracking and the thing you seek has a way of magically appearing. 

I searched high and I searched low because I had a mad desire to locate a Tyco that bore the paint scheme of the Australian railway, New South Wales. I peppered Australian LHS's to no avail and scoured eBay Australia and even a trading site called Gumshoe, where I found one that was hideously melted! Finally, one turned up on eBay Australia and I bid like a mad man and finally won my prize. It came with a matching Tyco NSW caboose, so I was doubly pleased. 

As a point of interest, when Tyco was bought up by General Foods, or maybe a little before, they went to the rotten PT motor notorious for its short life span and gray smoke. A group of Tyco designers got so mad, they revolted and started their own outfit called Precision Engineered Model Company, or PEMCO, for short. They wanted to compete with Tyco for the entry level market, and produced many superb locomotives and cars in HO, with Ringfield motors that were durable and strong. 

Sadly, they launched about the same time that video games were just starting to catch the imagination (or lack thereof) of their target market and did not last but two years. I have a few PEMCO pieces, and treasure them. They look nice and track and pull like champion thoroughbreds.


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## I love Trains (Jun 19, 2019)

From one generation to the the next…


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

Did that old generation not have light…..?


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## Conductorkev (Nov 5, 2021)

Old_Hobo said:


> Did that old generation not have light…..?



Maybe it was before the first lightbulb!!!!!!


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## I love Trains (Jun 19, 2019)




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## I love Trains (Jun 19, 2019)

Well guys I found one, and it appears the same except for the serial. Very glad.


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

By “serial”, do you mean road number?


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## I love Trains (Jun 19, 2019)

Ah no number on the bottom of the train


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## Chops (Dec 6, 2018)

Cereal. Maybe it came with a box of cereal? I am lost, here.


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

I love Trains said:


> Ah no number on the bottom of the train


Can we see a pic? With lots of light?


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## I love Trains (Jun 19, 2019)

It's not here yet but here's the listing: H.O. Scale ,Life Like, CSX engine, #2678 ring with light | eBay


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

Ah, that number is just a production batch number of the locomotive….doesn’t mean anything more than that….


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## Chops (Dec 6, 2018)

What about the cereal??


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