# The magic of Vintage Postwar Lionel



## chipset35 (Sep 4, 2015)

I was not born yet during Lionel's golden age.
The closest I came to it was during the mid to late 1960s, where I have fond memories of running my Lionel Freight and Passenger sets with my dad in the basement.

In fact, despite all that, I took to MTH DCS and Lionel TMCC/Legacy and never looked back.
That is, until just after my mother passed away in 2012, a dose of nostalgia caused me to take out my 2 old Lionel sets and run them in the family room.

The sound, smell, and look grabbed me and I first purchased some Williams GG1's, then some vintage Lionel 2343 and 2353 Santa Fe AA units.

WHOA!

The 2343 is the "426 Hemi" of all Post War Lionel diesels IMHO.
Not only is the detailing great, but the sounds this thing makes are incredible.
You do not need DCS or Legacy/TMCC to produce realistic diesel sounds for this engine.
Instead, the actual sound of the dual vintage Lionel Post War Pullmor motors make a pavement pounding sound that although is not a diesel sound, is incredible in it's own right.
A growling, brutish, mechanical sound, that heralds great pulling power.

Yes, it is true, the E-Unit Buzz is annoying, and Pullmor's need maintenance much much more than can motors, but to me, taking out this Post War growler every so often brings me back to a time I did not experience.


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## Yellowstone Special (Jun 23, 2015)

I'm with you, chipset. I love running my original Lionel set from 1955 every now and then. I think that the "brute force" mechanical sounds made by a heavy postwar steam engine are hard to beat as well.


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## empire builder (Apr 12, 2014)

I grew up in the 1950's and the store layouts of that era you just cannot replace these works of art with handheld devices, its 2 totally different worlds.

but yes I like running the old lionel I love the smells the sounds and the e-unit buzz is magic to my ears and no the e-unit buzz bothers me not it takes me to a world of long ago as a child and that magical morning when santa brought me my first lionel train.

thank you I am now going to run some old golden era trains and dream of far away places I can travel to by train.


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

That is mostly all I run. :smokin::thumbsup:

Hands on the throttle, finger for the horn, switching the switches, just watching the smoke............old school. :smilie_daumenpos:


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## sjm9911 (Dec 20, 2012)

Dont forget the loud sound on the tubular track yes, I wasn't born near that age but there is something special about the post war stuff. Im always amazed at how complex the accessories were for toys. Some of the stuff they came out with was amazing. In fact it still delights the young and old even today.


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## mnp13 (Aug 22, 2013)

I love my pre and post war sets. I have no interest in all those new fangled ones with sounds and stuff. lol


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## bluecomet400 (Sep 13, 2015)

I couldn't agree more--nothing says "Postwar Lionel" like the growl of an F3.


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## Bill Webb (Sep 14, 2015)

I like both... the new and the old. Different but trains nonetheless. Life changes just as trains do and I would rather try and enjoy all of it.


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## Juniata Guy (Nov 5, 2015)

I run my Postwar trains around our Christmas trees each year. When I see the lighted dial and green L on my LW transformer and lay my head down next to the tracks to watch my 1615, 2025, 2065 or 681 pull a train past me I am instantly a kid again. Nothing can beat the smell of ozone or train smoke this time of year. 

Curt


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## 86TA355SR (Feb 27, 2015)

Great thread!

I put a million miles on a 2037 and 665 steamer during my youth. Still love the sound and smell of post war locomotives.

I'm into the 'scale thing' now, but still appreciate PW stuff. This year I hope to have a loop under the tree!


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## Prewar Pappy (Jul 26, 2015)

*Special Welcome To Curt*



Juniata Guy said:


> I run my Postwar trains around our Christmas trees each year. Nothing can beat the smell of ozone or train smoke this time of year.
> 
> Curt


Welcome to the "Other Side", Curt. Don't care for the smoke cause prewar trains don't smoke. Gotta agree with the best smell in the world "ozone".


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## chipset35 (Sep 4, 2015)

The Lionel PWC F3 TX Sp and F3 Southern ABA sets have a very distinctive smell that I find very pleasant.
It's kind of a plastic, paint, and vintage Post War Lionel smell.


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## Ricky Tanner (Sep 19, 2015)

Nothing smells like a warm postwar locomotive after hours of running.The most incredible sensory experience to me is opening a box full of boxed postwar trains. The oil/grease/aged cardboard/smoke pellet odor immediately takes me back 50+ years to my childhood when the trains only came out for Christmas and birthdays.


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## chipset35 (Sep 4, 2015)

Ricky Tanner said:


> Nothing smells like a warm postwar locomotive after hours of running.The most incredible sensory experience to me is opening a box full of boxed postwar trains. The oil/grease/aged cardboard/smoke pellet odor immediately takes me back 50+ years to my childhood when the trains only came out for Christmas and birthdays.


They always seem to have that "musty" Christmas decoration smell, like when you remove the cardboard boxes that contain them from the attic, closet, or basement.
Combination of the smell of pine, mold, dust, mothballs, grease, oil, smoke fluid, old paper.
Love it!


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## Dano (Aug 26, 2012)

I like to watch all that gadgetry on other peoples stuff but I prefer the simplicity of post-war type running. As an after thought I can also run post-war engines without setting off the smoke alarms!


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## arkady (May 15, 2013)

Ricky Tanner said:


> Nothing smells like a warm postwar locomotive after hours of running.The most incredible sensory experience to me is opening a box full of boxed postwar trains. The oil/grease/aged cardboard/smoke pellet odor immediately takes me back 50+ years to my childhood when the trains only came out for Christmas and birthdays.


Exactly right. As a kid, when the boxes came down from the attic and I caught a whiff of that unmistakable Lionel Train odor, I knew it was _really_ Christmas time.


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## Stoshu (Jun 20, 2015)

_I guess I'm hybrid kind of guy, I like the newer engines because of the features,
Especially cruse, but I really like the look of the postwar cars and the staple end
trucks. _


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## Joe Hohmann (Nov 5, 2015)

I am vintage postwar, since I was born 3 months after Pearl Harbor. Got my first Lionel in 1947 for Christmas. Every time I look at or run one of my 5 postwar engines, I can relate to the kid who first owned it. With my 224...maybe that is the one my parents gave away back in the '60s. My best friend had a AF "S" passenger set. I would have traded because I love passenger cars more than the freight set I had. I went out and bought "his" set in 1983, and it now has its own small layout. To me, postwar says, "I'm a grown-up boy's toy."


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## Stoshu (Jun 20, 2015)

Joe Hohmann said:


> To me, postwar says, "I'm a grown-up boy's toy."



_Joe I had to chuckle at this one. When we do our displays I tell the people
" we are just kids in old mans bodies "

Bruce.._


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## chipset35 (Sep 4, 2015)

I do not know of any other hobby that causes the emotions our hobby does.
As well as an overall feeling of happiness and joy and most of all memories.


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## clayman (Dec 17, 2011)

I was born in the late 50's, so, didn't get to experience the "full heyday" of Lionel. Now, 50 some years later, I focus strictly on anything produced before 1960 ( I even don't like the disc couplers, but am pretty stoked about the modern 153IR). 

I still have the original 1457B set passed on to me from a cousin in the early 60's with the 6220 constantly clanging down the line. Adding various other members, (a 1464W set from 1951 and a 1537W from 1955) my little empire is enough to satisfy me and, yet, I doubt I have spent more than a total of $800. 

It truly is a special feeling.


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## rdmtgm (Nov 25, 2011)

My favorite thing about post war Lionel is that I buy an old cardboard box full of dirt, rats nests and spider webs surrounding a pile of forgotten 50 or more year old toys. Pull them out and wipe them off, squirt some oil on them and most times they are off and running!
They can be easily fixed (Now that I have a pretty good idea of what I am doing), restored or left alone, and displayed on shelves until it is their turn to run(and they all get a turn). My grandkids love them. And they give me a somewhat affordable way to spend my time. And , oh yes, The sound!
Randy


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## chipset35 (Sep 4, 2015)

Yep, very easy to fix!
Especially the Pullmor Diesels.


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