The Western & Atlantic Coach and Baggage Cars were produced for the "General Sets" beginning in 1959 and continuing until 1962. These cars had their production number painted on the sides. The No. 1865 and 1866 were produced for "O27" sets and the No. 1875, 1875W, and 1876 for "O" Gauge sets respectfully. The No. 1875W came with a whistle unit installed as is indicated by the "W" suffix to this production number. Other than the numbers, there were other differences between these cars.

The "O27" cars had non-self-centering die cast couplers, where as the "O" Gauge cars have operating couplers. The "O27" coach No. 1865 was not lighted and its "O" Gauge counterparts No. 1875 and 1875W were. The No. 1875 had a TUSCAN colored roof instead of the normal BROWN. The No. 1885 coach was uncataloged and part of the "Halloween Set" issued in 1960 only. It was BLUE in color and was unlighted.

The Sheet Metal Cars would carry the pre-war likeness of Lionel’s passenger cars into the early post-war years. These cars were available from 1946 until 1949, by which time Lionel had switched over to injected moulded plastic that would be used on all of their subsequent small passenger cars. All of these cars were equipped with coil couplers.

Colored BLUE with SILVER roof, doors, and window inserts. These cars had no interior illumination.

Colored BROWN with CREAM doors and windows with interior illumination. NOTE: No. 2442 is one of the few times that Lionel would duplicate a production number. Click HERE to see the other car that Lionel made with this number.

Colored GREEN with CREAM window inserts and doors, and either SILVER lettering and numbers (1946) or WHITE lettering and numbers (1947). These cars had no interior illumination.

No. 6440 Pullman and No 6441 Observation replaced No. 2440 and No. 2441 in 1948, and would be available for one additional year. Very similar to their predecessors they would have the following differences: DARK GREEN roof, window inserts, and interior illumination.

The 2400 Series Passenger Cars began production in 1948 with No. 2400 and these cars would be in production until 1966. All of these cars have their identification number painted on their sides. Many of the early cars were assembled with the roof on backwards to mate with improperly assembled metal inserts that held the roof to the body. This resulted in many of the interior bulkheads cracking due to the stress placed upon them. All of these cars were produced for, and designed to run on "O27" track.

No. 2400-2402 Lionel Lines has GREEN painted sides, YELLOW window outlines, WHITE lettering, GRAY roof, lights, plastic body mold and roof.

Produced in 1948 and 1949.

No. 2404-2406 and No. 2408-2410 Santa Fe cars began to appear in 1964 and they lacked the BLUE stripe that marked their predecessors the No. 2412, 2414, and 2416. All of these cars were painted SILVER with BLUE lettering. No. 2404-2406 were not illuminated. No. 2408-2410 had window inserts, were lighted and came only in set #11590 in 1966.

No. 2412-2416 Santa Fe were painted SILVER with a BLUE stripe that went through the windows. They also had window inserts and were illuminated. They were originally sold in sets that consisted of two vista dome cars and an observation. The pullman car was only available for separate sale which makes it the hardest of these cars to obtain.

These cars were cataloged from 1959 until 1963.

No. 2421-2423 Lionel Lines were painted ALUMINUM and in 1950-1951 they had a GRAY roof and BLACK stripes. They were produced in 1952 and 1953 with an all ALUMINUM finish. Lionel would add one additional Pullman car to this series in 1952 and 1953. Available in only one set in 1952, No. 2429 the "Livingston," with all ALUMINUM finish, would be the hardest of this type to find. Be aware of the roof insert assembly problem on these cars.

No. 2432-2436 Lionel Lines had an all ALUMINUM finish applied to the plastic body and roof with "red" lettering. The No. 2435 Elizabeth would be available in only one set in 1954 and is the scarcest car of this series. The No. 2436 Summit would mark another duplication of a Lionel production number. See below to see the other passenger car with this number.

No. 2436 Mooseheart Observation Car would replace the No. 2436 Summit observation car in 1957. With only the name change to distinguish it from its predecessor, Lionel would produce the "Mooseheart" for one additional year in 1958. It was available for sale as part of their regular sets.

No. 2442-2446 Lionel Lines were only available for sale in 1956 and were distinguished by a RED stripe that ran through all of the windows. The No. 2445 Elizabeth was only sold separately. This fact makes it the hardest of these cars to obtain. All of these cars were painted ALUMINUM and came with window inserts and interior illumination. Lionel duplicated the No. 2442 Clifton which had be previously issued in the early post-war years. Click HERE to see the other car to posess this number.

No. 2481-2483 Lionel Lines passenger cars came in what has come to be known as "The Fiftieth Anniversary Set." Issued in 1950 on Lionel’s fiftieth anniversary of making electric trains, and they would go on to become the most sought after by collectors of all of the cars in this series. Produced only one year with yellow paint, red stripes, and gray roof, all of these cars had people inserts and interior illumination.

Be aware of the roof insert assembly problem on these cars.

The 2500 Series Passenger Cars were first seen in the catalogs in 1952. Many variations occurred to these cars, some happening even within the same production run. The early cars had the wires for the interior lights connected directly to the trucks. This would later be replaced with the more common plate. The name plates on the side would originally be held on by hexagon screws. These screws would later be replaced with small and then larger rivets. Later these plates would be glued on. We are not going to list all of these variations, and the sequence in which they occurred here, because collectors are still debating exactly what happened at Lionel during the years these cars were in production. Most of these variations result in little or no change in the value of the car. We will, however, show how to identify these cars and the major differences between them.

These passenger cars were designed strictly for "O" Gauge track.


All of these cars had their identification numbers printed on the window inserts. The number is visible through one of the end windows on each side of the car as illustrated below.

The No. 2531 Silver Dawn Observation Car was available from 1952 until 1960. Made of extruded aluminum, only the vestibule piece, and the rear of the car have had SILVER paint applied to them. Often these pieces are found chipped and damaged and top prices are paid for those cars that have clean paint.

The No. 2532 Silver Range Vista Dome Car was available from 1952 until 1960. Made of extruded ALUMINUM only the plastic vestibule end pieces have had SILVER paint applied to them.

The No. 2533 Silver Cloud Pullman Car was available from 1952 until 1959. Made of extruded ALUMINUM. Only the plastic end vestibule pieces have had SILVER paint applied to them.

The No. 2534 Silver Bluff Pullman Car was available from 1952 until 1959. Made of extruded ALUMINUM only the plastic end vestibule pieces have had SILVER paint applied to them. This is the least common of these cars.

The No. 2530 Railway Express Agency Baggage Car was first available in 1954. This would be the only year that Lionel made this car with the large doors and this version is very hard to find today. The small door version would be produced until 1960. Note the painted "dots" at the corners of the "Railway Express Agency" name plate to simulate rivets. All versions of this car would have the name plate like this.

Instead of the normally ribbed extrusions seen previously, Lionel changed portions of this casting to be flat beginning in 1955. This was so that these areas could accept the metallic stripes both above and below the windows. Note the two illustrations to the left showing the difference between the castings.

NOTE: Collectors should be aware of the fact that very good reproductions exist of the stripes and these are virtually indistinguishable from the originals.

The best way to tell if the stripes are original is to look for excessive glue that Lionel used to adhere the stripes to the body. In the years that all of the flat channeled cars were in production Lionel used a form of carbon tetrachloride (a known carcinogen) to activate a dry adhesive on the stripes. When this happened it usually (but not always) squeezed out along the edge of the stripe. Brown in color, the evidence of the presence of this adhesive is the best indication that the stripe is original.

The Congressional Set was the first of these cars released by Lionel in 1955. The cars were also available the following year.

The Canadian Pacific Set was available for only one year in 1957. The set originally contained three Vista Dome cars and an observation. Many of Lionel’s dealers objected to this consist and they substituted the two Pullman cars, "BLAIR MANOR" and "CRAIG MANOR" for two of the Vista Dome cars. However, because the majority of Lionel dealers offered these Pullmans only for separate sale, they are the rarest of all of the "striped" cars.

The Santa Fe Set was first offered for sale 1959 and would continue to be available for the next two years. Because of the drop in sales that Lionel experienced during this period these cars are just as scarce as those of the Canadian Pacific Set.

The Irvington Passenger Cars were first released in 1946, and aside from the "Sheet Metal Cars," they would be the only "heavy-weight" cars Lionel would offer during post-war years. During the first year of production Lionel would issue this car with only the No. 2625 and the "IRVINGTON" name painted on the sides. Then in 1947, they would offer three different names but they all would bear the No. 2625.

Starting in 1948 Lionel would assign the No. 2627 to the "MADISON" car, and No. 2628 to the "MANHATTAN" car.

These cars are all made out of "black Bakelite" and would be painted TUSCAN with WHITE lettering. A premium today is paid for paint that is un-marred by chips or flaking paint. The vestibule ends were made out of sheet metal and the doors opened. They had a spring to hold them in the normally closed postition. However, these springs are often broken.

As with the majority of the prototype equipment, Lionel equipped these cars with six wheel trucks. The center axel on each truck has the wheel flanges removed to negotiate their tight 31 inch diameter curved "O" Gauge track.

In their last year of production in 1950, Lionel would install window inserts with people silhouettes. These cars became more desireable than the earlier cars with plain inserts. Reproductions of people silhouetted inserts have been available for many years and collectors have retro-fitted many of the earlier cars with these window inserts.

What ever window inserts are in these cars, those that have excellent or better paint are highly sought after by collectors today.