A scarce steamer
Discovering a unique Lionel no. 1654
WHAT CONSTITUTES YOUR “GREATEST FIND”? Is it an “expensive” item you picked up at a bargain price? Is it a rarity you doubted you’d ever own? Maybe it’s a variation you’d seen only in pictures? Could be something cool you found at a garage sale.
Each of us has a greatest find and a story that goes with it. Often, the story is more exciting than the item. Here’s my story of a discovering a common Lionel model with an uncommon trait.
Not sure what it is
My tale begins while I was strolling through the aisles at a train show in northern California. It seems like everything happened only a few years ago. In reality, though, these events
I’m recalling took place several decades in the past.
The story began when a fellow postwar collector politely approached me and casually asked, “Have you ever seen one of these?” Then he handed me a Lionel no. 1654 Columbia 2-4-2 steam engine.
“Look at the cab roof,” the guy went on. “It’s smooth! Every other one of these locomotives that I’ve ever seen has come with raised roof vents.”
I listened carefully to the fellow, but I didn’t know whether this was a common variation. I already had more than 50 different Lionel prewar and postwar 2-4-2s in my collection, so I told him I would check them out when I got home. He was asking a hefty price for what I knew was a common and lowend engine, which was why I passed on purchasing it then.
Who was he?
I didn’t think much about the 1654 on my 400-mile drive back home. I knew Lionel had cataloged it in 1946 and ’47 as a basic O-27 steamer. It had a black-painted die-cast metal body with a silver rubberstamped cab number.
Once home I started checking my engines: prewar 2-4-2s, early Scout models, cataloged and uncataloged no. 200-series Columbias from the late 1950s and 1960s, and even several modern-era locomotives in this style.
Every cab was the same: All of them had the roof vents on the cab. That 1654 steamer with a smooth roof was looking to be quite an unusual piece – one I wanted!
I wondered if the oddball steam engine was still available. Then I realized I didn’t remember the name of the seller. How was I going to find him to make an offer? All I knew was the location of his table in the large hall used for the show.
Luckily, a close friend had served as the registration chair for the meet. I called her for help in finding the mysterious seller. She informed me that another friend was in charge of the table setup and thought he might be able to help.
Making it mine
Another telephone call confirmed that I could get the assistance I needed to identify the seller. It would, however, take a few more days, but the name of the person should easily be available.
Well, I waited on pins and needles, but in a few daysys the phone rang and my friend gave me the information I needed. I called the seller, who informed me the 1654 was still available. He offered to send it to me. If I wanted it, I could then mail the payment to him. Toy train collectors sure can be great folks.
A few days later a package arrived. I took out the 1654 with a smooth roof and knew I had to make it mine. So I wrote a check and sent it to the seller.
What it might be
If you compare the smooth roof of this 1654 with a similarly smooth roof of any early Lionel 6-8-6 turbine, you’ll see they look the same. What might explain locomotives from the same years after the war having a smooth roof?
Here’s what I think, although it is nothing more than mere conjecture on my part.
A new employee at Lionel had the job of grinding off the rough burrs from raw die-castings and didn’t know the roof cab vents were supposed to be left on. I doubt if more than a few units were done that way before the error was realized.
This rare variation was most likely created by a new employee, perhaps uninformed and certainly zealous. It could be one of a kind. My greatest find may not be valuable, but the friends that helped me get it are priceless!