Mystery Firestone set

Imagine my surprise when I thumbed through the November 2021 issue of CTT and noticed the article by Roger Carp and Mark Stephens about

the Lionel no. 6050 savings bank car on page 40! There’s a two-page photo of the Lionel set (no. 1643) I got for Christmas of 1961, when I was six. Of course, I still have it.

My dad ran a Firestone store then. He carried trains (and other toys) during the Christmas season until about 1967, when Firestone discontinued its toy line.

My train set didn’t come with a no. 3519 green flatcar with a satellite. Instead, it had a no. 6830 blue flatcar with a submarine. Otherwise, it was identical to the one pictured in the November issue. My Lionel set came with some cardboard billboards, too, and they and the submarine and missile were long ago worn out.

Does anyone know why my set had a submarine car and not a satellite car? Was it something Lionel assembled specially for Firestone? I wish Pop were alive so I might ask him about what he remembered. – Doug Hager, Alexis, N.C.

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