Lionel 250e Hiawatha

This set is original equipment repainted be me. I baked the enamel after airbrushing and stamped the lettering and numbers - very nice stamps made possible by JLM trains.

It was tempting to keep original paint, but it was very, very deteriorated. Locomotive has original wiring and all original hardware. The banana style whistle struggles a bit as you can hear. I may try to find a nicer unit eventually. The cars have some new hardware but mostly original. It’s a gem.

[goldenmanuever]

JLM was building a showroom recreation layout. I was following it for a while, just check again and the dude till has the same photos up from 15 years ago 🤣. Apparently, never took off. Nice 250E.

[Berkshire]

Lovely set! I got my 250E coming in the mail tomorrow and have its tender waiting for it. Need to get the set of passenger cars next. You and I both have one of Lionel’s finest locomotives from the prewar era.

[tyfude]

I put shorter brushes and springs in the whistle motor since shooting this video - the brushes in there were long new brushes, but were putting extra pressure on the motor armature not allowing it to spin as freely as it could - now it sounds much better - I've learned that tinkering and problem-solving is a huge part of this hobby that's for sure.