Anyone have a Lionel 226E 2-6-4 ?

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ScaleCraft
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Re: Anyone have a Lionel 226E 2-6-4 ?

Postby ScaleCraft » Tue Sep 06, 2022 4:09 pm

healey36 wrote:At some point you start to wonder why one would accumulate that much stuff.

"He who dies with the most toys...is dead!"
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ScaleCraft
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Re: Anyone have a Lionel 226E 2-6-4 ?

Postby ScaleCraft » Tue Sep 06, 2022 5:31 pm

Dennis Holler wrote:That all matches what I remember. I also remember in addition to the front way down and I thought there was a back way down and either up stairs or down that back way was through something that seemed like a back porch or something of the sort.

Here is the gated door Dave mentioned
Image
Are those the Orient Express cars you were talking about Dave? I had forgotten about them. There was just so much there, it was overwhelming. Definitely one of those situations where there was no way you could take it all in during one visit and probably not even over a few visits.


That's the area for the Orient cars, but they were crossways above the head of the photographer.
Back way, to the old patio, in the old basement glass door into the customer shop area. That would have been behind the photographer in above photo oh, 15-20 feet.
When Al needed more shelves, by friend Wesley did that for him in exchange for goods.
Dave....collector, restorer, and operator of the finest doorstops

Dennis Holler
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Re: Anyone have a Lionel 226E 2-6-4 ?

Postby Dennis Holler » Wed Sep 07, 2022 3:26 pm

ScaleCraft wrote:
healey36 wrote:At some point you start to wonder why one would accumulate that much stuff.

"He who dies with the most toys...is dead!"


The legend is that he started putting ads in the paper looking for used trains in the late 40's or early 50's. He was a CPA and so was probably able to just buy what ever came his way. I just grows over time same as all of us, but a longer timeframe and maybe a bit higher rate of purchasing on his part. Biggest bennie is that he was able to buy bunches of those insane std gauge prewar sets when they were merely 10-20 years old.... Just think about that for a minute......Eventually he he created his list to sell off duplicates and he would upgrade and keep the best and still have a wall of state sets etc....

That Patio access must be what I was remembering as the back entrance... Sort of remembering it was mostly white or light in color back there..does that sound right?
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ScaleCraft
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Re: Anyone have a Lionel 226E 2-6-4 ?

Postby ScaleCraft » Wed Sep 07, 2022 3:42 pm

Sounds right. My memory is a long ways back.
There were some issues with old Al.

TCA meets had rules. One was, NO table sales before the door opened. However, we were all in the sales area.
Al would walk around and simply point at items, sellers would nod and after Al passed they would remove the items and put them under the table. We never had a chance.
One of Al's mantras was "they're worth more in parts than whole", so hundreds and hundreds of 2343's would disappear from the market, broken up, sold as parts. Mint, and cut up.
225E, 226E, 726, 736, didn't matter. That's where I got all the 225E boilers from. All that was left.

Another mantra was "the trucks are worth five bucks". He'd buy cabooses with broken roof corners, strip the trucks...I'd bring home a box of broken shells and frames for free.

Shells got used for cab backs, if the frames were deluxe with toolboxes, I'd upgrade mine.
Dave....collector, restorer, and operator of the finest doorstops

J. S. Bach
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Re: Anyone have a Lionel 226E 2-6-4 ?

Postby J. S. Bach » Wed Sep 07, 2022 10:08 pm

What I see there is pure, unmitigated greed!

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Re: Anyone have a Lionel 226E 2-6-4 ?

Postby ScaleCraft » Thu Sep 08, 2022 12:29 am

The only time folks wanted anything to do with him was when they wanted parts.
None of the local elected heads of the trash collectors ***'n would confront him.
He was so cheap he squeaked when he walked.
Had a MK III Lincoln. Took it to a shop for brakes, Got the lifetime warranty. Kept the stupid car for 30 years, cost the company a bundle doing brakes job after brake job.
Alternators, same. Shocks, exhaust.....it seemed he was happiest when he was screwing someone.
When he told me that he actually giggled.
Before my one year membership in the trash collectors, oh, 91 I think, I'd go there to pick up parts, and watch him strip 2343's down. Screws and hardware went right in the trash. I asked why he was stripping them..that's where I heard worth more in parts that whole.
When I went to the local trash collectors meets and saw what he did with table sales......yeah.

I worked as a mechanic, and I wouldn't touch his MK III. I'd worked on them at a L-M dealership. I could do a heater core in eight hours...so I got them all...and it required a hoist.
Dave....collector, restorer, and operator of the finest doorstops

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healey36
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Re: Anyone have a Lionel 226E 2-6-4 ?

Postby healey36 » Thu Sep 08, 2022 6:23 am

Sounds like a peach of a guy.

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Re: Anyone have a Lionel 226E 2-6-4 ?

Postby v8vega » Thu Sep 08, 2022 8:56 am

When I 1st got into 3 rail O gauge I met a local guy sort of like Al but on a much smaller scale. His 2 car garage was stuffed with Lionel he had advertised in the papers for trains. This was before the internet and newspapers were popular and the place for ad's. He sold mostly at TTOS which was big here back then.

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Re: Anyone have a Lionel 226E 2-6-4 ?

Postby ScaleCraft » Thu Sep 08, 2022 5:43 pm

I was out working and remembered Al lived in Innis Arden. VERY upscale. Used to be Richmond Beach, got incorporated into town of Shoreline.
I looked it up, see if I could remember how to drive there along Richmond Beach Road.
18025 8th AVE NW. I remember that street, his side (west), every house had 8 foot high thick hedges. You had to count the openings to find his driveway. You can see it on google satellite..the house, not the trains.
John apparently still owns it.
Dave....collector, restorer, and operator of the finest doorstops


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