More “ Ore !”

Lionel® Adds to Its Roster of Catalogued and Uncatalogued Ore Cars

By Joel Fugazzotto, #84-20874

In the March 2004 edition of e-Train, I identified a total of 67 ore cars produced by Lionel since 1984 when they first introduced this short, stubby, non-operating car under the Soo Line and PC heralds.

http://www.tcamembers.org/articles/collecting/ORE_CARS/index.html

Of the 67 ore cars that rolled out over this 20-year period, 16 uncatalogued cars were made for the Gadsden-Pacific Division of the TTOS and one for the Lionel Railroader Club.

Since my first article, Lionel has produced a trainload of catalogued and uncatalogued ore cars. Here are the nine new ore cars added to the lineup in a little over one and half years:

New Catalogued Production:

2004 – 16474 Alaska , blue with yellow lettering, ASF*

My March 2004 article ended with a catalog image of the 16474 Alaska ore car, which appeared in Lionel's 2004 Catalog, Volumes I and II. The car had not been shipped yet at that time.

2005 – 16489 BNSF, silver with black lettering, ASF*

In the 2005 Catalog, Volume I, Lionel not only introduced the 16489 BNSF ore car, but also went a step further by unveiling another ore car set, the 31990 Copper Range Mine Train Set. This set, with a dockside switcher and lighted caboose as bookends, includes four Copper Range ore cars, each carrying a load of copper ore: the 16484, numbered 2025 on the side; the 16485, numbered 2026; the 16486, numbered 2027; and the 16488, numbered 2028. Two of the ore cars are decorated with the Copper Range logo, while the other two are simply lettered with the “ Copper Range ” name.

2005 – 16484 Copper Range , #2025, black with white lettering, copper ore load, ASF*	2005 – 16485 Copper Range , #2026, black with white lettering, copper ore load, ASF*

2005 – 16486 Copper Range , #2027, tuscan with white lettering, copper ore load, ASF*	2005 – 16488 Copper Range , #2028, tuscan with white lettering, copper ore load, ASF*

This is the fourth “all ore car set” produced by Lionel. The others were the 11912 #57 Lionel Steel Service Exclusive Set in 1996, the 11837 Union Pacific GP-9 Unit Train in 1997, and the uncatalogued 11982 NJ Transit Ore Set in 1998.

Club Cars:

LOTS

In celebration of its 25th Anniversary in 2004, the Lionel Operating Train Society (LOTS) issued a specially designed, uncatalogued two-car ore set to its members. The 52359 was numbered 1979, the year LOTS was founded, and the 52360 was numbered 2004 to commemorate LOTS 25th year. These silver and black cars each carry a silver load on sprung silver painted trucks . A 25th Anniversary logo is prominently displayed on the sides. These uncatalogued cars were delivered in 2005. Rumor is that LOTS may follow-up with two more ore cars. For availability, you can contact LOTS at: http://www.lots-trains.org

2004 – 52359 LOTS 25th Silver Anniversary, “1979”, silver and black with black lettering, silver ore load, silver SMT*	2004 – 52360 LOTS 25th Silver Anniversary, “2004”, silver and black with black lettering, silver ore load, silver SMT*

TTOS--Gadsden-Pacific Division

Continuing its yearly offerings of uncatalogued ore cars since 1988 that bear the colorful names of Arizona mines and mining railroads, the Gadsden-Pacific Division of the TTOS issued the 52358 Ajo & Southwestern RR ore car in 2004 and is producing the 52386 Ray & Gila Bend RR ore car for December 2005 delivery. For availability of these and previous year's offerings, write Gadsden-Pacific Division, TTOM, Ltd., PO Box 85425 , Tucson , AZ 85745-5425 .

2004 – 52358 Ajo & Southwestern RR, brown with cream lettering, gray ore load, ASF*	2005 – 52386 Ray & Gila Bend RR, black with red lettering, gray ore load**, ASF*

The numbers keeps growing.

So as of the end of 2005, Lionel has now produced a total of 76 catalogued and uncatalogued ore cars. I'm looking forward to next year's offerings.

There's one additional note on ore cars before I close. In the past two years, at least 25 customized Lionel ore cars have been created and sold to collectors and the general public. I will introduce you to these unique cars in a future article.

*ASF = ASF strong arm trucks

*SMT = Sprung metal trucks.