I have been reading about these and the common one is black plastic with white markings. The rare one is painted plastic with markings. Does anyone know what color the plastic is under the paint or how to tell them apart?
bluffbeach
Painted plastic rolling stock
Any piece of rolling stock, especially gondolas or hoppers, used a multitude of different colored plastic before a final coat of paint was applied. The shell of the 41 switcher could be any color combination that Lionel used. If you had a copy of "Greenberg Guide Volume V Rare and Unusual 1945-1969, it shows various colors of plastic that they used. They didn't care what the color of the underlying plastic was, if it were to be painted, and it typically got a thick coat of paint to conceal the original color.
As Gunrunnerjohn, mentioned, take the shell off, and the underside didn't get as good a coat of paint, as the outer shell. Of the motorized units, and small switchers, the 41 was the only shell that came in both molded Black Plastic, and a Painted Black plastic, but the color of the painted one, could be anything that was going to be produced during that day. The most common items with painted plastic were the gondolas and hoppers. That is where you find two of the really rarer versions of the 6456 hoppers that were painted GLOSSY RED, with one having yellow stamping, and the even more rare one with GLOSSY RED and white stamping. There are hundreds of the 6456 that came in boxes marked Red Hopper, but in actuality are different shades of Maroon, and are not GLOSSY in actual appearance. I have only seen one GLOSSY RED hopper with White Stamping ever offered on eBay, in at least 7 years of searching. That is how rare that one is, to find.
Any piece of rolling stock, especially gondolas or hoppers, used a multitude of different colored plastic before a final coat of paint was applied. The shell of the 41 switcher could be any color combination that Lionel used. If you had a copy of "Greenberg Guide Volume V Rare and Unusual 1945-1969, it shows various colors of plastic that they used. They didn't care what the color of the underlying plastic was, if it were to be painted, and it typically got a thick coat of paint to conceal the original color.
As Gunrunnerjohn, mentioned, take the shell off, and the underside didn't get as good a coat of paint, as the outer shell. Of the motorized units, and small switchers, the 41 was the only shell that came in both molded Black Plastic, and a Painted Black plastic, but the color of the painted one, could be anything that was going to be produced during that day. The most common items with painted plastic were the gondolas and hoppers. That is where you find two of the really rarer versions of the 6456 hoppers that were painted GLOSSY RED, with one having yellow stamping, and the even more rare one with GLOSSY RED and white stamping. There are hundreds of the 6456 that came in boxes marked Red Hopper, but in actuality are different shades of Maroon, and are not GLOSSY in actual appearance. I have only seen one GLOSSY RED hopper with White Stamping ever offered on eBay, in at least 7 years of searching. That is how rare that one is, to find.
Thanks to both of you. Funny but I didn't see Teledocs reply thru my email. Turns out I bought the molded Black plastic but of course was hoping for the painted variety. It is at least C-8 so I can't complain at the price. Box isn't nearly as nice but a great find. I think I am going to use it to pull my track cleaner around!
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