Lionel Replacement Bulbs—who made them?

e*Train Issue: Jan 2013 | Posted in: Collecting, Combined Eras

By Bob Mintz
Winter 2013

In 1879, Thomas A. Edison developed the first incandescent light bulb that lasted a practical length of time, although Heinrich Gobel won a court decision in 1893 against Edison and received credit as the inventor of the electrical incandescent lamp.

In 1906, General Electric Company patented a method for making tungsten filaments for use in incandescent lamps.

George Westinghouse’s company became the #2 lamp maker in the U.S., but he did not start out making lamps. Westinghouse invented a railroad air-brake in 1867 and then diversified into electrical railroad devices and more generalized electrical equipment including light bulbs. Westinghouse pursued many improvements in railway signals (then using oil lamps) and in 1881 he founded the Union Switch and Signal Company to manufacture his signaling and switching inventions.

Sometime prior to 1949 according to the Lionel Service Manual, Lionel replacement lamps came in 6 bulb shapes and 4 base types. By 10-61, the list had grown to 7 bulb shapes and base types for current production items. Some shapes and base types were no longer being used by 1961.

I was recently looking for replacement bulbs for some Super O 022C switch controllers, when I stumbled across 5 cases of bulbs that I had purchased from Madison Hardware sometime between 1978-80. Too bad their adding machine tape never had the date on it.

The bulb shape that I got from Madison Hardware are a bit larger than the ones in my other Lionel controllers although the miniature screw base is the same and they do fit. The Lionel Service Manual mentions the bulbs for the 022C are G 4-1/2 (4.5 eighths or 9/16″ while mine are G 5 (5 eighths or 10/16″)

If you look under the Column 8 called “Bulb” in the chart, you will see catalog number “1456” being a “G-5” miniature bayonet base, one number off of my “1455” miniature screw base.

Unless the catalog numbers of bulbs for both GE and Westinghouse were standardized, I have surmised that Westinghouse made the bulbs for Lionel, which would be a perfect fit for the company that was more historically associated with trains.

Shop Amazon and Help TCA

TCA members who shop at Amazon.com can have each of their normal purchases generate a modest payment to TCA! And it won’t cost you anything!

The Train Collectors Association is now a participant with AmazonSmile, which is a special website operated by Amazon that lets customers enjoy the same wide selection of products, low prices and convenient shopping features as on Amazon.com.

The difference is that when customers shop at AmazonSmile (smile.amazon.com), the AmazonSmile Foundation donates 0.5% of the price of eligible purchases to the charitable organizations selected by customers.

The process is simple. Just search for and select Train Collectors Association when you sign up and shop at smile.amazon.com.

You use your regular Amazon.com username and password, but when you log in to smile.amazon.com, you’ll see that you are supporting TCA with your purchases:

Note that if you just log in to the regular amazon.com, this benefit does not operate.

There are no costs to either you or TCA, but TCA benefits!

This is a great way for TCA to earn extra cash to offset costs, so sign up today to help support TCA.

* Note: TCA is not a party to any of your Amazon transactions, and does not endorse any products or vendors.

Helping TCA with your ebay purchases when you use PayPal

If you’re an ebay user and have a PayPal account you use to make payments, you can designate a donation for TCA when you’re checking out — any amount, small or large.
If you’re a regular seller on ebay, you can pre-designate a percentage of your sales to be donated automatically in your name to TCA as long as the purchaser pays with their PayPal account.

In both cases, you will receive a donation receipt from the PayPal Giving Fund, and enjoy applicable tax advantages.

How to do it:

Click on the image above, or use this link. This will take you to ebay, where you will see the following page (log in to ebay if you are not already):

This offers TCA as an option. Click on the “Add to My Charities” button where indicated with the red arrow. Thereafter, when you make a purchase, at checkout you will be offered the option to make a donation to TCA in any amount of your choosing. Small amounts add up, larger ones are great! It’s always up to you!

The option will appear at the lower part of your checkout page, something like this:

If you’re a regular seller on ebay, you can allocate a portion of your sales proceeds to be donated to TCA. Look at the green arrow marked “Optional” above to see how to do it. Details on how ebay calculates the donation may be read here. This is a wonderful way to share the financial benefits of your hobby with the organization that promotes it!

An added benefit to TCA is that these donations are not subject to normal processing fees, so that makes your donation work harder!

* Note. TCA is not a party to any of your eBay transactions, and does not endorse any products or vendors. PayPal issues the receipts to you for your donation, not TCA.

Lionel Replacement Bulbs—who made them?

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