Multiple Units… Multiple Units… Multiple Units

e*Train Issue: Aug 2005 | Posted in: 1970-now Modern Era, Collecting

By Bob Mintz (Updated Spring 2021)

During the 1920s and 1930s, electrification of the then steam-powered railroads was not uniform. The competition between PRR, NYNH&HRR, DL&W, and NYC was to provide the best service at the lowest possible cost.

The dissimilar voltages and cycles were the result of our capitalist society of most notably GE & Westinghouse.

And furthermore, there was competition between these two major railroad suppliers for the railroad’s business, as each company was offering what was thought to be and best and most economical solution.

GE was always geared as a DC oriented company. NYC & PRR, both being a rather conservative bunch and possibly the only thing that they had in common except an air of competition, picked proven 600V DC technology, much of it from GE.

New Haven was a wee bit more adventurous, and with longer distances to be electrified, picked up the then high tech, though untried HVAC (11KV/25 cycle), mainly from Westinghouse.

Despite all the posturing in the technical press at the time, the differences between the two were rather small in effectiveness or economic terms. Either method was way better than steam, in energy efficiency or pollution control, turnaround time or any other evaluation.

After WWII, diesel power, such as the Budd cars, took over many of the commuter routes in the northeastern United States.

Lionel Multiple-Unit Commuter Cars:

What came out in 1991 was brand new, having never been done before. It was roughly based on the long Madison-style heavyweight cars. Like, for instance the EP-5s, the pantograph on the powered unit could be wired for overhead cantenary operation.

What started out with a two car set and later two car add on to make a handsome four car set with both coaches and combine cars, eventually dwindled down to just a two car coach only set, and eventually, just a single coach car. This uncatalogued JC Penney is the most attractive of the lot in my opinion.

18304 Lackawanna #2401 powered and #2402 dummy coach

18305 Lackawanna #2400 dummy combine and #2403 dummy coach

18306 Pennsylvania #4574 powered combine and #483 dummy coach

18310 Pennsylvania #484 and #485 dummy coaches

18328 New Haven #4082 (18329) powered coach and #4083 (18330) dummy coach

18334 New Haven #4054 (18335) and #4055 (18336) dummy coaches

18331 Reading #9109 (18332) powered coach and #9110 (18333) dummy coach

18337 Reading #9111 (18338) and #9112 (18339) dummy coaches

18344 Long Island #1163 (18345) powered coach and #1164 (18346) dummy coach

18347 Illinois Central #1204 (18348) powered coach and #1205 (18349) dummy coach

18352 Southern Pacific #1214 powered coach

21326 PRR 15″ Interurban 2-Pack (powered & dummy) w/Passenger TrainFX sound (LOCO #607; DUMMY #612) K-Line by Lionel

22141 Lackawanna 15″ Interurban 2-Pack (powered & dummy) w/TrainFX sound (LOCO #2603; DUMMY #2235) K-Line by Lionel

22287 Chicago North Shore & Milwaukee 15″ Interurban 2-Pack (powered & dummy) w/ Trolley Poles & Passenger TrainFX sound (LOCO #160 DUMMY #714) K-Line by Lionel

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.

Multiple Units… Multiple Units… Multiple Units

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