Switch and Sway; All the Way; with the Santa Fe.

e*Train Issue: Oct 2008 | Posted in: 1945-1969 PostWar Era, Collecting

By Mike Stella

Flashback to a time when Dwight Eisenhower had just been elected President, and I was king of my basement Lionel empire, with a steam freight and a diesel passenger set. Kids used to play trains together, and even carry their trains over to another’s house to share a different main line.

Jerry was the kid who lived on the next street over and he had a #623 Lionel switcher that I still remember to this day. It was big and heavy and the Magne-traction would lift any track that was not fastened down!

Times flies by and then Vice President Nixon got elected in 1968, just a few years before I became a born again Lionel collector and operator. One of my early quests was to obtain a Santa Fe switcher embedded in my childhood memories. I did and I did and I did again and again.

I am still adding a few to the roster every year. Can’t have too many can you? The one picture I didn’t take (my digital camera ran out of film) would have shown my #623 with 10 stanchions sitting in front of the same switcher, but with only 3 stanchions. That brings my total to 15 different Santa Fe switchers but I have always wondered if there are any more?

Can you help? Take the follow-up quiz and please let your e*Train editor know the results.

Thanks and happy collecting.

**First Lionel MPC Switcher was the #8010 Santa Fe here shown in dark, medium, and light blue**

**The earliest MPC Switcher used leftover Postwar #634 bodies with additional decorations**

**The MPC #634, alongside the Postwar #634, both with and without stripes, and the #633 with stripes**

**The Postwar #616 and #617 Santa Fe switchers in black with white stripes**

**The Postwar #622 and #6220 comes with large GM decals on the cab, and also with smaller GM decals on the hood. The #623 is the final Santa Fe switcher**

QUIZ:

#1)I have NEVER seen a #622 that didn’t have the number on the front of the hood. Have you?

#2)Is the #623 the only version that comes with 3 stanchions?

#3)Does the #633 switcher exist without the cab stripes?

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.

Switch and Sway; All the Way; with the Santa Fe.

Search By:

Sort By:

Have Train Stories to Share?