215 Santa Fe

Production: 1965 & 1966

History
The Santa Fe 215 Alco diesels were an uncatalogued offering by Lionel in the mid-1960's. It is an interesting pairing of diesels as it represented Lionel's first offering where the power unit and trailer unit had different numbers on their cabs -- making the set far more realistic compared to earlier Alco models. The power unit was always numbered 215 on the cab. However, when sold as an AA unit, the trailer unit was numbered 212, but when sold as an AB unit the trailer unit was numbered 218.

Features
Standard features of the 215 power unit included the following: silver and red painted body with black lettering, Santa Fe decal on the front, weight mounted to the interior of the rear wall on the cab plus front and rear non-operating couplers. The powered unit was also equipped with two-axle traction-tire system, two-position E-unit plus an illuminated headlight.

Functional horns were generally not included with a 215 Santa Fe power unit. However, you will occasionally locate an original 215 diesel with a functional horn -- which was simply a 212 frame from the same production years mounted with a 215 shell.

As with most of the later Alco-series diesels, the front aprons are usually the weak point. They are frequently found cracked, broken or completely missing. Any later series Alco with intact aprons are difficult to locate.

Additional Detail, Photos & Box Information

Santa Fe 215 / 212 AA - Shown in photo above - No variations to the AA units, all have the infamous warbonnet paint scheme.

Santa Fe 215 / 218 - No variations to the AB units, all are painted silver with the traditional warbonnet paint scheme.

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