42 Picatinny Arsenal

Production: 1957

History
The 42 Picatinny Arsenal Gas Turbine Switcher was produced for only a single year -- 1957 -- and was named for the real life American military facility located just over 30 miles northwest of Lionel's New Jersey facility. These small locomotives -- generally referred to as Motorized Units -- are loosely design after real-life gas turbine switchers of the 1950s.

Lionel's model, similar to the real-life version, was small and had limited pulling power. On average, it could only pull two or three freight cars. Lionel only offered the 42 as a separate sale item and never in a set.

Features
Standard features include: 2-4-2 wheel arrangement, olive body with white lettering, three-position E-unit, white side railings, high front and rear railings, functional front and rear couplers, metal side rode connecting the drive wheels plus an ornamental horn.

The 42 Picatinney Arsenal Switcher ran unchanged for the entire year and did not include magne-traction nor interior illumination.

Additional Detail, Photos & Box Information
A common problem with this locomotive are the thin window struts on each side of the cab. These struts are quite frequently found cracked or completely missing. Units with intact window struts will command a slight premium.

Only Known Variation - Shown in the photo above. - All 42s were olive with white lettering and are hard to locate.

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