Welcome to The Lionel trains Library – a website created to assist you in understanding differences in variations of engines, rolling stock, cabooses, passenger cars, and accessories sold by Lionel in the postwar era (1945-1969). Our objective is to construct a website that is robust, easy to use and informative as you learn about the products made by one of the most famous toy companies in the world during a glorious but challenging era.

We invite you to stroll down memory lane as you are rewarded with thousands of photos of the wonderful trains and accessories that you may have had as a kid – or wished you could have had when growing up.

Please note that the items described in the underlying pages are not available for sale. Please go to both of the websites shown below to view what is currently for sale by the authors . We also encourage you to e-mail us with feedback as to how close we are achieving our goal.

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231 Rock Island

Production: 1961 - 1963

History
The 231 Rock Island Alco A was produced for several years in the early 1960's. It frequently appeared in catalogued and uncatalogued sets. It is a reliable and smooth running diesel. The motor on the 231 is considered one of the better versions manufactured by Lionel for the later-series Alco diesels.

The 231 Alco came with an open pilot. Like many of the open pilot Alco's, the pilot is weak and fragile and are frequently found either cracked, broken or completely missing. Locating a 231 with an intact pilot is difficult.

Features
Standard features of the 231 include two-axle Magnetraction, two-position E-unit, headlight plus front & rear dummy couplers.

Additional Detail, Photos & Box Information
The length of this type of Alco is approximately 11 1/2" long (coupler to coupler).

Red stripe on side - The red stripe variation is shown in the photo above. - This is the most common version of the 231 Alco A diesel.
Without red stripe - Extremely difficult to find, considered a factory error.

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