Product Title: Lionel Postwar 3530 Operating Mobile Generator Car O Scale
Manufacturer: Lionel
Scale: O
Condition: Item Condition: C-7, Box Condition P-3
TCA Condition/Grading Standards: C-7: Excellent—All Original: minute scratches and paint nicks; no rust and no missing parts; no distortion of component parts.
TCA Box Grading Standards: P-3: Poor: Incomplete, may be very brittle, significant deterioration. Extensive amateur repairs. (Scotch Tape or equivalent).
Listing Notes: comes with exactly what is shown. box missing one end flap. car in good shape. does not come with box for the pole accessories
Photos: See photos
Manufacturer Information:
The Operating Mobile Generator Car No. 3530 was introduced in 1956 and was a new design by Lionel. It would be produced for another two years. Produced on a BLUE body with a WHITE painted stripe and heat-stamped lettering.
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This generator car came with a telephone pole No. 3530-50 and a floodlight No. 3530-12. The floodlight would light up with the opening of one of the doors on the car. These were available for separate sale and included both the telephone pole with either a BLUE or BLACK transformer base and the magnetic base searchlight. A YELLOW transfomer base has been found as part of an F-3 Rio Grande Set No. 2291W that was released in 1956.
No. 3530 Late Classic Box End
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Power was connected to the light by two leads from the telephone pole. These attached to the roof of the car and the other end of these leads attached to the floodlight.
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The floodlight had a magnet in the base allowing it to adhere to any metal surface. Below we’ve shown the illustration of the two page operating instructions. This operating car has bar-end trucks with tabbed couplers. There are four variations:
https://www.tandem-associates.com/lionel/lionel_trains_3530_operating_car.htm