Always figured these two were low-end steam competitors in the years shortly before the war:
Lionel 259
Flyer 401
I picked up the 259 some twenty years ago at the semi-annual meet Lorne Strickler used to run at the Porters, Pa. Volunteer Fire Company. It's a weird one in that it is a late version but has a manual reverse. My understanding is Lionel made a bunch of them in the mid-1930s, even though the 4-cycle e-unit was being used in the 259E, and had been for a few years.
The 401 came out of a bin at one of the odds-n-ends sellers at York in the Purple Hall, maybe five years ago. I bought the loco for $20, sans tender. After about an hour of wandering around, it began to really bug me that I didn't have a tender. I went back and with 15-20 minutes of digging, found the/a matching tender. Picked that up for an additional $5. Somebody did an awful touch-up job on it, and most of the lettering is worn away on both. It currently sits in the project pile, but no plans for a refurb, just a mechanical clean-up. I have a set of the appropriate cars for it, so it'll be sticking around for awhile.
I bought a lot of stuff at Strickler's meet in Porters over the years. He had a good run over there, but interest started to die out 10-15 years ago. I picked up a bunch of stuff at Strickler's shop in Hanover too, one of the last in the area. Lorne passed away a few years ago and the shop closed. He was a good source of parts, especially S-gauge Flyer. Bought a ton of Heller plastic kits in there too when I was a lot younger. Ride by there now and the place is a vape-shop or some such nonsense...kills me.
What's everybody else got going on?
Healey
