For all you old timers..........back in 1976, I got a Bachmann train set that was produced for the Bicentennial. The set included 4 50' boxcars decorated for Geo. Washington, The Declaration of Independence, Ben Franklin, and the Liberty Bell. It had a U36 loco in a Bicentennial paint scheme and a matching caboose. My memory says there were at least 2 additional cars produced........one for Independence Hall, and one for Thomas Jefferson. I found an Independence Hall car........but am I remembering correctly? Was there a Thomas Jefferson ( or any other) car? If so, I'm on a quest to finish the set.......the box is long gone, but the cars and loco are still in their plastic cases. I came across the stuff while cleaning and surprisingly the loco ran perfectly right out of the box (after setting for 40+ years). I did an internet search, and got a bunch of ebay hits and some "bachmann cars for sale" hits for ebay, Amazon , and several online dealers, but nothing that would tell me about the set, or additional cars. If there were no additional cars, then my task is complete, but if there were other cars, my search will continue.
Thanks guys! So my memory is correct.........and the search continues for Thomas Jefferson. So I suppose it's "the holy grail" and I'll end up paying some ridiculously high price for it, but the seed is planted and I gotta get it!
A bit off topic, but I have a half dozen of the thirteen Micro-Trains Bicentennial cars from the mid-1970s, just the cars from states I've lived in. They're not sought after by collectors. I think they're neat and regularly run them. At the time, Bachmann produced two Bicentennial cabooses (5412 and 5703) and MT one (50990 w/ MT Couplers, 50991 w/ Rapido Couplers). I have only the Bachmann 5412 as seen here. I chose to retain its Rapido couplers to keep it all original. It too has little worth.
Wasn't there a loco to go with that caboose? I think it was also a U36. I toyed with the idea of trying to collect bicentennial locos, but they are all too new for my transition era layout.
I don't recall a matching locomotive, but you're probably right. I just remembered that Con-Cor offered Liberty Bell Special sets in 1975 and 1976, with a choice of PAs (2061A, 2071A, 2081A, 2091A) or a J3a 4-6-4 (3014) and passenger cars to match (4001K Coach, 4021K RPO, 4061K Dome, 4041K Obs). These were nice looking trains and being produced by Kato, these were excellent locomotives. [Pictures from Trovestar]
