In the spring of 1936, industrial design guru Raymond Loewy came up with a streamlined winner for the Pennsylvania Railroad’s glamorous Broadway Limited passenger train. Sleek, bullet-nosed, and skirted, Loewy’s upgrading of conventional K4 Pacific 4-6-2 No. 3768 captured the public’s imagination. People lined up to see the locomotive, which was dubbed the “Torpedo.”
Learn more about the Pennsylvania Railroad’s passenger trains.
Lionel rushed to develop a replica of the Torpedo. Models appeared in time for Christmas: Nos. 238/238E, a 4-4-2 locomotive in O gauge, and Nos. 1688/1688E, a 2-4-2 locomotive in O-27.
The O and O-27 versions featured one-piece boiler shells that employed Lionel’s new high-pressure die-casting equipment. The same casting used for the O-27 electrically powered locomotive served as the basis of a windup version, No. 1588.
Although the prototype Torpedo was a Pacific with six driving wheels, the first Lionel models had only four. Why, the No. 1588 had an 0-4-0 wheel configuration!
For 1937, Lionel developed a more appropriate six-wheel mechanism for the O-27 locomotive. To the roster of Torpedos came the Nos. 1668/1668E, with a 2-6-2 configuration. This new version appeared in cataloged outfits. The Nos. 1688/1688E were relegated to promotional sets, which were not listed in Lionel’s consumer catalogs.
Lionel cataloged the Nos. 238/238E through 1938 with either whistling tenders (No. 265W or 2225W) or non-whistling tenders (No. 265 or 2225T). Leftover inventory of this steam locomotive and tender combination was used in special sets sold through Sears, Roebuck & Co. for the next two years.
Lionel cataloged the Nos. 1668/1668E through 1941. It came with either a No. 1689W whistling tender or a No. 1689T non-whistling tender. The color of this locomotive (and the 238/238E) was changed from gunmetal gray to satin black sometime in 1939. The Torpedo was probably the most popular Lionel locomotive type in the late prewar era. Many thousands were sold each year, which makes them commonly available even today.
Except, that is, for the No. 1688E shown above, which is the most difficult variation to find. It represents the very first production from 1936, and nobody knows how many (or few) were made this way, before the dies were changed.
The distinguishing features of this variation are the forward-facing open cab windows and the winged-keystone detail visible under the smoke-lifting platform ahead of the stack. While the winged logo remained throughout the initial runs – perhaps most of 1936 – the forward-facing windows were soon filled in, probably because they created a problem in the die-casting process.
A fascinating body that was used multiple times, from the 1588 clockwork, eight versions of the 1688/1688E, and the 1668/1668E. So intriguing that I had to search for one. I now own three of the first issued open window torpedoes. Could go on and on with all the variations, which are more than listed in the article.
I like the information on the torpedo's. When my cousin's went into the army in 1944 they gave me 3 of them 1 black 1668 & 2 gray 1688. I used the 1668 to pull the blue & silver passenger's cars, I used them up to 1950 before they were replaced with new F-3's. N Y C and aluminum passenger's cars. I still have the 3 torpedo's and they sill run.
I'm enjoying the restoration of my American Flyer Silver Bullet #356 in chrome. While not the locomotive mentioned in the article I thought that I would mention it was A.C. Gilbert's answer to a locomotive streamliner. It came in three basic versions, The Royal Blue #350, Red Circus #353 and Silver Bullet #356, only the #356 smoked or had the choo-choo sound but all looked similar to the Lionel mentioned here.
Very informative,I'll be looking.