Con-Cor - Limited Edition Set #40bis / 8522 - Passenger Train, Steam, North American, Transition - Lehigh Valley - 7-Unit

Specific Item Information: Limited Edition Set #40bis Lehigh Valley "Black Diamond": one steam locomotive with 6 smoothside cars.
Note from TroveStar: This set was not listed in Con-Cor listing of Limited Edition Sets, though being a true one. We therefore allocated a 'bis' number to insert it at its proper place in the series.

- Steam Locomotive 4-6-4 Bullet-Nose, Shrouded J3a Hudson #2202 in Cornell Red and Black Scheme (Otto Kuhler 1940 Version)
- Baggage car "Railway Express Agency" #777
- RPO "US Mail Railway Post Office" #1026
- Coach / Club car #1012
- Pullman Sleeper car "John Wilkes"
- Coach car #1510
- Observation car "Anthracite Club" #1001

Set also contains:
- a map of LV routes
- a Lehigh Valley "John Wilkes" booklet

Series Information: Con-Cor "Limited Edition Sets" or "Limited Edition Collector's Sets" were started after requests to 'custom paint' replicas of great passenger trains of the past. As these sets were very limited in quantity, many were sold out before they got to the retailer. While the quality of painting varied from time to time, they are a handsome addition to any collection and impressive on a layout.
With the exception of the first set, all were furnished in a wood-grained cardboard box with colored foam storage insert. For some sets, the manufacturer furnished additional cars or add-on sets.
The number of the set in the series is not printed on the box, but a listing was kept by Con-Cor and available as print-out in the most recent sets or on the (former) Con-Cor website.
Sets #1 to #13 were without stock number; stock numbers have been assigned and printed on the side label starting with set #14.

The wood-grained cardboard box has been used for other sets called "Special Edition Set" by Con-Cor, that only received a regular stock number, but were not accounted in the "Limited Edition Set" collection.

Prototype History: During the transition period (1939 - 1957), it was common to see both steam and diesel motive power on North American railroads. However, it wasn't the case that the only steam locomotives were leftovers from the war. Many new model steam engines were produced during this period. These were the latest and best technology that steam technology produced. These were especially common on coal hailing routes where fuel was plentiful, but steam was also common on passenger routes.

One example was the Norfolk and Western J class. These pulled some of their flagship named trains such as the Pochontas, Powhattan Arrow and the Cavalier. Steam passenger service continued well into the 1950s when N&W started the dieselization process.

Road Name History: The Lehigh Valley Railroad (reporting mark LV) was one of a number of railroads built in the northeastern United States primarily to haul anthracite coal. It was authorized April 21, 1846 in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and incorporated/established on September 20, 1847 as the Delaware, Lehigh, Schuylkill and Susquehanna Railroad Company. On January 7, 1853, the name was changed to Lehigh Valley Railroad. It was sometimes known as the Route of the Black Diamond, named after the anthracite it transported. At the time, anthracite was transported by boat down the Lehigh River; the railroad was meant to be faster transportation. The railroad ended operations in 1976 and merged into Conrail that same year.

During its existence, the Lehigh Valley Railroad used a rail line that later became known as the Lehigh Line in order for it to operate. The Lehigh Line was the railroad's first rail line constructed which was built in 1855 between Easton, Pennsylvania and Allentown, Pennsylvania and it served as the main line for the Lehigh Valley Railroad. Serving as the main line for the Lehigh Valley Railroad, the rail line expanded past Allentown to Buffalo, New York and past Easton to New York City, bringing the Lehigh Valley Railroad to these metro areas. During the early years, the line served as the body of the Lehigh Valley Railroad until the railroad either built more rail lines or railroads, acquired more rail lines or railroads, and merged other railroads into their system. The line was known as the Lehigh Valley Mainline during the majority of its time under the ownership of the Lehigh Valley Railroad, starting in the 1930s. The "Lehigh Valley" was absorbed along with several northeastern rail lines into Conrail; the main line became known as the Lehigh Line during the Conrail ownership. Conrail shortened the track miles by abandoning most of its route to Buffalo and some of the line entering New York City area. The Lehigh Line is now owned by the Norfolk Southern Railway.

As of 31 Dec 1925, 1363.7 miles of road, 3533.3 miles of track; as of 31 Dec 1970, 927 miles of road and 1963 miles of track.

From Wikipedia

Brand/Importer Information: Con-Cor has been in business since 1962. Many things have changed over time as originally they were a complete manufacturing operation in the USA and at one time had upwards of 45 employees. They not only designed the models,but they also built their own molds, did injection molding, painting, printing and packaging on their models.

Currently, most of their manufacturing has been moved overseas and now they import 90% of their products as totally finished goods, or in finished components. They only do some incidental manufacturing today within the USA.

Important Note: The Con-Cor product numbering can be very confusing. Please see here in the article how to properly enter Con-Cor stock numbers in the TroveStar database.