About This Steam Engine

The 671 Turbine was introduced by Lionel in 1946 and (with various modifications) was sold for four years (through 1949). This item consisted of two separate pieces: a steamer with a "6-8-6" wheel arrangement and a whistling coal tender.

The 1946 version featured a smoke bulb which was used to generate both illumination and smoke. (Afterwards Lionel sold conversion kits to upgrade the smoke unit to a more modern heater-type unit; consequently engines with an original smoke bulb are much harder to find than converted models.) The engine was decorated with wire handrails, and nickel-rimmed drivers with a single side rod. There was no E-unit slot as the reversing unit consisted of plugs and receptacles in the back of the cab. It also had a horizontally mounted motor. The "671" cab number was rubber-stamped in silver. The 8-wheel (671W) tender has a plastic body that was decorated with "LIONEL LINES" in either silver letters or white letters.

The 1947-49 version featured a heater-type smoke unit to generate smoke and a common (much smaller) bulb to provide illumination. The engine was decorated with wire handrails throughout this time period. However the drivers were changed as follows: in 1947 all drivers had thick, nickel rims; in 1948, there were thin blackened rims on only the first and fourth drivers; in 1949, there were no rims on any of the drivers. The boiler was changed to accommodate an E-unit lever on the top. The "671" cab number was rubber-stamped in silver. The 671W tender described above was sold with the 1947 turbine. However Lionel introduced the attractive 2671W streamlined tender in 1948 -- a 12-wheel, whistling tender that was decorated with "PENNSYLVANIA" in silver letters and with a back-up light. The back-up light was soon eliminated and subsequently this tender came with an un-lighted frame and with either silver letters or white letters.

Photos of the 671 Turbine & 671W Tender
ABOVE: The Engine. BELOW: The 8-wheel whistling Coal Tender.

Additional Details

The prototype for this engine is the Pennsylvania Railroad S2 steam turbine that was essentially a commercial failure. Ironically the turbine became one of Lionel's best selling steamers and is still popular today as it is one of the easiest engines to repair. The 671 turbine is considered to be an "O-Gauge" engine as Lionel sold these items with "O-Gauge" track. Its sister engine -- the 2020 turbine -- was sold with "027" track. The 671R and 671RR turbines are significantly different from the 671s described here.

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This page is an information document only; nothing on this web page is being offered for sale. This page and all of the other pages from Our Archives were developed to assist you in understanding differences in variations of engines, rolling stock, cabooses, passenger cars, and accessories sold by Lionel in the postwar era. We have used pictures from our old files and personal collection to construct this area of our website to show the characteristics of collectible variations. If you are interested in buying something, please go to one of our inventory listings to see what we currently have for sale.

This web page was last updated on August 15, 2008. If you have suggestions for improving this page or if you see any errors, please contact us.

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