Lionel Large Scale Strikes Again- Home Alone 2

 

Home Alone was a big hit in 1990. Actually it was a massive success. For nearly 2 decades it was the highest grossing live action comedy film. And success usually begets a sequel.

Culkin and much of his movie family returned for more in 1992's Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.

Lionel Large Scale also returned in a big way in the film and this time in its natural setting- a full layout at a toy store.

There are 3 noticable toy train varieties in the Home Alone 2 scene in Duncan's Toy Chest- a Brio wooden train set, a large ride on/in train (which you almost miss), and Lionel Large Scale. The Brio gets a bulk of air time due to its placement on the set but the cameras does not dwell on it for long. That large ride on one may very well be a small amusement ride. It blends into the background and gets a few seconds. I have seen one in the guise of Thomas the Tank engine in a train show video someplace.

However, for approximately 11 seconds, the Lionel trains are in the foreground of the establishing shot of the interior of the toy store. 9 items make cameos- 2 engines and 7 pieces of rolling stock. 

The first 2 pieces we see, a caboose and a boxcar, were extremely difficult to classify. You can just make out some markings but not the text.

I was unsure if they were even Lionel products. The silhouttes definitely suggested Lionel, especially the caboose, yet I could not track any images of either specific piece. After a whole lot of research, searching for a copy of the 1990 Lionel Large Scale catalog and comparing marks on each piece with images I discovered that these 2 items are the Pennsylvania 8-87713 caboose next to the Southern boxcar 8-87004. These 2 pieces had limited runs and there is another Pennsylvania caboose that was produced (8-87700.) If I am to trust Trainz.com, they seem to only be catalogued between 1990-1991.

Below is a page from the 1990 Lionel Large Scale catalog. A good many of these cars appear in the movie. But I would like to know who in Lionel marketing decided that there should be a Gerber baby food reefer. In fact a few train manufacturers made a Gerber baby food car. That would make a good blog. But I digress...

The next 2 items are really easy. The Chessie Atlantic locomotive 8-86106 gets the most screen time of any item. Its distinctive paint make it one of the more distinctive Atlantic engines that were produced in Lionel Large Scale. Behind the tender follows another colorful car- the 8-87602 Gulf Tank Car. 

The boxcar behind the tank car is a little difficult to identify at first. All you can tell is that it is green. No, it is not the Gerber reefer. As the train pulls ahead out of the shot it then returns and after the engine and tank car pass again we can make out the markings on the boxcar. It is the Santa Fe Grand Canyon Line boxcar 8-87002.

Now the next item I had to re-watch the scene a few times before I could make it out on the lower part of the shot. Only the top appears in the shot intermixed between some scenery but its distinctive green and white coloring  and blocky shape indicate that this is the Burlington Northern GP-20 8-85003. Apparently these Lionel Large Scale diesels were good runners and favored over the Atlantics that were produced. Also, this must be the head end of the train that is pulling the first 2 items we saw. 

The final 2 items are on the train pulled by the Chessie locomotive. They do not come into the picture until that train takes the curve. The car behind the Santa Fe boxcar is definitely an ore car loaded with 3 Christmas ornaments. Lionel made about 5 different road names for the ore cars. Based on the darker color and lack of a distinctive emblems, I would guess this ore car to be the Northern Pacific 8-87204 that is on the 1990 catalog page above.

We only see the front roof portion of the last car. It is red and has a walkway. My educated guess is this is the Northern Pacific boxcar  8-87005 as there were no other red boxcars in the catalog and the roof line matches images I have reviewed.

There are a few scenic items identifiable in the scene on the lay but from what I can tell they are LGB or Piko. I did a little research and one of the light poles is LGB and the train station might be Piko's Grizzly Flats Station. The water tower does look similar to the one Lionel cataloged for their large scale but it does not seem correct. It might be early Aristocraft.

Culkin made 4.5 million for the sequel and it marked the high point of his career. He entered his first retirement a few years later. 

Likewise, I would consider this the peak of Lionel Large Scale. After 1990 Lionel did not produce a separate catalog for the line and instead relegated it to a few pages in the 2nd catalog releases. There were fewer new items. Then Lionel changed hands in the mid-90s and it seemed the owners cooled on G scale. A blue tank engine and his friends would breathe a little life into Lionel's G scale offerings before power track trains were mostly scrapped and replaced with battery operated plastic track trains.