HE LION ROARS - Lionel Collectors Club of America

In 1935, Louis Liggett, founder of the
United Drug Company (Rexall), decided
that rather than having thousands of
Rexall druggists come to the national
convention, he would bring it to them
and garner some great publicity as well.
Thus the idea of the Rexall Train was
conceived.
Photo 4
With the economy still in the depths
of the Great Depression, it was easy
to find surplus railroad equipment.
Twelve heavyweight Pullman cars were
cosmetically altered with new roofs
and diaphragms. The line-up was the
longest “streamlined” train on the rails.
Leased from the New York Central, the
locomotive received a thorough stylistic
makeover based on the Commodore
The Lion Roars 30
Vanderbilt. It was a heavy train, so the
loco was not a Hudson, but a 4-8-2
Mohawk. The entire train was painted
Rexall blue and white with black roofs
on the rolling stock.
From March to November of 1936,
this 12-car streamlined, air-conditioned
billboard-on-wheels train toured the
length and breadth of the United States.
It traveled 29,000 miles through 47 states
and Canada. About 2.3 million visitors
toured the train, and millions more saw
it as it rumbled through their town. I’m
sure it attracted lots of attention. I’m
even surer that one person who noticed
it was Josh Cowan. Hence, the Blue
Streak. Trivia extra points: the one state
missing from the itinerary (this was
before statehood for Alaska and Hawaii)
was Nevada.
Since Lionel then had a new #619 adapter
car, company designers probably asked,
“Why not use it for another train, even
if totally fictitious?” The #619 combine
and #618 obs emerged in chrome pulled
by a black #265.
Both this set and the Blue Streak are very
desirable, as are most of the articulated
sets Lionel produced. So, save up for
them.
The final version, which was
uncatalogued, is even pricier today. It
had a black #265 on the point with three
cars, #619/617/618, but painted in solid
medium blue.