Lionel Corporation (MTHRRC) Std. Gauge Lionel Corporation Tinplate 392E Steam Engine w/Proto-Sound 3.0

The cover of the 1932 Lionel catalog depicted a real steam engine with a young lad at the throttle and the slogan “A Boy’s Dream Come True.” Inside, on a page headlined “POWERFUL – SPEEDY – MAJESTIC – JUST RARIN’ TO GO!” was the new No. 392E Steam Type “Distant Control” Locomotive and Tender, “the latest Lionel Standard model, fashioned after the latest Timken types” — perhaps a reference to the Timken Four Aces, an Alco 4-8-4 that had recently toured the country demonstrating the benefits of Timken roller bearings on all axle and rod bearings.

At $35.00, the 392E offered a more affordable but still highly impressive alternative to Lionel’s top-of-the-line 400E steamer introduced a year earlier. The $10.00 difference between the two engines was a considerable sum in the depths of the Great Depression. Headlined “THE NEWEST LOCOMOTIVE IN THREE DANDY COMBINATIONS,” a later page in the 1932 catalog offered the 392E in two passenger sets, with smaller 309-series and larger 424-series cars, and one freight set with 500-series freight cars. The sets ranged in price from $45.00 to $55.00.

The following year, Lionel’s ad men pulled out all the stops in their catalog description of the 392E: “Give this flashy model the once-over and you’ll decide it’s just the one you want, that no other model will do. Why? Because it’s fashioned after the greatest coal-burners going. Because every detail in the real locomotives is here, too, with striking , realistic effect. And because the motor is the finest Lionel makes—sturdy—built to last—and powerful enough to haul many loaded cars at a fast clip.” Like its larger brother the 400E, the 392E would remain in the Lionel catalog until 1939, the last year that Standard Gauge was cataloged.

• Die-Cast Tender Body
• Stamped Steel Boiler
• Stamped Metal Chassis
• Baked Enamel Finish
• Metal Wheels and Axles
• Operating Metal Latch Couplers
• Constant Voltage Headlight
• Precision Flywheel Equipped Motor
• Locomotive Speed Control In Scale MPH Increments
• Metal Handrails and Decorative Bell
• Decorative Metal Whistle
• Synchronized Puffing ProtoSmoke System
• Wireless Drawbar
• Onboard DCC/DCS Decoder
• Proto-Sound 3.0 With The Digital Command System Featuring: Freight Yard Proto-Effects
• Unit Measures:27 1/2” x 5 3/4” x 4 1/2”
• Operates On STD-42 Curves Steam DCC Features
• F0 Head/Tail light
• F1 Bell
• F2 Horn
• F3 Start-up/Shut-down
• F4 PFA
• F5 Lights (except head/tail)
• F6 Master Volume
• F7 Front Coupler
• F8 Rear Coupler
• F9 Forward Signal
• F10 Reverse Signal
• F11 Grade Crossing
• F12 Smoke On/Off
• F13 Smoke Volume
• F14 Idle Sequence 3
• F15 Idle Sequence 2
• F16 Idle Sequence 1
• F17 Extended Start-up
• F18 Extended Shut-down
• F19 Labor Chuff
• F20 Drift Chuff
• F21 One Shot Doppler
• F22 Coupler Slack
• F23 Coupler Close
• F24 Single Horn Blast
• F25 Engine Sounds
• F26 Brake Sounds
• F27 Cab Chatter
• F28 Feature Reset