Many enduring characteristics are characteristic of the lionel Texas special. The Texas Special was the first O27 diesel motor from Lionel and its debut was made in 1954. The Texas Special is made of die-cast metal with the stamp “The Texas Special.” It measures approximately 0.38″ W x 0.59″ H x 1.81″ D. It has an average speed of 15 mph and is a great model train for Christmas.
The original Texas Special ran between St. Louis, Missouri, and San Antonio, Texas. Later, it was cut back to Kansas City. The Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railway and the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway jointly operated the Texas Special. The train ran from 1915 to 1965. Lionel introduced an O-scale set consisting of four EMD F3 diesel locomotives in red and white Texas Special livery. The set includes hand-painted passenger figures, separately-applied metal details, and interior lighting.
The 2245 Texas Special F3AB unit was manufactured by Lionel in the 1950s. It was one of the earliest Lionel F3 A units. Though the unit was catalogued as a 027 gauge item, it was always sold as an AB combination. It was produced for only two years, but underwent three distinct variations during its two-year life cycle. The 2245 was the first model to have a single engine.