It was 2011 or 2012 when I heard about the Odyssey Demonstrators for the first time, but didn't pay much attention. In 2014, in a thread about MPC F3s, @PaperTRW mentioned in passing that he was the product manager, and I started digging a little further, trying to sketch out exactly what the program was, and what was delivered to whom. More idle autism than anything else; it sounded like there was a checklist to have fun with in there somewhere.
In 2015, my idle curiousity turned into a mild obsession, thanks to a thread that included @Ron_S, @ZWPOWER13, @Gpritch, and a wonderful trip down lore lane with @PaperTRW. That thread is one of those ones which reinforces that despite it all, the OGR forums are the most useful archive of 3-rail information on the planet. Where else are you going to stumble into a conversation like that, with the former product manager who oversaw it? Just amazing.
Over that intervening 15 years, I've been hunting. I wanted:
- One of each version available, based on the information that there were 7 total, with an 8th unicorn that might or might not have ever existed
- As close to unrun as I could find, considering these were designed to be run in-store by dealers, with their original boxes, and with the Odyseey Demonstrator insert that came in the box. I figured if the box and insert were there, it helped to authenticate it.
With it now being over 25 years since these locomotives were sent to dealers, and with every one having the same box and same SKU, it's been surprisingly challenging to find good examples, especially of the TMCC versions. For me, the BNSF has be easily the hardest to find in the condition I wanted, but as of this weekend I'm very pleased to say I have the entire set.
Along the way, I found some interesting things about the Odyssey Demonstrator program. In his original retelling of the history of the project, @PaperTRW said "Having said all that, I've seen things without easy explanations come out of the plant, so I suppose anything is possible." I've definitely found some interesting side quests.
There were five diesel locomotives listed in the 2000 Vol1 catalog, available in both TMCC and "command upgradable" versions. These were the ones used for the demonstrator program, and each of them shows up, in one or both versions. For the Conrail and BN, both types were used, and the upgraded versions are pretty obvious because of the rarely matched sound boards that were used. Here are both the TMCC and upgraded traditional versions of the BN locomotives side-by-side (TMCC closest to the camera). You can see that they did a pretty good job with the upgrades, and how there are no electrocouplers.
Of course, not ALL of them are so clean. Here's the upgraded traditional version of the BNSF locomotive, and it is quite a mess inside. One of the couplers has been upgraded to an electrocoupler, but the wiring is so messy that I'm wondering if that was a field upgrade by the dealer who bought it, although, with the antenna made out of foil tape, maybe it was all done by Lionel. I'd be very surprised if it came from the factory that way.
We also know that while 10 versions of the locomotives were slated for the program, I've never found any inkling or rumor of the "missing" three locomotives in real life. Never say never, but I don't think the Odyssey Demonstrator versions of the TMCC BNSF, SP, or CSX locomotives exist. I haven't seen one, I haven't had anyone tell me they've seen one. The BNSF and SP were never supposed to be made, but even the CSX version that was technically approved, I've never had anyone tell me they'd seen it. Maybe they exist, but until that collection comes up at auction, I won't believe it.
There were two types of documentation sent to dealers about these locomotives: the offer letter, and the demo instructions. The letter was sent to dealers in late June, and outlined the program. Each dealer was limited to one (interestingly there is a story from @Phillip who was working at Iron Horse Hobby Shop in Pittsburgh where he says they were sent multiples, so obviously not a hard and fast rule), and they paid $349.97 for it. I note with amusement the hard sell by Lionel on the "wonderful opportunity" to buy a random engine at a $100 discount. 😂
There's also some discrepencies from the standard catalogued versions of the locomotives and the features they include. For instance, all of the tradititon/upgraded versions should have magnetic couplers, but my BNSF #9869 has an Electrocoupler on the back, as does BN #9413. CSX #8700 has Electrocouplers on BOTH the front AND the back despite being the traditional/upgraded version (man was I hoping this was #8701, as it would be the elusive TMCC CSX version!) The TMCC versions should have Electrocouplers front and back, but BN #9412 has a magnetic coupler on the front. It's possible that some dealers added electrocouplers to the conventional/upgraded locomotives, but that seems strange. Chances are Lionel just took whatever was available, but it's fun to see the seeming randomness.
Even more interesting is the conventional/upgraded BN #9413 at the top of my display. It came in the right box, with the right paperwork, and has the appropriate mismatched sound card, Odyssey electronics, and magnetic couplers...but doesn't have an Odyssey System Demonstrator stamp on it! Unless someone went to great lengths to disguise a non-OD version, I believe this is a genuine Lionel Odyssey Demonstrator that, for whatever reason, just didn't get stamped. I've never seen another one, so maybe it's just a fun bit of extra random variation on locomotives that were themselves extemely random.
To me, this is one of the coolest parts of the hobby. A quarter century ago, someone at Lionel had a good idea to get the word out about a new bit of tech, trying to sell the changes in motor type and performance to both dealers and customers. They kitbashed some high-end and traditional locomotives, used whatever sound boards they had laying around, and shipped them randomly to dealers around the country. The were never sold to the public, have no catalogue entries or even unique SKUs per roadname/version, were only available for that one season...and became both a very cool bit of Lionel lore, and a worthy set to hunt for.
Thanks to @PaperTRW for his work on this fun project that still has people hunting decades later. I love a good checklist, and this one has been really fun to work through. If anyone has any questions, or any additional information I missed (or corrections to things I got wrong), I'd love to hear it.
Happy hunting!
