The third set of short madison cars from Lionel/MPC, and the last that were part of a ready-to-run train set, came out in 1975 as part of the Capitol Limited set. Following the pattern of the two previous sets, this one had a B&O small Atlantic-type (4-4-2) steam locomotive that had a two position E-unit, Mighty Sound of Steam, puffing smoke, and that's about it. The set came with three cars and over the intervening years, to about 1989, a total of six more cars were issued, for nine in all, the last being the diner. Once again, there was a campaign observation car to help decrease the surplus population of observation cars. THe cars are an attractive blue and, interestingly enough, though the set is called the Capitol Limited, each car is emblazoned with the Capital Limited logo. In this True HD 1080p video, you can see the entire set of nine cars pulled by the B&O locomotive. Over the course of the Lionel/MPC era, there were a total of ten sets of short madison cars issued. Since I haven't shown them in order, here for those who have asked is a chronological listing of all of the sets. True HD 1080p videos of all of these are now up on YouTube.
CATALOGED SETS
1973 — Milwaukee Road Milwaukee Special
1974 — Pennsylvania Broadway Limited
1975 — Baltimore & Ohio Capitol Limited
SEPARATE SALE SETS
1974-1977 — Toy Train Operating Society (TTOS)
1977 — Southern Crescent Limited
1978 — Jersey Central Blue Comet
1980 — CHessie Steam Special
1980-1985 — Train Collectors Association (TCA)
1981 — Chicago & Alton Alton Limited
1986 — Wabash Fallen Flags #1 (FF-1)
