Vince
John Deere may have built rail cars in the past, but current production is Railroad Engine's & Drivetrain.

https://www.deere.com/en/engines-and-drivetrain/learn-more/railroad/

Happy Rails!
dave

Vince
It sounds like you are at the next stage of the train hobby: Build & Bash......
Fortunately/Unfortunately we do get to the stage where we want a "long out of production or a Never Was" train of piece of rollingstock.
And the ONLY was we're going to get it, is to build or bash...
There are lots of donor/inexpensive pieces of rolling stock to test your build/bash skills upon to get what you want.
IF YOU BUILD IT, YOU'LL HAVE IT....

Happy Rails...
dave

kpacker75
Hello & Welcome to the Forum!

To some collectors, the box is as important or more importanat than the contents.
Not being a Box Collector they usually get consigned to the bonfire by me.
You can post them  in the For Sale/Trade sub forum to see if you get any bites.
If no interest is shown here, l would suggest offering them on one of the online auction sites.

Happy Rails!
dave

I am going thru my uncles basement and he has empty Lionel boxes. We are cleaning his basement and he has told me to see if anyone is looking for the boxes for a far price. I will be going back out there Tuesday Fed. 23 I will make a list and get photos to post. Please let me know if you are interested.

Thanks. All metal. I see ones on the internet that look the same but no brass I'd plate on the top in the middle.