Lionel's 1981 catalog included eight train sets in the Traditional Series category. Spanning from the days of the Old West with The James Gang (No. 6-1053) to the futuristic L.A.S.E.R. Train (No. 6-1150) there is certainly variety in the 1981 collection of Lionel train sets. At the basic end, the Reading Yard King (No. 6-1154) fills the starter bill, as do the steam powered Midnight Flyer (No. 6-1960) and Black River Freight (No. 6-1963). Similar in contents to the Black River is the Union Pacific Thunder Freight (No. 6-1151) and the only set with 2-6-4 steam engine power in the New Englander (No. 6-1050). The TP&W Cross Country Express sees a second year in the Lionel line, but is moved from its Collector Series status of 1980 to Traditional Line for '81. Of the 1981 Traditional Series sets, three are new entries: Reading Yard Kind, L.A.S.E.R. Train and Union Pacific Thunder Frieght. The other five sets had appeared in prior year catalogs.