@William 1 : Great story about the 390E I had a similar experience with my 224 pre-war steamer. Seller gave me a great price but told me that honestly it didn't run. I wanted a shelf queen for a set of pre war Lionel passenger cars so that was ok. Some 2 years later when I finally negotiated some room to put up a layout...I set it on the track and started fooling around with the direction lever...lowe and behold, she took off and has been running since. Can't reverse but I don't back up a passenger train anyway. I also liked your "double headed" #8's they look good.
Don