Lionel Amfleet / Cab-car opinions?

I'll be interested to see these in person.

I have the original and it has the wrong trucks!!!! It should have the out-side frame trucks from the Metroliners they were converted from rather than the inside-frame Amfleet trucks. In the OP's photo (and the Lionel announcement) it appears that Lionel is carrying-over the same error! I did buy a single un-powered Williams Metroliner (it has the correct trucks) to swap trucks but it got lost in my move so the project has not been done yet.

Also, the lighting on the original was backwards; headlight on in reverse and red markers on in forward. An easy fix but it requires going inside the car and switching a couple of wires which I have not done yet. Edit: The strobe light assembly is way too large.

As far as the OP's comment "While I am not thrilled that they are less than scale length", bring a two-railer, I thought the same thing but found the 18" cars

were not that bad at all and I am happy with them. Note that I got the HHP-8 starter set (mainly with the idea of two-railing the motor using an Atlas AEM-7 drive train), then after realizing how nice it is, bought the 2-car add-on set and the cab car.

I did contact Lionel about doing an "Amcafe" car, then one could make up a proper Northeast Regional train.

One comment on the new Lionel release, if it were a two-coach set instead and with new road numbers, I would probably get one to add to the fleet.

I like the Lionel Amfleet cab cars, and if I found one cheap enough, I was thinking of swapping the cab onto a plated MTH Amfleet, as the plating is perfect.

I always thought the Lionel Amfleets were 21”, I guess I was wrong.

I’d love to have a cab car at the end (or front 😉) of my Acela Regional.

thanks!

- Mario

I've seen them on the Harrisburg regionals at Newark, being converted Metroliners there are differences with the Amfleet. Do any other routes use them?

@CentralFan1976 posted:

I like the Lionel Amfleet cab cars, and if I found one cheap enough, I was thinking of swapping the cab onto a plated MTH Amfleet, as the plating is perfect.

I always thought the Lionel Amfleets were 21”, I guess I was wrong.

I’d love to have a cab car at the end (or front 😉) of my Acela Regional.

thanks!

- Mario

FYI, the Lionel Amfleets are narrower and slightly lower than the MTH versions. Creative license that makes the 18" length look longer.

---PCJ

@Scotie posted:

I've seen them on the Harrisburg regionals at Newark, being converted Metroliners there are differences with the Amfleet. Do any other routes use them?

A while back there were Phase III cab-cars in California, but I do not believe they do anymore.  They also used to show up in New England on the Vermonter and Downeaster trains, but these days I think they either push/pull with two locomotives, or use those F40PH 'cabbage' things.  I am pretty sure now the only place those cars get used is on the Amtrak Keystone service, HBG to NYP.

As far as trucks go, good catch, I did not notice that.  I would find that irksome as well, being a bit of a rivet counter.  However, I think the Atlas O Horizons get the truck closest to those Metroliner cab cars, (not perfect, but pretty close).  Not that I have much interest in gutting Atlas O Horizons mind you, but that is what I would use if I did.  The question is if one could easily transplant trucks between cars like that.  It seems that manufacturers go out of their way to make such transplants next to impossible, or utterly not worth the time.

@RailRide posted:

FYI, the Lionel Amfleets are narrower and slightly lower than the MTH versions. Creative license that makes the 18" length look longer.

---PCJ

Thanks for the info!

Here’s a Lionel cab car a buddy purchased; nice car, and is shown here next to an MTH. MTH is on the left in the side by side.


Thanks.
- Mario

Apparently so, I was noticing that when I stuck them all on the shelves.

I like the Lionel Amtrak cab car and have the original. The new ones seem like they will be upgraded. However, there's a caveat- they don't look correct with any other passenger cars I own besides the Lionel Amtrak 18" Amfleets(I have 5 of these- 3 from the HHP-8 set and the 2-pack add-on). By extension, the 18" Lionel Amfleets don't look right with any other of my passenger cars besides themselves. Even if you aren't a stickler for exact scale proportions and run different length cars, it's like  running scale a scale 3 bay covered hopper/50' boxcar/etc... with a semi-scale counterpart. Thus, I'd advise buying this car as long as you get some of the other Lionel 18" Amfleets to go with it. On the plus side, a consist of the Lionel Amfleets still looks decent behind any Amtrak loco- be it MTH, Lionel, Atlas, etc...IMO

Due to the unique size of the Lionel 18" Amfleets, I have tried pairing them with a multitude of different passenger cars to try and find a decent size match- even if it hasn't necessarily been another Amtrak car. Below is a list of 18" to 21" passenger cars with which I have paired the Lionel Amtrak Cab car. The closest matches are in bold. If you want pictures I'll provide them:

MTH:

19" Amfleets ex. Product # 20-64015 (now Atlas O Premier Amfleets)

70' Scale Aluminum Passenger Cars ex. Product # MT-6508

Golden Gate Depot:

21" Amfleet

K-line:

18" Amtrak Superliner II transition car

21" Amtrak Superliner II Coach and Sleeper

18" Amtrak Heritage Baggage

21" Amtrak Heritage Observation

Weaver:

80' (20") New Haven McGinnis Scheme Pullman Bradley

Atlas O:

21" Amtrak Horizons(Phase III- coaches and diner)

80' (20") Kansas City Southern Pullman Bradley

I think the reason the GGD is the the closest is because it is the most accurate/only scale representation of an Amfleet car on the Market, it's width and height are bigger, but closer, to the Lionel version. The other scale Amtrak cars, such as 21" heritage or Horizons, are bigger in general. While you'd think The MTH 19" Amfleets would be closest, their dimensions vs the Lionel 18" are so different that the MTH appear shorter and the Lionel appear longer.

Hope that helps

I have six of the Lionel Amfleets (the NEC set plus a set break-up from a friend who only wanted the HHP8). I then bought the cab car. With seven cars total, I won't need to pair them up with anyone else's coaches, although the MTH material handling boxcars do look decent with them, as well as the AEM7.

The Atlas O Horizon trucks should be available as a separate sale item, so one shouldn't need to strip a complete car for them.

---PCJ

@RailRide posted:

I have six of the Lionel Amfleets (the NEC set plus a set break-up from a friend who only wanted the HHP8). I then bought the cab car. With seven cars total, I won't need to pair them up with anyone else's coaches, although the MTH material handling boxcars do look decent with them, as well as the AEM7.

The Atlas O Horizon trucks should be available as a separate sale item, so one shouldn't need to strip a complete car for them.

---PCJ

Greetings:

Thanks for your reply.  My aim is also to keep them alone, rather than mixing.

As for the trucks, you would normally be correct.  However, they disappeared from Atlas O's parts website, and I am unsure of another avenue to access them.  I used to go through Atlas directly through Len Deichman when he had his store, but no longer.  If you (or anyone else) has a source, or a method to check directly with Atlas about availability, I'd love to hear about it.  They are re-running Horizons at some point, so they should be around.  I haven't tried calling in a while, but my last attempt did not yield any useful results.

In many ways, I think the Lionel amfleet is a better-looking model than the MTH version. I have quite a few of both. The windows are nicer; the handrails are bent in the right direction; the interior looks better; the service level signs look better; and I prefer the lack of rivets. I noticed that, on curves under O72, there is A LOT OF SWING on the cab model's pilots. I ran it at my parents' house this past Christmas (O54) and my mom was concerned it was broken. I still notice it a bit on my home layout curves which are O72 and up.

The MTH model's size and Lionel's lack of diaphragms had me keeping them apart from one another.
In fact, I don't mix Lionel's models with any rolling stock from other manufacturers. It just doesn't look quite right.

So it all depends on what you want to model.  Remember that Lionel doesn't make a cafe. You can run Keystone Service with just amfleet coaches and a cab unit -no food. That also lets you run them with a few different locomotives too because Genesis units and all sorts of electric units have powered Keystone Service.
The Valley Flyer (Connecticut) is just one coach and a cab car.

You could also run the Lakeshore Limited with a Horizon dinette, but the Atlas models will dwarf your Lionels a little.

Lionel Left - MTH Right

I have the whole set of the Lionel amfleet cars, very satisfied, the cab car when running backwards a yellow headlight lights up. The push/pull adds a lot of play value to the set. The cars look great behind the HHP-8.