Anybody else here fond of all metal steam engines....???

I have four Lionel postwar steam engines which are all metal and two modern steam engines that are metal. The only steam engines I have that are plastic are N scale. I have heard of steam engines that were plastic, but I always thought they were almost all from starter sets. I will accept diesels with plastic bodies, but not steam engines because that is what mine were made of when I was a kid.

I haven't had many steam locomotives, but I will list them as I got them:

1. My first was a Mantua Mikado kit in HO. It was a diecast body. I was very proud of that steamer.
2. A MTH DAP Big Boy which I never ran and soon sold on ebay. It was metal.
3. Sunset 3rd Rail PRR 2-8-0 which is brass.
4. Lionel's N&W Class A which O often ran and truly loved. It was metal, but it too was sold on ebay
5. LGB's Uintah #50 (G gauge). It is plastic. It is my favorite locomotive.
6. LGB's Mikado which I changed to ACL. It too is plastic.
7. Roundhouse #24 2-6-2 live steam. It was obviously metal. I sold to a close friend
8. Roundhouse Forney (SR&RL) live steamer. Metal and I also sold it to my same friend
9. Lionel Legacy L&N USRA 0-8-0. Metal
10. Lionel Legacy L&N Heavy Mikado. Metal

I have or have had both metal and plastic steam locomotives, I have no preference as long as it looks good and is heavy enough to hold traction. 

Once I changed from HO to O-Gauge 3RS, I was not aware of any steam locomotive models that were NOT "metal" in O-Gauge.

I just remembered an o gauge Marx old west passenger set I had as a kid and that steam engine was all plastic. It was definitely not my favorite steam engine and even as a kid I thought the Lionel 675 steam engine I also had was far superior.

I like Brass Steamers the best.    With brass the separately attached details look so much finer and better.    

The older diecast with most appliances cast on the boiler don't appeal to me much anymore.    However, a Friend has some of the MTH WM consolidations and they are nicely done.    I think with them the boiler is diecast but many details are brass separately applied.

Two places that diecast looses appeal is the thickness of the cab sides that is very visible on the window openings and the tops of the tender coal bunkers which are way too thick looking to me.

another feature of brass is that it is easier to repair body work and details than diecast.   It is very difficult to solder diecast without damaging the parts of the body.

@Michael Hokkanen posted:

I have three, soon to be four, all metal steam engines. They have were or have been relettered to NYC. One in TT scale, one in American 00, one in O scale (Lionel) and another to be purchased in O - another Lionel. 

The latter 2 are a Mohawk and a Hudson circa 1990's. I am told the one is of "modern zinc" composition...

I just like the looks, heft, and feel...

What are your thoughts on these? 

By the way, my best puller today is actually a semi scale 9 pound GG1 from Mike's Train House... 30 plus cars !!!

Being strictly O-gauge, that's what I have.  Other than some of what I call novelty pieces, all of my steamers and tenders are either diecast or brass.  That would be around 70 steam locomotives.  I have a couple of steamers with plastic tenders, my Hogwart's TMCC upgraded set locomotive and my Polar Express TMCC upgraded set locomotive. 

I also have some all metal diesels, the Lionel Genset and Veranda come to mind.  For electric, the MTH PRR BB1 pair, the Lionel B1 locomotive, the Lionel JLC GG1, and the MTH P5a are all diecast.

All my steam is die-cast...or at least they start out that way!

@Hot Water posted:

Once I changed from HO to O-Gauge 3RS, I was not aware of any steam locomotive models that were NOT "metal" in O-Gauge.

Yeah, me too (not the HO part). Don't really understand the question. All of mine are brass or zinc. 

There's the Lionel General in plastic, and a few PW/MPC steam cheapies. Marx Hudson.

One major reason I switched my emphasis to O gauge more than 20 years ago was because of the diecast steamers.

N scale began seeing the light at about the same time. I now have about a dozen N scale steamers with either diecast boilers or all-diecast bodies. Model Power, Bachmann and Broadway Limited have led the way in that regard. Bachmann went so far as to reissue its N&W J-class steamer with a metal body in place of the plastic version.

I also started a collection of old diecast HO steamers, including a customized Varney Dockside.

I won’t even look at plastic steamers anymore. 

I'm quite certain all of my O gauge steam is metal.

I suppose I just don't get it. What is special about a steam locomotive that requires it be made of metal, yet a diesel locomotive doesn't?

The only criteria that I see is sufficient weight to supply adequate traction. Lead ingots could accomplish the weight needs.

Don't you accept the detail attainable for plastic diesel shells? Why not steam locomotives too?

Brass steamers almost universally have lead weights to bring the weight up.

I still like metal for my steamers.