Those newer large diesel road engines are not my thing.

My age most likely has a lot to do with it............

 

95% steam - almost anything SP, UP, AT&SF, plus a couple of PRR engines.

5% diesel - only 2 - SP MP15ac and SP Trainmaster

'nuff said...

 

Rusty

I like both but steam is my #1.  My interests are the N&W,NKP, CB&Q and the UP.  I like Northerns, Berks & Challengers ect... and as for diesels....E and F units for sure, along with early geeps and I have always loved the SD40-2's.

Definitely Diesel, I do have a display of all the original steam Lionel put out PW, I grew up during the transition to Diesel, and collected them, but Diesel grabbed my attention and fueled my passion. I own 73 diesel locomotives, but soon will pare them down, no room and I want to just keep those operate along with a few special diesels, like the Odyssey demonstrators.

I will never run the Alaska Superliner set, or the C&O, EMD or KCS, so they will be going to the swap meet soon to clear up space under layout for what I will keep and run.

Steam.  There is just something about them.  They are alive.  The Big Boy is my fav locomotive.  Fav road would be the AT&SF.

I like both, but if I had to pick one type, it would be steam.  Just a lot more going on with a steam locomotive.

 

My Postwar trains are the usual mix of F3s, Alcos, GG1s and assorted steam. 

 

But there are three diesels among the scale trains: an NW2, an FM TrainMaster and a Baldwin Shark AA set (or does that count as two?).  The rest is steam.

 

My interest is in the steam-to-diesel transition era, roughly 1935 to 1955.  So I have both steam and diesel, but no modern diesels.

 

ADDENDUM: And I almost forgot to mention, my most recent locomotive is a NYC S1 electric.

 

Diesel and ES44AC & SD70ACE for favorites. My layout has only diesels and most are modern. Got a couple of older ones like as RS-3. I don't own any steam, but I would like to maybe get at least one someday.

I like both but i'm a 1st generation diesel guy!! 

Which one, Steam or Diesel?..How about neither .

 

It's gotta be Electric for me .

I am more of a diesel fan, but I like a few steam locomotives; the Reading"s T-1 4-8-4 northern. A few diesel models I like are the GP-7 & GP-9, the FP-7, the SD-45 & SD-70ACe.

 

Lee Fritz

I love large steam engines like the big boy, cab forward, challenger to name a few, our country was founded on STEAM POWER, and the extreme power a BIG BOY has is great. steam is a special ERA for me,i even have a picture of my father sitting on a steam engine when he was young!

Terrific hobby.

Steam forever!

Alan

 

 

 

Don't want to pick. I don't have a home layout but belong to an o-gauge club and the layout is big enough to handle what ever I bring that day. The best of both Worlds. I even have one electric

Yes.

 

Trolleys are also nice.

 

Jeff C

 

 

 

Steam.  My family has a steam heritage, of my dad firing steam locos and my grandfather building cabooses during that period.  Modern diesels to me are like econobox cars, Rabbits, Chevettes, Escorts, generic and without personality.  All kinds,

types, and sizes of steam once ran in the U.S.  I do think some of the first generation

diesels, the E series, etc., were very attractive, but I don't want to make room for them.  And I am a big fan of internal combustion on rails, but only as exemplified by gas electrics and railbuses.  They, of course, were concurrent with steam.

Steam.

Since we are talking REAL Trains here, I would say I'm a train person.
I have a special affinity for any steam engine I've been lucky enough to ride behind, this would include 2101, 614, 611, 765, EBT's engines, Strasburg, Steamtown@Bellows Falls, Valley RR, Allegany Central, Cass, etc.

I wish I could have seen the Western Maryland's steamers on the Connellsville Sub., and the B&O's on Sand Patch.
I also liked the diesels I saw while growing up in the 60s and 70s, from the veteran EMD's and Alcos on the WM, to the big SDs on WM, B&O, and Chessie. I have always preferred EMD to GE in modern times, with Conrail's SD80MACs being a favorite.

 

Micheal,

    I do forgive you cause there is another engine category that all you young guys always  seem to forget. The Electric Brunswick Green, Pa GG1 the Gold standard and Gold Striped Monster of the PRR.  Steam and Diesel are nice however the GG1 is my ultimate favorite Engine, pre or post war.

PCRR/Dave 

I think it's an age thing. In other words, it's what you grew up knowing. For me, that means steam particularly NYC because of the VL 700 E. However the G'son, he enjoys diesels, Southern to be exact. I, on the other hand, remember traveling to Grand Rapids in a pullman behind L&N steam during the war years. It was nice to be in a berth at night, being rocked to sleep while listening to the clickety-clack of the wheels on the rails. A large majority of the passengers were soldiers which as a kid fascinated me.

It is like comparing apples to oranges, I like both plus the GG1 and the big boxcab electrics. Then there are the trolleys, both city and interurban. Love the PCC cars.  Wish I had room for a trolley loop. But if you held my feet to the fire and it had to be just one-it would be steam, from the Maine 2 footers to the Big Boy.

Dyed-in-the-wool steamer here, but having grown up in steam/diesel transition, I do have my favorite diesels. However, diesel models don't turn my crank much.

Exceptions: American diesel streamliner trains (Es and Fs) and most older electrics including trolleys.

Unfortunately, I only got a couple of brief glimpses of GG1's during a 1972 field trip to Philadelphia. However a friend has accumulated a large collection of GG1 photos and even made recordings when they were in service. They certainly had 1 of the most distinctive air horns in railroading (BAAAMMMPPP-BAAAMMMPPP).

Steam here but heck, I love 'em all especially the early diesels (GP9s, SWs, etc). 

 

I'm pretty much split 50/50 in O gauge with steam and diesel. 

 

Occasionally, I like to go ride steam tourist railroads and have been to several to ride/photograph operating steam - Western Maryland, B&O Museum, Strasburg, Mt. Washington, etc. 

 

I've never operated a steam locomotive but have fired Lehigh Valley Coal #126, an 0-6-0T owned by the Gramling Family and is one of two operating locomotive they take around the east coast. I've always wanted to fire one and run one. This crossed one of those "steam dreams" off my list. I hand fired three 8 mile round trips over the Walkersville Southern. It may be a small loco but it packs a lot of power and is really impressive with what it can do. You could probably fire it with a spoon and still lift the safeties! 

 

 

After my trips with the 126, I was the rare recipient of this, something few get from the Gramlings. For someone that had never fired a steam locomotive, John Gramling, the owner of the 126, told me I did a d@mn good job.

 

 

 

 

I've also had the privilege to operate Western Maryland Scenic's GP30 #502 for about 3 miles as well as National Capital Trolley Museum's  former TTC (Toronto Transit Commission) PCC Car #4602 on their trackage. Of course, this does not include several thousand roundtrips as the local park railroad's engineer, manager, jack of all trades for many years. We ran (and they still run, will celebrate 50 years in 2017) on a very scenic mile of 2 foot gauge track through out local park, about 600 acres. I can hear the whistle from my home. 2 engines, 5 coaches, 1 MOW/freight car. Lots of fun (mostly &nbsp

 

 

When I was younger, I was into diesels much more than steam. Now, after years of reading up on steam and experiencing live locomotives, I would say I tilt more toward steam. However, I love first generation diesels...especially Alcos!

Steam... large or small!

 

 

Diesel..80% EMD and 20% GE. ES44's are nice

 

    @   beginning  east bound CSX BNSF 4 engine multi unit
    @  .55  west bound Guilford Pan Am  5 engine multi unit
    @ 1.54  east bound Guilford 2 unit switching track

Diesel for me. As a young boy in the 1970's, my train watching involved EMD GP units and GE U boats. I never experienced steam or 1st generation diesel.

 

Are You a Steam or Diesel Person?

 

Last I checked I was a fully functional carbon based biological life form and not operating on either steam or diesel.......................although I have been known to produce gas.

You may be my newest hero!!

Stick with it!! and thanks for posting.

PS. don't buy a steamer like I did. Once you do, they seem to multiply. Then you loose all sense of direction!!

I like steam (modern big steam), but I appreciate the many advantages diesels brought to the table.  I also like first generation (transition era) diesels.

 

Steam is fave

 

Electric is close next

 

Trolleys are close next

 

diesal Way last....

I'm a diesel fan. It's what I grew up with over the past 40 years.  However; I really enjoy seeing the steam locomotives at the train museum.   There's a ton of awesome history behind them!

 

 

 

Being 47, I never got to see steam in the wild, so as a small boy, diesels WERE railroading to me.  My first love was ex-Pennsylvania E8'S pulling Amtrak trains through Fort Wayne, but my first Lionel was a steamer, so I learned to love both at an early age. Today, I love diesel power, especially older EMD's, but nothing makes my heart race like steam, big steam,  and watching 765 roar by is close to a religious experience for me.

I always liked the Milwaukee Road SD40-2's as those are what I consider to be the first heritage units. The Hiawatha Trains remembered with the Indian on the nose is a class act.

 

 

If it had a Wild Mary tender strapped to it's butt it was and is my favorite.

D...is for Diesel

I...is for I know why

E...is for EMD

S...steam is gonna die

E...is for everywhere

L...love is in the air !

 

Well, that being said, I've been a Dieselover since the good Doctor Rudolf took his first breath.  Yet when I was a young kid, I learned a powerful lesson in respect from the King of Pennsy Steam...the 2-10-4 Jay...reinforced with fire, smoke, and noise !

even though steam may have still been running when i was growing up (late 1950's), living in the NE corridor all i remember seeing were electrics, however, i enjoy coal fired steam over any other motive power these days.  other than the wheels turning, there is nothing outwardly observable with diesels or for that matter electrics.  at this point in their evolution with function and cost efficiency far outweighing any aesthetic consideration, IMO diesels have become ugly, angular boxes on wheels.

 

one of my favorite movie scenes is where Charlie Allnut (aka Humphrey Bogart) starts kicking the 'Queen's steam engine to loosen a screwdriver lost in her waterfeed system years before.  running a coal fired live steamer, at times i feel close to knowing what was going through his mind and finding myself stopping just short of emulating his repair technique.

 

cheers...gary