I owned both, bought used. The MTH was an early one and even though the trucks had been adjusted, it still gave tracking problems but I modified it myself and it ran okay. It had PS1 board problems, and, particularly since I had the Lionel, I just took it apart for parts.
The Lionel has never given me a moment's problem. It's sound and features are getting a bit obsolete now, but it is a greater runner. At the time I bought it, and think it was the all-time pulling champ that OGR or CTT had tested - it just pulls like a fiend, and it looks SO good. A point about the Verandas - the way the trucks double up on swivel sets, this is about the longest loco you can get that looks good on 72" curves - it does not stick out very far or look wildly unnatural like the DD35s or some others or articulated steamers, even though it is a monster.
The Lionel looked a little better to me - how it rode its trucks, etc.
I would bet dollars to donuts that within the next year or two, one or both of these companies will re-issue a more modern version using variations on their original castings, etc., but with much updated control and sound. I'd love to have a Legacy (or Vision) Veranda - would buy it in a heartbeat, and would seriously consider a PS3 premier MTH Veranda (the reason for my preference being that recent experience with both lines is that Lionel sound is far superior to MTH and that is quite important on a turbine, I think). But those would cost 2x what a used one costs now.
