Hello everyone!
It's been a while since I've purchased a Lionel steam engine and I'm curious to know which Railsounds steam engine y'all think has the best sound. I'm looking to possibly buy one (old, new, used, whatever) this summer; preferably under $500. Thoughts?
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Well, since most of the better sounding Lionel engines came after 1993, I do love my old 18043 C&O Yellowbelly Hudson (1995) and 18058 Century Club 773 Hudson (2000). You can find either for about $500. The 18046 Jr. Wabash Hudson (1996) has a superb whistle and can be found easily under $300.
If you like the newer, maintenance-free equipment, the early TMCC equipped 2-6-6-2 USRA Mallets are very nice sounding, though they are usually between $600 and $700.
Well, in my opinion, one of the absolute best sounding Lionel legacy steam engines in the Pere Marquette 1225 berkshire. I have the tender, and it sounds so incredibly loud, it's as if 1225 is really there ln the layout. In fact, the sounds were actually recorded from the real 1225. The retail price for the tender was around $430 when it released a few years back, but now it's harder to find so your best bet is probably Ebay, and you should find it cheaper now. If you want the 1225 too, good luck finding one, but just check Ebay.
Can't beat the hooter whistle and sounds on the N&W1218 or the deep steam-boat whistle on the C&O 2-10-4 Texas-type from the early 2000s.
I agree the 1225 Berkshire sounds are super, but I also like the Northern 844.
The Per Marquette and 844 and many other large Legacy locos do sound fantastic.
But Piperarcher, you asked specifically for prices around $500. One of those big Legacy locos might be had for $500 used - but it will be well used. Within your price range, new, you need to avoid Legacy and go for something conventional with the most recent Railsounds. The conventional Atlantic, which is scale and quite a good model, can be had for below $500 if you shop around (I got mine for around $400-$450) and it sounds very good. The 0-4-0 Shifter also is surprisingly good as to sound. You might be able find the scale conventional Mikado (list price $750) somewhere for under $600, but I can't see finding one for under $500 for new. I don't recommend the Mogul: mine had so-so sound (tender was just too small for a good speaker, I guess) and didn't run that smoothly.
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