Bought my first brass O gauge: blame in on OGR run 263!

This post demands a picture Lee!

When it arrives I will post pictures, a video, the works.  I promise.  Right now I all I have is a receipt.  I am excited but very nervous about this.  This used up all my remaining budget for new locos for a long time to come.  I had terrible luck with brass in HO and N, and really hope I have not made a big mistake here.

Excellent choice Lee! You won't be disappointed.  After you see how you like it you ought to consider going back and picking up a 3rd Rail ATSF 3700 Class 4-8-2.  Also one of the best Santa Fe engines 3rd Rail has made.

 

Here's a review of the 3700. It's an interesting read.  http://3rdrail.com/sf3700-review.html

 

Here's one of my 2900's, they're sweet!

 

Don't fear the brass. I own and love both but a nicely detailed brass engine is a thing of beauty!

 

Congrats on your new purchase and looking forward to pix. 

Marker, you're correct.  If Gary Schrader gives thumbs up on a locomotive, you can take that to the bank.  Gary has the absolutely finest collection of brass locos and cars I've ever seen.  He is also the premier expert on SP and ATSF locos.

Peter, Gary is an amazing guy with amazing abilities.  It's too bad that most 3 railers are unaware of who he is, otherwise those 3700's would have been gone a long time ago.

Congratulations! Now you've done it! Next it's brass rolling stock, then the OMI and Division Point catalogs, then lurking at the local scale meets.

I would like to know what excuse you come up with. I have a memory of letting my wife know I was coming home with something for the boy. Her mindset changed when I  pulled in with a Sunbeam on a trailer. Beware of the crossed arms and tapping foot.

I thought you made a deal back in December, with your wife, that you would purchase only Lionel in the future.

 

Quote:

 

Allan - I had that attitude and still feel that way, but a deal's a deal and to the extent possible I will honor my promise.  And realize that all I promised is that I would buy only Lionel - not specifically Lionel-made-America.

 

I guess she didn't have that in writing.

My wife is a good lady and pleased because I recently took a step toward retirement that she wanted and scaled back to four days per week, so I had a number of points stored up and got no grief from her. 

• The excuse for the purchase - I told her it was my birthday present to myself.  She nodded and said she wished I had told her - she would have bought it for me!
• The excuse for deviating from the 'all Lionel' pledge?  Well, I told her it has Lionel's TMCC and Railsounds inside it so it is partially Lionel. 

I do worry about the sounds (Railsounds 4.0, the 3rd Rail website says) in comparison to the latest Legacy Railsounds, but we will see ... opps, well, hear, pretty soon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I've blamed many of my purchases on OGR too.
Enjoy your first brass locomotive!

We are always happy to accept full responsibility for folks spending their hard-earned dollars on more O gauge train products!  

 

We especially enjoy it when those dollars are spent with manufacturers and dealers who advertise with us and support this forum.

Hopefully Lee will do a side by side comparison of the 3rd Rail 2900 and the Lionel Northern!

 

Principle RailRookie, you bring up an interesting idea.  I would also be interested to see what Lee has to say.  However he ought to include the 2900 MTH engine.  The 2 2900 engines (3rd Rail & MTH) are models of the same engine.  The Lionel engine can be used as a comparison between Legacy and TMCC, although it could be looked at from the standpoint of buying any Santa Fe engine.

 

3rd Rail did make a 3751 Santa Fe Northern in the early 2000's.  I bought it and a couple of the first Santa Fe Northerns with RS5.  Coincidentally I had one of the Lionel engines renumbered to 3759.  Lionel must have copied my idea after seeing my double heading video. (Not)  Back then the Lionel 3751 wasn't that much off the 3rd Rail engine.  Although the 3rd Rail engine had the sound of the actual 3751 whistle, the Lionel engine with RS5 sounded better.  On the other hand the Lionel engine (not the tender) was scale wise a bit short and not as long as the 3rd Rail engine.

 

I'm happy Lee bought the 3rd Rail Engine and do look forward to his pictures and comments.  Lee, also glad to hear that your wife is fair minded, a huge help!

 

I think you will be very impressed the the 2900 Lee,Although the RS4 sounds do not compare with Legacy Railsounds,you will be blown away by the fine detail and massiveness of the engine.I absolutely love mine.Just remember to give her time to break in.I have found that the 3rd rail engines need about 20-30 hours of running time with about a 10 car load at various speeds to allow the mechanism to break in. I look forward to your comments.

 

Ricky

My one piece of advice - handle with EXTREME care. All that detail is just asking for one slip of our sweaty meat hooks and there goes a piece here, a pipe there, etc. I owned Lionel's JLC Allegheny for a few weeks and had to sell it after the nightmare that was trying to maintain all its intricate detail.....

 

Get out the white cotton gloves, study the locomotive, and come up with a plan for the best places to grab it for all future instances.

OK, OK...I'm happy for Lee, too. 

 

But, today I checked the 3rd Rail website and find that they STILL have this beastie in O3R for sale!! 

 

Not good.

 

I was hoping (somewhat) that Lee's would be the purchase of 3rd Rail's final stock...so that my angst and hand-wringing would come to an end!!  

 

Scott still has some....apparently.  I'm still exhibiting sweaty palms, nervous tics of the hand reaching for my credit card! 

 

One of our (LHS) customers has ordered/received TWO of these beasts already. Watching those sealed packages pass through the store is like dangling candy in front of a kid!  Call it "O3R water-boarding", if you will!

 

Now I'm going to have to 'suffer' through Lee's ooooh's and aaaah's, accolades and videos. 

 

 KD

Thanks for the advice guys.  I will. break it in gently, and handle with care.

hello guys and gals....

 

My goodness Lee, that is one HANDSOME engine you got there and this one even has more finer details than my older run (2002) Sunset 3rd S.F.5011 that we purchased last Dec, way to go Lee

 

the woman who loves the S.F. 5011

Tiffany

If I ran engines conventionally, I would buy 3rd Rail engines.  But if that were the case, I would probably run 2 rail.  I am hooked on Legacy and Vision Line features.  However engines like this 2900 really make me second guess myself! 

 

I really hope to see the Legacy Northern next to the 3rd Rail 2900 Class.  I know the 3rd will be superior in detail, but I would like to see how distant a second the Lionel version is.

They are great if you do your own work.

I am sure you will be impressed with the detail and operation.

I have a eleven 3RD Rail Steamers but  the PRR I1a hippos are my favorite

 

3rd Rail repair policy

A word about buying used models on Auction Sites: This year there seems to be more of our models up for auction on ebay than in recent years. Our 3rd Rail brand of models date back 20 years, to 1992, far beyond our ability to stock or restock parts. In many cases the source for these parts is long gone and the people who were familiar with them are gone too. Buying from Auction you run the risk of the model not being packed properly and damaged severly in shipping, or worse, missing critical parts. We cannot service older electronics and we do not offer upgrades to older electronics. There are other places that can do this for you. We want you to enjoy the models we have worked so hard to create and we will continue to service our customers the best we can. But a business cannot support itself fixing used models bought from 3rd party sellers. We do not have the staff for this. We staff for warranty service and repairs. So use caution when you buy a used model from many years back. It might not be something that we can fix for you.

you cant beat there detail on there trains...but still handle mine with care..

I was very impressed to receive a personal e-mail from Scott Mann yesterday thanking me for the purchase and explaining the testing, packing pilot wheels unattached, packing and shipping and when I could expect it, etc.  Nice personal touch.  Good business practice. 

 

And thanks for all the encouraging words, folks!

 

Allan - the OGR review really did push me over the edge, particularly the comments on how hard it pulled - most brass has little traction/pull but this may be up there with the Lionel Veranda Turbine, etc.  And the digital version of run 263 made it SOOOO EASY! - - - -  I got to the last page (back cover) and it is the ad for 3rd Rail.  I clicked that and there I was, on their website. 

 

Tiffany - as we discussed on another thread, the 2900 and the 5011-5012 were very similar locos - at least as MTH models them (identical boiler/cab castings).  I am very interested in how this 3rd Rail will compare to those in size and dimensions.

 

Principle RailRookie - I run only conventional so I am not concerned about the lack of latest Legacy features, but the quality of sound does concern me, because I know it will be less realistic and full than the latest Legacy, which is just incredible.  My thinking in deciding to buy this was: a)I doubt Lionel will ever model a Legacy/Vision 2900 (I don't think they have a casting mold), and b) No doubt MTH will reprise theirs (I have an early scale PS1 so I know they have a casting model) but, meaning no offense to MTH, the two PS3 steamer I have are far below the latest Legacy in sound quality - only a bit better than Railrounds 4.0.  Given the detail and everything else, I think the sound will be acceptable - certainly much better than my old PS1 2900 and probably the best I'm going to get.

 

Pennsyk4 - I occasionally do my own repairs but if anything is wrong with this will return it for warranty work.  One the things that I think is reasonable for an owner to realize is that parts for limited run products will not be available after a few years.  As to the auction sites, if its used its obvious it is probably old or getting old - caveat emptor.

 

 

Hi Lee,

If I ran only conventionally as you do, I would probably only buy 3rd Rail, or at least significantly less Lionel.

 

Scott Mann personally responded to my emails too and I have a very high regard for him.  My decision to sell the Mountain and stay with Legacy engines was made even more complicated by my desire to patronize 3rd rail and support Scott Mann.  It is a pipe dream but if Lionel ever sells Legacy upgrade kits then I will buy 3rd Rail engines....but that is never going to happen.

 

I am especially curious how the 2900 responds to control via your ZW-L.  I posted a topic about that the other day.  I thought the engine would have 200 speed steps, but based on responses to the topic I was wrong.  I eagerly await your findings.

 

I am sure you will love your 2900!

It's a magnificent model, Lee.  You made a good choice.

 

I'm having a few break-in adjustments with my own 2900 Class, but it is a hand made brass model and that's just part of the ownership experience. I can guarantee that everybody who comes to your layout will stop and watch every time this engine goes by.