grand central terminal is back!

whoa.

 

train dame posted the same pic that lionel used.

 

let's see the actual model.  i might back out, too.  not good.

Lionel has pulled the item from the lionel.com store

About freaking time.

Well if Lionel sells a thousand of them there will be another thousand at blow out pricing, similar to the LRRC Lincoln Funeral Train.

Whenever TW Designs gets involved with a project, my experience suggests the results will be excellent. And at the price shown, it has to be a real bargain. Personally if I had one on order, I would not worry about the final product and certainly not the quality of it.

 

In my opinion if a potential buyer thinks that they are getting the exact same GCT in miniature that was released three years ago (that one retailed for about $ 1,399), me thinks they are slightly over optimistic. Get real.

I also expect TWD to come up with an excellent product. And I also expect to be wow'd by what I purchased.  What I didn't expect was to see the plain jane item Lionel had on display.  I'm very glad that it was stated that the actual item will be much more detailed then the display item.  It should be very nice.

 

What I don't remember is anyone saying they expected the exact same detail as a $1400 item for $280.  However, what I do expect is accuracy in the description.  That's what I would call "getting real."

Which is what Lionel did by posting the picture of the 3 year old GCT in the ad for the new one. Is it too hard in this day and age to ask for a picture of what we are buying for $279?

Get real!

Chipset:

 

My post made ABSOLUTELY NO REFERENCE to the picture that was posted by Lionel. I repeat, if the product is produced by TW Design, my opinion is you or anyone else who ordered this terminal will be pleased with the product considering the quality history of this firm.

 

If it were me on the ordering side of this equation, I would cool my jets and let Lionel and TW Design get it right in terms of a representation of what it will look like in it's final form. If someone ordered the terminal and does not like it's final form, then don't buy it. Seems pretty simple to me.

 

 

 

Sounds nice and simple.  Except for one thing.  Lionel charged my credit card when I ordered.   The LRRC always has charged the card when the order is placed.  Makes it a little difficult to just not buy it when the time comes.  Hope they'll take returns if we're not satisfied.   I trust TWD but boy am I used to seeing what I'm buying BEFORE I pay for it.

Not good...when did you buy and cancel? I bought the day you first told me about it, and cancelled the next day. Luckily, they had not charged me yet.

well, i am leaving my preorder intact until i see something.  if i don't like it, i will cancel the order.  it is that simple.

 

now, i agree that trainworx is unlikely to produce anything crappy and, frankly, i would expect less detail than on the original building simply because it is smaller; some detail has to be lost in the reduction. 

 

the key question is, how much?

 

i remain interested and eager to find out what it will be.

Roger at TWDesign told me Lionel will be posting a more accurate pic on their website probably sometime next week. He said it will have most of the detail of the original one with a working clock & it will be a very nice piece. Cancelling at this point before seeing the new pic would probably be a mistake.

Since I am still unemployed after being laid off by Northrop Grumman due to this government budget fiasco, I am not going to be able to order it even if its awesome.

In fact, my job search results have been so bad, everything from my house, my car, my trains...everything is in jeopardy unless I find something soon.

It sucks.

I believe I saw the station at the Lionel display at York on Thursday. Very small as compared to the 1st edition one & not as detailed. Good for a small layout, too small for mine. I'll make a big purchase of either the 1st edition or the full Penn Station when financially able to afford it. Talked to the folks at TW Trainworx also. Very nice people.  

At the York OGR Grandstand Forum Friday afternoon the new GM of Lionel Howard Hitchcock mentioned that the GCT model at the Lionel booth was not the one that would be produced and that the Lionel GCT would have considerable detail.  This just adds more uncertainty.  It's good that it will be better than the display model.  We'll just have to wait until Lionel posts updated photos.

The issue for me always was, that the dimensions seemed to small for O gauge.

probably better for HO.

Dorcie,

 

 

Thank you very much for clearing this up.  That is MUCH better looking than the "mock-up"

 

One more question.....what are the actual dimensions?

 

15 1/4 L" x 6 1/8 W" x 9" H

Thank you so much for clearing this up.

Is it back on the Lionel Website to order?

Thanks, Dorcie. 

+1!!

Awesome!! Thanks for the update. This is one of the coolest ideas to come out in a long time. I hope TrainWorx brings out some of the other stations in this compressed format as well.

Looks great.  Its made in USA so I ordered no matter what it ends up looking like...which of course will be perfectly fine once delivered.  I recall collectors waiting and being dissapointed with the Wheel Grind Shop Lionel produced in the mid 90's.  Its still part of Lionel's history and worth owning.  The good and the bad.

Will the station have a detailed backside, or will it be as shown?

Suspect as shown with a plate showing which one of 2013 it is.

The only way I saw to pre-order it was the LRRC email which stated it was a limited time pre-order offer that would end once the catalog was posted.  If this was truly the only way to order it then I guess we won't see it up on the Lionel site again.

Thank you Dorcie,

 

As always, excellent customer relations from TW!

I have the original production Grand Central that TW did a couple of years ago, and I saw the mock-up of the new model at the Lionel booth at York. The new model is approximately 1/2 the frontage and about 1/3 the depth of the original. Roger Farkash explained that what was on display was only a mock-up for size purposes and that the production model will be much more detailed. Anyone who has attended York over the past several years knows that TWDesign often brings mock-ups that are significantly less detailed than the production model turns out to be. I doubt that anyone who orders one will be disappointed.

 

This new model is a "must have" for anyone who has the Department 56 New York City Landmark Buildings like I do on my annual Christmas Layout. I'm already planning my redesign of the Christmas Layout to accommodate the new GCT.

 

As someone indicated above, this is a great opportunity to own a TWDesign piece, at a pretty reasonable price.

So then how would I order one of these Grand Central Terminals?

I'm currently building a tinplate standard gauge New York City themed layout, but living here in NYC and using GCT often I'm considering getting one of these just to have...

Bert

Pick your favorite LHS or on-line dealer and place a pre-order.

 

It remains to be seen if the "limited to 2013" and offer to LRRC members will actually make any impact on the ordering process.  (while other items have bene limited, they've also been much bigger ticket items, such as original GCT or dare I mention the Acela)

 

I pre-ordered one, for the relatively reasonable amount of money they are asking for this I don't want to miss out.

 

-Dave

 

I will try Trainworld or Nassau assuming I find a job.

A Comparison of the footprints of the 2005 GCT and the 2013 GCT.

 

 

 

 

I believe the 2005 GCT was around 15" high and the new one is 9" high. 

I just preordered mine from Nassau Hobby great price 209.99!

WOW! Ok... I'll take one.

$209.99!!!    I hope I at least get a low serial number for my $279.99.

Unfortunately that's the game we all are playing.  Speaking with Lionel supposedly the LRRC orders are guaranteed. 

 

In the event the orders are high in number, dealers could get shorted.  In the event orders are low, we both could be sorry if they get blown out for less than $210.

 

I'm thinking reality will be somewhere in the middle, but that's why I ordered that item before placing a larger order for any other items I may decide on before the deadline.

 

-Dave

Remember that was $279, plus $50 credit for the Lionel store and free shipping.  That should bring the numbers between LRRC orders and dealer orders closer.    BigRail

right.  i am keeping my preorder in place.  i expect a serial number in the single digits (not that it matters).

 

I'll go the other way.  How cool would it be to have either #1913 or #2013?

 

-Dave