Some locos just look really good when they are moving, and the GS-2 is one of them.
I posted last Friday that I picked up my pre-order Legacy GS-2 (black) and N&W J at my LHS. Both are superb Lionel products, nicely detailed, superb runners, good sound (not the best Legacy I've heard, but good), with great pull. But the GS has really delighted me. It appears soooo GOOD pulling 15" aluminum passenger cars - the photos below show it with a set of Super Chief cars. The overall look is just stunning - the loco's shape, color, sheen, and detail just work well with the shiny aluminum cars, and the sound seems to work with the train somehow. Moving, its a feast for the eyes and the ears.
It is a loco with a lot of "gravitas" - it makes a big impact and grabs your attention whether you want to give it our not. Yet is it not that big, and most important, it does not jut out on curves that much, for a loco that makes such a big impact and impression (last photo - its running through a 60" diameter curve). In my previous post about them I noted the sliding cab windows - only seen those before in the Vision Challenger and JLC locos - I love them. One photo below shows a nice little detail: look at the painted stars in the hub of each driver - notice they are all aligned! Cute.
This may not be not my favorite loco - that is still the Vision Challenger, as good as anything I own and with elephant ears! But this is close behind, tied with the ATSF 3751 and 3759: definitely a "top shelf" locomotive.
