Info needed about Lionel 6-8477 GP9

I have one. One of the better runners of the MPC era due to the postwar style power truck.  You get a nice size Pullmor motor, magnetraction, all metal trucks/couplers & an elctronic horn. It will pulla decent sized train.  At one time the price on them was very high, but you can get one pretty cheap these days

To Chucklbunny:

 

I purchased two of these (New York Central) GP9s when they were released in 1984 or 1985 as you say. By today's standards they are more like the locomotives of the 50's and 60's but do have an electronic horn but the sound is not like the ones today.

They have the pilot that was used on the old 44 ton locomotives of the 50's having two foot steps instead of the three used on the geeps of the 50's and 60's. I personally would go for a geep model produced in the last few years.

 

Ed G. (Along The New Haven Line of Metro-North and Amtrak in New York State)

Here's 2 pics of it on my old layout

Very nice !! I like it alot !

I have one also. It's a good engine from that time period. Good motor, good power truck.

MIght as well get the TMCC version from 1996, 6-18563...

 

Marty

I was actually toying with selling mine & a NYC woodside caboose to match. Drop me an email - esposito_christopher@yahoo.com If you want

The 8477 was a hot item when it was made in 1984. The price on it jumped right as it hit the streets.

Interest was high for a couple of reasons:

paint scheme

first Geep to have separately applied handrails on the ends of the cab

first Modern Era Geep to have magnetraction.

I believe it was never pictured in a catalog. It seems to me it was pictured on a flyer that came out in 1984.

I would do as Marty recommended above, get the TMCC version. It was the first command engine I purchased . When you hear the horn you will know why.

Brad

Maybe he doesn't want a command engine.  Not everyone does, you know...

In addition to what folks say above about the engine, it is also noticeably heavier than most of its contemporaries. Greenberg's Guide notes that the power truck is similar (though not identical) to the older Lionel power trucks of the Geeps produced in the 50s. The magnets in the trucks on the 8477 are larger, producing stronger Magnetraction. 

 

If you run Command Control, you'll want the later TMCC version of the engine, as others noted above. But if you have a conventional layout and get this engine, I'd suggest replacing the fuel tank with a diecast one that Lionel put on their later TMCC versions of the Geeps. It is larger than the plastic one on the 8477 and other MPC-era Geeps, and will give the engine a much nicer (and more prototypical) look (as well as more weight). Lionel also later made a dummy B unit for this engine. 

 

Note that the TMCC versions of this particular NYC engine (there were two, cab. nos. 2380 and 2383) have the larger fuel tank, but it is constructed of plastic. The later TMCC versions of the Lionel traditional Geeps have that same tank, but Lionel upgraded it to diecast construction. They are available from Lionel, or other parts sources. (I've done a number of such changeovers.) 

Comparing the 6-8477 and the 6-18563