Postwar Alcos were originally high end diesels that were significantly cheapened as Lionel's sales declined and the firm sought to cut costs and lower prices. I can tell you the high end characteristics and you can see what you got (I am honestly not sure which one you have).
The high end Alcos had die cast frame and fuel tank, and I believe the front skirt was part of the die cast frame. They also generally had two axle magnatraction, and a horn, plus three position E unit. The diecast frame, together with the magnatraction, makes them nice runners. The later, cheaper Alcos had a plastic fuel tank, stamped metal frame, and the front skirt was plastic and part of the overall shell. I also believe there was no magnatraction although they had traction tires which makes them decent pullers.
If you got a lower end Alco, I wouldn't worry too much about it. I have the same loco from the MPC era (sans horn and bell) -- my parents bought me the Amtrak Lake Shore set in the 1970s. Not a terrific locomotive but after recently taking out of the box and thoroughly servicing it, it runs reasonably well and is quiet. Yours is probably at least as nice as this one, plus it has a horn and bell, front coupler, and likely runs better with the benefit of an electronic reversing unit. It probably has magnatraction too, I would guess.
If you think you would still like a higher end Alco, you can find the original postwar versions. Also, Williams (not sure if WBB makes them anymore, probably not) made very nice postwar Alco reproductions that have all the features of the original Lionel high end Alcos, but with a can motor(s), horn and bell (Trueblast II). Williams has made these in the original Lionel schemes and additional schemes as well. Finally, Lionel's newer CC Alcos (Rock Island, UP) I believe have pretty much all the high end postwar features.
The smaller Alcos are nice locomotives if you have a smaller layout. They also look nice with the 2400 series passenger cars.
