Forward, no sound
Reverse, no sound
Reverse w/ small load
Banshee whistle
P.S. the voice for the engineer sounds—familiar… 
Can’t wait to get the 1369 L-1 Mikado - really excited after see one in person at the Lionel store in Concord NC this weekend - like most I was unhappy with what appeared to be a light “army green”
I can tell you it does not look like most of the online pics and videos that have been posted - if you have been on the fence about purchasing try to see one in the flesh - it looks AWESOME in my opinion
Not sure what it is about the paint that’s used but it looks completely different in the pics I took with my iPhone ???
Not trying to discredit anyone else opinion or start a firestorm etc - I can just tell you I was pleasantly surprised when I saw the engine
Thank you
Joe S
PS - what really bothered me was I have an I-1 PRR Decapod on order that I’m really excited about and thought I was going to cancel my order - after seeing this engine I’m thrilled
Pat finished up with my L1 yesterday on another post. For those interested in that topic, pop back a page and look for my link near the bottom of that page.
I'm most likely going to get the Cumberland Wayfreight set when that comes in... I didn't pre-order because I wanted to see others opinions on how Lionel handled the "Lionel-ization" of the MTH tooling, but it looks overall positive except for a few minor things that seem to be easily taken care of.
The only thing that I see that I am not a fan of is that the run/program switch is under the cab and not under the sand/steam dome or the tender hatches - but that's very minor
I opted for SKU2331011, cab #496. I'm impressed. Operates flawlessly and looks fantastic. I'll check the gearbox lube, something I do anyhow. Can hardly wait for the next two Lionel Pennsy offerings to be delivered.
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Anyone having any more near grinding sounds coming from these?
I finally got my 1369 today and it’s going right back. No gear noise but it locked right up with the cab light flashing when I went to run it in reverse. I could cycle track power and sort of free it with a nudge but this is something Lionel needs to resolve.
The sounds are good (two mini Fat Boys in the tender) and by now we all know the color is what it is. It could stand to be darker. Not sure why Lionel changed their DGLE when they did such a good job on engines like the CC2 and the Legacy S2 Turbine I just got. The tender deck color looks like disco lipstick or something. Yuck!
Did not get my 1343 though. 
@Norm Charbonneau posted:I finally got my 1369 today and it’s going right back. No gear noise but it locked right up with the cab light flashing when I went to run it in reverse. I could cycle track power and sort of free it with a nudge but this is something Lionel needs to resolve.
The sounds are good (two mini Fat Boys in the tender) and by now we all know the color is what it is. It could stand to be darker. Not sure why Lionel changed their DGLE when they did such a good job on engines like the CC2 and the Legacy S2 Turbine I just got. The tender deck color looks like disco lipstick or something. Yuck!
Did not get my 1343 though.
That's awful
Eh, not really. Now I can finish my T4a. 
I got some grease in mine today. Pulled and pushed 20 cars
I’m sorry to hear about this Norm, ….let us know what the orange box people do to correct it please, ….or at least what they claim is the issue,…..😉
Pat
That sucks Norm.
I received my L1 today. I am happy to report with no issues. I ran it for 30 minutes around the layout & ran it in reverse pushing a train twice around the layout. Seems like I got a good one!
Got my second green machine today and I’m happy to report this one has a free wheeling and properly meshed gearbox.
As for the color, it is a very very green ‘Brunswick’. The L1’s Brunswick is so unlike anything I’ve seen in O gauge I’d have to say it’s like someone just poked around in a Home Depot color chip book and said ‘close enough’. Here it sits on my layout with some unweathered models for comparison under my 5000K lighting. The Geep is a vintage Atlas and the S2 is the Legacy version. The CC2s has the best Brunswick Lionel has ever done imo. Nice matte finish. I plan on weathering the L1 very heavily but I’m almost tempted to give it a full dip in some vintage Floquil Brunswick. Not sure it’s worth it though.
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That's great Norm. Yeah, color is looking a little light. As noted though, sort of depends on the light coming down on it to how light or dark it looks.
Norm, find a pair of the Lionel CCII Baldwin Sharknose diesels. That green will have you running back to the L1s.
For what it’s worth in the Matt& Matt Podcast on the new catalog Ryan mentioned that the Pennsy green has gotten a little too green and starting with I think he said the I1’s it’ll be much darker
@zhubl posted:For what it’s worth in the Matt& Matt Podcast on the new catalog Ryan mentioned that the Pennsy green has gotten a little too green and starting with I think he said the I1’s it’ll be much darker
Now that's funny.
I really don’t want to cancel the Decs so I hope they fix the color. Based on the price diff, I’m thinking the I1s will sport the classic scale gearbox setup, not this ‘price point’ direct drive one the L1s have.
In any case I ran the L1 for a couple hours last night pulling a decent sized train of 28 scale cars with no issues. I think they did a great job on the sounds.
He said they are gonna fix the paint starting with I1s in the podcast
What they need to do is go through their whole color palette and throw it in a fire. I don't know where they got all these clown colors from, they are horrendous. I bet they get all the NASCAR colors right! 
If you really want them to paint it Brunswick green then they probably got it right. Brunswick green is more green than DGLE and not used by the PRR. I want my PRR engines DGLE!
You're right - I should be saying DGLE - let's start over: 
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@Norm Charbonneau Norm, I'm hoping that the I1's don't have the same gearbox set up as these. We can hope that is the case. I do sincerely hope that that is the case and that the color is spot on. I know I had found some recordings on YouTube that I sent over to Ryan telling him there were some great samples of them running, to which he was happy to hear. I am sure that they probably would have found those in the process, but heck, who knows. At least the sound should be correct.
@Norm Charbonneau posted:What they need to do is go through their whole color palette and throw it in a fire. I don't know where they got all these clown colors from, they are horrendous. I bet they get all the NASCAR colors right!
I agree with you Norm. Why does it seem like it's impossible for Lionel to solve this problem? Tired of the excuses from them.
I cancelled my order on PRR L1 #1343. I am tired of the inexcusable lack of quality control. I hope the "suspect" gear box and incorrect color issues are resolved before the I1's are released.
1) any speculation about the finish on #520 in the upcoming Cumberland Way-freight Set, or do you believe those engines were already painted?
2) just out of curiosity, I wonder if the Santa Fe L1 has the olive drab variant finish with the brass tender being a different shade?
I use old Polly Brunswick for a lot of touch up/respray and it lays over older DGLEish paint jobs nicely. I’d volunteer these to Lionel but I’m guarding these now gone paints with my life, especially the unopened Floquil one. I have yet to really test the Badger Brunswick on something but a quick check showed it to be way lighter than Polly/Floquil.
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Paraphrasing what I posted on another thread:
In the case of PRR colors, which Lionel continues to get very wrong, there is a Paint Committee in the Pennsylvania Railroad Technical and Historical Society that will work with any manufacturer (for free) to get colors right. Lionel has been aware of this group for years, yet gives us Army green locomotives and pumpkin orange freight cars.
The historical society also maintains a set of drift cards showing original colors used by the railroad. I can assure you that they look nothing like the colors Lionel has used lately on PRR equipment (with the exception of black, they seem to be able to do black). Drift cards are small (4 x 7 inches or so) pieces of thin sheet steel that were primed and painted by railroad shops using the same materials and methods that they used for railroad equipment. They are kept in non-acidic paper folders, protected from light. The railroad used them as color references, comparing them to new batches of paint, etc. The drift cards were used to minimize color drift, hence the name. I believe that most railroads maintained sets of them, and reproductions are available from the railroad historical societies.
Too bad Lionel doesn't really seem to care about correct railroad colors. As long as Daylight cab forwards, Pacemaker Hudsons, 49er Challengers, Halloween trains, etc. sell like they do, Lionel will make plenty of money.
I agree Bob. I do know that it has been said that PRR colors varied from shop to shop, but not to the extent of what we have seen. A slight lighter shade that still passes for the colors that the railroad did themselves is understandable, but to get out of the color scheme is something else entirely. The Southern engine green from a couple of years ago was a little lighter if I recall than what it was supposed to be. However, the Texas & Pacific was going into the realm of utter fantasy and insulting to quite a few fans of that railroad(I think these were the Ten Wheelers).
While I am no expert on what paint colors are supposed to look like, there are examples to look up as well as see in person of need be with what surviving locomotives there are(in the case of them being around). Maybe a shiny new black locomotive will come out purple(let's hope not).
@Norm Charbonneau posted:I really don’t want to cancel the Decs so I hope they fix the color. Based on the price diff, I’m thinking the I1s will sport the classic scale gearbox setup, not this ‘price point’ direct drive one the L1s have.
I’m not sure it’s a gearbox design to meet a price point as much as it is just reuse of what they have. The Legacy K4s gearbox was about the same (i.e. direct drive small forward facing motor), probably worse, and they charged a good bit more for those.
@Norm Charbonneau posted:What they need to do is go through their whole color palette and throw it in a fire. I don't know where they got all these clown colors from, they are horrendous. I bet they get all the NASCAR colors right!
You said it all right there!!…...IMO, the only color they’ve gotten right recently is black,…☺️☺️☺️
my Pacemaker passenger set from 19 is so far off, the only recourse is to paint them Pullman green, and stick them in general service……thank god Kline got the Pacemakers pretty close to the B&W’s …….
Pat
@rplst8 posted:I’m not sure it’s a gearbox design to meet a price point as much as it is just reuse of what they have. The Legacy K4s gearbox was about the same (i.e. direct drive small forward facing motor), probably worse, and they charged a good bit more for those.
The reissued K-Lines are very similar to this L1 with the small Mabuchi can directly connected to the double reduction gearbox. I’m sure the larger recent MTH reissues like the SF 5011 Class and the C&O Greenbriar are set up much like they were when MTH made them except with a Canon motor and double reduction gearing. I’m hoping this explains the price diff between these and the Decs. The latter drive is much better.
Starting to rebuild a layout 10 years after my wife made me take it down. This is my first locomotive since 2007. Runs perfectly. Which I rarely said before and I’m quite impressed with the sounds. Color is okay with my lighting.
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