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I second that. Maybe the FA . I’m curious if the SD 40T-2 New “old MTH “ tooling . Or is it the same old Lionel Short SD40T-2. Anyone know

Ouch.  3rd Rail did a far superior SD40-T2 that is taking 2nd run orders and is currently ready to go into production on FAs that will also be superior. 

Lionel and MTH SD40-2 tooling is either short or and high-water pants.  Neither is very good.  To be fair they both date back several years so comparisons aren't always apples to apples.

Congratulations to Lionel on their 125th anniversary!

The positive: There are a couple of Lionchief items that are interesting. The classic F3's in LC+2 in FEC and SP look good.

The negative: As usual,pages and pages of what we serious,long-time Lionel collectors refer to as "unicorn vomit". These zany fantasy and over-the-top licensed items are of no particular interest to me. The scale S2 turbine in the SP Daylight scheme made me about choke on my morning coffee.

Lots of folks love these silly, fun item, especially kids. I hope Lionel sells a lot because a healthy Lionel bottom line is good for all of us!

Last edited by Ricky Tanner

The negative: As usual,pages and pages of what we serious,long-time Lionel collectors refer to as "unicorn vomit". These zany fantasy and over-the-top licensed items are of no interest to me. The scale S2 turbine in the SP Daylight scheme made me about choke on my morning coffee.

You'd have heart palpitations on my layout where you'd see my SP Daylight Cab Forward, or my Phantom loco pulling C&NW baby Madison cars around the pike 

I'm also a so called serious, long time Lionel collector and have  a bunch of serious high end stuff, vintage and new. From my dad's 763E, to the postwar 773 Hudson he had on the Christmas layout he setup for us in 1965, to the latest BigBoy.

Everything coexists on my layout. Old, new, prototypical, whimsical, and silly.

@GG1 4877 posted:

Ouch.  3rd Rail did a far superior SD40-T2 that is taking 2nd run orders and is currently ready to go into production on FAs that will also be superior.

Lionel and MTH SD40-2 tooling is either short or and high-water pants.  Neither is very good.  To be fair they both date back several years so comparisons aren't always apples to apples.

I actually think of it as apples to apples; we are comparing the same engine being sold new today by the different manufacturers.  From the photos, 3rd Rail's SD40T-2 looks real good.  But its price is $800 plus shipping and it is not usually discounted. Lionel's listed at $700 and maybe will have a street price of $650, sometimes with free shipping depending on dealer.  Atlas' price would probably be similar to Lionel's.  $150+ is a big difference for some folks making the Lionel a better value (depending on how accurate they want it).

Back to the OP.  I think H1000 is correct in we will get the same items in the next catalog, just with different paint schemes.  If that is true, then the Heisler in a West Side Lumber scheme would get my interest.

Last edited by CAPPilot
@EscapeRocks posted:

You'd have heart palpitations on my layout where you'd see my SP Daylight Cab Forward, or my Phantom loco pulling C&NW baby Madison cars around the pike 

I'm also a so called serious, long time Lionel collector and have  a bunch of serious high end stuff, vintage and new. From my dad's 763E, to the postwar 773 Hudson he had on the Christmas layout he setup for us in 1965, to the latest BigBoy.

Everything coexists on my layout. Old, new, prototypical, whimsical, and silly.

😆 glad I’m not the only one. I’m relatively new  to the hobby but I also have a blast running a NS freight train next to a long coal train pulled by my Halloween Triplex 🤣

The fantasy and other non-prototypical products must sell well or Lionel would not keep providing them.  Personally I really liked the Phantom and the Area 51 stuff, and I like the NYC locos in non-prototypical but colorful schemes.  If these products deeply offend anyone they are, in my view, worrying about things that don't matter in life .  Much like worrying about other people's diets and tastes in furniture.

Last edited by Landsteiner
@Landsteiner posted:

The fantasy and other non-prototypical products must sell well or Lionel would not keep providing them.  Personally I really liked the Phantom and the Area 51 stuff, and I like the NYC locos in non-prototypical but colorful schemes.  If these products deeply offend anyone they are, in my view, worrying about things that don't matter in life .  Much like worrying about other people's diets and tastes in furniture.

That silly fantasy stuff is about all I order new out of these books. A VL Hudson is maybe the 1st realistic thing I've bought from Lionel in ages?

@Landsteiner posted:

The fantasy and other non-prototypical products must sell well or Lionel would not keep providing them.  Personally I really liked the Phantom and the Area 51 stuff, and I like the NYC locos in non-prototypical but colorful schemes.  If these products deeply offend anyone they are, in my view, worrying about things that don't matter in life .  Much like worrying about other people's diets and tastes in furniture.

???? These fantasy items absolutely don't offend me and I'm happy that Lionel has plenty of customers that love these trains. A healthy Lionel with a good bottom line is good for all of us. However, I personally find them silly and over the top. Several other manufacturers (Marklin,Bachmann,Micro-trains,Hornby,LGB) offer similar types of items. One last thing, I'm one the friendliest, happiest, model railroaders you will ever meet.

Disclaimer:

I model in HO. My interest in 3-rail is vintage traditional type stuff. Thus, I have no vested interest in whatever Lionel is offering.

After reading this thread, as well as some of the comments in the "Positive Comments Only" thread, on a lark, I went to Lionel.com and scrolled through their 125th Anniversary catalog.

What impressed me the most was:

* After 125 years, Lionel is still in business and producing product for consumption.

* I saw an amazing array of product being offered to enthusiasts from many persuasions.

* I saw all sorts of stuff aimed at children that I think is a great thing.

Overall, I was impressed by the sheer amount of product and wide spectrum of what Lionel offers.

Me thinks some of you are not seeing the forest for the trees.

Now, what I really wonder, is how many of you inwardly truly WANT some of the Wings Of Angels series cars? HmmmMMMM???

LOL!

Andre

???? These fantasy items absolutely don't offend me and I'm happy that Lionel has plenty of customers that love these trains. A healthy Lionel with a good bottom line is good for all of us. However, I personally find them silly and over the top. Several other manufacturers (Marklin,Bachmann,Micro-trains,Hornby,LGB) offer similar types of items. One last thing, I'm one the friendliest, happiest, model railroaders you will ever meet.

That's cool.  I think it's the way you worded your original post when you said "we, the serious....." made it seem like you have to be one or the other. A serious collector, or someone who likes the "silly".

All good. Have a good weekend

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