Lionel 785 added to the fleet

@Donnie Kennedy- beautiful engine and yes the scale Hudsons are big.  If you are not too concerned about collectability, the "scale" size Harriman cars should be reasonably available MTH and Williams for example both made sets of larger versions than the Lionel cars in the 1980's and 1990's.  I have a set of Williams SP Daylight cars I use with my GS-4 and it looks good.

Best Wishes

Don

Donnie;

I also have a 785 I purchased when it was issued. They are big, heavy engines. I also have a nice set of NYC 15” aluminum passenger cars (on the upper shelf in the pic below) which might fit your need. They were issued around the same time as the 785 (1983 - 84) and you can still find for sale on the secondary market at reasonable prices (items #9594 - 9598).

Thanks Don! I am not in it for collecting. I like running what I've got for sure. Compared to the marx Hudson I have , this  guy is a beast.

Paul, I'll take a look at those. I've seen the 6-16018-16021 and  at a reasonable price. I'm just afraid they'll be a little too small. But, for my layout may fit in better  I'll check those ones you pictured.

After servicing the engine , it definitely needs some break in time. I think she was a shelf queen. I cleaned her all up on the outside. On the inside the tender board looks to be in great shape. Sounds not bad. The engine was cleaned of all old grease. Repacked and oiled. Again, the motor, rollers , wiring are like brand new. Of course when the majority of my collection is 70 plus years old, this is the new kid on the block! I grew up loving these Hudson's. Glad I'm finally able to have one!

All cleaned up and ready for service. Taking the curves much better

@Donnie Kennedy posted:

All cleaned up and ready for service.

Your train would look so much nicer if the video were shot in landscape mode instead of portrait mode. Just turn your recording device horizontally.

Say no to vertical video!

Haha. Noted! I promise from here on out landscape mode only!

Great looking train Donnie. Engine seems to be tracking well.

Don

Looking good.  The 773 from 1950 came with the 2600 series Madison cars.  I like the look of my 773 and 783 pulling them.  My 783 has the "Mighty Sound of Steam", first generation chuffer.   Funny thing is the MSS whistle is one the grandkids like best.

Donnie, nice job on cleaning it up. Looks great.

So, to John Warren (hope you see this), or anyone else that may have smoke issues with these models:You had stated your 783-85 Hudsons weren't smoking that well. Maybe this will help you, I found that my 785 would smoke a ton for like 10 minutes. Then it would have an awful after burning smell and quit producing smoke. I took it apart and discovered no wick material in the smoke bowl, and my element just crumbled apart with not a lot of effort. I changed the element , left the wick cover off of it. Then I packed the smoke bowl  with wick material. It now has a pretty moderate, but not over powering smoke chuff from the stack and the steam chest. I use mega steam for fluid. Hope this helps you!

I decided on the early 90s 6464 box cars re issues with NYC caboose. I'll post a landscape video 😁 of it with the engine smoking!