Lionel Alaska #71 Work engine 0-6-0? Any pros or cons?

I have the Southern Pacific 675 and had it for about 9 years. I find it a good runner for a starter locomotive. It's the typical Dockside switcher.

I can't answer your question about the can motor, but I know I've had no issues of any kind with the motor.

The only issues when running was on a 90-degree 0-27 crossover- lost power when crossing so it set into neutral. My fix to that was to give it some more power but in my setting when it happened was there was a sharp curve right after it so I had to set the transformer to a certain spot so it wouldn't fly off the rails (the annual Christmas layout).

Also on my unit I've had to have the smoke repaired twice with it. The first time was the little piston that lifts the smoke out of the stack broke inside ( bridge shifted on Christmas layout and it crashed into it is what I suspect caused it to break). I had my local train repair guy fix it.

The second time was I had to replace the smoke unit. Shortly after the first repair above, the resistor decided to change colors to a bright red glow when power was applied. It was close to the end of the Christmas season so I decided to not fix it then. I got it out a while later and opened it up myself. I couldn't find anything wrong with the wiring. I got a whole new smoke unit installed and has worked well ever since with no red glow.

Those were all the same hardware, the 0-6-0 Docksider.  My only complaint with them is the tiny motor that is a fairly common failure point.

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

Those were all the same hardware, the 0-6-0 Docksider.  My only complaint with them is the tiny motor that is a fairly common failure point.

I know that this has been commonly mentioned, but I've got a NYC version from the first run that I ran the daylights out of as a kid with zero issues.  Pulled 10-15 car trains up and down a 5% grade without issue for hours on end.   

All respect to your amazing depth of experience, and maybe I got lucky with a really good one, but based on my experience, the motor concern is a little overblown.

If it works for you, that's all that really counts.   I just base my comments on the quantity of them that come in with dead motors.  A sample of one is not that convincing, I have run the crap out of my Hogwart's locomotive with the small motor as well without it cooking, but I've also put new motors in some that had far less running time.  I also keep a spare Hogwart's motor handy for repairs that come in.  However, the Docksider sider motor is no longer available, so I'm a bit more cautious about that particular model.

As you can see, the Hogwarts motor is still available at Lionel Parts.  This motor has been used in all the Hogwarts O-gauge variants.

The Docksider is a bit more problematic, the older versions with the Series-1 motor are out of luck, however, the Series-2 motor is still available.

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

A sample of one is not that convincing

Very true.