Lionel plastic bodied ES44AC questions

I’ve got 2 of them and haven’t had anything randomly fall off. Every lionel

smoke unit is prone to calling it quits at any time, so there’s no surprise there.  As with any detailed model, if you handle it rough, it won’t stay in one piece. They’re on the more impressive end of plastic diesels, as it’s the vision underframe with a new shell. 

I purchased several: 2 SF, 2 NS, and 1 BNSF and the box cradle top was cut differently on this run of engines, pinning the wind screens into the box lid and causing them, to break loose

I had to cut larger indentations in the cradle top, so the windscreen eyelets would not get imbedded in the lid and break off when the engine shifted front to back in the cradle.  Three engines went back to Lionel for broken MU hoses too.  The silica bags were jammed up against the hoses. Only one engine had electrical issues when the Cab LED burned out.

Sincerely, John Rowlen

The number one headache on the ES44s is the MU hoses, the front in particular.  Such a common problem spare pilots are very hard to come by.  Some people have resorted to replacing the broken hose with actual thin flexible tubing. 

I have one I got in 2013 or 14 and have never had anything break on it.

I have quite a few and I love them. I have also had three of the die cast models. The plastic models are a fabulous buy for the price because:

1) They have much of the detail of Overland models at 1/4 the price.

2) The sound is light years ahead of anything else IMO and I spend lots of time trackside.

3) They are very reliable. I have yet to have any issue with an ES44ac. On the one occasion I had a pilot problem with an SD70Ace, Lionel replaced it immediately.

4) My smoke units are fine. DO NOT fill them quickly. DO NOT.

Scrappy

Thanks for the feedback guys, looks like mostly positive experiences from owners. Looks like I will be purchasing it, if I get a chance to go to the bank before the item ends.