Lionel V MTH F40PH

Are there specific models in which you are interested from both MTH and Lionel? If so, that would help. Road name, paint scheme, etc...

MTH has made a ton of F40PH in Amtrak, CSX, NJT- off the top of my head. I know the most recent F40PH models by MTH such as the 40th anniversary and their "NPCU" have been criticized for their accuracy. The most recent Lionel units in Phase II and Phase III, both the powered units and the NPCUs are great in terms of accuracy and detail, as well as the awesome ability to pair the two at the front and end of the train.

I'd stay with the MTH F40s, which are beautiful, detailed and unlike the Lionel ones, actually run with no problems.  Check the forums for the many Lionel F40 issues when they came out....and have not been reissued  since.

Actually, once I moved the wiring bundle away from the flywheel in the F40PH and fixed to wacky number board lighting, they've run fine for me.

@rdj92807 has a point. The MTH engines have PS2 or PS3 which I love. I was speaking of the recent railking F40PH releases by MTH. I purchased a K-line F40PH ,recently,  with TMCC, RS(the kind Lionel gave to K-line), and cruise control(4.0 board). I love it- works great and is decently prototypically accurate.

That said, when I started looking more deeply into the most recent F40PH offerings by Lionel, I thought 2 things- 1.) I gotta get one of these and 2.) even though I just bought a phase III F40PH, I want to buy the new Lionel versions(2017). There have been issues regarding both the cabbage units and the powered units(issues with lighting and getting the pair to work together), after repairs, however, people love them. Also, the question was regarding accurate and detailed. See the Lionel cabbage unit 6-82457 vs the MTH 30-20468-1 and then look up Amtrak 90218-the 90218 EDIT ADDED: never even wore the MTH paint scheme nor did it run as a unit with a prime mover. The Lionel phase III is an accurate representation. That said, look at the MTH Amtrak 30-4246 cab 401 and look up Amtrak 401- it's an accurate representation of the prototype Phase IV 401.

The MTH version may run fine, be very careful of the body warping. NOT frame warping, but body warping. I basically have a ski jump on the rear platform of mine. I can post images if you like.

Get the version that painted the road name you want or expect to strip and paint (which may be what you want to to) and that is fine as well.

Charlie

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

Actually, once I moved the wiring bundle away from the flywheel in the F40PH and fixed to wacky number board lighting, they've run fine for me.

How do you fix the number board flickering?

The number board flickering was a symptom of the wiring harness getting chewed up by the flywheel.  However, after that was addressed, I found that the powered unit and cabbage unit had widely differing intensity of the number boards.  I changed resistors in both lighting boards to equalize the lighting at a proper brightness, all better now.

I have 14 F40PHs that are all K-Line and MTH.  The only issues I have with the MTH version is the shortened truck block that was later corrected and the pilot steps being off by one step.  Otherwise with some work they represent a fairly decent Phase I F40PH.  Generally I like the look of my K-line ones better as they have the accurate steps on the pilot and they represent the Phase II F40PH with the recessed fans.  Generally the color is better too although still to dark when compared to Amtrak official color information.  My complaint is the front coupler sticks way too far forward.

The Lionel versions, which I do not have is the Phase II style of the F40PH and very similar to the K-line version.

Being the first new passenger diesel I saw in service for NJT in 1982, I have always considered the F40PH my generations F unit.  Kind of like older Volvos.  Boxy, but safe.  The reliability of the -40 series of EMD production is second to none. 

To directly answer your question, depending on what you are looking for, either one is good contender for operation.

Hi Guys,

Thanks for all the great info and feedback.

Daryl