31 flavors? Well there should be 36.
That scenery is fabulous!
Ted Hikel wrote:
In my experience the best engineered layouts tend to run the best engineered locomotives. As for the need for "engineering exercise" it seems to vary with the layout and the people using the layout. Like most muscular activities, the engineering effort required for a task decreases with regular exercise.
Bleeding purple again, eh Ted?
Given the huge amount of money your rich benefactor has spent on NWTL, it darn well better be one of the best engineered layouts around. If I had to hazard a guess, that layout, which is professionally built, is probably clocking in well north of $250K right now just in labor costs. Great work, well worth the money, and only affordable by probably less than 0.05% of the O scale / gauge hobbyists out there.
But, keeping with the F unit theme here, I'll offer a comparison for you. HO layout. Brand new Walthers F3 A-A set, DCC sound equipped (QSI). Took them out of the box to program them to the locomotive number. Put them back in the box. They sat for four months. Took them up to my friends layout, the Alberta Pacific outside of Edmonton. Set them on the track, and ran them. His layout sat for six months before that, as he works overseas. No track cleaning, we just oil his track once a year. They ran beautifully. No lightbulbs, twisted pair wiring, Barry's book, goat sacrifice, or incantations required. Layout built by non-professionals.
The DCC control system, and the Walthers locomotives, represent what I consider fine engineering.
I always thought Lionel's scale tooling was the nicest when they were introduced in 2002 or 03 and held the most promise for variations with their modular shells. I don't think they've ever offered any models with the small numberboards though and from what I remember that was the reason I didn't buy their first set of PRR units. This was before Lionel even started jacking their drives in height and screwing with single axle drive and oversized flanges, a horrible trend they have long since corrected.
I have a nice of set NYC F2s from Atlas that I should probably run more often. Like the Lionels, they are built on almost 1/4" thick diecast frames for some reason. The Atlas fixed pilot option is nice and the units couple up close even with the 3 rail couplers.
When one of the makers offers a F3A (single unit) like this, let me know:
Low profile fans, 2 types of journal boxes, open wire mesh screens, and all the other nice details that make a great model. Of course, Seaboard paint schemes are a must 
Very nice rockwork (I think) in the first clip above. Would be nicer still if it was in focus!
I really like my MTH F-3 in C&O paint......and the first gen models are going pretty cheap. I got an ABA set for under $200 and the set looks like it was never run.
Originally Posted by gnnpnut:
Originally Posted by c.sam:
Very nice rockwork (I think) in the first clip above. Would be nicer still if it was in focus!
Try these.
Much mo' betterer!!! 
What year did Lionel fix the wheel flange problem on the F3?
I have an ABBA setof Lionel Scale B&O F3s that I ran as 3 rail units before I had Joe F. 2 rail them. The B&O engines have both axles powered on each truck. As 3 rail units they sounded good and pulled well with their traction tires. As 2 rail units, the dummies definitely add drag and decrease the number of cars they can pull. Two powered units and a dummy, with the dummy leading, is the way to go. With the exception of the truck mounted steps, they are every bit as detailed as the Atlas units.
We all know that you various purchasers "like" the units that you bought, otherwise you would not have purchased them.
I would think that, with 52 posts, "someone" would have made measurements of Lionel, MTH, Atlas, 3rd Rail, etc and posted the results that compared them with the real ones.....especially since there have been so many comments about fidelity, accuracy, etc.....
That would be an awesome thing to have...a full dimensional work-up. OTOH, given the preferences for "what we like", would it make a huge difference? Maybe not.
I mean look at the popularity of the old Lionel F3, an obvious issue laden chooch, when it comes down to reality, yet ever popular even today. I'm betting that we still have a little ways to go before the perfect F Unit happens...but I'll go for the Atlas as things stand today. Now all we need is a better E Unit....E8/9 with correct details, contours, and sizes. Two and three rail too, please!
