MTH Alco GE Ingersol Thoughts on this?

I have two of them -- the first-release CNW and the recently-released IR Demonstrator. They're nice little engines. The prototype at 300HP was not designed to pull a lot of cars, and the model has single-truck drive and can pull about 8 cars (looks better with six or less). I like them and if the budget allowed, I would have bought the CNW in yellow as well. The first CNW unit should have been black as best I can tell from historical photos. They look great slow-running with a few cars in tow.

I also have two of them and love them  I have the older Erie version with the safety stripes on the end  and I have the Harlem Transfer one that just came out  

IR demonstrator? 

IR demonstrator? 

prrhorseshoecurve posted:

IR demonstrator? 

Yes, here's pic. One I might get also.

UGLY as sin...and I LOVE them! I have the recently released B&O version. Had a little pickup roller assembly problem with it and a dead headlight LED, but Dave Minarik took care of those problems yesterday. As a matter of fact, we gave it a good post-repair running on his store layout yesterday afternoon, and it perfored like a champ. Great sounds; smooth, slow-speed running; and a hefty die-cast body. At one point I think Dave had it pulling some 14 cars, but that was on level track and it was a bit of a strain. About five or six cars would seem to be a far more realistic load (and likely what the prototype dealt with). I WILL definitely be buying more of them if they come out in roadnames I would like to have, even if there is no prototype for an IR boxcab for any of those roads. This little bugger now ranks among my personal favorite engines, along with the MTH center-cab switchers.

Allan Miller posted:

UGLY as sin...and I LOVE them! I have the recently released B&O version. Had a little pickup roller assembly problem with it and a dead headlight LED, but Dave Minarik took care of those problems yesterday. As a matter of fact, we gave it a good post-repair running on his store layout yesterday afternoon, and it perfored like a champ. Great sounds; smooth, slow-speed running; and a hefty die-cast body. At one point I think Dave had it pulling some 14 cars, but that was on level track and it was a bit of a strain. About five or six cars would seem to be a far more realistic load (and likely what the prototype dealt with). I WILL definitely be buying more of them if they come out in roadnames I would like to have, even if there is no prototype for an IR boxcab for any of those roads. This little bugger now ranks among my personal favorite engines, along with the MTH center-cab switchers.

I'm thinking of the I-R and the CNW.

I was given the LIRR one for Christmas and I love it. Handles all the switch tracks better than my 44 toner and is wonderful for switching services. I just needed to do one slight improvement. The headlight and tail light at the top were slightly angled upward. So I unscrewed them and inserted a small piece of carefully cut tape in the back part to angle the lights straight and rescrewed them down. Now they are  perfectly straight. Excellent addition to my fleet. 

OK, I actually like the looks of box cabs (diesel-electric and straight electric - NYC P2, anyone?) in general. I don't find the looks of the IR loco to be ugly at all. It looks like a piece of industrial equipment designed to do a job. I like that, and box cabs appeal to me more than many of the slick gussied-up and over-painted early road diesels.

So there.

I do not have one of the MTH locos; I have seen one, and a friend bought one out from under me a year or two ago, but I would like one.

I own the first issue CNJ IR-GE-ALCo box cab that is a model the one sitting in the B&O RR Museum. Great operation, good sounds, gratifyingly responsive in conventional as well as DCS control. I really like the feel and look of the substantial die cast construction. I have had occasion to run it flawlessly through Gargraves, Lionel O-31, and prewar Flyer turnouts. The electrocouplers are longer than they should be. Not the most cost effective diesel, but O scale will not see the likes of this little critter from anywhere else. If you like the prototype, go for it.

Bob

My two rail one is one of my favorite boxcabs. 

Thanks all for replies. I placed order for both based on replies.