Hey all,
I could not find the original threads that I had made regarding 3 newer Milw. Rd. (2020) MTH Premier BiPolars with PS3 - all different color schemes, and wanted to let anyone with interest know that I received two back from MTH last week and one from a local PA repair technician. All of them were repaired, had various problems, and thus far, all are operating well.
I should note however, all but one of the bipolars worked initially well out of the box, and the problems developed over time (>2 hours or so), leading me to wonder what exactly constitutes an adequate "test run." The one that didn't operate new out of the box had a pantograph/track switch wired backwards, which I eventually figured out. Yet, it too, developed problems over time. Frankly, I don't know how robust PS3 electronics are as compared to PS2.
FWIW: I splurged on these engines due to MTH announcing closing last year. MTH's model mirrors the bipolar as originally built in 1916-1918, whereas Lionel's model mirrors the early 1950s streamlined version. Both are handsome models, but MTH wisely chose the more detailed earlier version. These are awesome looking machines from the "age of machines", for those who can appreciate what that infers.
