My quick Lionel #65 Veranda review.

Nice review MARTY!  Enjoy your engine.  I got my DOD US Army 1941 Veranda and it is also fantastic.  Lionel did real good on this engine.👍👍

Nice Marty, definitely like that paint scheme.

Yup my guy was looking for his quarter.

hope the cracked frame is isolated same with my motor driver shorting out.

Fed Ex brought #61 home today.   Will test her tomorrow.

Nice review Marty!  Theres something to be said for getting to the "point". Your video has several useful ones.

Enjoy the new turbine!

I was hoping to see if Lionel had gotten the packaging "right" on this one though....

Wow! The grey trucks really set this one apart - love the herald on the rear of the tender, too. Enjoy!

Marty, that was great. I didn't order one of these, but I do like to see people's takes on whatever they are reviewing/talking about. I think this is one of the best quick reviews I have watched. I especially like the tossing of the box as most people for some reason love to get that "FRESH BOX SMELL" BS. I never really understood why people open the dang box wasting however much time it is that they need to do that. I think the longest I have ever seen anyone unbox has been about 10 minutes or so. Why? You hit all the right parts. Controls, operation, what you like and showed how much it smokes. Some folks love to spend about 15 minutes just alone counting the rivets from the unboxing to just showing it off on the tracks(even before they apply power). Great no nonsense review and straight to the need to know concerns. Thanks Marty.

@Dave NYC Hudson PRR K4 posted:

Marty, that was great. I didn't order one of these, but I do like to see people's takes on whatever they are reviewing/talking about. I think this is one of the best quick reviews I have watched. I especially like the tossing of the box as most people for some reason love to get that "FRESH BOX SMELL" BS. I never really understood why people open the dang box wasting however much time it is that they need to do that. I think the longest I have ever seen anyone unbox has been about 10 minutes or so. Why? You hit all the right parts. Controls, operation, what you like and showed how much it smokes. Some folks love to spend about 15 minutes just alone counting the rivets from the unboxing to just showing it off on the tracks(even before they apply power). Great no nonsense review and straight to the need to know concerns. Thanks Marty.

Thanks Dave

I like the other guys that do the reviews and they are definitely doing a more detailed look.  Mine are focused, at least I hope, on getting out the quick points.  I'm sure as I go on, I've only done about 3 of these now, I'll get a little more chatty but I still want to keep the run time down.  I find myself scanning through some of the longer presentations looking for the relevant information for me.  That's not to say some of what is presented by others isn't relevant to others.  The other thing that is hard is so many people are doing reviews and such that having a gimmick, like not unboxing it and making it humorous, sets mine apart just a little.

I make sure I mention that others are doing a deeper dive so that folks know there are longer more in depth looks at what I am presenting.  That way they can take a look.

I also don't have the money to buy 3 or four big ticket items every other week so I can review the scraps that others aren't even looking at like the Dilithium Crystal Car.

Nice review Marty.  I bought the same version.  It is a beast!  I was wondering how they would design this engine to navigate O72 curves.  Before I ordered I made a prototype with a piece of metal and attached 4 trucks.  Short story, it didn’t work on O72.  How they made it work is pretty cool.

@MartyE posted:

Thanks Dave

I like the other guys that do the reviews and they are definitely doing a more detailed look.  Mine are focused, at least I hope, on getting out the quick points.  I'm sure as I go on, I've only done about 3 of these now, I'll get a little more chatty but I still want to keep the run time down.  I find myself scanning through some of the longer presentations looking for the relevant information for me.  That's not to say some of what is presented by others isn't relevant to others.  The other thing that is hard is so many people are doing reviews and such that having a gimmick, like not unboxing it and making it humorous, sets mine apart just a little.

I make sure I mention that others are doing a deeper dive so that folks know there are longer more in depth looks at what I am presenting.  That way they can take a look.

I also don't have the money to buy 3 or four big ticket items every other week so I can review the scraps that others aren't even looking at like the Dilithium Crystal Car.

What is really funny about some of those others doing reviews, that it appears(I've seen two from the same guy) that were parroting word for word almost(the guy forgot some things and misstepped his points) of another more famous person on YouTube of their review. I know people want to make things their own, nothing wrong with that at all, but when you are doing a review and your format almost matches up perfectly with the content, and time of someone else's, it definitely looks like you're ripping them off.

I had wanted another person's take on the two engines I was interested in, found myself clicking out of the video because of the parroting. After finding another video for the other engine I was interested in(by the same person as the one I clicked out of) I think I watched until it was just like the other one they did.

That being said, I do enjoy some in depth stuff where the person looks at the details, explains some stuff about the model whether it is the history of it or potential issues(maybe from a prior run or like you said with the cracked truck). It is good to get that perspective once in a while.

It is also great to get right to the point. You like a few others get right down to what's up with the controls and such and your personal preferences. That is a good thing to do. Like I said, good to have no nonsense stuff.

Very much appreciated, Marty, including limiting this to really important points. Until I accidentally came across the Eric's Trains Legacy Veranda review, which includes the model I have opted for - #67 Greyhound - I wasn't sure that your box-tossing sequence concerned anyone in particular, other than maybe his many imitators who seem to dwell on box-opening ceremonies. Anyway it was all done very professionally as well as amusingly. I take the indulgent view that whatever anyone chooses to post on a new product is likely to have some knowledge bank value in it.

I never contemplated the #65 Flag version of this model but on hearing your explanation of why you did I could see the sense of that. My more general interest is in how the operating features compare/contrast with the fine TMCC version of many years back. As I have one of those still in full working order, I'll eventually put it and the Legacy on the track and see what's what. However, first I have to extract the Legacy from its box, which I intend to do with absolute loving care. It's obvious from the box itself that somewhere along the line somebody has already heaved it airborne it at something - I hope that nothing inside turns out to be detached or otherwise defective!

@Dave NYC Hudson PRR K4 posted:

What is really funny about some of those others doing reviews, that it appears(I've seen two from the same guy) that were parroting word for word almost(the guy forgot some things and misstepped his points) of another more famous person on YouTube of their review. I know people want to make things their own, nothing wrong with that at all, but when you are doing a review and your format almost matches up perfectly with the content, and time of someone else's, it definitely looks like you're ripping them off.

This is becoming more an more common, right down to the opening background music.

Between that, going through ALL of the crewtalk, and than running the engine no higher than the first speed step

Personally there are probably some additional details I need to add to my videos and I'll probably work on that but I still want to keep the run times a low as possible.  I just want to get to the major points. What others do is fine and I really applaud them for the creativity and work put into them but I just don't have that kind of time.  Besides I don't have the kind of face to do a "Surprised Face" thumbnail.  LOL!

@RickO posted:

This is becoming more an more common, right down to the opening background music.

Between that, going through ALL of the crewtalk, and than running the engine no higher than the first speed step

The one engine(first one I saw from the guy), he quoted almost word for word(other than his slip ups in speaking) the entire history of the locomotive as the other YouTube personality to a T. The demonstration of running was almost the same except a few differences here and there. But to completely quote the entire history as told by another person is just over the top. Good thing the original person didn't cough during it, sure that would have been in there too.

Thanks for the review Marty. This locomotive is a beast for sure. I sure wish they would do an LC+ 2.0 Trainmaster version of this that would run on my layout. This Veranda is like the Big Boy of diesel locomotives.

Brad

Thanks, Marty, for the review ...

My S.P. Veranda arrived this p.m.  Time to get it on the tracks!

@Dave NYC Hudson PRR K4 posted:

What is really funny about some of those others doing reviews, that it appears(I've seen two from the same guy) that were parroting word for word almost(the guy forgot some things and misstepped his points) of another more famous person on YouTube of their review. I know people want to make things their own, nothing wrong with that at all, but when you are doing a review and your format almost matches up perfectly with the content, and time of someone else's, it definitely looks like you're ripping them off.

I had wanted another person's take on the two engines I was interested in, found myself clicking out of the video because of the parroting. After finding another video for the other engine I was interested in(by the same person as the one I clicked out of) I think I watched until it was just like the other one they did.

That being said, I do enjoy some in depth stuff where the person looks at the details, explains some stuff about the model whether it is the history of it or potential issues(maybe from a prior run or like you said with the cracked truck). It is good to get that perspective once in a while.

It is also great to get right to the point. You like a few others get right down to what's up with the controls and such and your personal preferences. That is a good thing to do. Like I said, good to have no nonsense stuff.

I make every attempt NOT to watch another review until after mine is posted.  This way I am not influenced by the good, the bad, or the ugly.  The comment about the man in the cab came from this board and the first engine we opened.  If I see something on another review after mine is posted that should be an addendum and it's relevant then I might go back and do that but I want the review to be primarily my experience.

Like I said a lot of credit goes to the guys that have the time, resources, and patience to make a 30 minute video and those who can watch one but that's just not me.

@MartyE posted:

Just a quick 7 minute look at the Veranda #65 Building America Fantasy engine.

Great review.  Thanks for the heads up on the cracked trucks, I will open mine up at Nicholas Smith and check it before leaving!

Sean

@Sean's Train Depot posted:

Great review.  Thanks for the heads up on the cracked trucks, I will open mine up at Nicholas Smith and check it before leaving!

Sean

Thanks!

Although the box looked ok I really think the first one we opened took a shock somewhere in the shipping process.  Like I said the guy was down and the die-cast was broke.  I really hope that it was isolated and so far I think I'm the only one that mentioned it.  That being said it never hurts to check.

I glad I don't review any engines. It would be way too much work to go into what I don't even know. Haha.

Very nice, succinct review, Marty... thanks for sharing. The Veranda is definitely a beautiful beast. I do have one question - you mentioned that you turn off the Bluetooth. Could you tell me why??? I’ve never had much luck using any Bluetooth device, so I am curious if there is a good reason to turn it off on my engines.

Thanks.

@Apples55 posted:

Very nice, succinct review, Marty... thanks for sharing. The Veranda is definitely a beautiful beast. I do have one question - you mentioned that you turn off the Bluetooth. Could you tell me why??? I’ve never had much luck using any Bluetooth device, so I am curious if there is a good reason to turn it off on my engines.

Thanks.

Some folks mentioned issue running in Legacy with it on. Since I don’t use Bluetooth I just turn it off.

@MartyE posted:

Some folks mentioned issue running in Legacy with it on. Since I don’t use Bluetooth I just turn it off.

Thanks Marty. As I mentioned, I’ve never had luck with Bluetooth... I’ll have to turn it off.