Ordered my N&W 1201 last Saturday from TW and it turned up on Thursday; shipped in typical TW style - double boxed and padded to the max around the Lionel shipping box. No blemishes, everything works; darn good looking engine and tender; I like the bright red striping - a little darker Tuscan red would have been better BUT still looks good; the marker lighting and the light in the dog house is a nice touch; smokes like crazy. Happy Camper.
*WARNING!* - Do not do this!
Some of you have expressed a concern about the Class A footplate not riding on the tender deck. DO NOT go forcing the footplate down! You can see in the photo below (okay, it is a little fuzzy) that there is a nub on each of the hinges that keeps the footplate in a horizontal manner. If you go trying to force the plate down, you are probably going to break something that is not easy to fix!!!
If you really want to have the footplate ride on the tender deck, you can remove the two screws that are holding the footplate on the locomotive and then you can file that nub off of both hinges to where it is round. Then it should be able to go below horizontal and ride on the tender deck.
A couple of other things that I found when unboxing my A. I noticed that at the turret, on top of the boiler just in front of the cab, some of the piping was missing to this casting. I thought that this was odd.
Then as I turn my engine over, I noticed that lying there was one of the missing pieces that had broken off. Looking in the box, there was the other piece. So, at least I have both of the valves that should be on there.
One other thing that I notice was that on the scale front coupler the link from the front cut lever to the coupler pin was flopping around. Looking it over, This piece of rod just slips back into a hole in the cut lever bracket. It needs to do this in order that the scale coupler can be removed and replaced by the big coupler.
Overall, I am very pleased with this model. As I have stated before it is missing a few details that would make the model stand out even more. Cab curtains, I wonder how they missed those? The rod that needed to go to the whistle in order for it to be blown and the water gauge that belongs on the fireman's side of the tender in order to check the water level.
Lionel did get the injector outlet routed correctly through the beam of the frame.
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I received my 1218 from Nassau hobby yesterday. Very nice and smooth. One of the handrails on the back of the cab on the fireman's side is pulled out of the body. Also for anyone interested it will navigate ross o64 curves just fine with plenty of play left in all the moving parts. It just has some overhang. Until I relocate to my new train building atleast I can use it.
BigJim and Cummins: Some years back, I had an experience with my VL Niagara out of the box; the right vertical handrail on the cab was broken off from its bottom mount hole; tried crazy glue to remount it there and that turned into a mess; the crazy glue discolored/dissolved the black paint in the surrounding area; it didn’t hold that well anyway; so, had to sand, primer, repaint, and then epoxy the handrail in place. Don’t know if all crazy glue will do this
Rick,
Yes, being that the broken off valves are such small parts and very hard to get to in order to make a proper repair, they may just stay in with the spare parts bag. Not seeing Cummin's hand rail problem, it may just be a matter of inserting the handrail back in the hole like I did with the front cut lever rod.
More comments on the 1201: Very smooth running engine; engine sounds and rail sounds seem better than other legacy engines; tender is first rate but it would have been nice to have marker lights but the light in the streamlined dog house makes up for it.
You don't want markers on the tender!
I would like to mention that if any of you would like to hear what a real Class A can do, find the CD "Time Freight" by O. Winston Link. The entire CD he is onboard east and westbound time freights pulled by a Class A. Side A starts out in Roanoke heading east to Crewe, Va., while, Side B is westbound from Crewe toward Roanoke. Hold on to your hats near the last part of Side A, 'cause the engineer has it "in the wind"!
What dispatcher/station do your engineers call to in the crewtalk? I have the 1218 Excursion and my engineer radios "Norfolk", but I've heard from videos other Class A's radio other dispatchers, such as "Roanoke".
A nice little touch I haven't heard anyone talking about - adds a little uniqueness to the engines.
@Big Jim posted:You don't want markers on the tender!
Not authentic for the Class A 1201 What If Passenger scheme??
Update: Oops! Looks like none of the tenders in the Lionel scheme have tender marker lights.
@Big Jim posted:Rick,
Yes, being that the broken off valves are such small parts and very hard to get to in order to make a proper repair, they may just stay in with the spare parts bag. Not seeing Cummin's hand rail problem, it may just be a matter of inserting the handrail back in the hole like I did with the front cut lever rod.
I received a Vision line gg1 once with hose detailing missing which was not in the box. So I never got it fixed. Parts for that area were never on line.
@RickM46 posted:BigJim and Cummins: Some years back, I had an experience with my VL Niagara out of the box; the right vertical handrail on the cab was broken off from its bottom mount hole; tried crazy glue to remount it there and that turned into a mess; the crazy glue discolored/dissolved the black paint in the surrounding area; it didn’t hold that well anyway; so, had to sand, primer, repaint, and then epoxy the handrail in place. Don’t know if all crazy glue will do this
I would use epoxy first and then touch up with black paint where necessary. I’ve done that for fragile mounts and it’s been super. Crazy glue gets brittle and gives up in this kind of application.
@cjack posted:I would use epoxy first and then touch up with black paint where necessary. I’ve done that for fragile mounts and it’s been super. Crazy glue gets brittle and gives up in this kind of application.
Chuck, The proper way to make the repair would be to drill the valve and turret out and insert a new pipe. There really isn't enough "meat" there for any kind of glue to hold on to and not suffer further damage.
@cummins2500 posted:I received my 1218 from Nassau hobby yesterday. Very nice and smooth. One of the handrails on the back of the cab on the fireman's side is pulled out of the body. Also for anyone interested it will navigate ross o64 curves just fine with plenty of play left in all the moving parts. It just has some overhang. Until I relocate to my new train building atleast I can use it.
Just a comment on running on tighter curves. Many years ago I had a Lionel Y6b that seemed to run on O54 just fine, but in time, it broke the ball joint inside that connects the motor to the forward drivers. Just because there is enough "swing" doesn't mean other parts you can't see aren't getting stressed, particularly on articulated steamers. That said, I know lots of guys run on smaller radius and seem to have no issues, just thought it was worth throwing out a caution.
Jim, that stinks. Did you ask Lionel about getting it fixed?
@Norm Charbonneau posted:Jim, that stinks. Did you ask Lionel about getting it fixed?
Norm,
No, I haven't as I figure that it is not worth damaging the engine even more during shipping and there is no guarantee that a replacement part wouldn't do the same thing. If it was something really major, I would have.
If I had a resistance soldering set, it would be a fairly easy fix. Should have bought one years ago!
That’s on my list of tools to acquire! They’re a bit pricey though..
@Burl posted:Just a comment on running on tighter curves. Many years ago I had a Lionel Y6b that seemed to run on O54 just fine, but in time, it broke the ball joint inside that connects the motor to the forward drivers. Just because there is enough "swing" doesn't mean other parts you can't see aren't getting stressed, particularly on articulated steamers. That said, I know lots of guys run on smaller radius and seem to have no issues, just thought it was worth throwing out a caution.
I had never thought of that. Thank you for the warning!
@ironman1 posted:I believe the Sunset caboose is a CH (not a CG as I mentioned in my earlier reply). I'm not sure if Sunset produced a CG. Both versions are very similar and the same design as the wood sided CF, except with steel sides & the CH has end windows.
Here's a picture of my Sunset.
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I just took possession of the LCCA 1222. Beautiful engine!
Its my "40 years with the company" award. I got a Waterford crystal bowl for my 30 year award. While very nice, I like this much better!
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Congratulations ScottM! That’s a sharp looker. 😎
I finally got notice that my engines are shipping! Looks like Friday delivery. 👍🏻
Now that the A's are out there, who is going to produce the N&W axillary tender to run with them? It's a ready market. I'm pretty sure that someone produced them years ago. 3rd Rail maybe?
I know Lionel made one, and MTH may have done one as well. Lionel's are $300 easily on the used market.
OK guys, who's going to be the first to recreate Pillars of Smoke in the Sky. I can't wait to see two of these babies pulling a long string of hoppers with a pusher on the back end. It's Just a matter of time. Call me a romantic.
I really don’t have enough hoppers to justify this vulgar display of power but it was fun to run and sounded amazing!
Norm, even though you didn't have a ton of cars trailing behind those big beasts, the train looked great. I loved the weathering that you've done on them and on everything I saw in the video, you've done an amazing job on them. Keep up the great work and thanks for sharing with us.
Hey Norm,
I believe you’re the first to run an N&W coal drag with a helper on the rear, behind the proper caboose! At least it’s the first I’ve seen in 3 rail O scale. I’ve been waiting for you to post a video. I loved the sound, & it looked great, even with a low number of hoppers. I’m sure with that much power, you could easily pull 50 plus hoppers, no sweat!
Looking forward to the next video!
Joe
My excursion 1218 finally arrived today. Got the pilot version last Friday. I’ll be posting videos on YouTube sometime soon. 😎
Anyone else have their engine show up with the screw missing out of the front couple cover in the pilot? Mine was out and the couple cover and coupler were just rattling around in the box.
Also, the step on the left side of the boiler front/smokebox is bent like a pretzel. Tried pushing on it, but way too sturdy to just push back into place.
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@Andrew B. posted:Also, the step on the left side of the boiler front/smokebox is bent like a pretzel. Tried pushing on it, but way too sturdy to just push back into place.
If the details are brass, it should bend back. The paint might flake off in the process though.
@rplst8 posted:If the details are brass, it should bend back. The paint might flake off in the process though.
I know it *should*, but the casting is very thick and has an extra support behind it, and it also minimally held into place. As I said, already tried it, and without using pliers it'll rip off the engine before it'll bend back to the correct shape.
Andrew,
What bent one way should bend back the other. Try taking a couple of sets of pliers and maybe wrap the points with some electrical tape to prevent scratching the paint. Then gently start squeezing the the two uprights pieces (circled in red) together while with another set of pliers gently bend down on the step. "Gently" means slowly & easily. Just a thought, "No Lifeguard - Swim at your own risk" 
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Andrew, have you consulted with Lionel service on the issue; maybe send the loco back to them?? I am no mechanic or metal person and consequently, have never had any luck bending anything back into its place; let us know what solution you picked.
I was able to carefully straighten out the step on my class A by hand. It was not as bent, so your mileage may vary
I’m not seeing the suggestion of applying some heat!
My steps were also bent up a bit, just not as badly. I was able to correct them with my thumb. They are actually pretty soft. I was trying to imagine how they’d get bent up like that. Maybe during packing? 
If it makes anyone feel better the real ones seem a little flappy:
I really can’t stand the heat shrunk LED leads. Now that they are stuffing two LEDs in there they are even fatter. I ordered some fiber optic end glow rod from Amazon to experiment with.
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Kind of hard to see where and what the step is...not knowing what it's supposed to look like. Some of the detail is too dark in the area of the step, I guess.
EDIT...I think I see it know. Pretty small on the scene but bent ? up.
@Norm Charbonneau posted:I really can’t stand the heat shrunk LED leads. Now that they are stuffing two LEDs in there they are even fatter. I ordered some fiber optic end glow rod from Amazon to experiment with.
I’m guessing the return to the shrink wrapped 3mm LEDs are due to the fact that the 2mm ceramic base LEDs are no longer available from the original manufacturer.
There is another type that has a little 2mm extension that will fit where the older ceramic ones do. I’ve previously used them for diesel marker lights. They may work here if the “nub” is long enough, though you’d have to drill a hole in the boiler front directly behind the marker lamp housing. That said, I’m having trouble finding the exact item now.
They sort of look like this, but with a longer nub.
OK, regarding the step bent upward, I finally got it; checked my 1201 and its step too is bent upward but not as much as the one above; I didn't notice it at first; I plan on leaving it as is since it breaking off would be worse. Must be something in the mold or jig or shipping or handling process that caused it.
On another note, Norm, what is the LED issue above that you discovered; is that related to the 1218?
My guess is on the class lights... The heat shrink on the bottom. I've seen worse. I can understand how this would bother some.
