I pre-ordered the Lionel E9 A-A set (6-39612) when it was first announced. It finally arrived today, and as expected (and hoped) all was as it should be - everything was there, in good condition, and worked fine.
Detail on the cast ABS body is good but not awesome: there is nothing to be the least bit upset about, but it doesn't make me go "Oh wow! Look at the detail!" either. It's as good as any Lionel or MTH has been. Rivets, vents and body seams, etc. are crisp and nicely rendered, shapes and edges sharp or smooth as they should be. The windows look like cast thick plastic, showing their unrealistic edges a bit, but okay: I might get in there and replace them with something more realistic sometime. Cast-in roof detail is nice. There are separate fans under all the roof's grills, large and small, and they turn if I blow on them, but they don't turn by themselves when the unit is running. The controls for each unit are accessible through a removable magnetically-held hatch on the roof near the back. The detailed metal side vents (separately applied, it appears) are very nicely done. There are a few grab handles and such also separately applied, and nice bellows diaphragms between the units, which do not quite meet, but almost. Spring-loaded doors on the units open as shown in the photos below.
Running. Like all recent Legacy units have, this unit runs extremely well conventionally (all I run), good linear control of speed, while eing very smooth at quite low speeds - I didn't measure but it as slow or slower than I will want to run - around ten mph or less - and as slow or slower than any other diesels units I have. I did not test high speeds or how well it pulls.
Sound. The sound is good, but not outstanding. I suppose you have to pay Vision prices now before you can expect to get speakers and sound in both units. Anyway, more sound would be good - I turned up the volume all the way and I'd like just a bit more. The diesel sound itself is okay - it does not sound like generic diesel but more detailed: I have no idea what an E9 sounds like so I can't judge how real it sounds (I actually did hear one, once upon a time, but that was 58 years ago and I hope I will be forgiven for not recalling all the nuances of that sound). Regardless, the E9s sound is not nearly as impressive as on the Legacy U30C - among my diesels that is the gold standard by which I judge the sound of all other dieselss. In fairness, E9s had two-cycle diesel engines, so in the real world they would not have all the valve clatter of the GE four-cycle engines, which is what I like most about the U30C sound: this may be why I'm disappointed. Bell and whistle are good, but again, not outstanding.
Smoke is outstanding. Wow! This is one smoking fiend. I love it! See the photos and the short video.
I'm going to run this a bit this week, then it goes on the shelf to await the arrival of the UP and Olympian four-car sets I order along with it for it to pull. Hopefully it will not be too long until they arrive, then I will have a train, not just two nice locos.
Overall conclusion: I'm pleased but don't consider them exceptional bargains. They are good looking, nicely detailed, good sounding, great smoking, really good runners. They were not bargains, at least at their list price, but in a world where Vision Big Boys list for $2,700, a list price a bit over 1/3 of that for these puppies seems in line, if not quite reasonable. I think they are definitely worth the $766 discount price I saw available on the internet, if not list price - I don't think anyone pays that any more.
