New York Central steam from other manufactuers

MTH offered a number of NYC Mohawks, L3 and L4 classes, plus the two specific road numbers of the L4b locomotives that had roller bearing rods (those models seem to be VERY had to find now, and originally came in freight car sets, i.e. boxcars & reefers).

Sunset/3rd Rail offered a NYC L3b Mohawk, as well as the "Super Hudson" models with PT tenders, roller bearing rods, and worthington Feedwater systems.

MTH made a heavy Pacific and lettered it for the NYC. It is an old PS-1 model that can easily be converted to TMCC with a Cruise Commander from Electric Railroad company.

In addition to the two 3rd Rail engines HW mentioned were the J1a and J1d Hudsons as well as a Dreyfuss and Empire State express Hudsons. Also the Mercury Pacific and T3 Electric and brass RDCs. Also a S1b Niagara.

Weaver has done at least one and maybe two Dreyfuss Hudsons. Williams has done a J1 unstreamlined, Niagara, and a Dreyfuss in their standard line was well as a J3a unstreamlined and Dreyfuss in their Masterpiece series. The Masterpiece Dreyfuss is the equal to the Lionel Smithsonian Dreyfuss IMO.

MTH has done a Mikado, USRA 0-6-0, and Niagara as well as many Dreyfusses, ESE's, and unstreamlined Hudsons

Pete

K-line made a nice detailed scale NYC Mikado,  #3670-1838cc,  about 10 years ago.  After Lionel acquired K-line,  this is the scale Mikado that Lionel produced and offered in different road name for a number of years.  The K-line model can still be found at good prices-sometimes new in the box as I found earlier this year at a local auction.  Gunrunner John posted a video within the last two weeks of this Mikado with upgraded ERR cruise,  Super Chuffer, and fan driven smoke unit.

Nick

Most of these suggestions I think will fit well for my vision.

I have heard that the details on some of the Weaver and Williams brass models are better than comparable die cast. I know 3rd Rail Sunset is true to that.

I stumbled upon a Weaver Dreyfuss with the PT tender as well on the Bay, though it looks a tad plain in detail, or is it?

The MTH "Heavy" (it's not, really) mentioned above is actually a USRA-spec loco, and the Central did not have any USRA Pacifics, and, indeed, only rostered a few USRA-spec locos: their U-3 0-8-0 (MTH and Lionel have made good models of this 0-8-0, various roads; Lionel has both a "good" and a cheap version - careful), H-6 Mikado (USRA Light; Lionel, K-line, MTH have all made good models of this; K-line even offered a scale and sub-scale version), and some USRA 0-6-0's on a subsidiary.

Williams Masterpiece J3a's - streamlined and not.

Lionel, MTH, 3rd Rail, Williams brass - Niagaras. I have the L, M and W versions - the 

Williams has been upgraded/ERR command.

New MTH catalogue has both J1 and a B&A Lima J2 in it.

The Weaver brass PT tender Dreyfuss Century has nice detailing - I own one that I

ERR'd. (The area above the pilot and below the nose shroud is not shaped correctly,

BTW - it bulges; same on the ESE version, I suppose.)

Anyway, all the suppliers have produced nice NYC steam pieces over the years - including

in sub-scale/traditional/RailKing sizes, should you need those.

The very early (1980's) Williams Century and un-streamlined brass Hudsons (NOT to be confused with the much later Samhongsa and Masterpiece Williams items) are delicate

and can be poor runners in a novice's hands - but, when treated correctly and given

modern electronics/more detailing, they are just fine - desirable even, at low prices. The "Dreyfuss" version is actually more accurate in the pilot area than the Weaver.  

Lionel and Williams Masterpiece J3a's are my favorite Hudsons. Hoping for a Legacy or Vision version soon. I also am partial to the Lionel F12e ten wheelers. WBB has a nice ten wheeler in the Lake Shore Ltd. set.I also wish someone would make an accurate NYC K11 Pacific. One of my favorite small NYC steamers is the 4-6-6T Suburban made by K-Line several years ago. It was originally a B&A commuter locomotive but it did wind up in NYC service in its later years. Both versions were offered by K-Line. I also like the NYC A2a Berkshire offered by MTH a number of years ago.

After purchasing each of the different Mikado types, I will be strongly considering buying a J3A Hudson. I love Lionel's, but the voices on the forum say there is more, and I'm listening.

The Weaver and Williams brass versions of the Dreyfuss and Empire State Express look really well detailed and seem to be able to be picked up for reasonable prices, at least compared to Lionel and MTH primary counterparts.

I am after the scale sized engines primarily, but I have picked up a couple RailKing and traditional Lionel engines that fit the bill like the 0-8-0 and GP-9 as far as diesels are concerned.

The Weaver and more common Williams Dreyfusses are less detailed than either MTH or Lionel. The Williams Masterpiece Dreyfuss beats them all for detail including 3rd Rail. Operation is not as smooth though. The latest MTH Dreyfuss is a significant improvement over their previous offerings. Might be a toss up between it and 3rd Rail. For an operator the just released MTH Dreyfuss might be the best overall for detail and operation.

My $.02

Pete

There's also the Commodore Vanderbilt if you're considering NYC Hudsons.

Thanks Pete,

I do really think MTH has really hit it off with the recent Dreyfusses, but the one extremely sore spot is the whistle. I wish MTH would update it after more than a decade, especially since the HO versions of the Dreyfuss sound a lot better.

I'm also disappointed that the PT version won't be available with the Scullin disk drive wheels, unless MTH offers the wheels as parts to remove and reattach on the after market...

I'm looking on and off for the black version by Lionel, but they're still pretty scarce and don't come up on the market enough...

The whistle on MTH's Dreyfus was enough for me to pass on iT. I think they could do better.

Fred

For what it's worth, I have the 3rd Rail Mowawk, Super Hudson and ESE in my collection, mint and unrun, and you're welcome to them. 

I also have have both of the MTH Premier Mohawk sets, unopened. 

Ping me if you're interested. Mrmuffinstrains (at) att (dot) net.

You couldn't swing a dead cat around at York without hitting a CV. Saw a nice Black one for 400 bucks. 

Pete

I own a Williams NYC Niagara brass loco that is conventional and runs pretty well. 

While NYC is not my main road....I do love their steam....

Son of a... can't believed I missed that... oh well, better luck next time.

The Williams Masterpiece engines seem to be out of my reach in finding, but not so much the 3rd Rail and Weaver equipment. I'll have to balance pure detail vs. ability to find and acquire...

Patience grasshopper. They show up from time to time. There was a Masterpiece Dreyfuss in the Purple Hall with a price tag of $275. I suspect the vendor might have mistaken it for the standard Dreyfuss.

Pete

Wow...did I miss a lot this York...

Though I should point out something that I should've mentioned earlier in that I don't want to pay too much for my equipment and some of the pieces I mentioned from Williams and Weaver are ones I'd have fun tinkering with before getting them up and running, very much like Norm Charbonneau has been doing for his Pennsylvania Railroad empire. Of course some like Lionel's vision 700E and new heavy Mikado will be some exceptions to that bias.