The Story (pics and video after)
I never paid much attention to Baldwin Sharks. I viewed the RF-16 as a poor competitor to the F3 (probably correct if you're being a bit harsh about it) and the railroads I model, ATSF, D&RG, and UP - never owned Sharks, so they just weren't important to me.
But Nicole's (N.Q.D.Y.) video of her shark-infested Daylight train gave me a serious case of "Shark envy." It was just stunning, the prettiest train I had seen in ages. I wanted an SP Shark/Daylight combo badly. When I posted about difficulties in finding SP Sharks and such, Nicole took the time to e-mail me some tips on vendors who still had some - that was much appreciated.
I needed 15" rather than 18" cars like she had (shorter looks better on my layout), and ultimately I could not find Legacy SP Sharks at an internet site I knew and trusted, only from folks I didn't know. So, after a bit of study of the pictures in the Lionel catalog, I decided to find the lowest price Sharks and 15" cars regardless of roadnames and repaint them: Daylight involves four colors, yes, but they are easy-to-find colors, and almost all the masking is straight lines parallel to body creases, etc. I figured I could save money and get just the train I wanted.
And I definitely saved. When I went shopping last Wednesday morning, M. B. Klein seemed determined to get rid of all their B&O stuff by the end of the day. B&O Legacy Sharks were priced below any other roadname and less than any Sharks on any other site I checked, and they had blowout prices on B&O a MTH 15" four-car pack, diner-sleeper, and extra coach, too. the entire seven-car train cost a bit less than the list price of the Sharks alone. Wow! I found a Williams dummy B unit at another site so low-cost that I took the chance, hoping its size and color fits. Maybe now is the true golden age of toy trains - there are real bargains out there!
Anyway, all but the B unit arrived yesterday. The Sharks are fantastic (brief comments later, and pictures/video). The only problem? It all makes up a really beautiful train!!!! My wife helped me unpack it and she agrees: its way too pretty to repaint. Nicole's Daylight is spectacular - the male Cardinal of trains - and just stunning to look at.But I guess she will have her lovely Cardinal and I will have my Bluejay: this Capital Limited/Columbian/Royal Blue is gorgeous in its own, quieter way: great colors in a classic, elegant scheme, with good detail on trim and graphics, etc. Just a lovely train. I realize it is probably not prototypical but isn't complete fantasy - B&O did at least have Sharks, unlike SP, although I don't know if they ever pulled passenger service. I am not really into modeling or running stuff from east of the Mississippi, but B&O is one of the earliest and most important roadnames, and I'm pleased to have this train.
Legacy Sharks! Just fantastic. Detail and paint are excellent. The lighting seems better than average and they run very smoothly and slowly. The video (last below) shows that they smoke like fiends and sound is among the best diesels I have.
I love the details and the recessed door and the lighting in the cabin, which this photo does not show well. I could not take a picture, but as on the Legacy E9s, the cab door is spring-loaded and opens if you push on it: it is a nice feature, but this one rather stupidly only opens 30 degrees before being stopped by something inside the loco: less than a scale foot of room to squeeze through: one too many porterhouse steaks and my engineer will not be able to squeeze through!
The seven MTH 15" cars that make up the train are all nicely detailed and color match the locos well. There are no passengers inside the cars, but they otherwise have interiors that are a good starting place, and the baggage car has opening, flush mounted doors, a nice touch particularly at the price I paid. I will take them all apart, one by one, install passengers and some details (tableclothes in the diner, etc.) and raise the cars on their trucks about 1/8 inch, too - they seem a bit too low to me.
And I just love this red running light . . .
Here is a brief video: had to keep in under the 100 Mb limit, so you don't see the train running for long, but I made sure to capture the very nice startup sounds, show the smoke, and give a listen to the bell, horn, and sound the prime movers accelerating the train.
