Opinions on MTH imperial gs4

1) Don't expect much from the online shipping dates. 

2) If having PS3 over PS2 isn't important to you, I'd strongly recommend hunting down the PS2 version which is essentially the same. The PS3 version comes with the wireless drawbar which can be problematic. 

What is problematic about the drawbar? I have a ps3 imperial hudson and I haven't had any trouble with it. Would a gs4 with ps3 have a harder time negotiating O-42 curves?

The drawbar can be hit or miss when it comes to quality and durability. Some swear by it, others, like myself have had problems with it staying connected, electrical continuity, interference with trailing truck, etc. If you have had good luck with it so far, consider yourself lucky. 

THe drawbar will make no difference on the curves the engine can run on. 

I’m a tad disappointed in my GS-4 30-1525-1.  The corners that MTH cut are important to me, so a little of the fun is gone.  A GS-4 should have a closed cab, and mine doesn’t.  I also think that it should have the Mars Light that MTH advertised.  The locomotive runs great and sounds great.  If I weren’t so picky, it would get a lot more run time.  However, I do think that it is photogenic.  Hope this helps.

You can put a MARS light in pretty easily, these really look better than any MARS light I've seen a manufacturer install.  http://ngineering.com/lghting%...20the%20railroad.htm

As far as the Wireless Drawbar:

I suspect it has a lot to do with how much you disconnect it.

I put my Northern on the track and connected it once.

It stayed connected and ran well until I put it back in the box to move late last month.

I have some tight curves on sidings and it didn't seem to matter.

Others have had lots of trouble with the Northern drawbar after taking it off and on and this is why I believe it has to do with multiple re-connects.

Ditto on the drawbar. The one on my PS3 Hudson had to be epoxied at the cab end and still comes loose at the tender if I don't keep an eye on it and I only pull 4 or 5 cars at a time. I understand the visual improvement that MTH was going for but having a an electrical connection that also has to carry a load (pull the tender and cars around the track) is not a good design IMO. The PS2 pigtail connector + metal drawbar combination is bullet proof.

The drawbar on my Christmas 4-6-0 comes loose all the time, probably because of the tight O-31 RealTrax curves. I don't have a real layout yet, so I haven't tried to come up with a solution. I've gotten into the habit of giving the connection a squeeze before I run it.

I have never had any issue with the MTH Drawbar coming loose or any other problem. It took some getting used to, but after a couple of times you get a good feel for when it is properly snapped into place.

I have begun swapping all of mine with the shorter drawbar you can purchase separately, these can get a little tricker to disconnect, but WOW do they look amazing!

If an upgrade became available I would swap out the wire tether on my older Proto 2 Locos.

Wow thanks for all of the replies. This is a lot more information than I could have found myself. I really like mth's new wireless drawbars and I haven't had any problems with them. In fact, I have pulled 20+ high friction postwar freight cars without a problem with my ps3 hudson. However my hudson is my only ps3 steam engine so I don't have anything to compare it too.

I had issues with the drawbar coming loose on very uneven track on an 0-6-0 switcher. I took a heavy duty plastic zip-tie and wrapped it around the plug and socket on connection on the tender. You can't undo the engine and tender without cutting off the tie wrap but it works great, no issues and the drawbar stays in place.