Posts - Was Fixed pilots on Lionel GP-35s

johnnyspeeds original post which is now on the O-27 and hirail forum was:

Has there been any definitive information regarding the upcoming Lionel GP-35's? The catalog pictures look off to me. I don't know if they are drawings or some other models or prototypes or what, but they show a fixed pilot with opening. Just wondering what to expect.

I really can't say why it was moved, your question is quite pertinent to this forum. You have posted frequently here in the past, and I'd sure count you as a "regular". Perhaps the moderator will chime in and enlighten us. But now that you have brought this up, we might as well keep the discussion going. What is displayed in the catalog is billed as "All new tooling". The product appears to be the same as was supplied on my Lionel S-4 switcher, fixed pilot, with a huge opening in the pilot to accomodate the lobster claw. If so, if you are looking to convert over to Kadees, at least you have a good platform to start with, but you are looking at some styrene work to fill in the hole, create a mounting pad, and make a Kadee or other scale-like coupler installation look good. I would suggest that the best way to proceed is to e-mail Lionel directly and see if you get an answer. If they don't, try calling them. If they can't answer the question, then I wouldn't touch pre-ordering these things with a 10 foot pole given Lionel's track record of actually delivering a model that has the features listed in the catalog (they are not alone in this either). Bottom line, this looks to have potential from a 3RS perspective (and possibly a two rail one too). It will need some work to get a Kadee or equivalent scale-like coupler in there. I'd be worried about something else here though. How "scale" is this beast? You won't get a detailed review out of OGR, they don't know what a scale rule is for a product review. So in order to actually see just how good this locomotive will be, somebody needs to take a chance..............................................

 

Caveat Emptor applies here.

 

Regards, GNNPNUT

 

Just my opinion, but I'll bet your original question (when I went over to the 3-Rail Trains Forum and looked at it), was moved since it could not be answered by ANYONE on the OGR Forum, let alone the 3RS Forum. Only a member of management at Lionel could answer that, and I really doubt they would, on the OGR Forum.

 

Similar to those ever present "Does anyone know.......?"questions. Of course SOMEONE knows! The REAL question should be asked, "Can anyone please help me find out about........?".

Fair enough. I would like to have a GP-35 or two on the roster and I recently saw the MTH PS 3.0 version and it was very nice. Apparently they canceled the scale wheel version so I was just trying to decide which model would be a better candidate for fixing the pilots? The MTH, Atlas, or the new Lionel? I might just have to wait and see what the actual production units look like from Lionel before I make up my mind I guess.

 

Has Atlas ever decided to release the parts to convert to fixed pilots? The last time I heard anything about that was a few years ago.

 

As long as they have GP35 spare parts in stock, you should be able to purchase the correct pilots for the two rail version.  There are several who have went through the effort to purchase Atlas pilots to convert their three rail locomotives to fixed pilots, perhaps they will chime in on this thread.  Two that come to mind are Pete Kruimer and Rich M. 

 

Regards,

GNNPNUT

Lionel answered my question on Facebook. They will not have fixed pilots.

Didn't figure they would. So far, Lionel has not cared to offer ANYTHING for the 3RS, nor 2-Rail, modelers. Just the mention of "Scale coupler compatibility", and they turn a deaf ear!

I know of one exception, the Alco S2. It makes a great 2R switcher and I am sure it would make a great 3RS switcher too. The detail level is very well done too.

Malcolm

Interesting, so yet another example where the pic in the catalog is not a fair representation of what the actual model will show up looking like. 

 

Unbelievable. 

Regards,

GNNPNUT

 

Yup, agree, the ALCo S4 I have is also a very nice model.  I still have to do the work on the pilot to accept a Kadee, or sell it, as I am running into time constraints trying to build a large HO railroad.  Not sure I really want to dedicate the time to projects like this anymore.

 

Regards,

GNNPNUT