Real Hard Not To Speculate or be Excited....

MTH posted here the new catalog would most likely be released about October, in time for York.

Steve

Thank you Steve...

I completely missed that post. Rats, gets later every year...

Bite the bullet, buy an original one at a show!!

I've got alot of original O Gauge Jim, but when it comes to Standard Gauge, what little I have room for, I'll just stick with modern....for my own various reasons...plus I don't make it to any shows with the exception of a couple small locally held shows and not much (if any) standard gauge at those around me.

I was only funning you !!

I got that Jim...I wish I could collect all originals, that would be awesome! One of these days I might get brave and come out to York, but after a lifetime of concrete work, this old body isn't much for travelling anymore....

I have picked up some original Lionel and Ives at some reasonable prices at shows.  I have 3 box cab electrics that are Ives  and 5 Lionels, only one steamer. I want to get another steamer. I have one motor being repaired and that is  for a Lionel I have. They are old and get fussy at times.  Good luck.

That's just one part of my reasons for purchasing modern Jim, I'm dumber than a box of rocks when it comes time to fixing locomotives. Not that I can't do it, I never tryed. I've got way too many "irons in the fire" so to speak, enjoy too many things, and there comes a point where you have to draw some lines and I guess that was my line on standard gauge loco's, modern not originals. I've seen a few great deals online on the auction sites, but I'm real cautious about buying that sort of thing online....you know what surprises me is the reproductions seem much harder to find than the originals. Probably because folks just don't want to give them up, and I don't blame them...

Personally, I have experienced better quality in the Tinplate Traditions and Lionel Classics engines and rolling stock than in the Lionel Corporation Tinplate line. I own both traditional and Proto 2.0 electrics and steam: two 400E's and two 408E's. My one success story with LCT products is the green Proto 2.0 BRUTE, which looks and runs well.

The two-tone Lionel Classics 1-384E is a nice traditional engine with a diecast whistle in the tender, and can still be had for a reasonable price!

Thank you TinplateArt...you know, that one wasn't even on my radar, but I'll sure keep an eye out now. I appreciate that...

Mark

mtj54 posted:

... I love the idea of ordering and waiting a year, absence makes the heart grow fonder I guess. But last year, they said Christmas delivery on alot of stuff, so I never ordered...would have preferred the delivery times be longer. ...

This caused much bewilderment last year... because for the most part, I was always under the impression that Tinplate products are built to dealer orders -- or pretty close to them.  So a Christmas delivery just didn't make any sense UNLESS those products were already in production when the catalog was published/released.  And practically ALL of the items in the catalog were showing November/December delivery dates -- much too soon after an 8/19 catalog release if these items were BTO (especially allowing a couple more months for the usual dealer order deadline). 

As it turned out, those shipping ETA's were eventually replaced with more realistic shipping times, as few if any products were delivered that quickly.  Many items in the 2015 LCT catalog have been arriving throughout 2016... some (that I had my eye on) as recent as last month, and I'm sure there are still a few more jewels still to ship later this year.

So if the new 2016 LCT catalog is due out around October York, figure a couple of months for dealers to take consumer pre-orders and send their orders to MTH.  I'd bet we don't see any of those products until mid-2017 at the earliest if they're based on dealer orders.  And most will likely arrive in late-2017 / early-2018.  Now if MTH wants to treat us to some surprise/uncatalog'd arrivals, that's always a welcome change to the usual delays  that have become so commonplace in this industry. 

David

That two-tone Lionel Classics 1-384E is a nice dark gray/light gray combo with a red stripe down the running board. Tender is gray with a black sheet metal coal load.