As an introduction, I offer this: My grandfather once said that "junk" was something that you paid too much for and that didn't work the way it was advertised to do.
This was a low end starter set DC only 8700 Rock Island dockside. I decided to fix it up and maybe improve the appearance. Since the loco wheels were red, I wanted to incorporate some red into the paint scheme. On a prototypical note, I highly doubt the Lehigh Valley would have ever put the money into painting such a lowly work horse of a steamer. I did some research, which I now forget, but I don't believe the LV even had a 0-4-0. For me, this is the fun of toy trains.
I have the option of running my layout on DC current, so I could add weight to the chassis of this without being concerned where to cram in a circuit board. I added a headlight and highlighted some of the cast in details. My only regret is I didn't sand down and remove some of the piping detail where the "Lehigh Valley" lettering went. But as I worked on this, I had no idea how exactly I was going to decal it. It runs great and with the added weight will now pull a train like it never could before. And I've never understood the criticism that these sorts of trains can't run slowly, because they most certainly can run slowly at a crawl... with the right transformer.
Some times I feel like the odd guy out, at least on this forum. But I get it: I worked for years in the newspaper businesses, and what gets written about and reported is... what is new. So the recent digitally equipped and high detailed products are what get all the attention and praise.
BUT they also gather a good deal of complaints. There's not a day goes by where there aren't at least several threads here on this forum about high end trains not working. Then there's the issue of replacement parts - many of which are not available. And the technology changes so fast, really does any one expect Lionel to stock parts for the first version of LionChief? This is no different than many other companies making high tech products: The technology changes and once parts are gone for an earlier version, they're gone.
So I personally am quite content to stick with the sorts of trains I have always bought. I know how to visually fix them up and to work on them. As a general rule, I can still find parts. And in my imagination (which in my thinking, IS the magic of Lionel), my trains do everything the more recent and much more costly digital locomotives do. And being that I didn't pay too much for them, they're hardly "junk" in my book.
But as the popular disclaimer goes, your mileage may vary.
Perhaps I should have put on the "brake" and taken a "coffee" break ... LOL! 
