I picked up my UP Excursion set Saturday morning. My locomotives that would typically be pulling an excursion train all have scale wheels and Kadee couplers, so I substituted my 3rd Rail CNW SD9. Let's just call it an Isle of Denial seizure for now.
The set came pretty well packaged in the new blister packs -- much better than foam. They were easy to remove and replace in the packaging and the boxes were no larger than necessary which saves storage space (I'll probably be keeping them in an O Scale Hauler at some point).
If you've only owned 18" or smaller modern passenger cars, one of the first things you notice is the size of these cars. They look big. I think this is due to the fact they're conventional streamlined cars as opposed to the double-deck Bombardier commuter cars K-Line produced years ago (my only full-scale set). That said, they look "right" when assembled into a train with a scale locomotive, which is something I haven't been able to say about my passenger cars (GGD's haven't been in my budget, sadly).
One thing that pleasantly surprised me was SOUND in the generator car. I didn't actually see the catalog details when I ordered the cars, but that was a very nice touch. I found out about the sound when I turned on the power to the track as I hadn't looked under that particular car (OK, I was excited and in a hurry).
I really like the tail lights on the rear Dome car.
Going through the club layout, the overhang/under-hang on curves wasn't bad, but basically, you should have curves larger than 36" Radius (O-72) for these cars. They look better on broader curves. Even the 48" radius (O-96) curves at the club aren't really big enough. Fortunately, Lionel has equipped these cars with couplers that push them apart when going through curves. They could have coupled them closer together with this setup as they're about an inch apart when coupled.
Operationally, the cars track well and have good weight. A single 3rd Rail SD9 was able to pull the consist of six cars through the layout and its grades without a problem.
The good:
- 21" length. Several of us have been asking manufacturers for this for years.
- LED lighting. It doesn't suck all the power out of the layout, plus it doesn't interfere with your DCS signal.
- Opening doors in the vestibule ends.
- Pretty faithful reproduction of prototype. Admittedly, I've only seen the UP Business/Excursion Train twice (both without my camera
and while the train was moving). Even if not perfectly accurate, it's passable except to the true hard-line rivet-counters. - Love the Generator car and the Flag baggage car.
- Under-body detailing has improved over previous-generation cars. The addition of air lines is a nice improvement.
- Extending couplers. Lionel's handling of long scale-length cars for three-rail is commendable. Though I'm planning to install Kadees, the ability of the cars to push apart in sharp curves is a nice touch for the three-rail operator.
- Included Kadee mounting hardware. This is a nice touch. I'm probably going to use 746 long-shank couplers, but the option of close-coupling the cars is nice if your layout has the curves for it.
- Switches to turn off the lights (sound in the Generator Car). This is a nice touch.
The Bad:
- The end dome car had two windows out and some exposed wiring. I blame the Post Office for the windows, but I think there's a Q/C issue with the wiring. Minor fix, but I figure taking the car apart is going to be a pain in the caboose.
The Ugly:
- The interiors. They're an odd color and unpainted. I'm planning to paint and finish the interiors when I get more data on the excursion cars. To Lionel's credit, however, the features within the car (staircases, sinks, etc.) are present in the cars.
- There aren't passengers. However, I'm giving Lionel a pass on this as it adds significantly to the production cost of the cars.
