Ut-oh! I've gone to the dark side!

Sounds like you will have a good time with it.Would love to see your layout.Nick

Conventional after 1970 is not a sin in most cases as long as you don't get into the can motors  theres nothing wrong with them but your pre 1970 guy and you might like them.  

 

I run from prewar to modern stuff and love it all. 

 

 

It's not really the dark side at all, it just another level of train fun and adventure.

 

Steve, Lady and Tex

When I first read your title I thought you went to HO!

 

 

It was good that you did not go to Penn Central.

 

 

Andrew

Or worse, BNSF.

Hey, I love Penn Central, a great American railroad. What's not to like?

I thought the sin was confusing o-27 and O gauge.

Chris L;

That is the same engine as was made in the postwar period.  It didn't change a whole lot from then to when you bought yours.  I don't know if you really went fully into the dark side.  Maybe just dipped a toe in.

Originally posted by david1:

Hey, I love Penn Central, a great American railroad. What's not to like?

 

EVERYTHING! From the mismanagement that sucked it dry to the infighting of personnel to the disgusting drab colors of black and white! Lets not forget to mention the decaying and dilapidated state of the rr. IF this was a "great rr", why was it only viable for 2 years? Why did the government have to take it over to rescue it!

buy what you like,

run what you like.

 

 

You guys cracked me up this morning!

The Lionel NYC RS3 (1992?) seems to have can motors, but to be able to quasi model after the Adirondack Scenic Railroad I rode as a kid would be interesting... I've got a listing in the wanted section of this forum for one to see if I can't acquire one with out too much hassle and costs to minimize and buyers remorse.

Penn Central was the biggest failure since Enron. They took some of the best known roads and turned them into manure. BNSF was good enough for Buffet to buy.

No matter what happened at the Penn Central it was the first railroad I paid attention to when living close to the main line near Philly. Thus I became a fan. Yes the engines were dirty and needed maintenace. The paint scheme was simple but nice IMO. 

 

When the PC was formed they were left with a mess from both the Pennsy and NYC. Poor Septa got the local passenger lines that were a disaster. It took years for them to get decent service no thanks to the Pennsy and NYC their lack of maintenance for years Of their infrastructure. It left both PC and others a terrible mess

 

Look I like the PC and some of you don't. Deal with it and leave your snide comments to yourself. 

Look I like the PC and some of you don't. Deal with it and leave your snide comments to yourself. 

 

 We would have if you didn't ask in the first place.

bmoran,

   When I 1st read your post I thought you were talking about stack BBL Shotguns, not about O gauge RR engines.  No dark side to any of this, just a little expanding of the education, sounds like a real nice conventional engine, no doubt about it.  Next we will get you into Tin Plate!

PCRR/Dave 

I've got more than a handful of prewar Lionel equipment - I've got a co-worker that hinted his father-in-law is looking to downsize his standard gauge collection, some scratch built and some Lionel, and he has asked if I would be interested in pieces so my collection my gain yet another dimension...

There is no dark side as long as you stay with O-Gauge. 

Use the FORCE, it's called magnetraction.  

 I'm mainly a postwar/mpc guy, but I do have a few modern engines.  I have the 2380 TMCC/Railsounds version of your NYC GP9.  Take out the sound & TMCC & it's basically a postwar GP9.   I run it in conventional but the sounds are still pretty cool.  The pullmor motor on that engine is pretty smooth as well.  Too bad Lionel didn't continue making a quality open frame motor instead of the junk they threw in the conventional classics. 

I agree with the others who have said there is no darkside. I'll go a step further and say there's not a darkside with any of the other scales either.

 

People wonder "why is this made in HO and not 0 gauge?" It's because the HO market is much bigger. If you want variety and availability in models and roadname selection, HO is the way to go. If you like the bigger size, O gauge is fine - but it's a smaller market so there WILL NOT be the same variety. It's not that the train makers favor one scale over the other... they're just following the market and where the money is.

 

And david1, I agree, and I too like the Penn Central. They lobbied for rules changes and new legislation that was never approved... That is until the US government was saddled with ownership of the northeast railroads under the Conrail banner. Then the story changed, and many ideas and requests of the Penn Central were put into action.

 

I often have wondered if the same benefits had been given to the PC as was Conrail, if the Penn Central story wouldn't have been much different?

 

And besides, on my layout, Penn Central green offers as much color variety as does Conrail blue.

I like Modern era Lionel trains, so long as they have a mechanical e-unit. I think the last engine to have one was made in 1993.

 

Was that one of the Berks they did that year or am I thinking of something else?

 

"I find the lack of pictures of cats or kittens on this thread disturbing."

 

Jerry

how's this  -

I thought the dark side was buying modern diesels when you run steam....

or running trains in the moonlight...

 

 

 

 

 

I grew up in PA just outside Of Philly and when it was PRR it was a great rail road and NYC was a Great railroad when it was NYC but when they merged it was problems after problems and it down hill from there they did better on there own  and when conrail took over was not any improvement. you can like Penn  Central which is your right as its the first you remember from there as thats your preference mine and with a lot others in here from I can see feel the same won't have anything with that name on it as it left us with a very sour taste 

 

My cats are scared of the trains, especially when they move - it's almost like they are alive! They won't dare enter the train room, but their hair still gets wrapped around the axles...

 

BTW, that is a very nice NYC F3 set there.

The Conventional Classics had caught my eye more than once, but I'd rather have the original. However I did not realize that they didn't have original style motors - YUCK! 

 

I have almost all of them - while they do have a pullmor in them, it's a far cry from a 'real' pullmor.  The newest ones do not run very well at all

Nice youtube channel Chistopher2035! I subscribed. 

 

Thanks!  I haven't uploaded anything new in a while - I can't find my external HD w/ all my saved videos on it!

Well, it's definitely a "dark side" engine. You might consider getting rid of the white stripe, and complete the Darth Vader look. 

 

 

If you're interested in such "post-Postwar" engines, you might also be on the lookout for the No. 8477, a NYC Lightning Stripe GP 9 from 1984. This particular Geep was equipped with a power truck (incl. motor) almost identical to the Postwar versions. The magnetraction was stronger than other versions at that time, as well. These 8477s commanded a higher price than other Geeps back in the day.

 

 

Hahaha! You guys are too much for me. Yup, that's what she looks like!

 

 

 

 

Jerry

PS, I thought this was going to be about HO also.

 

 

"Jerry

PS, I thought this was going to be about HO also."

 

LOL! that is a dark thought...

I think the 18050 JC Penney PRR Pacific from 1996 may have been one of the last steam engines to use a mechanical e-unit.  Had one up to a few years ago and can confirm it had a mechanical e-unit and pullmor motor.