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Today my GS class engines arrived and I have done a detailed inspection inside and out. Hear are my findings for those who want to see some of the other models besides 4449

GS-5 4459

This model is decorated in the post 1946 lettering. It is painted as the engine would have been in the early 50s when the stainless steel strapping was removed from the pilot. Overall I felt Lionel hit a home run with this model. The detailing was all done correctly, the daylight paint and lettering is stunning. I think this is the most accurate Daylight paint jobthat Lionel has done to date. The only prototype issue I can really find is that the numbers on the cab, tender, and the Daylight logo are Lark gray instead of silver. Since the numbers and logo are small, its hard to pick up on this. I have to say, this one is my favorite of the group due to how well it was executed.

GS-4 4439 semi-Daylight w/o skirts

This is the model I was most excited for when these were catalogued. I have always loved this paint scheme since it still has the Daylight flavor but offers all the detail that was hiding below the skirts. This model is uniquely SP. There were 8 GS-4’s that ran this way for 2-3 years in the late 40s. They were frequently seen pulling secondary passenger and mail trains.

Overal the model is nice but Lionel screwed a few things up. First the pilot is painted solid silver which I have not seen any photos of this scheme with the pilot this way. It was pictured this way in the catalog so I expected it, I already have a new pilot with stainless straps to put on. The second issue is they used the wrong boiler. The model has a single dynamo, 2 safety valves, and a single chime whistle. It should have 3 dynamos, a 6 chime whistle, and 3 safety valves. My conclusion is they used the GS-2/6 boiler. See my photo that has a side by side of this model, the GS-5, and a GS-6. Lastly, all of the lettering is dark Lark gray instead of silver. I haven’t confirmed that this is wrong but the few photos of real GS-4’s in this scheme I have seen, the lettering appears silver

I’m still happy with the model but these detail screw ups are annoying to a hardcore Espee fan.

GS-1 4470

There are already a few posts about this specific model so I’ll keep it short. Mine arrived with a bit of damage. The walkover plate was loose and scratched the paint in a few spots. The front tender ladders were bent and the train indicator boards are bent. These are all minor annoyances which I can fix. The lettering on this model has a light gray shade to it which makes it look a bit faded or distressed. The lettering should be white but it isn’t really bothersome. The 2 cosmetic issues that really bug me are that the whistle does not cover the whistle steam port and there is a noticeable gap between the boiler and the running boards. The gap was present on Lionel’s engineering sample but I figured that would be fixed when these hit production. The sound is not as impressive as the other models with diecast tenders. It is a little tinny and the tender rattles a bit from the reverb. If you want a GS-1 and want booming sound, don’t get the Vanderbilt tender, get one of the other moddels with the 220R tender. I’ll need to see if I can get the rattle out.

I opened up all 3 models the check for gremlins. Fortunately there were no issues with pinched wires or any of the other reported problems. These are pretty easy to open up. I attached some closeup photos showing where the body screws are in case anyone wants to peek inside. When reinstalling the boiler, be mindful of the pipe and bell details under the smokebox. You have to angle the boiler forward so these details slip under the platform.

Attachments

Images (57)
  • 65A30AB5-6F79-4C0C-AD96-359FFF8875E0
  • 7EFE7F31-1099-44E2-A5D4-FA22B0CD71B3: Roller bearing trailing truck detail
  • D47023CE-D0BD-434E-82A8-4964E4DCB04E
  • 34B93566-75E0-443E-B9E7-335656B1CCC2
  • C2738FBD-F6D6-4453-B1B5-8972D1F7E9B6
  • 0E12F8DB-19D5-4EA8-8416-C8EDB667410A
  • 7C8DE07F-490A-45D1-A467-E981E8F68D5F
  • 2BCEB6F1-BD8D-40FF-BD54-A2A5E0413271
  • 21AF4869-B738-4B61-96CA-62C074A2061D
  • 6F6E8EBE-E41F-4723-BCF1-727B18D050B8
  • 7F77153F-9366-4976-A75B-5CE31B028602
  • 3CA505A9-9059-4BC5-BC4E-F8AAAABAB80F: Roller bearing trucks
  • DE666876-D34C-4F90-87A8-9DE4EFB7C062
  • B6D7307A-FC06-4AB0-876A-1E3E3166F767
  • 2D1E927F-9A61-4030-9AFD-4734CBA4BBC5
  • 7B89FDFF-7C78-4B29-97E1-F418C71930DF: Model has single dynamo and single chime flat top whistle. GS-4’s should have 3 dynamo’s and a 6 chime whistle
  • FE07D46C-8544-4242-BA97-D98A7611E8D9: I have concluded that Lionel’s builder accidently used the GS-2/6 boiler on this model.
  • 3637EA9B-705F-44C0-BAA7-D39C855046A4
  • 628E9E6E-B797-4E8C-8886-246EBB69F406
  • 5EDDE235-BF91-4690-B4F7-7320B567B31A
  • 908E7AFA-EFF2-42AA-B850-D2F61436833C
  • AE7BB920-AD2D-48B6-AE6B-294B560CC85C
  • 46BA4447-DA0A-4E37-B593-F193274E930C: Cab number is gray
  • 72D25222-59F9-4D64-A593-D78B068143D8
  • 39DD2B2D-2A9A-4506-A86E-3384AB7E5E24: Lark gray lettering on tender
  • 04473633-BE4F-490B-9A13-532D236087C2
  • 9937BC3E-62EF-477B-83BD-9A832C0123B3
  • AA7DA98B-E03D-447E-B3BC-8415DDDCBBD0: Back engine is older run Legacy GS-6, middle is GS-5, front is GS-4 4439
  • 4964C264-8AAC-4339-BEBC-5C8C9561C3AC
  • FEF63496-7560-4338-A48D-01B7374C1A05
  • 1876687E-E9DF-4E7F-849A-8F2034597B23
  • 3C6F099E-3C0A-41F2-8BA9-C5EC4C163246
  • C98A8830-26FB-4802-8816-BAC27257F570: Whistle smoke hole not covered by whistle
  • 01C8744A-6034-4707-A123-5BF3FDB45228
  • 95389241-DF31-415F-8C3D-461EA1CF5839
  • 67F6E6C9-AC51-4BDB-8677-E402E850EC63: Walkover plate had fallen off in shipping
  • F2E6686B-E019-4D1A-9CA9-ED0832EC52BB: Train indicator boards are slightly bent
  • 9C216279-17EB-45FE-A0F1-64DCAB1B92C6
  • 3A109069-E426-4EA2-B619-EC25478C5771: Tender ladders were bent
  • E6023B4E-ED06-4BDF-ABBB-12131BAD8244: Bent tender ladder
  • DBFF48B5-AA1D-4A21-8A73-19C61895AC42: Lettering has a gray quality to it. Should be white
  • A0B6174C-67B1-4F04-BB28-C558BD54C2B4
  • FA47DC9F-C89F-4BA1-A54A-409BC4CB3CE1
  • F916ACAF-E72C-4764-B0D1-16F66C6FEE75
  • 9A8E3E09-23BB-4415-934C-8C4B5C585ADB
  • 388D7C64-5091-4A59-A927-77E45FDBEE5A
  • 27F51726-990E-4CDF-BC74-2A2500E7CE3C
  • E0D6E3A0-CC0A-4C18-B45E-2D780BB74928
  • C3BB0F96-AB7B-490A-BFC7-D77AFF2D7780
  • 006B6D81-3AEB-4DD6-A3CF-800FA1CE2634: Rear body screw location
  • 9BDCB570-DBAF-4264-9D5A-EE44D3C50D08: Rear body screw
  • 23DB6064-D287-4D24-8CBF-5B6D28FF62F3: Front body screw, fireman side
  • 8BE22EF5-817A-40EB-8A27-DA55ECD19309: Front body screw, engineer side
  • BD12C257-9B4B-424E-A907-698B514DF44C
  • CE164C7E-0019-45F2-837E-0AE32E392395: Watch this pipe detail when reinstalling the boiler
  • 04E33D84-D18D-421D-9322-C09466006575
  • A45C175C-5C44-4690-AD4B-7432BFFE226C
Original Post

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Today my SP Stock Express set came. Attached are photos of the engine. Nice looking engine but there are 2 inaccuracies for a GS-4: it should have 3 dynamos, 3 safety valves, and a different whistle and it should not have stars on the pilot truck. It appears that Lionel used the GS-6 upper boiler for all the non-skirted GS-4’s.
I also don’t understand why they put the stars on the pilot truck because they’ve never done that before and SP never did it. For those unaware of what the stars mean, they identify that the locomotive has spring pad lubricators on the driving boxes. This was an SP patented invention that was very effective at lubricating driver axles and bearings. This was the reason that SP only had two engines with roller bearings; the experiment didn’t show enough improvement over the spring pad lubricators to warrant the added cost of roller bearings.

As for the cars in the set, the decoration on all of them is sharp. The PS-1 boxcars have the new style trucks. I haven’t had any derailments yet but I’m only running them on an oval of 0-72 right now. The knuckles are a bit tight and I could not couple up to one by backing the engine to it. The stock car, reefer, and caboose all have couplers that swing and are built with the older truck tooling. I wish Lionel had chosen a different caboose model than the NYC one to use in this set. I may rip the camera out and put it in a better caboose.

Attachments

Images (11)
  • 7727FC4B-1603-4C12-B503-CCB76B86D007
  • 5DA5B240-5201-42A2-9268-84AF821F12F8
  • 8EB38F2F-ECA2-47B2-A089-4E4365E7434B
  • 4D0500B8-E8E9-4705-A184-FD0108816CD4
  • 29FFEB37-ADC6-4008-98B5-41EDB8C73B07
  • ABDD62B7-4D82-43E8-94DC-FD92A4B67F6A
  • 23A493E9-CE41-4006-9459-17365FD43DEC: They used the wrong upper boiler. Should have 3 dynamos
  • F117BAA7-1853-42BA-9A62-F070216EE250: Not sure why they put stars on the pilot truck wheels
  • D8633D79-A9EA-47D2-BAA9-7A65F5374132
  • 0D96C0B7-3F20-48F0-9CD8-A17D0C406AB2
  • 40136682-38CC-4EC5-BE2C-33E2A67F9B1C
@ezmike posted:

I do not own any nor did I order any but I read by two different posters that the whistle is wrong on their engines. Don't these come with the choice of 6 different whistle sound programmed into the sound board and selectable with the CAB-2? So none of them are correct? Or am I mistaken?

Mike

One of the tones should be the same one as the original Legacy GS4, which was recorded from the actual SP 4449.

I think thats about as close as your gonna get.

The engines have 3 whistles and 2 air horns. I would have preferred 4 whistles and 1 air horn. The first whistle is the “steam boat” whistle that 4449 carried in the 70s and 80s I think. Hot Water is the real authority on 4449’s whistle history. The second whistle is an SP 6 chime whistle which was common to a lot of large steam on the roster. The third is the current whistle 4449 has which is an actual GS class whistle.

The engines have 3 whistles and 2 air horns. I would have preferred 4 whistles and 1 air horn. The first whistle is the “steam boat” whistle that 4449 carried in the 70s and 80s I think. Hot Water is the real authority on 4449’s whistle history. The second whistle is an SP 6 chime whistle which was common to a lot of large steam on the roster.

Primarily for freight. The Passenger GS class, GS-2 through GS-5 all had the deep "steam boat", air actuated, whistle (either ON or OFF, no playing with the whistle).

The third is the current whistle 4449 has which is an actual GS class whistle.

Still a deep "steam boat" type, although 4449 had her original whistle location changed from just forward of the turret & dynamotors, to way up front beside the exhaust stack, on the Engineer's side. Plus, the whistle is no longer air actuated, but lever operated by the Engineer (thus it can be played).

@Hot Water posted:

Mr. Hot Water, I'm not saying anything as in making a statement, I am asking a question. The previous posters stated that the whistles/horns were not correct. I am asking if, from the several choices, programmed into the soundboard none are correct for the models they purchased. Why am I not buying them, they do not interest me but nevertheless, I am curious about the sounds.

Hope this helps.

Mike

The whistles are all appropriate for the GS class engines. At least 2 of them are whistles the 4449 has worn at some point in time and the 3rd is an SP 6 chime whistle common to larger freight power. A perfect whistle for the GS-1 and its not unreasonable to believe that some of the other GS classes could have had this whistle, most likely the GS-6.

@ezmike posted:

Mr. Hot Water, I'm not saying anything as in making a statement, I am asking a question. The previous posters stated that the whistles/horns were not correct.

I wonder how they know THAT?

I am asking if, from the several choices, programmed into the soundboard none are correct for the models they purchased.

Guess I don't recall anybody stating that. Besides, I wonder how they would know anyway.

Why am I not buying them, they do not interest me but nevertheless, I am curious about the sounds.

Hope this helps.

Mike

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