What are you ordering from the 2012 tinplate catalog?

Nothing.  I prefer the Korean made stuff MTH imported before he shifted production to China.

O gauge Red Comet Loco and Passenger cars.

if i was buying, probably the Hood's Dairy Reefer.

i've always liked that graphic.

 

why, oh why did they ruin every std gauge reefer with that ridiculous "Lionel Ventilated Refrigerator" banner, though.  distracts from some nice graphics and, by the way, here's a tip big-L... if you're going to advertise a ventilated reefer, how about at least adding on some ventilation hatches?  a boxcar with different doors and a sign doesn't make it a reefer.

 

cheers...gary

I ordered the Red Comet locomotive (not the cars) and a couple of other sets and items, but don't recall what they were (my list is at the office).

I am seriously considering Blue 381E and maybe the red comet.

 

Scott Smith

Everything !! OK;That's not gonna happen! The O gauge Red Comet engine and passenger cars.

Possibly the #6 Engine and the matching passenger cars.

 

Also, maybe the two 200 series club cars.

Ok folks...help me sort out my dilema.  I'm not sure about whether I should go traditional or PS3.  My concerns are centered around the fact that you often hear about a boneyard of trains due to lack of parts.  Is the new technology more prone to issues than the tradional engines?  Are parts easier to obtain for these tradional motors? or are they new tooling and at the end of the day parts may be an issue for the motors, reversing units, and mechnical whistles as well?  Also, are the tradional trains a maintenance nightmare? and are they easy to repair and maintain?  Anyone publish a book on how to maintain and fix these traditional trains?  Perhaps a good series of articles for OGR?  Sorry for all the questions.  I'm a novice when it comes to tradional tinplate. 

 

Thanks,

 

Sunrise

There is no real wrong answer here just personal preference. I personally like and run tinplate with PS-2 and will be running PS-3 in the future. I like the sounds and features you don't get in a traditional engine and so long as your running it with a transformer with a fast acting circuit breaker frying a board should be a minimal risk. As far as maintenance all engines need a little oil on moving parts every now and again but the difference with an traditional style AC motor is lubrication under the hood with the moving parts of the motor and keeping the commutator clean where the brushes meet and even changing the brushes out if necessary down the road. To me if your paying the same price for traditional or PS-3 why not get more bang for the buck with a smoother running motor and sounds you can turn off if you just want to hear the track sound and blow the horn/whistle when you want to.

I myself order conventional, but if you are one of the many who enjoy all the bells and whistles, order the PS version. If at some point in time the boards fail and cannot be replaced, it should not be difficult to modify to run conventionally.

 

Steve

Actually, that's not quite true.  You may read, on the various online forums, about some parts or service problems, but keep in mind that the total number of people participating on all of the online forums is just a fraction of the total number of participants in the hobby.  Remember, too, that it's often the same individuals "complaining" over and over--that should tell you something.  Most consumers probably have few or no problems that are not the result of their own doing.

 

I have some 15 tinplate locomotives alone--all PS2 or PS3.  I have had exactly one out-of-the-box operational problem, and that was fixed and returned to me in about three weeks.

 

Personally, I prefer the bells-and-whistles (and other features) of command control trains, but respect the fact that others prefer the more traditional kind of running.

 

All of the items I ordered from the new catalog are PS2/3.  The only new item I'm expecting that does not have command control is the Armored Train, and if that had come equipped with PS3, I would have ordered that version.

The 400E red comet and the chrome 400E

 

indydanny

Nothing. I'm saving my tinplate money for when I find an affordable Milwaukee road Super 381 on the secondary market.

This will be my first "new" purchase of Timplate but I am going whole hog and ordering the chrome and red 400E sets. I have to wonder though, at $3000 a set is it really any cheaper than buying good used originals? What are your thoughts. Still can't decide though on conv. or PS3?

Nada, zilch, zero! 

 

NO more room, and NO $$$$!  

I would go for new with PS-3! Same price and more bang for the buck!

Nothing.  Everything is a remake/rehash.  The only thing that might be on my "wish list" is the Blue Vandy and cars.  I actually like the loan LCCA set much better than most everything in the catalog.  Kind of a bummer.

I have already ordered the #6 and #7 sets but I will certainly order the red comet 400E and the chrome 400E.  Very nice state-of-the-art tinplate.  Either one would be a nice conversation piece but I think the red 400E will be a show stopper.

 

indydanny

I thought the O-gauge offerings were quite nice.

 

I would buy the Brown 381 if it was a Super 381 and they should have made it in the first run. This one is a maybe.

 

The Red Presidents set is the STG star of the cataloque. A wish list item.

 

The Pennsy 500 caboose is a must have for my 392E with Pennsy badging.

I won't be pre-ordering anything, but I might save my pennies for the red AF President's Special set, it looks pretty cool.  I'm also liking the look of the 400E red comet set.  For some reason the red sets are catching my attention.

 

 

 

John.