What engine has grown on you?

The GG1 here also, especially the non scale ones.(Still don't have one) and also the EP-5.

One that I liked from the beginning was my MTH Milwaukee Road Alco S2. But it has grown to love. A lovely sound and nice smoke.

The Lionel engine that I like is the pre war 224E, it has kept on running with very little work other then a good cleaning every so often.

 

Another set of engines that I like is the Williams F-7's. I bought an ABA set of Santa Fe engines (Crown Edition) and installed a second set of motors and reverse board in the second A unit and I can pull almost any passenger set I now own. The B unit has the QSI sound unit in it.

 

Lee Fritz

All of them. Therein lies the rub.

My Williams brass 4-6-2 I painted for ACL:

 

 

 

Equipped with Battery-Power, Remote-Control, those large drivers grab your attention.

 

Now I'm looking for scale rolling stock or passenger cars (ACL) to pull behind it

the lionel cab forward in daylight colors,,,,super nice,,,,

Geeps have grown on me...like Kudzu. They represent a class of locomotives that do everything well.

• They look right with a couple of cars in tow. Even a pair of Geeps works for this as many locals are run this way.
• They look right with a dozen cars in tow.
• They look good on sharp curves.
• A string of three or four of them with a long train in tow looks good on broad, sweeping curves.
• They look good in a yard shuffling cars around.

When I say "Geeps" I also include the following non-EMD (and non-diesel) in the list:

• GE U25B
• Trainmaster H10-44
• 2-8-2 Light Mikado
• 2-8-0 Consolidation

I have a few B40-8's, but I don't include those in this list as they were mainline locomotives geared for high-speed freight (and some passenger) runs.

My GG1.  My dad bought the KCC Tuscan version when it came out and we picked up a set of 15" k-line Madison broadway limited cars to go with it, but I never really cared for it. also we had some early problems with a loose screw which held of the wheel sets on, so it didn't run well.  I loved steam, and still do, there's more action than an electric or a diesel.  but this past Christmas when the teather shorted out on the tender of my k-line PRR Mikado, I pulled out the GG1, and I've got to say, that's a sharp looking engine.  it looked extra nice against the white cotton I put down for the Christmas layout.

The 746 postwar Lionel steamer. I wasn't keen on streamliners, but the size, detail, etc have really grown attractive to me.

I have always felt the NYC Dreyfus Hudson was an ugly duckling but after seeing several at April York, it has been really growing on me.  To the point where I just purchased an older Lionel scale sized one.  Can't wait to get it to see how it looks with my recently acquired GGD aluminum Empire State Express passenger cars.

 

Happy railroading,

Don

After getting over the sticker shock, I have grown to appreciate the extras that Lionel put on the VL NYC Hudson 700 E. It has given no problems and runs like a top. It pulls a NYC passenger consist.

Marx Commodore Vanderbilt. I used to think it was an ugly little thing that did not look anything like the real deal. Then one day I found a fairly clean original example at a great price and an attraction sparked for the wee homely beasty. Now I have two, the nice original one I got first and the customized smoking hot rod one I built out of parts. Nothing scale about them, but there's something sort of addictive in their clean art-deco lines.

 

YES,  To all the above.

 

I think what Matt is trying to say is "they look good".  

The engine I just bought on Saturday!

Thanks for the support. They actually don't really look that great with their utilitarian design and simplistic paint (warbonnets aside), but when they're pulling a train (big or small), everything looks right. My ATSF and CNW 6-axle units don't look right unless I'm running two or three of them with a 20-car+ train in tow (preferrably 50-foot+ cars).

I like big steam engines and multi unit diesels pulling long trains.  However, the engine that has really grown on me is my Atlas O PRR B28 0-6-0.  It is a nicely detailed little engine that sounds and runs well.

 I always like diesels and prefer to see them working, pulling a long train. The Allegheny was a love at first sight kind of engine. When I got one, I converted it to two rail and she found any defects in my layout. The line in the sand was drawn on the rest of steam though. I just preferred modern diesels. Maybe from my childhood where my HO steamers didn't perform that well?

 I got a MTH pacific that was a great deal. It ran smoother and was great fun to listen to. So I started looking closer at all the older engines. I found a NYC PS3 Dreyfus and went after it. It gives off rings of smoke and sounds great. The lighting effects are fun to watch. I put 2 Conrail diesels behind her and pretend she's like #765 on a rebirth run in my basement. I never thought a smaller (mid sized?) steamer that would spin her wheels trying to pull my long trains would be so much fun.

 I have to thank that MTH Pacific though. It started me in a new direction for engines that previously, did not appeal to me. It's fun to have them leading a consist. The guests have always preferred steam! So the diesels faithfully trailing behind providing traction, satisfies my needs. The fun is up front for all to see.

When I first saw the GE 44 ton diesel on page 4 of my new 1956 Lionel catalog I thought what a funny looking engine. Never did change my mind.  Last year I was buying some track from a guy and he begged me to give him $20.00 for this 627.

You guessed it! It is in very nice shape and runs fantastic.

59 years later, now I think it's cool.   Azgary

I have a mix of modern and postwar engines. For quite awhile, I avoided looking at or purchasing any of the early Lionel Alcos.I really didn't know much about them and they seemed to lack much detail.  On the advice of Jeff Kane, I bought a set (yellow UP 2023s). Jeff thought I'd enjoy working on them. Well, he was right. They run incredibly smoothly and are decent pullers. I ended up with all 4 of the early Alco sets and love them. In fact, I added a motor to the dummy unit in three of the sets and tethered the pairs together so the front e-unit controls both. Awesome. They pull as well as my F3s now. Glad I "saw the light".

 

Roger

My UP SD 30 with legacy.

My MTH big Pa. Transfer Diesel.  I can just see those monsters moving coal drags during the War years. Unbeliveable hard times.  Looks great on the layout and runs great.  Glad I bought one.

Nothing exotic, just like the way it looks.

There are SO MANY !!  But I am inclining more to the bigger Lionel PW steamers as opposed to the smaller ones. Pull better and smoother but my GG1, F3s and my M1000 are in the mix too.

The first time I saw the triplex I thought it was hideous but later on I bought the O 3rs model and now the HO model, I love them. 

I guess it depends on what kind of cars i am running.
Conventional freight.
Then 736 Berkshire, postwar, LTI, or mpc.  I have a lot of hours on them they just keep going.

Postwar passenger is usually the
GG1.  (We never had many in Texas so its a good opportunity to run it)

Mpc-LTI passenger
UP F3 8480 set or Williams by Williams daylight F3 ABA

Ive never had the nerve to run them but if i ran the Scale freight cars it would have to be the 18005 Hudson.

For the other scale size cars I would like the Santa Fe blue/yellow F3's ABBA
or some SD 40's.  My railroad is poor in scale size diesels so all the RRs would co-op and loan their diesels to help pull.  I don't have more than one SD of any roadname. 
Poor planning, but I am a sucker for cheap engines and good looking paint schemes.

The thread about buying something cause the price was low, had my name all over it.  Kinda thought my wife might have been involved with that thread somehow.  Hmmm.

Any of the Marx trains...

 

5 years ago if you would have asked me what I was running, it would have been strictly Lionel, nothing else. My opinion on Marx matched many others on this site, that they're just toys, nothing more.

 

Then I discovered that's what makes them so fun. They don't pretend to be anything more than toys.

 

ANd now that I know how to fix them, I don't want anything but!

The Lionel Legacy B&O EM-1. It's a nice engine and one that was never on my must have list. Barry (Barry's Trains) had them at a price I couldn't resist a couple of years back. I'm glad I bought one.The locomotive is simply stunning and just grows on you. 

That's all any of our trains are. Whether people want to accept that fact is another thing, however.

When I was a kid my mom wanted to buy me a GG1 and a GS-4, in HO scale. I couldn't stand them. I really like both now and I just bought an N-scale GS-4 since SP is one of the roads I collect in N. I don't see myself owning a GG1, because they just don't look right if they aren't under wire. I have never been a fan of the DL-109, though they are growing on me.

never cared for some of the streamlined steamers. The N&W Js are a thing of beauty, but some of the others just looked a tad odd to me. The PRR Torpedo never appealed in the least. A Pennsy steamer has just got to have that high headlight, and the Keystone is icing on the cake. Then one day Turner Classic Movies ran the Broadway Limited...and seeing the 3768 in action.....and before I knew it I was building one.

and the Marx Commodore is another one. I remember my Uncle Jim running his around my Grandparents Christmas tree, and thought it was an oddball. With my Uncle's passing earlier this year, his trains are to be mine, and now I have an appreciation for that beat up Commodore.

 

I like the 7.3L diesel that Ford used in the Super Duty lineup 

I may be with you on the GG1.   My father loved it.  When he started to have health problems he gave me his collection.  I never ran the GG1.  However; my son loves it and runs it on occasion.   It's starting to grow on me!

 

The Batman subway set my boys purchased is also growing on me.   I'm starting to come around to Tinplate as well!

I got to say, the SD40T-2 that came with the Lionel TankTrain set has grown on me. At first, I was thinking about selling it and keeping the tank cars. But now, I really like it.