What is your most expensive Locomotive and are you glad you bought it?

"It's crackers to give a rozzer the dropsy in snide!"

"it's crazy to give a policeman a package of worthless money"

I think that Hiawatha could make me overlook the spread on the Atlantic's drivers. And wih a beaver on the tail end I doubt I'd care anymore.

Gilly@N&W posted:

"It's crackers to give a rozzer the dropsy in snide!"

 

"it's crazy to give a policeman a package of worthless money"

Or, to be even more precise, "It's crazy to give a policeman a bribe in counterfeit money!" 

The catchphrase was popular in MAD Magazine in the 50s and 60s...  ;-)

Mitch

Such a nice thread full of beautiful engines. (my most expensive engine is Lionel's original Thomas the Tank engine for about $110)

My NYC Empire State express Hudson @ $1,200.00 I love this loco! Runner up would be my 3rd rail DM&IR Yellowstone at $950 used. it's so cool to see the variety of makes and models and road names on this thread!

My Legacy L&N Heavy Mikado that I ordered immediately from Charles Ro when they showed on their website. I don't even remember what I paid. 

It is parked on a siding on my small layout. Amazing me it negotiated my 036 curves. And IMO it looked great doing so! I would have liked it appearance had it looked "jack knifed" on the curves. It is the pride and joy of Loop and Nowhere (L&N).

TM Terry posted:

"Loop and Nowhere"

I like that

Sunset Models NP 4-6-6-4 Z-8 ... best locomotive on the layout by a mile!  Never left the layout since the day it arrived.

Mine is an MTH Premier Western Pacific GS-64.  Once I first laid eyes on one, I had to have it.  For my wife, it's the MTH Premier SP GS-4 #4449.  She had the option of diamond tennis bracelet or that engine for our Anniversary.  She chose the model, honest to God.  She had been begging for one for three years now.  She does give me some good natured, humorous grief over the fact that two identical models, same manufacturer, yet mine was $100 more than hers and yet hers "is so much prettier".  It's a pity though that those two beautiful monsters and their trains (and all the other O Gauge) only gets out from November through New Years each year.  She is chomping at the bit to crack the throttle for the first time on hers, but I already test ran it (shh!  don't tell her!)

O scale MTH bigboy paid 1800 when they first came out . I do regret it because they took a huge nosedive.   G scale charles ro bigboy. paid 3300. Glad I have it. 7and 1/4 ride on . Great American Train company Mogul 10000. Happy I bought it but wouldn't do it again. John 

My visionline challenger, paid a grand, that was the cheap part,  I then tore out the layout and went to around the room to run it right, finished the room so its nice, and bought atlas track..... you know the rest $$$ and still working on it. Most expensive engine by far. Glad I bought it because it forced me to finish the room and make a better layout.

I have 4 of these Lionel SD70ACe's, my favorite is the PRR #1854. The horn is amazing on it! 

I remember how when I was in college Lionel came out with the Century Club. I ordered the 773, all while eating ramen.

The most expensive locomotives I have are:

• Lionel Milwaukee Road 261$1000.
• Third Rail NP # 2626 at about $1400.
• MTH Premier GN S2 Passenger Set
• MTH Premier NKP Passenger Set

In the pipeline are the NP Z6 Challenger and the Santa Fe 2903 by MTH Premier.

David

overlandflyer posted:

AGHRMatt posted:

overlandflyer posted:...

There are a few of these Jim Kreider design NKP Berkshires in the SoCal area.  here is a short clip of one of the oil burner models (besides mine, i know of only two other coal burners)...

anyone interested in either building one or commissioning a build, feel free to contact me and i can put you in touch with the right people.  as a warning, though, it might just bump your kid's college education to the 3rd biggest expense in your life.

cheers...gary

Nice vid. Is that out at Riverside Live Steamers?

yes, and if i weren't such a klutz and currently recovering from a recent fall (15 stitches... *ouch*) i would be out there tomorrow steaming up.  that clip was shot during the park reconstruction but if you check out another one of my Youtube videos "a lap around Hunter Park", it gives a much better look at the park as it is today.

cheers...gary

If I had the outdoor space, I'd model the RLS park layout in O scale -- a model of a model railroad. The track arrangement shows a lot of thought and variety of routing.

I don't have large resources. Nice thread. None of my postwar or modern engines cost over $500, but my favorite by far was a junker FM I redid from the ground up. It runs well, has a deeper horn than most Lionels, and I learned a lot about redoing damaged shells, frames and motors before I repainted it in my own "family" colors. The NP&G are the names of me, my wife and 4 adopted kids. Maybe my cheap runner won't offend the eyes of those who buy expensively to run and admire their babies. Expensive in terms of hours spent, parts I had to order and wait for and effort masking, painting and decaling? Yeah, expensive...

Amazing.....we're on page 4 of this thread,...and so far...it would seem...no engine purchase has carried the  cost of a divorce, complete with lawyer(s) and sale/division of properties! ....

Good show!!

KD

My most expensive engine is my Pennsylvania S1 Duplex. To me it was worth it. A beautiful one of a kind engine.  Here is my S1 next to my T1, J1 (Number 2 most expensive) and an Atlantic for size comparisons.

Mine is the first Vision locomotive--the Pennsy CC2s 0-8-8-0.  I'd buy it again, but I don't really know how it could be improved upon.

The Vision Line Big Boy was the most expensive locomotive I own.  I bought into the hype.  While it certainly is a fun engine to run and I think worth what I paid, I think I could have spread those funds out for other purchases and really not missed it.

LGB/Aster Southern African Garratt (Gauge 1/brass).  Located it in the Netherlands where it was shipped to me.  Mint  condition.

The only other one I could find in that condition was in the states and the asking price was $8500.00; out of my league.

Lionel EM Yellowstone. More than I ever thought I would pay for an engine. Would I do it again? Maybe...... Perhaps I would opt for two somewhat smaller but still big NYC steamers. 

I would have to say mine is the Amazing MILW 261 that Lionel made a few years back. It really wasn't all that expensive brand new especially for a locomotive that size with the steam chest effects. A great looker and an even better runner. Couldn't ask for a better locomotive. Here it is enjoying semi-retirement since my layout is no more.

daylight posted:

LGB/Aster Southern African Garratt (Gauge 1/brass).  Located it in the Netherlands where it was shipped to me.  Mint  condition.

The only other one I could find in that condition was in the states and the asking price was $8500.00; out of my league.

I have long regretted not buying one when LGB first released them.

My most expensive engine is not necessarily my usual "go-to" engine, but I like it nonetheless.  It is a set of four Milwaukee Road box cabs, with two powered.  Overall, the locomotive with 4 units measures over 4 feet in length. Don, you must have gotten a better deal than I because my four units cost about $1700.  I chose the black paint scheme because I have so many Milwaukee Road engines in orange and maroon that I wanted some variety.  Besides, my layout is reminiscent of 1950 and the "road" was just in the process of painting those locomotives in their black, orange and maroon colors.

Paul Fischer

VL Big Boy for me, too.  I had wanted a Big Boy ever since I first visited the 4012 in Scranton, and I wasn't able to swing the first Legacy release, so I couldn't be happier with it.  It is fun to run, sounds great and is always an attention-getter at shows.

Andy

daylight posted:

LGB/Aster Southern African Garratt (Gauge 1/brass).  Located it in the Netherlands where it was shipped to me.  Mint  condition.

The only other one I could find in that condition was in the states and the asking price was $8500.00; out of my league.

I'd love to see a photo of this one if you could manage it sometime

Mine is my genuine Lionel 700e......oh, who is kidding who, it is a Williams Brass NYC Hudson that I got from Mario's trains for like $425....but I think I love it as much as I would the original. Sits proudly in a display case in my living room, as a reminder to finish the layout room and actually give it a place to run