Why no Lionel Die cast General?

Using die cast tooling for plastic injection molding is quite do-able.  The other direction -not so.  Metal has higher temperature and pressures.

 

Lou N

Why not take one of the MTH PS/1 generals and do a TMCC upgrade on it?  I see them pretty cheap at times.

 

I would love that but when you have no skill to do so. I have had the worst luck installing ERR electronics.  There isn't anyone even close to my area that can do it and for me financially it wouldn't be viable.  How long has it been since Lionel retooled a locomotive? Maybe it is about time to for some new tooling.  WBB did it with their diesels and they don't sell nearly as many locomotives as Lionel.

Isn't the Lincoln Funeral engine brass (which I complained about being way too morbid until I recently purchased one)

I saw it but was afraid of purchasing another plastic General. Thanks for the tip I will check it out.

I briefly had one of the plastic Generals, I was going to convert it to TMCC.  After looking it over, I sold it and moved on to the diecast MTH.

 

Yes that is one engine that begs to be improved. I have passed on the MTH one, to me it just doesn't look right. Good sound and smoke though.

It's just kind of funny that first you say you like the MTH ones a lot, and then a sentence or two later acknowledge that the quality of the MTH is much better, but you prefer a Lionel.  I am kind of like that too, very brand loyal, I have all Lionel but one K line caboose.  Never owned an MTH anything.  I think John has the perfect solution, convert your two MTHs to Lionel TMCC with the Railsounds you prefer.  The best of both worlds. In an imperfect world.    

I am happier with my Lionel locomotives but I am settling on the MTH because it is better quality construction wise.  I find that MTH electronics are a little more finicky than Lionel's. If Lionel had a General that was built as well with RS and TMCC I would have that.

You can have that, but it will be custom built.

 

From previous comments I have read about the General for O gauge/O Scale is that it has to be true to 1:48th scale which would mean miniature electronics and smaller motors, which would mean that it would have to be either very thin die-cast parts or brass construction.

 

Andrew

 

 

Nothing wrong or inherently evil in broadening one's horizons.  Sometimes the simple phrase that some people just don't know what they're missing holds true if they restrict their purchases based on the color of the box. 

I don't restrict my purchases by the color of the box.  Lionel came in orange or white boxes. 

Out of my 100 or so Command Control locos, they are pretty evenly split between Lionel's TMCC and MTH PS-2 systems. They all are good locos, neither one is better than the other unless you are wearing rose colored glasses or blinders. I sure can't figure out why someone would limit their chance at a desired loco just because its in the wrong box.

The Lionel General was ~ and is still ~ one of my favorite engines. But it (and the MTH  version) both suffer the same problem: they are just too darn big. It would be neat to have a more scale sized (affordable) version from both manufacturers.

Fred

One of my favorites also - have a ton of them.  Always wished Lionel had at least shortened the body to line it up correctly over the wheels once they went to the can motor.  It would still be too big, but would look much better, like the MTH version.  I keep looking at some beat-up engines I have trying to figure out if there is a way to cut out some of the body and cab and re-mount on the chassis to get a closer match to the actual engine, but have not come up with a repeatable procedure as yet.  Has anyone on the forum attempted this?

With the newer and smaller electronics, it would be nice to see a genuine scale sized General.  Until that happens, I prefer the diecast one, even if the Lionel may be slightly more "correct".  The cheapness of the plastic Lionel just doesn't do it for me.

Odd that manufacturers of HO, N, and yes even Z scale developed motors and electronics to fit their engines and keep them in scale. Yet when it comes to "O", we take what they offer or live without, instead of offering what is scale and right and selling more.

I love "O" scale, but detest that we have to accept 2nd best. If "N" and "Z" had been treated the same as "O" is, they would never have gotten to todays popularity as they are now. Both these scales, the manufacturers listen. All 3 scales, Ho, N, and Z are essentially for the serious adult modelers, were "O" has not only the serious adult modelers, but the younger generation and family also.

 As to "General" type engines, they didn't pull more then 1/2 dozen cars, so powerfull motors aren't needed.

 

Remember that the Lionel "General" types are more of a toy train than an attempt at being an accurate model.  I like them a lot for what they are.  While I like the fact that the MTH ones are more substantial, they also cost a lot more, and they also look a little funny to me, proportion-wise.  I know the Lionels are not proportionally correct, but I still find them more pleasing aesthetically.

 

As much as I'd like to see a smaller die-cast version of their 4-4-0's, I really don't think that Lionel sees enough demand for a more expensive 4-4-0 to warrant the new tooling that would be needed.

 

Just got to thinking, I have a lot of 4-4-0's - Lionel (10), MTH (1) and SMR (3)... I think I may have a General problem...

 

Andy