Your fave Std. Gauge Locomotive for a Freight consist??

Carey TeaRose posted:

Hoppers, gondolas, and tank cars, oh my... It was only a matter of time... looks like Tom has gotten the (Std. Gauge) bug! Looking at the new layout table, he said we should have a freight car run.

Looking for recommendations from folks of a proper locomotive to match up with a line of MTH/Lionel repro  freight cars. Back in the day, I'm not sure what locos pulled freight, not passenger cars.  Pics appreciated, as there are so many out there.

For freight, the Lionel 1835E is perfect. Big enough for 200 series and small enough for 500 series. It also has a lot less bright work giving it a look of a worker.

Steve

1835  Yes !!  That is what I was going to recommend. Have some gondolas with drinks in them circling the layout.

Lionel paired many locos with the freight cars so you can pretty much pick and choose and you'd be correct. As a ratio, prototypically, the electrics usually pulled passenger consists except where steam was not allowed. The 1835E is a beautiful and popular mid range steam loco. The earlier 385E with chugger adds some sounds excitement otherwise they are the same loco. The 1835E always came in black and the 385 typically in Gunmetal Grey. Both have the more reliable Bild-A-Loco motors and Ives reverse units.

Tin

A black 390E (or 1-390E) goes very well with 500's.

Bob

I actually like the grey 400E for freight! Or any 402 or 408. (See the article on the black 402 - pretty cool)