Lionel Steamers Have Arrived!

Fantastic loco.......love them long haul tenders......

I don't doubt that, Marty.  But Lionel set the bar by moving the switches on earlier implementations, which made for much more convenient access to them.  Leaving them underneath the locomotive now seems a step backwards.  That's all I'm sayin'.

David

Looks so much better in your pictures than in the catalog!  I love all the detail.  Enjoy your locomotive!

I agree the under the loco switches are a real pain. I was hoping that had ended but I guess on some models they can't get it to work

Nice looking unit though

If the switches are on the bottom of the loco, generally speaking it means Lionel used an older mold. When the switches are on the top, it indicates a new mold or a modified one. It is very easy to modify an old mold for the switches to be mounted in a dome such as used in the VL BB and the EM-1 and the SF 4-8-4 which I believe are new molds but not sure....I believe the AC-12 is also an older mold, switches on the bottom

BTW, I am confused and it happens easily to me..IS there a Steam whistle effect on this loco? I was not interested in buying it because the Lionel site does not list it as having one. Can the OP confirm either way?

I too prefer the switches on top of the locomotive as opposed to underneath, but I much prefer a lower price over this convenience.  I spoke to Mike Reagan about this feature. Changing the tooling on the ATSF Northern to make this possible was very expensive, contrary to Rocky Mountaineer's speculation.  Mike more or less said that it was cost prohibitive and that re-tooling an existing die would not be likely to happen on future non-Vision Line offerings. He did not say whether or not this feature will appear on newly tooled engines.  I am curious if the heavy Mikados will have the switches under the sand dome.  

Nice, Sean! REALLY great looking engine! Can't wait to see/hear it run.

Making a "train run" down to Nicholas Smith tomorrow for my CNJ Mikado. (A cheesesteak at the Thunder Bird, too   )

I guess when Lionel changed the online shipping schedule for them from February to March .... they knew where the Mikados actually were.

Now here's someone who knows how to get trains at Nicholas Smith - throw in a cheesesteak from the Thunder Bird!  Now I've gotta stop down there in the next few days to see what's up at the shop in Broomall!

Yes this engine Does have Whistle Steam effect.  However this is the first Legacy engine I have owned that did not have a separate On/Off switch for the whistle smoke.  There is just one single switch that controls the On/Off for both units.

But not sure why I need 2 switches anyway.  If I'm going to use smoke I would want both units working and if I'm not going to use smoke then 1 switch turns them both off.

If the two smoke fans are sharing the same smoke tank/heat element, then it makes sense to have one switch, cheaper and easier...

Why is the steam whistle smoke effect NOT spec'd on the site? they sure lost my sale ....I am now looking for a Berk

Correct me if I am wrong but I thought that Lionel only Made the M1-a in TMCC and now in Legacy.  I did not think they made the M1-b.  I thought that MTH made the M1-b version.

Yes Lionel made an M1b. The trick is trying to find one...

Lionel has done both the M1a and M1b.  The Legacy M1b was cataloged way back in the 2008v1 catalog.

Andy

Contact a forum sponsor, sure one of them have a few extras.  I'd hurry though...

My L&N Mikado is on the way from Legacy Station in Atlanta; that's typically next day

to Mobile.

Always nervous about these new things.

Andy,

Thanks.  I guess I missed out

That is strange.  I just noticed that under the M1a listings in the catalog, it DOES list whistle steam, but under the M1a listing on the Lionel product webpage if you go directly to the product search and not through the catalog, it does not.  Obviously a typo/mistake.  Nicholas Smith has a few extras, so you can still get one if so inclined.  They have both road numbers.

It was easy to miss - that was the catalog with the first Legacy PM 1225 and the Legacy UP FEF 844's - lots of buzz surrounded those two at the time and it really overshadowed the M1b.  It was a hard decision for me - I wanted all three but could only get one (the PM 1225).  I know for sure I will be ordering an M1b the next time they catalog one (hopefully in a catalog without two other engines I want even more).

Andy

SHES A BEAUTY, ENJOY

T4TT, give it a rest please.    There's nothing to speculate here.  We all know that changes to existing tooling cost money.  How much is the real question, and it's likely a moving target each year.  So given the uncertainty of Chinese factory costs and schedules these days, the strategy of "the fewer changes the better" is Lionel's safe way around that for now.  Bottom line, corners are gonna be cut wherever possible these days, 'cause it's become pretty clear there's a growing disconnect between cataloging something and then going to the well to have it made/delivered.  Nearly all the importers are making that painfully clear.

While I'm sure there's a cost involved to move these switches "upstairs" under a sand dome, that alone can't be the complete cost-prohibitive factor here.  After all, Lionel up'd the MSRP on these M1a steamers to $1,500, and they're telling us they still couldn't deliver the newer switch arrangement?      No... I guess we now need to spend upwards of $2K (street-price) to get the improved slide-switches treatment reserved for Vision-Line steamers today, when we earlier saw them on a product (i.e., the Northern) with a $1,300 MSRP and $995 street-price. 

Heck, even the Milwaukee Road S-3 from a few years ago had enhanced steam-chest effects along with slide-switches moved upstairs, and that jewel carried a modest (by today's standards) $995 MSRP, and most dealers sold them for under $900 when they first came out.

What a lovely trend we're seeing regarding the new prices we're expected to pay for features that had already been introduced on products costing much less.   

David

Just a quick video added.  YouTube link below.  Remember I'm in the middle of my bench work build so I don't have any track, so I just ran it back and forth on a couple of straight tracks so you can see smoke and hear sounds.  I'm using a little Sony Action Cam so the sound does not do it justice of what you hear in person. 

http://youtu.be/AD6GYK85RRc

Excellent!  Viewing the video, you can really appreciate the much closer gap between the loco and tender than on the previous offering.

Sound is awesome, and smoke features look great, this locos gonna be a hit

On a side note, that looks like one heck of a layout your building Sean.

It may not do full justice, but the M1A sounds great regardless. The whistle is full of voice and of course the whistle steam is a pleaser. Hope you enjoy it, and hope it makes itself home on the new layout.

Now to wait to see the Heavy Mikados in action...

Thanks for taking the time to do it, Sean. 

Another home-run for Lionel in the sounds department... nobody in the market seems to be able to touch Legacy Railsounds.  Nice implementation of whistle-steam on this locomotive too... very well-defined stream of smoke that is very noticeable.

This will be a definite hit with folks looking for great sounds and steam effects WITHOUT getting into articulated territory and super broad radii curves.    Of course, double-heading is a real possibility here!!!

David

Thx Sean...Again, a beautiful engine...

BTW, Lionel  could have simply sanded the dome after being injected and simply made another "dome top" to fit, cost is very very small. they could have even cut the dome by a laser and simply used the cut dome top, problem solved, two extra steps and no mold changes. I have worked with Turbine jet molds using Fiberglass, Carbon Fiber and Kevlar and it is very possible to add to a minor detail to the mold without having to create an expensive new one.

The switches on the bottom are "sometimes" a deal breaker for me, again, for me

Sean, you got me in trouble....I think I will forgive Lionel about the switches placement and get the other Cab #

Now, Who has the best Price????

I seem to recall someone starting a thread a while back along the lines, "Does the OGR Forum influence your purchases?". 

I think this is a perfect example of what the originator of that thread had in mind!!!    How would you answer it, Sam?

David

Nicholas Smith has both numbers.  1079.99 but don't wait too long.

Oh and don't forget once it's programmed you never need to touch the switches again anyway.  You can turn smoke on and off through your cab 2 if needed.  

Interesting that Charlie Ro's website is already no longer showing both road numbers (which were definitely there last night). 

David

Thanks for the video.  Enjoy what seems to be a very nice engine!

Sandjam,

     Great looking and sounding engine best of luck with it.

     I have the Lionel TMCC M1a from years back. Alex M has upgraded the chuffs, put in a Super Chuffer Smoke system and changed the lighting to LEDs. Even when this engine only had two chuffs per revolution when I ran it at the club even the HO guys would come down to listen and watch it run. The sounds were that good. Now that I have had it upgraded it hard to tell it from the Legacy versions except for the whistle smoke..........I wonder if Alex can install whistle smoke upgrades........Alex sharpen your drill bits you need to drill a hole in the Mountain's shell.

JohnB

Really nice Video, Really Nice Locomotive, Really Nice Layout in Progress..Thanks, and Happy Railroading

Did you pick up the CNJ Mikado? Do you have any photos you can share with us? I was on the fence on ordering this one but tough to pass up since I live in NJ.

I did not pick up a Mikado, but they are shipped.  So hopefully someone else has one and will post a thread on it.  I did see it in person at Nicholas Smith and they looked great to me, but we did not put it on the track and run it since I was interested in the M1a instead.