Curtis,
Have you already acquired those Lionel ES44AC models?
I ask because I considered getting a Lionel ES44AC models in the past for conversion to 2-rail, but after reading posts on these forums, I understood that unlike MTH, Lionel's tooling wasn't very flexible or Lionel wasn't interested in having road-specific details for these models. I didn't want to preorder a Lionel ES44AC based on just an artwork in a catalog.
It felt like if all the planets were aligned, 1 of the Lionel offerings would match the prototype while most others would have incorrect road-specific details.
The real ES44AC have road specific variations.
Some have the front number boards above the front windshield while other roads have them on the wide-front hood.
Some railroads have the front doors on the left while others have them on the right, some with and others without the glass window on these doors.
Railroads like CSX and Ferromex had the radial truck while railroads like Union Pacific and BNSF had the Hi-Ad trucks.
Then there were details that changed during the build like later Canadian Pacific units being delivered with Hi-Ad trucks instead of the earlier deliveries with the radial trucks or Canadian National ES44DCs that initially had the teardrop front windshield but later went to the more common rectangular windshields like most other Evolution locomotives. MTH did try to capture some of these changes but Lionel seemed to be unwilling.
These are just my opinion,
Naveen Rajan
