I have a complete D&H set. It is unboxed, on the layout, and a source of enjoyment. The set has a very Gilbert 'feel' (desirable for my purposes) that is probably accentuated by Lionel's choice of hue for the silver. The modern Legacy features are a big plus with me. My only quibble is that the blue and yellow on the passenger cars do not quite match the colors on the engines. No doubt about it that Lionel goofed with their production numbers for both the SP and D&H sets and did not make enough PA engine sets to go with the passenger cars. They double-goofed on the SPs and did not fill all of their pre-orders because many who already owned expanded sets of passenger cars just wanted the new Legacy ALCos.
I have had very good results with the more current PAs with the new 6-wheel drive truck design. These include complete versions of the Freedom train (a neat and novel set which always gets favorable comments when run on modular layouts in public), the Rio Grande set (which gets my vote for the prettiest Lionel Flyer PA set), and the Santa Fe 'freight scheme' (PAs only). I also have one of the original MPC-built B&O PA-PB-PA freight sets which runs well with its Gilbert style motors with the double wound fields. It pulls its freight set or the complete set of B&O passenger cars (from expanded the B&O Mikado match up) handily. I use my new(er) Rio Grandes to pull a full complement of WP cars.
Other than the WP PA-PB-PA set, I no longer own any of the 'coffee grinders' which were sold off to help pay for nice boxed Gilbert originals. I became beyond tired listening to the whir of precision machinery associated with those sets, and ... let's face it, a repro is a repro. There's still nothing quite like genuine New Haven Gilbert originals in cherry condition.
Bob
