First I have my X1110, my only modern Lionel engine in the fleet. This came with a 1998 set that I understand was the last ready-to-run set made partially in the USA. It was my only engine I had and ran it to death when it finally kicked the bucket when I was probably 11 or 12, and fell out of running trains for a while.
Since this engine didn't work, I bought my first postwar engine to replace it, a 1948 2026:
After that, Christmas was coming up and I wanted to build a village with a railroad in it, rather than the table-top trainless (boring) villages of past years, and I envisioned two different trains running in it, so I bought this rather hagardly looking (great runner, though) 1948 2025:
Following that Christmas, my growing addiction to vintage Lionel trains was becoming apparent, and upon a visit to the local train store, I came home with this beautiful 1937 259e:
Only a week or two passed before the train show came to town, and I bought my first complete set (may start a new thread on that later), outfit 1427ws from 1948, with a pristine 1948 2026 at the helm:
Then the addiction subsided a little, with some accessories here, some rolling stock there, and even a nice UP 2023, but that ain't steam. The following Christmas, I got a naked, paintless, and non-functional 1946 2020 steam turbine. My dad and I always had fun sitting down at our kitchen table work bench and fixing these up. In fact, almost half of all my engines weren't working when I got them, but they all run now. Anyway we fixed it up and it was pulling cars through the village before Christmas dinner. Throughout the year when I had time, I adorned it with a handsome brown and gold fictional livery to match my MPC PRR Broadway Limited set.
The next year for Christmas, I got a 1955(?) 2065. I was drawn to it for the feedwater heater which reminded me of my first engine.
That following summer, I went to a month-long recording school out in the foothills of southern Ohio (I'm a musician when I'm not hiding away in the basement with my trains) and we stayed in the provided cabins up in the hills. During the downtime I went into town and visited an antique store and found this 1952 2056. It had grey paint on all the pipes and details, and it still exists on the water scoop on the tender. I sat on the porch of my cabin and gingerly scraped off the grey paint with a pocket knife, without flaking off so much as one piece of the original paint.
Most recently, for Christmas, I received this 1946 221. But it is worth noting, however, that this was no ordinary 221, as one of the previous owners had jammed an old Christmas light in where the headlamp should be. I immediately fell I love with the red headlight. It recently burned out, however, so I replaced it with a normal bulb...that was coated in red.