Serenska posted:I've never purchased any of the notorious clunkers -- i.e., I don't have the Kickapoo switcher and I don't own a Mini-max "boxcar" and I don't own any of the lower-end freight cars with plastic wheels -- but I do own a ton of 9200, 9400, and 9700 box cars and quad hoppers, and tank cars, and, and, and...
...and I'm a happy guy. You should be too.
Steve, I HAVE purchased those things and I'm still a happy guy!
Truthfully, I think the Kickapoo has received an unjustified bad rap over the years. Under the hood, it's the same mechanism from the MPC 2-4-2's and 4-4-2's, minus the lead and trailing trucks. The entire KV&N set was modern Lionel's first big move in doing something different, but the general consensus is that it missed the mark. No doubt it was engineered to a price point, and the fact that it only lasted one year (along with the accompanying upscale Pioneer Docksider set) says the market wasn't ready for such a foreign concept. I've tried to track down the "product champion" of the Kickapoo from the early MPC guys that are still with us, but haven't had any luck getting further with the story.
I've attached a photo of the scratch-built, prototype Kickapoo locomotive that I acquired over twenty years ago. It's one of my favorites.
And as for the 9090 Mini-Max boxcar, I have no idea what they were thinking!
TRW
