ADCX Rob posted:Adriatic posted:...Gramps ordered sight unseen from Lionel from the mid 30s till the mid 70s. Finally, the overall quality made him send an engine back. He cried because "his Lionel" was dead...
Too bad. 1976 was the year things started getting really good again.
That's right. Starting with the 8600 steam loco and the return of Magne-Traction. But the real eye-opener was the 8753 GG-1 from 1977 -- it proved to the Fundimensions guys that they didn't need to re-engineer anything to reduce costs on high-end product, and that there were people out there willing to pay the price to get the items with the features that they wanted. I'm really curious to know which locomotive was delivered that missed expectations so badly -- nothing obvious comes to mind.
scale rail posted:As I remember at the time the Kickapoo was designed by a old Lionel designer. He also designed the small Milwaukee Madison cars. No operating couplers and very simple cars as was the steam engine. I bought all those MPC things early on. I repainted the steamer and detailed it but had no problem running it. I can look up more detail on the steam engine if anyone would like. Don
Bruno Branstner is credited with the Kickapoo, but I believe Gordon Hathaway did the "Milwaukee" cars. (They originally planned on doing the Pennsylvania cars first.)
C W Burfle posted:He also designed the small Milwaukee Madison cars.
Whatever model railroading magazine I was getting at time (MR or RMC) ran a feature article about those "baby Madison" cars when they were being designed. If I recall correctly, One of the points the article featured was the changeable end to make a Pullman or an observation.
I only have a vague recollection of that article. I think it was in Railroad Model Craftsman, circa 1973. Anyone know which issue?
TRW
