I have the French 241.A "Chapelon." My comments:
1) The best whistle of any loco I have, hands down. IT has the shrill european sound down pat. I run this sometimes just to hear the whistle.
2) The best paint, detail, and "glamour" of any loco I have. The quality "look" rivals good brass locos. I rate it slightly superior to my one 3rd rail in this category.
3) Good runner. Not as good as recent Legacy, but very good. Pulls well, runs smooth and fairly slow if you ask it.
4) So-so chuffing and loco sounds. Its PS-3 but I can't hear any difference compared to PS-2 and it is noticeably - very noticeably, flatter and lass dynamic than any recent Legacy loco running nearby. The sound was a disappointment frankly, but its not that it is bad: Lionel just sets very high bar recently with its best Legacy and Vision products.
5) It is 1:43.5 scale: roughly 10% larger than 1:48 scale locos. It looks slightly out of place in among 1:48 models. The 241.A was not a big loco and as a model it is not that big (not bigger than a 1:48 scale Legacy 3751 Northern, for example). But it looks a bit weird because of its scale anyway, its 80" drivers look too big because they are, its cab a bit too high because it is, when right next to a 3751, etc. A subtle difference, and if it bothers you, as it does me, you run it so other scale locos aren't around it.
6) Buy the 1:43 European rolling stock for it to pull. Again, most 1:48 will look a bit weird with it.
