overlandflyer posted:thank god... in the 1920's the 400E may have been state of the art, but it is one of the most ridiculous wheel arrangement in locomotive history. add to that it's long past due to put a halt to all the idiotic liveries it has been forced to wear. i can't help but relate what this locomotive has gone through to that poor dog you always see around the holidays dressed in a sweater to match their owner.
Kind of have to agree with you. The Reading Railroad built a 4-4-4 but quickly converted it back to a 4-4-2. the 400E is good because it's large and shiny. Thanks to MTH for having reproduced it - they are now ubiquitous and cheap. As a boy, I would dream of owning one, but due to scarcity and collector lust, they were always well out of range. My dad and I went to the Chicago 1970 TCA convention and word had it that a really nice set went for $10,000 at the very start of the meet. That is like $80,000 today, and yes, the very finest sets still go for that money in original perfect boxes with perfect trains. But I can pick up a good used MTH 400E almost any time for about $500, and recently bought 4 State cars for under $150 each. That would have been about $125 in 1970 terms. Dirt cheap, and they are like new and run great. Not picking up any pink ones any time soon, though.
Jim
