I think Lionel has some really nice diesel models but the conversion to fixed pilots, correct ride height, and Kadees is too time consuming to justify buying more of their engines, at least while I'm doing heavy layout construction right now.
Man you are so right about that! I was going to sell my F3's because I didn't want to put all these hours into them to get rid of the toy train appearance with those issues. I decided to keep them because they were the 1st scale engines I bought as an adult, which got me back into this hobby, from my childhood days. So for about $100-$150, and 10-20 hours of time, I'll get them to look the way I want to and hang onto them 
Now my Lionel F7's.... eh, they just might have to go, and no more Lionel F units for me either. Too much work to make them look right, compared to Atlas and 3rd Rail F's.
