I bought the 3rd rail s2 turbine when it came out (late 90s?) directly from sunset and opted for the beefier version with pitman motor/ smoke and upgraded the sounds to QS2+ myself (Still not command). I really like the way it looked except the smaller key stone on the front of the smoke box. I could never get over how it always seemed to struggle around O72 curves, but not because trucks would not turn but rather from the 4 drive axles that were all sprung. The two middle drivers would shift to the inside of the curve and then drop low inside of the curve and bind with the rail while the outside drivers would stay on. While it would make it through the curve, it did not look right. I had heard of fixes to this where they could replace the springs with spacers, but never pursued it. Some kind of cruise control upgrade would probably help as well with this some, but I wasn’t willing to make the investment in it before I sold it 10 years ago.
I also owned the original scale S2 turbine from Lionel. Cosmetically, I like this one the best as it did not have elephant ears, it had a real coal and it was not as green as the two newer ones from Lionel, but truth be told, I never ran it before I sold it. Based on some of Lionel’s other earlier LTI engines like the Mohawk and T1, dc motor and traction tires seemed important, which it had neither. Today there are lots of reports of blistering paint on these engines.
Since then, I had been on the look out for a lionel one issued with TMCC or legacy. I ended up buying a used TMCC one at York 2 years ago at a great price. The elephant ears would not be my first choice, but it is the only way it came. It runs really nice and has an early version of odyssey, so it maintains its speed around curves and grades. Many folks don’t like the earlier versions of Odyssey, as it can lurch a bit at start and stops too quickly when the direction button is hit (as oppose to coasting to a stop) but it works good enough for me as opposed to double/triple the cost of buying a new one with legacy. Class lights work on it as well (neither the 3rd rail or the first Lionel release light up). No real coal load (bummer). It has a weak fan smoke unit, but a large improvement in my opinion over the seuth units that came with the 3rd rail or original Lionel release, as they tended to spit smoke fluid on the engine. I still own this version and I am very happy with it. It is a really heavy engine!
I would have entertained a newer legacy version with the removable elephant ears, but as I learned more about elephant ears, if they are removed, there are no steps from the pilot to the walk way as they were molded into the elephant ears. Not a well thought out design by Lionel. Also, lots of these units originally shipped with corrosion issues on the electronics. Lionel corrected these issues, but you had to return the engine yourself for the fix. There in lies the problem, how do you know if it was sent in by the previous owner and fixed or potentially corroded and working for now.
After that long rant above, the only choice for me to buy was a 2nd hand TMCC version. I would be happy to answer any questions on it, pictures or videos if interested. I actually run the old school 18” aluminum passenger cars from mth with it that I originally purchased for the 3rd rail turbine engine back in the day. I love how the end of the tender shape seems to match the profile of these cars.
Thanks!
Mike
