Picture shows my recently purchased Lionel New York Central S-2 electric “S-motor” #3207. It runs very smoothly and has the interesting sounds of an electric locomotive as well as the Lionel swinging bell – which is nice but an unnecessary gimmick which just adds to the model’s cost. This is a heavy, die-cast model with excellent detail, especially on the trucks and their third-rail pickups.
The S-motors were the world’s first mass-produced, main-line electric locomotives. Built between 1904 and 1909, they were used for passenger service into Grand Central Station beginning in 1907 to comply with the ban on steam locomotives which went into effect in 1908. The S-motors were never fully satisfactory pulling long heavy passenger trains at high speeds and after 1913 were assigned to short local commuter trains and empty equipment moves for more than sixty years. They finished their careers in switching service at Grand Central Terminal.
The S-2s weighed between 224,000 and 228,000 pounds and operated at speeds up to 60 miles-per-hour on 660-volt DC current. Their starting tractive effort was 37,000 pounds at 2,200 horsepower.
MELGAR
