Man - had I seen the 700E on eBay there would have been some more competition...
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"I guess I can't blame everyone - it is a remarkable locomotive. Maybe not as a full scale model, but definitely an old favorite with some more than amazing features."
The 700E is, indeed, a 1:48 scale model - 1930's or 2000's version.
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"My "thought" is, neither of those hold a candle to Lionels 50th anniversary J3a.
"
The Lionel J3a is a very captivating model - it has "captivated" me 3 times, so far (I shop for deals). It has "the look" - that compact, muscular NYC look. The J3 has even more of it than the J1/J2.
Its main flaws:
Incorrect headlight; it has the earlier "Sunbeam" straight type (the J3's never had these) rather than the more contoured "Pyle" type. I filed mine to a better contour.
Class ("marker") lights on the smokebox; J3's never had these, but Lionel just had to put them there on the first release (5444); the second release (5433) was correct. I removed mine on 5444; easy fix/fill/touch-up, actually.
Olympic Broad Jump tender gap.
(Oh - the MTH J1 is excellent tooling - I have an old PS1 5344 due for a "someday" upgrade - but MTH blew it on the smokebox door contour. That is not a NYC Hudson door. Bugs me. Changes the "face". I will replace mine, probably with a Lionel L3 Mohawk door or front. MTH still uses that door, unfortunately.)
