Advice on which Chessie Steam Special #2101 loco

I would say go the the 6-18011 one from the early 90's if you want to stay under 500.00.  You can get them at a good price now.  I have the Reading 2100 and really enjoy it.  You will need 72 inch curves if you want to run it nicely however.

Jim 

You can find people to put in TMCC or DCS into it too if you want later on.

Jim 

Jim,

  Thanks.  Definately the one I have been looking at.  All 072 here so will be fine.  Just bought Williams 72" madison cars and hoping they look good with the 6-18011 loco.

Scott

Lionel version from the early 90’s is a good choice.  I believe I saw one within the last week in the high 300-400 range On eBay. I have seen some mth versions sell as low as high 600 and low 700’s on eBay as well.    I had one one of the early lionels years ago and it was very nice engine for it’s time.   You would have to really stretch your budget but the most recent Lionel legacy version of the t1 is  IMHO one of the finer scale engines to be released of late.    Good luck with whatever you choose.

Jeremy,

 Thanks for the info!  Based on the good advice here, I bought a 6-18011 on ebay!  

Scott

I have both Lionel versions (6-18011 and the Legacy Version) as well as the MTH Proto 2.0 version (which I am going to be selling as I prefer TMCC).  18011 is a good buy, but is missing a lot of detail (drive rods are not complete, eagle is missing, no marker lights, no number boards, etc).  I super-detailed my version and had it converted to a DC Motor (Frank Timko did the conversion) and upgraded it to TMCC.  If you want pictures of my upgrades, just let me know.  

Hi Allan,

I would like to see pictures of what you did with this one.

Sincerely,

Jim 

Jim,

Here you go.  I've attached a pdf of all the changes I made.  Here are the pics that show them installed:

C&O Allie posted:

Jim,

Here you go.  I've attached a pdf of all the changes I made.  Here are the pics that show them installed:

Thanks for sharing your pdf.  It’s a nice read.  I have a aux tender project I need to start on to go with my new t1.

Jeremy,

Thanks for the kind words.  To help on your Aux Tender, here are the decals I used for both my second and third versions (the first was using a Hudson Tender and not a Mohawk Tender) along with pics of the two (Version 3 first):

C&O Allie posted:

Jim,

Here you go.  I've attached a pdf of all the changes I made.  Here are the pics that show them installed:

Is this the one that help pull the freedom train?I think it was also pulled by T&P TEXAS type and SP gs4 locomotive.

Yes, 2101 pulled the American Freedom Train before pulling The Chessie Steam Special.

Who's parts did you use for the rods and valve guide

Harold

Hi Harold,

Here is what I used:

For the Radius Bar, I used a rod from Lionel parts 690700E216 and 690700E217 (shown below).  However, 217 is not available, but you should be able to use 216 and flip it around as it is not tapered.  Note that these have a jog in them, so I had to straighten them out using a clamp/pliers.  Based on where it is, it did not look bad once done.  To attach to the Expansion Link, I clipped open the larger circle end and expanded it to fit around the existing pin.  Then I squeezed the ends back together.

For the Crosshead Arm, Union Link, and Combination Lever, I used MTH parts EC-1110007 and EC-1120007.  I'm sure you could also use Lionel's versions 6208029238 and 6208029239.  The pics below show where to cut (straight lines) and what to not use (X's).  On the upper cut, I just ground down the rivets to remove the Radius Bar and the Valve Stem.  If you can't get the MTH versions, you can probably get them from the Lionel version.