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Missed out on this guy during the first Legacy run back in 2012 and knew I wasn't going to let that happen this time around! First impressions are that this is a solid, detailed engine equal to what anyone would expect from a high dollar Legacy model. This appears to be basically a direct reissue of the 2012 model but with Bluetooth, which is no problem at all as that was a fantastic engine, as evidenced by the fact that it is nearly impossible to find one on the second hand market!

I did notice on a few of the early videos I'd seen of this run of 4-8-4 Northerns that the whistle steam smoke was crazy thick and almost completely eclipsed the actual smoke from the stack. I found this to be the case on mine, but the smoke very quickly dissipated to the normal amount as seen in the videos below, even with adding smoke fluid. Must have been some intense fluid they added from the factory! Smelled pretty bad, though.

Have to confess a few QC issues I ran into. First, the right side steps on the front were broken off in the box. As it turned out, too little glue was applied, and the steps popped right back in. Second, I quickly noticed that both the engine and tender were loose on their frames. I checked, and sure enough all of the body mount screws were loose. Snugging them up fixed the problem, but it seems someone threaded the screws in but forgot to tighten...

On a much more positive note, it appears Lionel has bumped their warranty up to two years from one, according to the back of the owners manual.  Very good to see!  Maybe this is old news but I had not heard.

Also of note is that there are only two speakers, unless my engine mounted one is not working. It has plenty of sound output, no doubt, akin to any other modern Legacy locomotive, but I had seen advertised a few places that it would have a three speaker setup.  Guess this was either mistaken info, or a last minute change.

Overall, after the unfortunate but minor QC teething issues, it’s a great locomotive and a wonderful 3 rail O scale tribute to 3751.  If you missed out on this beauty back in 2012, now is your chance to pick one up!  Or go for one of its sisters!

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Videos (2)
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Last edited by Catonsville Central Railway
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Also of note is that there are only two speakers, unless my engine mounted one is not working. It has plenty of sound output, no doubt, akin to any other modern Legacy locomotive, but I had seen advertised a few places that it would have a three speaker setup.  Guess this was either mistaken info, or a last minute change.

I think the 3 speakers is a copy and paste error from the VL offering. The recently released tank engines also say 3 speakers, no way that happened LOL!

Having said that. Your Northern sounds really good on that video, congratulations Woody!

Last edited by RickO
@Lou1985 posted:

20200901_115245That's really nice. I have a Premier ATSF 2900 class Northern that I love. I think I'll have to get one of these Lionel 3751 class Northerns to go with it.

Nice!  I may actually do the reverse of you.  Almost got one of those 2900 classes when they came out a few years ago and regretted not going for it.  May look for a second hand one if I can find it.

Nice!  I may actually do the reverse of you.  Almost got one of those 2900 classes when they came out a few years ago and regretted not going for it.  May look for a second hand one if I can find it.

I'm only missing a 3751 class Northern to have all the scale/accurate ATSF steam locomotives Lionel and MTH made in diecast. I have a Premier 2900 class Northern, 3460 class Hudson (three, the Blue Goose and two regular ones), and a 5011 class Texas. The Lionel 3751 class would round it out.

Your model is nice. The whistle sounds very close to the actual one on the real 3751.

Be forewarned the 2900 class is MASSIVE. It's a little under 32" long and needs all of 072 curves. The 3751 class is about the size of a 3460 class Hudson at 27 inches.

Last edited by Lou1985
@Lou1985 posted:

I'm only missing a 3751 class Northern to have all the scale/accurate ATSF steam locomotives Lionel and MTH made in diecast. I have a Premier 2900 class Northern, 3460 class Hudson (three, the Blue Goose and two regular ones), and a 5011 class Texas. The Lionel 3751 class would round it out.

Your model is nice. The whistle sounds very close to the actual one on the real 3751.

Be forewarned the 2900 class is MASSIVE. It's a little under 32" long and needs all of 072 curves. The 3751 class is about the size of a 3460 class Hudson at 27 inches.

Nice collection!  I'd love to get the Hudson, too.  I believe I heard Lionel recorded this whistle from the actual 3751 at some point.

Rick, the Lionel product number is 2031160.  It was in the 2019 V2 catalog I believe.

Woody, thanks for the video - I noted the whistle is awesome and appears different from the whistle in the Frisco 4-8-4.

When Lou posted a picture of his ATSF 4-8-4 I did a double-take not realizing at first his was a Premier model. From that picture we can see "light" between the boiler and suspension, and what appears to be a fully rounded under-sided boiler, which is modeling excellence IMO.

I am still trying to figure out if I can get the funds together to get one of these...

Last edited by Paul Kallus

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