Die-cast Lionel ES44AC

They do pop up on eBay from time to time.  You just missed a brand new BNSF one from  Grzyboski's last night... Was a buy-it-now for $1100, and the listing didn't last long at all.  I stumbled into it... And a few minutes later I went back to check it out, but it was already gone.  

David

 http://www.lionelstore.com/cat...lt/?c=all&q=es44

Better double check its new at least

I've been in search of one of these too and have only ever seen them on eBay. They do tend to go for premium prices. The Vision Line models are worth it, however; I have them and they are great models. I wanted one of the others but simply didn't see an eBay auction in time to bid.

You forgot the most important one of them all (and maybe the hardest to find.)

6-28347 -- Union Pacific Boy Scouts of America LEGACY ES44AC Diesel #2010

Good Day,

Just a suggestion, you may want to consider waiting for the ES44AC's in the newly tooled plastic body. All the NS Heritage ES44AC's have a plastic body. I'm guessing you will see these new ES44AC's offered in BNSF, CSX, NS and UP next year. 

Regards, 

Swafford 

Our local dealer had one for months, (may still have it) because of the high price.

Who would that be?  I've been looking for one.

The second run of the BNSF, KCS and UP ES44's in 2011 were extremely limited. 

UP #28306 the one without BSA decoration is the most difficult of all. Its nearly impossible to find.  I've never seen one for sale.

Joe 

Do you mean the Vision GE Hybrid 6-28306 (a demonstrator with no road name) or one of the UP models? I have seen the Vision model offered for sale on ebay at least four times although in every case at a substantial premium above the original Lionel list price. They also come up at train auctions from time to time, where they tend to go for rather less cost. But the non-Vision die cast engines appear to be very rare in the aftermarket.

There were two issues of the BNSF, KCS and the UP flag ES44's.  After the first cataloged run was delayed, I asked talk to us for a second road number for these.  I think they tentitivly did just a small number of 'second cab number' engines added to the main production run as a test, these were later cataloged again with the new cab numbers.

So blame me.

I was begging Lionel at the time to add more cab numbers to legacy powered offerings, and it was about that time when they started doing it.  Legacy basically makes lashups operationally easy.  So makes sence for them to offer two powered numbers in the legacy engines so we can build great looking trains!

 >>>I think the second number BNSF, KCS and UP were very limited, like maybe 40 units each.

 I have the two road #'s for the BNSF and the three road #'s for the UP.  They have incredible pulling power when lashed up.

 The BNSF's are my favorite and the decoration is spectacular<<

Wow, forty of each!!!  No wonder I've never seen the second road for the UP or BNSF. I have the BNSF, its my favorite as well.   

Thanks for the info Super O.

Joe

>>Do you mean the Vision GE Hybrid 6-28306 (a demonstrator with no road name) or one of the UP models?<<

The second run of the UP ES44 was a flag unit not decorated for the BSA like the first run..

If what Super O Bob says is true, only 40 or so exist. A very rare bird for sure.

Joe

That explains a lot - maybe even MTH's decision to issue a whole series of engines of this type with the charging lights feature.

It makes you wonder, given that these Lionel engines command a premium in the aftermarket, why more were not produced, and the same goes for the Ethanol Tank Car sets, which are currently selling for 2 or 3 times list price.

the 40 is an educated guess buy adding up what several of the top 14 dealers ordered.  It seemed that each dealer got a few of them, some dealers got none of them.  We could be off in our count by 5 or 6 units, but they still are very limited.

Good luck to all who are looking for these...  At the time they were slow sellers, so this contributed to the reduced numbers for the second road number, cause it was hard to swallow a $800 diesel.

Bob is correct. The UP 7454 is more common and the 7459 is less common.

Tney are rare because nobody reserved them.  There was a KCS on ebay recently for ~$750 and didn't sell.  I'm waiting for the plastic ones too.

Good Day,

Did you ever wonder how Lionel selected cab number 7454? Check out the lead engine on Union Pacific's longest train!

Regards,

Swafford

I just hope the new plastic ones have the semi fixed pilots .. I love them..

Very true...  and while these are terrific runners/pullers, the premium prices they fetch on the after-market nowadays are largely due to the "perceived" desirability of owning them NOW.  Several years down the road -- when legacy+1 is available -- the inflated prices will come back to Earth.  Can anyone say Lionel Veranda?  I think that was Lionel's FIRST  die-cast diesel and was delayed for YEARS before finally being delivered.  But because it's TMCC, I've seen them go for under $750 nowadays vs. $1200+ when it was released as the latest-and-greatest.  Instead, some folks would rather drool and wait for the Legacy re-issue.  But that too will one day be outdated as well.  

Trust me folks, we've been down that road before.  MANY times, in fact.  None of this stuff stays "hot" forever.  

Unless you're particularly drawn to one of the die-cast models, you may find the earlier advice to wait for the newer plastic-shell ES44's to be a MUCH better bang for your buck.   And the NS Heritages units have some mighty nice paint schemes!!!  And you'll be able to triple-head them for the price of just one after-market, premium-priced die-cast unit. 

David

>>>Trust me folks, we've been down that road before.  MANY times, in fact.  None of this stuff stays "hot" forever<<

Could have been a test case to measure interest from folks at the very bottom of the funnel who appreciate details and are willing to pay for it.   

It looks like not many did.   

Joe   

>>Can anyone say Lionel Veranda?  I think that was Lionel's FIRST  die-cast diesel and was delayed for YEARS before finally being delivered<<

The Veranda was not the first diecast diesel from Lionel because its a turbine, not a diesel.

A FM H12 way back in 1998 took that honor.

Joe