How do you like the Lionel DD35? Is it a keeper?

I have the NYC. It's a smooth running engine. It is a little big to run on a small layout. I run mine at the club.

Jim D.

They are too big for my needs, but I have seen them run at our club meets. They can pull long diecast heavy cars without a whimper.

I too have the NYC version. I think that it is a stunningly beautiful and impressive locomotive. It runs  wonderfully, and has enough tractive power to move a medium sized mountain. The sounds are fantastic and the two smoke generators can soon fill a room with a nice healthy fog. It runs fine on O48 curves, and even O36 if the track is well laid. Although it does look rather strange on small curves, you soon forget about that because of how good it looks and sounds otherwise.

All in all, I would give this locomotive 11 out of 10, and I would never consider parting with it. 

I have UP 72 and 80. I think they're keepers. If you have any sort of modern power (ES44s, AC6000s, SD80's, etc...) they're not *that* big, but the 4 axle trucks make them seem like it.They pull better than a "normal" size loco, just because of the extra weight, but I dont think its the power of 2 engines.

Its sounds great, the detail is pretty good (I like the extra touches like the painted MU hoses and the brake line under the coupler. If you're a stick for accuracy, its a bit of a compression in time. I'm pretty sure it should have marker lights in the nose with the "As delivered" front handrail, and its missing the fold down sunshades on the cab, but it seems pretty good to me for a mass production engine.

If they made it again with the modified hand rail, sand hoppers on the handrails and "We Can Handle It" on the cab, I'd probably buy another set.

Hopefully they were smart enough to make the new GP35 tooling modular, so they can easily stick 2 of them on a DD35 frame and make booster units.

Here is a rather dreadful quality video of my DD35A running just after I received it. It looks much better pulling a long train of scale cars, but I didn't have any at that time.

Do you think Lionel will consider making a EMD DD35 (booster) as it originally intended between two GP35's? Would it be too much retooling to pull that off?

I grabbed a non-powered version of the UP w/flag scheme for a deal -- just to mix it up a bit following behind a Geryhound Challenger every now and then! 

Rumor has it that the upcoming Lionel catalog will include the DD35A in Canadian Pacific livery, in which case I may purchase a powered and non-powered pair.

David

I dont know if anyone but lionel can give a complete answer to that.

The DD35A and booster share a frame, but thats really it. To fit a cab on it, some stuff had to be moved around ( I think the dynamic brakes), which gave the A unit the centrally located, tall and wide bump out radiator/dynamic brake housing on top)

A DD35 booster is essentially 2 GP35 longhoods, back to back on a long frame, with a box at each end where the cab and short hood go, and a pass through the body in the center. So if you take a GP35 longhood, put the rear end of a DD35A on each end, and the pass through in the center of it (basically between the rears of the GP35 long hoods), you've got the booster unit.

I think it would totally depend on how lionel tools the GP35, as to whether they can easily bash those pieces into a booster.

I've seen a number of people on here show some interest in it... it would be nice if they offered it as a superbass unit to go with the cab units.

Good Day,

I'd like to see this produced. 

I too would like to get it done so I can get one as well! Prototypical or not, it's close enough for me!

Also I will even take the Athern "blue" version!