If Your Roster Had Only Two Locomotives...

Southern Ry 2-8-2 Ms-4 Mikado.

Southern Ry 4-6-2  Ps-4 Pacific.

[my N&W "J",Southern 2-8-0 and 4-6-0 are peed off!]

ACL 4-6-4 Hudson and ACL F-3 ABA Diesel

"Thank You for Using Coast Line"

This is an easy one for me...My old 736  1950 model, and my old 2334 NYC F-3 diesels, they have been with me since '50.

When I want to move back to the past, these are called upon to do just that.

Rod

I'm a Milwaukee Road fan. Either a streamlined Atlantic 4-4-2 or streamlined Hudson 4-6-4 for passenger service and an S-3 Northern 4-8-4 for freight.

The first one is an easy pick for me, it would be a 1946 version of the 726 Berkshire.

I like it because of its unique construction.

Choosing a second locomotive would be tough. Perhaps a 2031 Rock Island "AA". All of the original diecast framed postwar Alcos run great and look good. IMHO, the Rock Island is particularly sharp.

Another locomotive that comes to mind is the 1946 version of the Turbine. Might as well be a 671R, with electronic control. I've always liked Lionel's turbines, and the 1946 version of the 671 has unique features: double worm drive, smoke bulb, and electronic control.

726 and 2344 AA.

My father bought them. They ran around our Christmas tree when I was a kid. They never break, they have no electronics to fry and once they get warmed up - they smell fantastic.

New Haven electric and steam. That is what they had and what I like.

they would be PRR steam freight engines, M1b mountain with a coast to coast tender and a I1s decapod with a short tender.

I have many different ones now and if I had to choose only 2 I would pick those that run the best with the least amount of problems.That probably would be my trusty 2025 and GP-7.

Rob

Two? That would hurt. There would be some really good stuff headed out the door (including 3 outstanding 3rd Rail locomotives).

3rd Rail N&W TE-1 2300 Jawn Henry

American Flyer Santa Fe PA/B (my first train)

Gilly

FWIW I had commented earlier that if Kohs had offered the 2300, I would have been doing just that. Everything having to do with three rail O gauge would be out the door in favor of this one 2 rail locomotive. Thanks to Scott Mann, this senario isn't gonna happen!

The AF would get to stay by default.

For me that's easy:

I do two-rail, and I only have two locomotives thus far:

1. An Atlas NYC F3.

2. Atlas Canadian Pacific GP-9.

Sentimentality wins out:

My 1061 Scout set #19244 (Christmas 1966, I was 4)

My 626 (Christmas 1967 - I wanted an engine that "goes backwards and has a light")

Though I'd be MILDLY chagrined as they hauled off the rest of my toys, because I can only have two on the roster....

Carlton

I have gone from 14 locomotives down to 6 in the past 3 years and if I had to get rid of 4 of them I would keep;

1. MTH Great Northern FP45, it's a gift from my wife and I love the blue/white paint scheme.

2. MTH U.S. Air Force VO1000, I retired from the Air Force after 25 years.

PRR K4 Pacific

PRR M1a Mountain

Gandy

Man, that's like saying you can only have two potato chips!

But to directly answer the question...a road loco and a yard goat.

If you're a steam fan, that could be a 4-6-4 and an 0-6-0.

If you're an early diesel fan, that could be an F unit and an NW2.

If you're a modern diesel fan, that could be a Dash-whachamacallit and a genset.

I'm glad I don't have to make that kind of choice.....yet!

Thats easy!

A set of ABBA Santa Fe F7's in the famous passenger warbonnet livery.

A NYC J1e 4-6-4 Hudson 

B&O P-7 Pacific

PRR K-4 Pacific

I currently have about a dozen locomotives on the layout, half steam and half diesel.

Since I could just sit and watch the steam locomotives for hours (there is something mesmerizing about watching the linkage move), I would have to default my two choices to steam locomotives.

So, of the remaining six engines, I would narrow it down to my SGL Reading G-3 (Heavy Pacific) and my 3rd Rail B&O T-3 (Mountain) with the Vandy Tender.

Jim

Lionel's Thomas and my grandfather's 248. 

Early diesel (rs-1?) with tiger stripes and a big steamer of any variety.

Rich YoderS-12 painted PRR

Car and Locomotive Service Trainmaster in VGN or Erie (transition paint scheme)

have to add: 3rd Rail GG1 "old rivets"

Neither exists:  A 2-4-4-2 articulated, similar to the Little River prototype, and a

two truck scale size (25-40 ton?) Heisler.  What I have to make do with and would keep, if constrained to just two, are the MTH Russian Decopod to work the freights, and

the WBB Ten-Wheeler to handle passengers, mixed freights, and switch the yards.

The two I would pick are the Lionel 675 and the GG1 both from the late 1940's. The reason why I picked those two are for nostalgia reasons as they were the first two engines I had as a kid. I really liked those engines so much that I have to buy both versions again. The 675 I currently own however is the version with the aluminum smoke stack and not the painted black stack made the following year which I owned as a kid. These engines are great runners and still work great with few problems.

  A PRR A5s and a B&O C16a.

If I could only have two engines that would probably mean I have a small layout, so I would not want a large engine like a 4-8-4.  I would want a passenger and a freight engine, and they would be steam.  If I stayed with my PRR theme, they would be a G-5 and a H-10.

520 Boxcab (of course) and 2321 TrainMaster (red roof).  Solely nostalgia-related.

Lionel Lines Docksider, because it's so darn cute and a shockingly strong puller; Postwar 2065 for nostalgia and because it's so funky looking.

Pete

A USRA 0-8-0 and a NKP Berk!

1) A modern six axle EMD or GE (CSX or NS)

2) A small yard diesel.  Modern Genset or old GP7/9

Or 

1) Amtrak P42

2) Four axle road diesel.  GP3_ something.

All Legacy if possible.

Mike.

An NYC 4-6-4 and an NYC 4-8-4; probably the Central's neatest steam locomotives...

PRR M1A - my best sounding Lionel loco

1981 8100(MPC 746 remake)

Really difficult to limit myself to just 2 favorites but would most likely choose the Lionel SP AC12 and the Lionel Legacy UP Big Boy. The remaining choices listed below are also must haves...........

Lionel:

SP AC12 4-8-8-2 Cab Forward

UP Big Boy 4-8-8-4 (Legacy)

SF AC6000 (Legacy)

Sunset 3rd Rail:

SP SP-1 4-10-2

SP F-3 2-10-2

SP C-9 2-8-0

SP GS-4 4-8-4 (Daylight)

I would probably do a branch line and have

PRR H6sb 2-8-0

PRR H10 2-8-0

Almost impossible to answer, but:

NYC J3a Hudson (Century/ESE/plain? Too much to ask.)

NYC S1b Niagara

Any scale N&W Class "J" 4-8-4 and the 3rd Rail N&W K2a, neither of which I have

Of the engines I do have, My MTH RailKing Imperial 0-6-0 and Atlas GP9 with MTH PS2 inside, both lettered for Seaboard Air Line.  I run both these engines a lot, followed by my Railking Seaboard NW2.

One of these will most likely be replaced, as soon as my 3rd rail Seaboard E7 arrives!!!

an LIRR H10s and an S-2 Alco switcher. Maybe could sneak in a G-5s

Sell something, Pawn the dog, get a midnight shift at 7-11, but do something. That 3rd Rail K2a is a must-have! I love the scale Js, but they're all over the place. Getting one of them should be no problem.

BTW, my hypothetical cut to only two locomotives would have to include having to let go of my 3rd Rail K2a.. 'aint happenin on this side of the universe.

Gilly

Easy:

Santa Fe F3 and

Erie Triplex

Paul