These engines have been in starter sets, specials and have been made by every manufacturer...Lionel, KMT/AMT, K-Line, Williams/Bachmann, MTH, 3rd Rail anyone else? Here is a few of mine...I have added Williams ALCO sound boards to all of these.
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Only one here.
Pete
I also have the same MTH set as CPR.
My Lionel TMCC PRR FA ABA:
A Lionel set of beautiful Canadian Pacific FA-2’s with an FB-2 for good measure.
And a Long Island FA Power Cab Car.
Lionel postwar FA2 AA units. 
Williams Lehigh Valley FA1.
MTH CNR FA1.
An older shot with Fortescue J. Gi-raffe reminding everyone, "Safety First!"
Mitch
Postwar Union Pacific FA's. These were literally dropped off at my house by my pest control man. He got them from a client whose father passed away and didn't want them (where have we heard that before). I spent a week cleaning the shells of mold and dirt, but the locomotives ran perfectly from the start- even the horn worked.
3rd Rail is trying to produce Alco FA's. Not enough pre-orders to get it started.
However I have an older set of Weaver FAs in PRR that were three railed from 2 rail that I am now looking to change back to 2 rail. No photos though - yet.
Sorry, first time to try and add photo - did not mean to duplicate nor include the video I thought I had deleted,
My one and only set, Lionel LTI era.
Nice!! @Ahitpy whose are the Missouri Pacific in your fourth photo (the ones with the full apron and the solid fuel tank?)
Recently reorganized my storage.
ALCO parking
L-R
Lionel Post war A-A
K-line dummy LIRR
K-line Pennsy A-A
Plus an honorable mention to the three K-line S-2's
@RSJB18 posted:Recently reorganized my storage.
ALCO parking
Nice collection, Bob. And there are those who would agree with an LIRR Dummy!!!
Hmmmmmmm... expansion out the window for seasonally appropriate outside running??? 
@Apples55 posted:Nice collection, Bob. And there are those who would agree with an LIRR Dummy!!!
Hmmmmmmm... expansion out the window for seasonally appropriate outside running???
I have considered that Paul. My patio is right out that window and about 3" higher than the sill. 
And "dummy" and "LIRR" are synonymous 
Bob
A favorite among the roads I collect...
Tom
@GG1 4877 posted:3rd Rail is trying to produce Alco FA's. Not enough pre-orders to get it started.
However I have an older set of Weaver FAs in PRR that were three railed from 2 rail that I am now looking to change back to 2 rail. No photos though - yet.
If they would list a PRR as delivered FA-1/FB-1 pair I would order it.
To be fair the FA project is on the back burner. GP7 / 9s are hot right now with them going into production as are the Amfleet / Viewliner cars. There are a few others too that I'm not involved in. I'd like a set in PRR too. The Weaver tooling is a bit dated.
These are old Weaver FA's originally painted GN. They were 3R chain drives and none of them worked so I made them into unpowered units and repainted them into SL-SF late era schemes. The striped FB2 5305 has sold, and 5209 and 5304 will be for sale at the 2021Grapevine train show. The models are FA2-FB2's...Frisco only had FA-FB1's. I liked them for the fact that they had fixed pilots, but I do not like them enough to keep them.
Here are a couple acquired a few years ago from the original owner who grew up in Chicago. The UP set was one of only three sets that weren't boxed and had some 'play wear'. Poor fella wasn't permitted to run them very often as most others were EX - to LN!
Lionel 2023 UP 50th Anniversary Set
Early PW Texas Special Boxed Set Locomotives were almost LN
@Lou N posted:Is the Erie a custom paint?
Lou N
No, Lou.
It is an early factory painted Erie MTH PS2/3v set I bought taking a chance. I was elated when it turned out to be a 3v system as opposed to the 5v system that the MTH site showed as being the case.
Set# MTH 20-2456-1
Tom
Maybe I missed them, but I don't see any Williams or WbB scale FA-1s. Would be good to compare them to other manufacturers FA-2s. Let's see them.
The forth pic in my list is a Williams set.
@Ahitpy posted:The forth pic in my list is a Williams set.
Thank you. Is that Williams a scale version? It looks like their traditional FA-2.
I love Alcos, EMDs, FMs, Steam, switchers, runabou...Oh, yeah, this about Alcos. I love 'em all. I've resurrected more than a few and given them some spit 'n polish... 
Here's a Williams WM version.
Charlie
@cpowell posted:Here's a Williams WM version.
Charlie
Charlie,
Thanks. I did not know they had see through screens. Nice looking engine.
Krieglok - Who was the manufacturer of your NYC FA? (It looks great) MTH?
Thanks.
@PH1975 posted:Krieglok - Who was the manufacturer of your NYC FA? (It looks great) MTH?
Thanks.
That one is a Lionel TMCC set. I picked it up last year. It is an AA set so I bought two B units to with the set...
http://www.lionel.com/products...-dmy-a-1047-6-24544/
Tom
Krieglok - Thanks for clarifying that. Actually, I bought the Canadian National FPA set that was released simultaneously with your NYC set. So am I correct in assuming the two 'B' units you bought were both non-powered because I don't recall any powered Bs being released for these FAs?
@PH1975 posted:Krieglok - Thanks for clarifying that. Actually, I bought the Canadian National FPA set that was released simultaneously with your NYC set. So am I correct in assuming the two 'B' units you bought were both non-powered because I don't recall any powered Bs being released for these FAs?
The powered B comes unpowered but as of last year Lionel had the parts to power them. In the Case of the NYC AAs, one comes unpowered but does have a radio board, smoke unit, lights and operating coupler. Adding motors, geared trucks and motor driver will give you a second powered unit. I swapped out the front Odyssey driver for a Cruise M and added a Cruise M to the second A unit. Then added a smoke unit, sound, and a radio board board to the B unit resulting in 3 smoke units, two sound units and 4 motors. If this sounds like a huge investment, including the cost of the engines it was still less than a single 3rd Rail A unit.
I posted a video of this engine in this thread.
https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/...20#85480113091455220
Pete
Thanks for the interesting info and video Pete. I wish I had half the technical know-how that you have. Hope you have a nice day!
Here are a few in Military dress.
@Krieglok posted:
No, Lou.
It is an early factory painted Erie MTH PS2/3v set I bought taking a chance. I was elated when it turned out to be a 3v system as opposed to the 5v system that the MTH site showed as being the case.Set# MTH 20-2456-1
Tom
Tom,
Thanks for the insight. I'll keep a look out.
Lou N
The Williams units say "Reproduction Series" on the box.
CAPPilot I learned some things from this thread too. It looks like Williams / Bachmann made two versions of the Alco FA. The small postwar style with a fixed apron as posted by c.sam and Ahitpy. And also the scale version posted by cpowell. The scale version has the see-through screens, but a truck-mounted swinging pilot.
c.sam I'm not familiar with the LCCA reissues, so I can't comment on their quality. Sometime in the last few years Lionel released an improved, traditional-size Alco with LionChief Plus. I would LOVE to read a side-by-side comparison of the LC+ version and the Bachmann-Williams reproductions!
@PH1975 posted:Krieglok - Thanks for clarifying that. Actually, I bought the Canadian National FPA set that was released simultaneously with your NYC set. So am I correct in assuming the two 'B' units you bought were both non-powered because I don't recall any powered Bs being released for these FAs?
You are right. The B units are non powered. Pete seems to have summed it up pretty well!
Tom
Postwar style. Erie Alco AAs.
This is a Williams B&O FA-1 ABA set. I added crew figures, a LED headlight, 2 motors to the B unit, and upgraded the sound to TrueBlast Plus. It’s a great set, see-through screens, lots of add on detail pieces, and a great paint job. The units couple very closely together, and the set can pull a hundred freight cars with ease.
The whole thing set me back $389.
Apples55 - I agree with you that Lionel's Canadian Pacific FA-2 set (from their 2019 catalog) is a beautiful set. It has all the bells & whistles and numerous hand applied details. Needless to say, I have the ABA set too, and decided to get the Superbass 'B' unit rather than the powered 'B' simply because with both A units being dual-motored, 4 motors on my small layout would provide more than enough power. It's a smooth runner and I certainly have no regrets getting the Superbass unit because the sounds are fantastic. This is now one of favourite sets and, best of all, upon arrival everything worked as advertised!
Sort of ignoring this thread, because I was thinking those old Lionel O-27 units. I see a scattering of scale FAs here and there, so here are mine. I have great plans of a B&O A-B-A set, and already have Great Northern. I found some "Pilot" pens for the skinny stripes, and for the yellow I use white first, and let it dry for a week before putting the yellow on.
....on the layout last winter...
Peter
@bob2 posted:I see a scattering of scale FAs here and there, so here are mine. I have great plans of a B&O A-B-A set, and already have Great Northern.
Really nice work
Who made that brass FA-1?
Hi Ron - a deal - tell me where you get your nice stone wall, and I'll tell you of the provenance of these FAs?
They are Ken Krayer patterns, cast in bronze/brass by Henry Pearce (or in the beginning, probably by a local foundry). I have five - three As and two Bs. I assembled three of them - I got good at soldering such heavy castings a while back. Takes a torch and some heavy duty jigs.
They are as close to scale as one gets with heavy sand castings. One is powered by All Nation, the rest are dummy.
I also have PAs done in the same fashion, but without rivets. Really nice historical pieces. Next time a PA thread starts, I shall post them. I prefer PAs to FAs.
@bob2 posted:Hi Ron - a deal - tell me where you get your nice stone wall, and I'll tell you of the provenance of these FAs?
They are Ken Krayer patterns, cast in bronze/brass by Henry Pearce (or in the beginning, probably by a local foundry). I have five - three As and two Bs. I assembled three of them - I got good at soldering such heavy castings a while back. Takes a torch and some heavy duty jigs.
Wow. Impressive. I do not have the talent, nor steady hand, to do something like that. I think it is great there are folks such as yourself that can do such great work. The only way I'm going to get an FA-1 is to buy the Williams/WbB scale version and upgrade it. My efforts to pressure 3rd Rail into doing a PRR version of their FA-1 seems to have failed.
The stone wall I think you are referring to I bought from Scenic Express at York. Pennsy O-Gauge Flex-Wall, #FL8150.
Thanks! I will order some!
Soldering heavy castings does not require steady hands - just welding gloves and lots of heat. Welding does require steady hands, and I never really got good at it, although I did fabricate a set of shock struts, and had the courage to actually fly them.
I admire your brick wall each time you post a photo - I have a two-level test loop that needs some "dress-up."
The first little Lionel I ever bought! $100 from ebay... And it's still got 2 rolls of nickels in it to help with the traction problem!
And I guess this would be an Alco PA - close enough. Two motors, built like a tank. Did the series modification to slow it down a little.
Here’s my Post War C&O ALCO with a manifest of Menards cars
Lionel 38357 USMC Alco FA
Lehigh Valley Units
@SteamWolf posted:There's a real one of those in front of the museum in Cranbrook, BC.
Thanks! Hope to be out that way in the next year or so.
@Firewood posted:Thanks! Hope to be out that way in the next year or so.
They have an awesome Railway museum in Cranbrook. Ft. Steele, just up hwy 93 has an operating steam train ride, an old compressed air locomotive and the farm a little ways further has awesome veggies if you come on season. Kimberly (up hwy 95a) has an underground mine train ride. If you're visiting that part of the Kootenay's, slide into Alberta too down highway 3 into the Crowsnest Pass. Check out the Frank Slide, stop at the Rum Runner in Coleman and look for the huge pair of snowshoes (my great grandpa's) and 2 pairs of cross country skis. There's lots of touristy train stuff there, some of the most beautiful scenery on the planet and some really decent people too.
While busy hanging out Wednesday's wash* I got to thinking how a Lionel railroader can explain silver painted Burlington FAs? Simple, they're on long term lease from the Spokane, Portland & Seattle.
GN, NP, CB&Q, C&S, FW&D, SP&S, all proudly part of the Hill Lines family!
* The clothes came clean with T I D E, TIDE, thanx to Menards of course!
Here’s a old 202 that was in bad shape when I got it so I re painted/ decaled it in NYC Zebra
WOW whatta paint job lee!
Shark Bay R.R. ALCO FA1 #400.
@BAR GP7 #63 posted:Shark Bay R.R. ALCO FA2 #400.
Really nice paint/weather work. Who made the model? Thanks.
got these mint condition,OB and English-French paperwork...
@CAPPilot posted:Really nice paint/weather work. Not sure, but I think that is an FA-1. Who made the model? Thanks.
Ron. Thank you very much. It´s an Williams FA1, i just paint & added decals and weathering that.
Johan
Joe - NICE! As you say - in Mint Condition. That AA set was obviously (because of the French instructions) originally released for the Canadian market and, according to a Price and Rarity Guide I have, was an Uncataloged (U71-U73) Set.
Excellent find!
@BAR GP7 #63 posted:Ron. Thank you very much. It´s an Williams FA2, i just paint & added decals and weathering that.
Johan
Ron. Thanks for posting me some really good information. Yes the locomotive is FA1. The locomotive box is obviously not original if it reads FA2. Have a great day.
Johan
No pictures available but 2 sets of K-line NYC Lightning Stripes, a K-line Wabash and a Weaver Snap-on model. I believe the K-line offerings were nicer than the Lionel offerings of the early to mid '90s.
Williams, roof-top dynamic brake details removed for GM&O units, fixed pilots; TA Studios TMCC/sound in both FA1's; FB1 is a dummy. I painted/weathered. A LOT of masking/striping. Then, a few years later, WbB comes out with their own GM&O-scheme FA1's. Grrr.
The photo diorama is 2-rail; the locos are not.
The GM&O bought the FA1 demonstrators. they and the earliest FA1's had a different headlight treatment from all later FA1's - see loco on right. This was actually a fairly easy mod.
The Gulf, Mobile & Ohio had the first Alco FA1's ever built. The NYC - the second owner of FA1's - had to wait for the GM&O's order to be completed.
And, appropriately enough, my 2 favorite roads happen to be the GM&O (hometown - Mobile - road and a former employer) and the New York Central, so I guess that I just had to like Alco FA's.
My striping is a bit awkward over the number boards, I know. I'm still OK with the units.
Weaver FA2, Louisville and Nashville; still conventional. The nose lettering is accurate, but a seldom-used scheme.
Weaver FA2; still conventional. I had to guess at the red contour on the rooftop. I think that it is wrong. Couldn't find a photo. NdeM used red/yellow and a very dark green on these locos. Guess which road was the "dark green" Weaver-painted FA2 donor? I only had to paint the red and yellow.
@Bill T posted:Kusan US Army
Bill, is your Kusan US Alco a 3-rail? If it is, did it come that way or did U convert? Thx.
@Virginian65 posted:Bill, is your Kusan US Alco a 3-rail? If it is, did it come that way or did U convert? Thx.
The Kusan US Army Alco is 2 rail, I have switched a few Kusan Alco's to 3 rail using K-Line Alco running gear. This Kusan Chihuahua al Pacifico Alco has K-Line Alco running gear.
Since I exclusively run only passenger trains, I recently acquired an almost 20 year old new/old stock ABA set of MTH Premier Erie Lackawanna Alco PA's. With a new Energizer 8.4 volt NIMH battery and a new speaker installed, here are a couple of YouTube videos I made to pass along.
S.B.R. ALCO FA1 #400 & Vista dome.
Here’s one I custom painted and decaled last year. Let’s see some more of your FAs
A Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad Alco bringing home an evening run.
Union Pacific Alco 2023 from 1950-51 great pullers have a extra add on dummy unit also.
The add on unit note the hump, added aluminum foil underneath to help with the heat from the motors and lights. Horn work on both units.
U.P 2023 in silver the common production run in 1951 another fine puller replaced front decal on one unit.
EricaAnn: Nice job! 
Here's a couple of shots of my Williams ALCO Fs from 2017, just before I switched to command control. The powered A was bullet proof, dependable, and could pull anything I put behind it.
Ah, the good ol' days. 😉
The Alco FA is my all time favorite engine I have 3 MTh ABA @in Erie and 1 in Erie LAckawanna, 1 MTH ABBA in erie lackawanna, 1 Williams AA in Erie, and one Lionel AA in Erie I also have the newer Lionel on order in ABBA erie and the 3rd Rail Erie LAck AA on order
My UP 2023 & NH 209’s. The B unit was from a pile of junk at York.😀😀
@Captain John posted:
My UP 2023 & NH 209’s. The B unit was from a pile of junk at York.😀😀
Great junk pile find, John!
Peter
@Bill T posted:Seattle & Yakima RR
Bill very nice thanks for sharing
@EricaAnn posted:A set of A-B Alco's I custom painted for a client to match his Lionel North Pole Central passenger cars.
I always enjoy your Custom builds post some more.
Here are my AlCo FAs. The K-Line NYC Lightning Stripe FAs looked so much nicer and had slightly better detail than it's contemporary Lionel Black Cigar Band FA. At $150 a pair I eventually wound up with two sets. In later production K-Line even used add-on handrails. The Wabash Blue Bird scheme looked nice on a single K-Line FA, had the add-on handrails and steps and again the price was right and it was added to the fleet. After winning an eBay auction for a Wabash FA shell, one of the unpowered NYC FAs donated a chassis so I would have an AA set of Wabash FAs. Along came a Weaver Snap-On set headed up by a scale AlCo FA. Oh how I wish they were all scale now. All six posed together and then a few comparison shots. I even purchased handrails and steps from K-Line in hopes of being able to apply them to my NYC versions. I never had the guts to try.
Coach Joe,
Thank you for the comparison photos of the traditional vs scale FAs. I didn't know the difference was that great. I think, outside of brass importers, the only scale FA1 was the Williams model. All other scale FAs from Lionel, MTH, Weaver were FA2s. Since my layout era is pre-1950 (before FA2s) I will be searching for the Williams PRR FA1 version. Right now there does not seem to be any for sale. Rats.
I can play, too!
Here's some user painted PW cast frames I purchased that I intend to "one of these days" strip and repaint:
Here's the ad pic of them...
And here's a pic once in my possession...
And here's an HO scale KC&G FA1m (EMD repowered)...
Andre
After years of waiting, I finally got an American Models S scale ALCO FA/FB pair. That's when I decided to make a brief video of ALCO history with S scale locomotives representing some of the most influential versions. The history of ALCO, particularly the section on the FA and PA design may be interesting even if the S scale stuff is not.
Terry O'Kelly
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