Lionel 2026- Which variation do you prefer?

Another vote for the 2-6-2 with diecast trailing truck, wire handrails and valve gear!

@TomWCarter posted:

I much prefer my 1949 version 2-6-2.  I got it for $50 a couple of years ago and was my first entry into Postwar Lionel after 35 years in HO.  It created a monster.

Pretty much the same with me; except my first was/is the #1666. Very similar but without the smoke unit, correct?

Mark in Oregon

@Dieseler posted:

The earlier version but have had both and can say just like the earlier version 675/2025 vs the later 2025/675 the earlier is a quieter smoother running engine .

Why is that? It has been said that the machining standards loosened later on, its been my observation those early version 2026, 675 , 2025 vs the later ones its true.

My opinion those early ones were indeed the Zenith years for Lionel spur geared motors.

Bingo @Dieseler, I couldn't agree more that the early 675s,2025s and 2026s were by far the smoothest and quietest running of this genre of engines.  Not sure why but perhaps they used a different motor altogether but loosening up the machining standards certainly could have caused the difference.  The later ones don't run nearly as quiet and smooth as the earlier versions.

@OKHIKER posted:

perhaps they used a different motor altogether but loosening up the machining standards certainly could have caused the difference.  The later ones don't run nearly as quiet and smooth as the earlier versions.

The biggest difference/impact was the move to aluminum parallel plates in 1950. They are just not as heavy, tight, & rigid as the original steel construction.

My vote is for 2-6-2! But I'm biased. As of now my only engine! My dad got this for his birthday in 1949. The entire set has been in a box and moved around the country for the last 50 years! The engine was in a cigar box (dad tried to "fix" it about 28 years ago) took it into the local train store and they were able to bring it back to life! Working on my first build now.

I have both but my 2-6-2 runs like the day it rolled off the assembly line.

@Mikado 4501 posted:

The later version (1950 onward) with the 2-6-4 arrangement had a sheet metal trailing truck, and the earliest version (1948) had a smoke unit hot wire underneath that often came in contact with the ground rails and shorted the engine out.

Is the 2026 pictured here the unit with the smoke unit Hotwire which shorts out?

This. Locomotive runs briefly before sparks fly and the engine stops.

I like the first version. It just looks better IMO. The sliding shoe contacts are the only things that bug me on it though.

@Christopher2035 posted:

I like the first version. It just looks better IMO.

I'll second that. 👍

Correct me if I'm wrong: isn't the 1666 the same, except that it doesn't have the smoke feature?

Both are are very handsome models of a prototype that I don't think existed...🙂

Mark in Oregon

I picked up this 2026 2-6-2 about a month ago just because of the detailed railing on the sides. Goes very nice with my 2035 too. Unfortunately, I’m having issues with the tender that I received with it. Keeps shorting out but haven’t even taken it apart yet so the 2026 is currently using a sloped tender. Need to pick up smoke pellets too.

I'm preferable to the later 2-6-4 2026. The only reason is that this was my first train, gifted to me by my parents Christmas 1991.

The engine on the bottom is my dad's 2018 that he got for Christmas 1954.

Around 1961 or 62 I inherited an early version 2026 from an older cousin. I already had a 736 Berk Set from 1956 but the 2026 had a certain quality to it and became a favorite! I literally ran the pickup shoes off of it. Many years later at the Allentown Train Show I found one in near mint condition and paid about twice what the average 2026 was going for at the time. It is one of the real gems in my postwar collection.