Neil Young Texas Special F3s - RECEIVED!

A wonderful set. Very good choice on your part. I have the passenger cars from the early 2000's and they are some of my favorites. These should be even better.

I have that PWC set too.  I love the red stuff. 

Hey, hey!  My, my!  

WOW...very sharp!  Enjoy your set.

Saw the set at the LCCA CONVENTION AND WAS TOLD THEY WERE SHIPPING.

Got my set Tuesday and guess what.

The Observation car has a big paint scratch on one side.

Have contacted LIONEL and hope they will replace it.

Check your cars carefully.

Other wise WOW I LOVE IT

GG1GUYY

We still have a couple, FREE Shipping too!

http://www.nassauhobby.com/Nei...A-201-and-Dmy-A.html

The cars are 15"?  I just looked on line and they are making 21" for October delivery. Is that right?

"I just looked on line and they are making 21" for October delivery. Is that right?"

Yes, Jim, they are expected according to Charles Ro in November. There is a good deal of anticipation over these cars. This is Lionel's first venture into the plastic 21"passenger car market. Hopefully, they will get the exterior finish to look like what should be bright and shiny will be accomplished. They have an enormous opportunity if they can get it right.  

That is gorgeous !

Brad

I received my set today as well.  There is a minor concern and I will mention that first.  First the set carton had that opened and re-taped look. Common these days so no concern there.  Second, I noticed the owners manual for the cars seemed slightly damp...though it really wasn't.  However the staples had rust on them on the inside of the booklet.  I moved on since all packaging looked perfect and dry.  I then opened the powered unit.  I saw rust stains in the foam and wrapping paper where the engine wheels formed a groove.  I became worried as this brought back memories of the recent scale turbine sweating packaging.  Upon close inspection of the engine I see no problems at all.  Even the bare metal parts are perfect.  

I will comment on the rest as I get to it.  Has anyone else noticed the rust stains in the engine box?  Should I be concerned if I see no visual rust on the loco?

I wonder if the engines were made a long time back when they first shipped...or was a fresh batch made when the cars were completed?

Here are pics of the issue.  I will update with full set pics as soon as I take them.

Mike, I agree with your assessment 100%.  Same thing with mine.  More pics.  These F3's are awesome and the passenger cars are too.  Now to hope they make a 2-pack and a station sounds car soon.

Very nice indeed!  Thanks for posting this one.   I wondered about the level of detail on these cars.  That picture answers all my questions.  Even tho it looks pink, hopefully that's only a camera issue. 

Bruce

Yes, bad lighting.  VERY red.

Thank you to all for posting pics

Only 2 left now!

WOW that is a beautiful set!!!

Alex

Very eye-catching train.

Anyone interested in seeing the specific car names, numbers, and types used for the TS should check this site.

Pity LIONEL didn't use a diner instead of the non-prototypical vista dome--TS never had one and it would have been an easy substitution.  LIONEL used a correct car name and number, but the vista dome should have been a coach for that name and number.

Thanks for posting.  Looks great!!

Mine is in the mail.  I can't wait to receive it and get it running at the club.  I'll be sure to post a video

Thanks to all of you who posted photos. Beautiful set.

It sure is!  Great pics guys.

I just got mine but unfortunately it is setting at home in the box and I'm at the car dealer getting the oil changed.  Soon I'll see it.

Here is a short Iphone video of my set. No issues other than a slight paint blem on the dome car which I fixed with a little rubbing compound.

Beauty of a set Enjoy!!!!

For a traditional Lionel set they did a great job with this. Strange though that I got the powered B unit in the summer of 2013 and now I just received the Powered A Unit, Non Powered A Unit, Combination car 2 Coaches & the observation. Hopefully the Baggage car & Station Sounds Diner comes soon. Here is a short video.

Yes, I would love to know the real story behind the more-than-a-year delay on this set.  I went a little crazy in that I bought the F3AB bundle add-ons and ALSO the F3A and F3B when I saw them come out separately in a subsequent catalog.  I was worried that they would be different road number or part numbers.  So I have 3 A's and 3 B's!  LOL

Very Nice!

The story is that Lionel had a problem with the alum. cars received in the past with quality control. So they took their time and got it right. These are the last Alum. cars I believe for the time being as they are now doing ABS cars. The engines where all done at the same time. When these sets are gone they are gone. 

Captain John, a very nice addition to your wonderful layout. Thanks for the video.

I'm happy for all the folks who stuck with it and pre-ordered this set when it was initially catalog'd over 2 years ago.  

Couldn't help but browse a thread here dated around May 2013, where some folks were lamenting the fact that they didn't have the cash on hand to order this set then.  Hopefully they pre-ordered the set anyway, since they eventually had lots of time to scrape the funds together for this beautiful set.

As is often the case nowadays, production delays often work to our advantage so we can save funds in the piggy bank for future delivery.  Unfortunately, all of this stuff is so unpredictable, and the importers don't have a clue when China is gonna ship final product.  So it's tough to plan how much one should pre-order.   In this case, B-units showed up first (well over a year ago IIRC)... now the set with AA-units and 4 cars... then the 2-pack add-on with the StationSounds diner in a couple of months.

When all is said and done, this sharp-looking train will have an ABBA loco configuration with 6 cars.  Beautiful set, despite the fact Lionel has its usual "premium pricing" built in to make it hurt.   $1100 MSRP ($1000 street) is a lot of $$$$ for an AA loco (with just one power unit) and four 15-inch cars.  Add $330 for a powered B-unit, $200 for the non-powered B-unit, and another $300 for the two-pack add-on... Brings us to $1800+ for the complete set.

Charlie Ro is sold out of sets and B-units.  So folks weren't shy about ante'ing up the big bucks.  

David

Actually, if Lionel completes the Neil Young Signature Series, the PRR Trail Blazer will be the last in aluminum.  I pre-ordered the 2 car add on pack for that set many moons ago, hence my earlier interest in how the cars look.  With what appears to be a chronological order of release, the PRR add on pack should end up being the end of the end.

Bruce

Not sure if Lionel still plans to produce them, but i thought there were 4 sets of 18" aluminum cars catalog'd in 2015.  They cancelled a bunch of aluminum 18-inchers that were replaced with the 21" ABS offerings, but I thought there were a few 18" aluminum still to be delivered.  However if I were a betting man, I'd expect to see the 21" ABS cars delivered before we see those 18" aluminum sets (if ever).

David 

I just unboxed my set and ran it.  I'm very happy with it.  I know it's not scale but I'm ok with that.  21 in. Cars are too big for my layout, 18s are ok and these 15s look fine to me. I had the complete set that was issued in the early 2000's and sold it many years ago.  I always regretted that.  I bought a powered B some time back, so I am now just waiting on the 2 car add on. It would be nice if they produced an additional 2 car set, but I doubt that will happen.  My only issue is that I did not receive a booklet for the a units. It did include a booklet for the passenger cars.  I need to check on that.

Doug,

   I didn't receive the instruction booklet for a units either just the passenger cars.

Actually, the white balance is off.   

David

I am quite happy after 2 years of waiting that this set finally came to be!

I like to thank Charlie Nassau for shipping this out quickly.

I too did not receive an owners manual for the locomotive, just the passenger cars.

The Locomotive box was intact, except it came apart at the seams (seems that the glue at the joints gave out).

I just finished registering the set at Lionel and downloaded the manual.

If I was the type to save all my boxes and stuff, I would be upset that I did not have the original booklet that comes with the set.

Anyhow, Woo-Hoo!

Same with me...only a manual for the cars...with rusty staples.  I feel like the engines were already made and added to the set.

Lionel was very clear at the Boston Convention...no more Neil Young SL Sets.  

Sounds like a similar situation with the recent Pocahontas sets.  The #611J was made close to 2 years ago with the #612J.  Then the locos were stored in the warehouse awaiting production of the aluminum cars.  No reports of rusty staples though.  Was there a fancy "set box"? Or just product packed in a shipping carton?

Interesting...  Sounds like Lionel is putting all their eggs in the ABS basket.  The days of Lionel aluminum cars will be in the rearview mirror shortly.

David, the set has a big set box.