Nominations for Passenger Train of the Year

Agreed, Brian, hands down the best. Although, this was a close second....Not!

Photo: NVisich

Oh come on Brian you know the Passenger Train of the Year for this year and every year for the past 40 has got to be the MPC era Milwaukee Special with it's Mighty Sound of Steam.

Come on now Brian admit it you know I'm right.

I would have to agree because of the interior details & the figures. Also like the exterior colors.

PS • Matthew B. has very cool animated GIF, on his reply.

Gary

I'd broaden the Passenger Train of the Year to include Hi-Rail, 3RS, and 2RS and nominate by proclamation the GMToT.  Whether there were 70 sets or 700 sets made; it's a truly unique train of significant historical importance beautifully executed by 3rd Rail/Sunset.

Not having seen it in person yet my vote would be the same Brian.   It's a beautiful set! 

My vote is for the MTH Monon Passenger Set.

Thank you,  MrMuffin

I don't really know Brian. But with a AKA of Passenger Train Collector I'm going to vote on your side.

Larry

The TOT would clearly be my vote.

Art

Not only would I say it is the passenger train of the year, but an easy top 3 of all time.

It's a great piece of history paying homage to GM and their design of the vista dome. All these years later the most fun rail car to travel in. I'm looking forward to seeing a set in person.

It gets my vote for 2nd place.  It would have been a closer second if the A units had included the third porthole of the prototype and correct loco numbers for the AA pairs; i.e., 81A and 81B, 82A and 82B, and so on.  The third porthole is a mold (cost) issue; the number boards are a simple fix since two different versions (81 and 82) were made.

EDIT 1/25/15:  Mr. Muffin explains on p.2 of this thread that the numbers on the models are correct based on their research and has drawings in the shop to that effect; and, the numbers I refer to occurred later.  My source was the Monon Historical Society's diesel roster.

EDIT 3/13/15:  Mr. Muffin was correct on the absence of -A and - B on the number boards; the historical society got it wrong.  Loco 1 The Diesel by Railroad Model Craftsmen has a b&w photo of Monon F units without the letter suffix.

Guys, it isn't even close. 

The ToT

The ToT looks great.  I did not order that.  I like all passenger trains and have a few.

I vote for the MTH Orient Express Cars pulled by the 2-3-1 Chappion.

Although I do not have the ToT it is a great looking set. I would vote for it as the passenger set of 2014. 

Gentlemen,

   I agree with Brian on this one the TOT is this years big time Passenger Train.

PCRR/Dave

My favorite is the Sunset Golden Gate Canadian Set.

Very nicely detailed accurate dome and most every detail.

Train still runs as the VIA train so you can still ride it across Canada. The vintage train cars are great.

My vote is for the ToT, not only because I have it, but because it is a sweet set.

Actually, not only did I purchase the likely "Passenger Train of the Year", I also purchased the six car set of the infamous "Worst Passenger Train of the Year", the highly inaccurate Lionel CZ passenger cars, which are of superb build quality, undercarriage detail, and I love so dearly

Rich

I have to agree with Brian - ToT by a wide margin.

--Greg

Don't have one, but ToT gets my vote. 

Polar Express 10 Anniversary addition is #2. 

Yes, agreed. As a passenger car enthusiast I'd have to agree that the T of T is the best set of those released this year. It's a standout and a great effort by 3rd Rail even though I don't think it's been a great year for 3 rail passenger sets.

Now, maybe a subject for a different thread but if you enlarged Brian's inquiry to something like, "What's the best passenger set, newly issued or old, you added to your roster last year?" I think the T of T would still win but there would be a lot more candidates in the running. 

My vote would go to Lionel's 6-35445 Shasta Daylight set from 2010, which I'm very happy to say I managed to track down at a LHS.

It appears from the photo that the dome observation car's roof is higher in the rear than it is in the front.  Is that how the model is made?  If so, that's prototypically correct (subject to the actual difference); I read last week that the roof on the Budd dome observation cars were 1' taller in the rear than in the front.

Wonder how the model was made using an aluminum extrusion with two different roof dimensions?

Yes looks this way will try to pull it out when more time for a better shot.

Click on photos for a larger view. Quick shots with a point and shoot camera.

VIA is the Rapido HO model.

Interesting that the Atlas CZ models seem to have the wrong profile dome, does not look like the real one wrong dimensions.

But the Rapido HO and Sunset O scale models appear correct.

Absolute no brainer - Sunset 3rd Rail GMTot.

Nothing else comes close..............

Do the real CZ dome observation cars have the rear portion higher than the forward portion? Will the Atlas O new CZ dome observation reflect that?

Now that excuse for Lionel possibly not making the dome observation "accurately" but then leaving the dome off completely, sure doesn't sound right to me.

Hot Water,

The forward and rear roof sections on the actual CZ dome obs cars are indeed different heights. This is clearly shown in the line drawings in Robert J. Wayner's Rio Grande Car Plans book from 1969. Unfortunately, the actual height of the rear roof section isn't specified. From the catalog illustrations on the Atlas O web site, it appears that their CZ dome obs will be built in this manner, too. They can't afford another stumble with this set.

Pingman,

The extruded aluminum GGD dome obs for the Canadian also has this stepped roofline. GGD accomplished this by making the roof section between the back edge of the dome and the forward edge of the obs end roof a separate extrusion.

PTC,

To return to the theme of your thread, I'm very familiar with both the ToT and the Canadian sets from 3rdRail/GGD and I'd be hard pressed to choose between them. The demonstrator ToT is exceptional in many ways, not least among them the finish and the crystal clear, distortion-free window glazing. But the Canadian coupled with its signature CP detailed FP7s is a great model of a truly legendary revenue train.

Decisions, decisions . . .

Os3r, I got this line drawing on the net for the Silver Sky dome observation car and posted it when the LIONEL CZ observation threads were running.

The roof behind the dome is clearly taller than the roof in front of the dome.

Thanks for explaining how Sunset accomplished the prototype appearance.

Truth be told, I hadn't noticed the difference in roof height reflected in the picture; and, only learned of the difference reading about the car on the net last week.

Overall winner (across our toy train spectrum of O and Standard Gauges) in my mind for 2014 is the GM ToT.  Hands down.

2nd Place vote for me is the Polar Express Gold Edition Berk with as many coaches as the buyer wanted to purchase to create a custom-length train.   This train also takes this year's big prize for the one train in 2014 whose price escalated the quickest from pre-order street prices to MSRP-after-delivery, once word spread like wildfire that it was highly unlikely that Lionel would produce any additional follow-on gold coaches to extend the train beyond the one announced basic gold coach to accompany the gold observation car.

And 3rd Place vote overall is the MTH Ives National Limited (Standard Gauge) with red 1134 steamer (loco and cars sold separately).  Everything about that train embodies the whimsical charm that says "Now that's a toy train!" in all our minds.  That gets my 1st Place vote in the Standard Gauge world for sure , but in the bigger perspective of the O-Gauge and Standard Gauge world I have it taking the bronze medal in 2014.

And of course, the infamously produced Lionel CZ gets an "honorable mention" as the train that taught us all a lesson regarding the pitfalls and challenges that importers are faced with today when projects deteriorate into a "tail wagging the dog" situation.  For sure, Lionel's 2014 CZ would win the "most dubiously produced" train set award, since we couldn't get a straight answer from ANYBODY anywhere as to whether the observation car would have a dome or not -- until an early-buyer posted photos of the observation car sans a dome here on the forum, which answered our question once and for all! 

David

Thanks for that information. Although I do model the CB&Q, I preferred the Golden Gate Depot heavy weight passenger cars, and wound up with a nice 12 car Burlington passenger train which can be prototypically hauled with steam (O5a or O5b or S4a) or a pair of E7A diesel units.

Pingman -

Thanks for posting that drawing. It's the same one that appears in the book I referenced. It shows the main roof height at 13',6-1/4" and the extreme height over the dome as 15'-10", but, as I noted above, it doesn't give the rear roof height. 

I haven't bothered to check the dimensions on the GGD car, but it sure looks good to me.

And it much better than Lionel's  . . . . .

This is my nomination

Anything Passenger Train Collector has in his inventory is probably a strong candidate.  The Monon F3 also looks pretty gorgeous.  Picking one of these is a nice problem to have.

I would vote for the Monon set as the clear winner from the Big Two this year (Lionel & MTH), it is a great looking train and shows what either of the Big Two can do with the support and hand holding needed to get the details right. Excellent work on Steve's part.

Overall in O scale, the passenger train of the year as to go the GM Train of Tomorrow, between the specially engine and each car being entirely unique, it shows what can be done overall -- although for production reasons I cannot image either Lionel or MTH even attempting such a thing. Scott has done wonders with small runs over the years, this year the Canadian and ToT are prime examples, I am sure next year the El Capitan and perhaps Cincinnatian will be in the running as GGD / 3rd Rail continues to produce top of the line passenger sets in a scale size.

I like the idea of the best new to me category as well, this year that would have to be the GM Train of Tomorrow, closely followed by the K-Line Greatn Northern Empire Builder, and the GGD Baltimore and Ohio Columbian, with high honors going to the K-Line California Zephyr as well.

On the whole it is a golden age for those of us who love passenger trains, between great new specially releases like the Monon set from Mr. Muffins & MTH, to Scott Mann and GGD / 3rd Rail coming to market with new full scale trains never before done in O or not having been done in many years or with the high level of detail standard on all GGD products.

And it actually carried passengers in revenue service!

Not a passenger train person but I thought the Gold PE was impressive, especially the lighting in the cars.

That's my vote.

Brian,

    My vote goes to the scale gold and scale black Polar Exprress passenger trains. I do not have either nor do I have a Train of Tomorrow. I am basing my vote on the incredible engine the PE steamer is Lionel did a top notch job on it. Whistle smoke, Legacy sounds black or gold who could ask for more.

Johnb

Brian

I agree the 3rd rail ToT is magnificent and received almost as much attention as the Lionel Big Boy so you got my vote