I started with the proverbial Lionel 027 conventional set. I’ve added many cars, both of Polar Express form and a train of Menards military gear. It’s nice, but now I prefer the speed control of my Legacy C&O. Question: Do you have any thoughts on an upgrade to tmcc? Should I have this engine upgraded? Or buy a different engine? Tender?
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Legacy Polar Express is the answer!
Agree 100%. Seems like Lionel currently manufactures three different-sized Berks....the Junior/O27, the 726-sized, and full scale-sized, but the PE in Junior and Scale sizes. The LC+ 726 size/style seems like a nice step up from the LC Junior Berk that would still work with the current semi-scale passenger cars.
That all said, I wonder if Lionel knows the PE market better than us. While I personally might be interested in an LC+ 726-sized PE, maybe the average train-around-the-tree buyer wouldn't pay extra for LC+ features.
The 726, a postwar freelanced creation by Lionel, is not a model of Pere Marquette no. 1225, which was used by the movie makers to render the Polar Express locomotive. Both the traditional-sized Polar Express and the scale versions are clearly models of PM 1225 and its sister engines, including the Nickel Plate Road no. 765.
So, yes, Lionel knows what it’s doing. I know I wouldn’t be interested in the 726 as a stand-in for 1225, which annually pulls holiday excursion trains near its Michigan home.
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