traditional size N&W J 611

18040 was advertised in the 1994 Stocking Stuffers catalog.  It has Railsounds 2 and a LionTech e-unit.

18049 was in the 11909 Warhorse Freight Set (1996), don't recall what version of Railsounds but it has TMCC.

11106 is from set 31754 N & W Space Freight (2006 Volume 1), Railsounds 5 and TMCC.

I had the 18049 loco, sounds were OK, but very noisy motor, sounds like a coffee grinder.  At the time I contacted Lionel and was advised to purchase the motor from the Century Club 726 Berkshire. Bench tested the 2 motors, motor from the 726 Cen Club was dramatically quieter.  Apparently there were some issues with out of spec motor bushings.

Purchased the 31754 Space Freight, mainly for the cars. Unfortunately the motor in mine is just as noisy as the 18049 Warhorse.  Sent it back to Lionel, no fix at the time for the noisy motor.  Its now a shelf queen.

Been waiting and waiting (and I’m not alone) for Lionel to bring out a LionChief J.

Only MTH has a traditional size Class J with a correct looking tender.

Is that a RailKing model

@Bob is cool! posted:

Is that a RailKing model

Yes.
Now the early RailKing versions had the copy of the Lionel tender. The latest RailKing versions have a tender that looks like what it should be. Sorry, I don't have model numbers for you.

@Bob is cool - A sample of a traditional size J is MTH’s RailKing Imperial 4-8-4 J #611 (30-1633-1) and you can get all of its features if you go to the MTH website and type the aforementioned product number into the Search space.

Does anyone out there have the 18040 from 1995 ?  Curious to if its a good runner or does the motor sound like a coffee grinder like my 18049 did.

The Williams 746 N&W 4-8-4 Class J Die-Cast Reproduction Series is a superb engine in the traditional size. 

@ed h posted:

Does anyone out there have the 18040 from 1995 ?  Curious to if its a good runner or does the motor sound like a coffee grinder like my 18049 did.

I have the Lionel 18040 from 1995 and although it is a good runner and a good puller its definitely a growler.  The Railsounds whistle is a bit rough as well.  Doesn't bother me though because even with the noise I still enjoy running the old pullmor motors.  I also have the post war version 746 from 1957 and it is a much quieter engine and very smooth running and the air whistle sounds as smooth as silk.  Also, I have a video somewhere of the 18040 running with a freight consist and once I find it I will post it.

I just got one 18040  It;s big  almost scale size  Runs smoothly

@OKHIKER posted:

I have the Lionel 18040 from 1995 and although it is a good runner and a good puller its definitely a growler.  The Railsounds whistle is a bit rough as well.  Doesn't bother me though because even with the noise I still enjoy running the old pullmor motors.  I also have the post war version 746 from 1957 and it is a much quieter engine and very smooth running and the air whistle sounds as smooth as silk.  Also, I have a video somewhere of the 18040 running with a freight consist and once I find it I will post it.

Here is the video of my Lionel N&W 18040 Class J northern hauling a consist of freight cars on the Shenandoah Short Line.

My 18040 runs well, some motor noise.  Had to modify smoke unit per OGR video and added packing.  Also the steam chest smoke tubes had to be replaced, the plastic cracked. I found some silicone tubes that worked well for that.

I just got a 746, very low run all original.  Shelf queen for many years.  All the oil gone, hard or evaporated.  Some wheels on Tender were corroded to axles.  I got everything oiled, cleaned etc.  Ran well but motor was still noisy.  Key to getting motor to run quiet was to oil the top engine bearing, as well as the bottom engine bearing.  There is an oil hole in the motor, but the oil runs down.   I had to oil the top bearing from the armature side as well as putting the engine nose vertical for a few minutes to allow the oil put in the oil hole to get to the top bushing from the other side.    Now it runs as quiet as a postwar engine should.   May try more oil of the top bushing on the 18040 as well to see how that works.