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The MTH Bantam locos are surprisingly good pullers...

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Posted by philo426 on Wednesday, April 27, 2022 12:31 PM

Me too just love the motion and the noise with trouble Free operation.

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Posted by Flintlock76 on Wednesday, April 27, 2022 8:39 PM

philo426

Me too just love the motion and the noise with trouble Free operation.

 

You know, I've got modern MTH and Lionel steamers with the synchronized "chug-chug" and smoke which is nice but in fact I can really do without it.  The dramatic motion of a steam engines machinery and plain old whistle is all I need.  The post-wars I've been getting lately more than fill the bill.

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Posted by philo426 on Wednesday, April 27, 2022 10:10 PM

So true

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Posted by Flintlock76 on Thursday, April 28, 2022 7:17 AM

You know, one thing I've really been having fun with is a Lionel 2035 from 1950.  I wanted one after seeing Becky's on one of her videos.  I finally found a decent one at a train show earlier this year.  Heavy and chunky I call it "The Blockbuster"  And I just love that thing to death!  What a dramatic little beast!  

Got it cheap too, which makes it even better!

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Posted by philo426 on Thursday, April 28, 2022 7:20 AM

Yes I was thinking of getting a 2056 if I can find one at a bargain price 

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Posted by Flintlock76 on Thursday, April 28, 2022 7:35 AM

philo426

Yes I was thinking of getting a 2056 if I can find one at a bargain price 

 

I've got one of those too, and it's a great engine!  A good solid puller and pretty awesome looking on the tracks.  I call mine "The Bruiser!"

Interestingly it's, well I won't say scarce, but Lionel only made them for one year only, 1952.  It was kind of a dodge around Korean War era price controls and was made without Magne-Traction since Lionel couldn't get the magnets at the time.  It doesn't miss the Magne-Traction though, it'll pull a fifteen car freight consist with no problems. 

A very good and historic piece to have.  For what it's worth I paid $150 for the one I've got at a train show several years ago.  Money well spent. 

Be patient, they're out there. And like most post-wars I've seen the prices are getting very reasonable as the demand drops.  OK, there's some hard-head exhibitors at train shows who still think it's the 1990's but they're in the minority.

I should add though that the only  post-wars that are still bringing the big bucks are the ones that are in brand-new condition and with the original box and papers.  If they've got wear on them, no. 

Hey, even prices on Lionel 736 Berkshires with wear on them are slowly dropping. 

PS:  A good place to look for post-wars is https://www.trainz.com.  They have a pretty good selection of post-wars (depending on availability of course) and the prices are very reasonable.  Personally I don't like to mail order certain items preferring to see them before I spend the money (I'm very patient, I do my post-war shopping at train shows) but trainz.com has an excellent reputation so I wouldn't have any worries about buying from them if I was so inclined.  At the moment I'm not looking for anything in particular anyway.

https://www.trainz.com  

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Posted by philo426 on Thursday, April 28, 2022 11:26 AM

Thanks for the info!I obtained my 1666 from Trainz for a decent price but the tender was missing.

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