Lionel baby Mikado

[Anonymous]

Saturday I picked up a the little B & O Mikado from Eastside Trains.  Lionel has done a great job on this entry level locomotive. The detail is crisp, the size looks right pulling 6464 size cars.  It has logged about 3 hours running time on my layout pulling 15 cars with no issues.  The sound is quite good (I am not a big sound guy).  It is a very smooth running piece.  The only draw back is that the smoke output is rather weak.  For the price, this locomotive has a lot going for it.  I will being getting another one and retire my modified 736 and 726RR after 15 years on my layout.   It will soon be repainted and lettered as a Northern Pacific class W3 Mikado.

 

[Joe Hohmann]

To me, this looks like one of the best deals in the catalog, especially since it has RailSounds. I may be wrong, but I'd guess Lionel smoke units are geared to "full-power" TMCC operation, which leaves traditional operation with very weak smoke output. Joe

[wrmcclellan]

The new mechanism Lionel developed for the baby Mikados has proven to be very durable and reliable. The Polar Express and Pennsy units we ran on the Lionel Grand Central Terminal layout for 12+ hours per day, every day (except Christmas and Thanksgiving days) from mid-Nov to mid January are still in great shape for this coming season.