Postwar or New f3's with postwar rolling stock?

[FEClionel]

Loking at purchasing a set of F3's before the holidays. But it comes down to this. New Lionel 2356 ABA Southern F3's on Sale for $499 at local dealer or Postwar 2379 Rio Grande in Very Good plus condition with one minor half inch shell crack for $575. I love Postwar - but I sometimes feel that the new stuff is more of a bang for the buck. What do you all think.

[3railguy]

Again, it depends on your tastes. A crack would give me heartburn and I would be wiling to wait and pay more for a crackless Rio Grande. $575 would find you a postwar Texas Special in full excellent condition. Is the 736 you were looking at a couple weeks ago still available? I'd buy that for the postwar cars you have and use the change to buy some Williams N&W coaches to go behind the Williams 746 you bought to pull your postwar cars.

[FEClionel]

So I'm guessing you would stay away from all new postwar celebration series Lionel. I love the williams and now I just need a Lionel F3. The crack is annoying but the overall condition is really very good. I'm only 24 and now that I have a good job out of college I can finally purchase some of the trains I've always wanted. I'm just not sure if a postwar beater when I can buy a new one - eventhough I would never use TMCC.