Lioel Burlington FT Diesels - Any Good?

[FEClionel]

Hey Guys I was looking at the Lionel FT's why is everyone discounting them so much. Does any one own they - I haven't seen them in person and I was wondering how they look and run. Any advise would be great appricated - i need a diesel to run around the tree pulling some post war cars.

[dougdagrump]

I have the B&O FT's, #18169, and they run just great. One powered the other a dummy. I have since upgraded it to TMCC. They aren't fancy, no engineer figure but a pretty strong puller. My only complaint is changing the traction tires, it's a pain where a pill can't reach.

[FEClionel]

How do they compare to F3's or other lionel dual motor diesels. These would be my primary runners. Burlington is not my favorite road name but the price and style seems to be right.

[dougdagrump]

I don't have any of the F-3's nor have I had a chance to compare them. At the time I bought them it was strictly a matter of price.

[macdannyk1]

I bought a set of the new Lionel Burlington FT's (the white ones) at a "blow-out" sale. They look really nice. They run OK for conventional engines w/RailSounds. However, the motors have no flywheels, so they stop on a dime. I had bought them to rip to guts out and put TMCC in them anyhow, so I wasn't particularly concerned with their conventional performance. Unlike the 1996'ish FT's, these new FT's are NOT Command Ready, so you can't just swap a board and have TMCC. The units have a standard electronic reverse board, plus a separate modular sound board and amp. BUT, I have found that the sound board in the new FT's won't work properly in older TMCC/Railsounds ready engines, which was disappointing, because they really have, IMHO, a distinctive horn.

[brianel027]

Hi FEC, the Lionel FT's were reviewed in the September 2000 issue of Classic Toy Trains if you happen to have that issue.

If you don't have it, here's a general summation of the review:

Production delays at Lionel allowed other loco releases to leap frog ahead in detail. By the time the FT's came out, they weren't up to the same detail level many other Lionel locos were currently at.

The FT number boards are non-illuminated, horns are plastic, roof grills not see-though, the frame is stamped metal, but the pilot is diecast and superior to the F3. Overall, the major detail points of the prototype FT are present on the model, and tooling of the model is excellent - though it should be compared more to older traditional Lionel locos. Overall performance is comparable to the postwar F3... low speed was approx. 13 scale mph and high end was 73.5 scale mph. Drawbar pull was 1 pund 5 ounces. The FT features a removable rooftop access to the program and Railsounds controls. The A unit alone is 13 inches and will operate on 027 track.

The pro and con's by CTT were:
PRO: nice model of a benchmark engine.
CON: Only moderate detail for the price range, many compromises when operating in command control with dummy unit.

Hope that helps. The lightening stripe NYC loco pictured in the review sure looked very good with flawless decoration as far as I could see from the photos. I guess the sub-par detail level and the command drawbacks help contribute to the reduced prices.

[Buckeye Riveter]

I have B&O FT A-B-A with TMCC and Railsounds. They are used to pull 6 B&O passenger cars and a B&O box car. So the powered unit is pulling 9 cars. I like mine after running it for about two years hard and I have a 3% grade on my layout.

[FEClionel]

Ok well I wasn't happy with my MTH postwar styled F3 purchase so now I still need a train to run under the tree. What would you pick.

-Lionel Burlingotn FT - $199
-Lionel 2245 Texas Special F3-$280
-Lionel KCS F3 w/railsounds -$350