Click here to read how Lionel's model of the Civil War-era "General" locomotive became the "Star of the Class of 1959." What's your opinion of this O gauge engine?
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Carl Swanson, editor
MODEL RAILROADER Magazine
Poor Carl hasn't had any responses yet, so I'll take a swing.
My opinion of the Lionel "General?" Well, it's nice, but I prefer the MTH "General" type 4-4-0's, much beefier and bodacious looking, and the things will pull anything, darn near up to and including tree stumps. The Lionel "General" seems a bit, uh, delicate, for lack of a better term, by comparison.
I might pick up a Lionel "General" one of these days though, if the price is right.
Here's a Lionel "General" anecdote people might not know.
Lionel presented a "General" to then-president Dwight Eisenhower in 1959, complete with a custom-made display case. As a military man, son of a railroader, and a Civil War buff Ike was thrilled to get it. Now whether he built a layout to run it on is something I don't know. I've been to the Eisenhower home in Gettysburg PA, and if there's an O gauge layout in the house it's well-hidden!
By the way, I do have a Marx "William Crooks" 4-4-0, I've had it since I was 8 years old! Still runs and smokes too, although I don't run it very often now.
General trivia:
The Generals may be the only O-scale Lionel locomotives that have the correct wheel gauge. The prototype's gauge was 5 feet, which is 1.25 inches in O scale. Other Lionel locomotives use the same 1.25-inch gauge instead of the 1.177 inches that would be correct for standard-gauge prototypes. (The prototype General's gauge was later modified to standard gauge.)
The Lionel Generals' drivers are not quartered. They are aligned to the same angle so that the crossheads can be joined below the "boiler" to drive a piston to puff the smoke. There is no need for quartering in the model, since the wheels are driven by gears and not by the rods. It is of course very difficult to notice the unprototypical lack of quartering without putting a mirror of unprototypical size alongside the locomotive.
Bob Nelson
I wouldn't have done it at all if not for a James Gang set:
A few clicks of the shutter and few bucks from CTT let me upgrade to one with sound!
Wish I had a few more!
Trains, trains, wonderful trains. The more you get, the more you toot!
I've had my 1872 General with smoke and Magnetraction pulling up to 15 mixed postwar cars, so it does have some strength.
I received my 1862 at Christmas 1959 or 1960. It was part of the No. 1800 "General" Frontier Pack. With the 2 position E-Unit, operating the 1862 was erratic. If it hit a switch or other interruption it would automatically reverse and be going full speed the other direction. It also ran best at high speed, therefore after a short time it became a train parked on a siding.
The operating instructions also say it was designed to pull a light load - two or three cars at best - at relatively high speed on level track. It has no Magne-traction and is not intended for use on trestle set or other grades. Our layout had a grade on the backside of the layout that rose two to maybe three inches over 9 feet, and I don't remember the 1862 having any trouble doing that, but as I said earlier it mostly sat on a siding.
I still have the set today, minus the box. We had Blue and Gray Soldiers and a Marx Frontier set that we used to use with it at times.
Regarding President Eisenhower and trains, I too didn't see any trains at his home in Gettysburg, but have seen a picture of him and his wife with one of their grandchildren and a Marx layout. It was a privilege to visit their home, and we got to camp on the Gettysburg battlegrounds with out BSA Scout troop.
As a kid, I loved the whole look with the enormous cowcatcher, the huge smoke stack, and the giant drive wheels. The unusual tender filled with wood added to the unique look when compared to most of the other coal or oil burning locomotive/tender sets. I liked its similarity to the Petticoat Junction locomotive & tender. I haven't owned one yet, but I'm sure I will someday!
Possibly the best looking version was the 6-8004 Rock Island:
I certainly wouldn't mind having one of these either :
I think a semi-gloss silver would have looked a bit better on the Rock Island "General" than the high gloss it has, but no matter, it's stunning anyway.
More like a piece of jewelry than a toy.
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