2008 Lionel Catalog

[Cheese]

Well,

Lionel really impressed me this year. I will soon be buying one of those Santa Fe 0-8-0 sets. The Kinlet Hall set is cool as well as the new General 4-4-0 in W&ARR scheme. I have still yet to fully fathom the whole thing, and I will soon be having another gander.

However amazing the new Lionel catalogs are, the new K-Line by Lionel catalog did not make me say "Wow!" or "Interesting", or my favorite word, "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious". Basically the same as last year with a few new things it is not at all an impressive line up.

2008 is already shaping up to be a great year.

Cheese

[Anonymous]

 

   only thing i will be ordering is the 6-17480  standard O rock island gondola with coke containers.

 

i  would like some of the 40" flat cars with covered loads,  but i can get them cheaper  out of the 2007 books useing the part numbers and road names there cheaper.  they jacked up the price in the 2008 book.

[Berk765]

Wow! Great turnout guys. I just chimed in at the right time.

[mpzpw3]

I'm a little interested in the Santa Fe 0-8-0 set, and the remake of the gantry crane.

[Anonymous]

I am considering the latest reissue of the #38 water tower.  I passed on the last two, but I need to get this one.  The set with the Legacy-equipped Conrail diesel is also tempting.

[billbarman]

I was acctually really impressed! They made everything I wanted them too. the hudson, the scale polar express, the lionmaster big boy, the new starter set engines!, the red commet, and the new postwar celebration series sets! Man, its a dream come true.  

[Andrew Falconer]

There are many appealing and appropriate Locomotives and Cars for my model railroad. In order to stay within a yearly budget I will have to pick what to get this year and what to wait to see if it will still be available next year if nothing better comes along.

Andrew

[trestrainfan]

I'm really happy about a few items:

Lionmaster Big Boy: I've been hoping they might reissue this, and this one has Legacy!!!

John Bull: When the Best Friend of Charleston came out last year, I was hoping they might come out with the John Bull next, and they did!!!

Other than that, probably looking to get the other Lionmaster with Legacy, the Conrail SD80MAC. It's in a set, so hopefully some of the dealers are going to have set break-ups.

[Kooljock1]

Well I actually got my hands (briefly!) on a hard copy yesterday. I like the paper version better than the on-line version. Nicer backgrounds, bigger close-ups.

Here's what I like:

New entry-level 0-8-0's look really good. Note that the Pennsy Flyer is a cheapened version, while the Santa Fe and Lionel Lines have upgraded rods and details.

The venerable starter set 4-4-2's now have separately attached handrails and stantions. Is this a step towards TMCC for the entry level?

Gotta have those 6464 variations cars!

LionMaster Big Boy is sweet, but I'll wait for the re-release of the N&W "A", or better yet: a PRR L1s!

PWC stuff is neat. The C&O set will probably be on my list as well.

The Kinslet Hall set trades track and transformer for digital "British" whistle, twin pilot-beam mounted headlamps, and die-cast trucks and couplers on the cars. For the intended market I think this is a good idea!

Jon

[tim o'm]

I also got a chance to leaf through the catalogs at English's in Montoursville, PA on Saturday. I really like the tinplate christmas train. Did I really see a large scale hogwart's train? From the picture shown, it looked very top-heavy, and not very British. I also like the above average Jersey Central cars.

Couldn't say what I will eventually buy, since there is usually a lag from catalog to production to local availability, but it is neat to know they are trying to appeal to so many audiences, and even create some long the way.

[GregM]

I picked up all three catalogs Monday when I stopped at the LHS to put my order in for a Lionmaster BigBoy.  I was disappointed with the picture of the Lionmaster BB in the Signature Catalog.  It is spread across two pages so some of the engine is hidden.  Much nicer on-line IMHO.

Haven't really looked at he SETS catalog, Karen did and said not very interesting. 

All-in-all lots of things that may appeal to lots of different folks.  I have curtailed my train purchases quite a bit the last year or so.  I really think the Lionmaster BigBoy will be all I get from these catalogs any time soon. 

[johnandjulie13]

After reviewing the catalog again and looking at past catalogs, I came up with a couple of questions for the class.  On their high end steamers the catalog indicates that the engine is powered by a high torque Pittman motor.  On all of the other engines the catalog states that the engines are powered by "maintenance-free motors with momentum flywheels." Are these motors comparable to the Pittman motors?  Is there a difference?  Will one last longer than the other?

Regards,

John

[palallin]

Pittman is a brand, one of the most respected in the industry and very high-dollar.

[Kooljock1]

The non-Pittman motors are off-the-shelf Mabuchi Can Motors. These are the same motors used in servo mechanisms in all kinds of industrial applications. They probably drive your car's windshield wipers.

The big difference is that Pittmans have a strong American brand awareness. I believe they're still made in Pennsylvania. The Mabuchi motors are cheaper, but I've yet to have one fail on me either!

Jon

[johnandjulie13]

The non-Pittman motors are off-the-shelf Mabuchi Can Motors. These are the same motors used in servo mechanisms in all kinds of industrial applications. They probably drive your car's windshield wipers.

The big difference is that Pittmans have a strong American brand awareness. I believe they're still made in Pennsylvania. The Mabuchi motors are cheaper, but I've yet to have one fail on me either!

Jon

Hello Jon:

Thanks for the clarification.  Are the Pittman's better pullers than the Mabuchi's?  Are they smoother?  I am curious if there is a real performance difference, or, is it only marketing?

Regards,

John