Total Restoration to 2343's - Railsounds, Eunit & Repaint!!!

[FEClionel]

I picked up a decent set of 2343's on Ebay - they aren't total junk but have battery damage although they run! I have a Railsounds kit from TA Studios that I was going to install in my 8480's but I think the railsounds will help silience the growl. Also I want to replace the e-unit and light with LED like bulbs as reviewed the this months CTT. Finally I will have Len repaint the chassis and cabs. Hopefully all of this will be done before Christmas - I plan to run these with 2444, 2442 & 2446 red stripe passenger cars! Anything I'm missing?(no TMCC for me on this set)

[mickey4479]

I model PRR because I like the steam locos. But I have been smitten again with F3 locos and have looked at the Lionel ABA set 6-14588 (Santa Fe) with TMCC on ebay and some mail order dealers. I also see a number of post war Santa Fe F3s on ebay. I am interested to know the pros and cons of going post war with TMCC upgrade that would involve an extensive rebuild I assume vs. modern reissue with TMCC. Any thoughts? Also, what about passenger cars post war vs. modern reissue? I am not what you might call a "collector" so the collectability aspect of post war is not my focus.

[mpzpw3]

mickey4479, I'm not real sure about the F-3 question. Seems to me that if you bought a postwar version and added tmcc, the cost might be the same or more than buying a modern set, especially if you have to have it repainted. Depends on if you want a project or not, I guess.
As for the passenger cars, I have a set of originals, 2 Williams sets, and a MTH set, all copies of the originals. I prefer the MTH and the new Williams cars (don't get the ones in the white golden memories boxes, as they don't have operating couplers, and the trucks don't track well!!), to the original versions, as they roll much more easily, saving a little transformer power.

[mickey4479]

Thanks MPZPW3.