Lionel..Please explain why I want to buy this piece of.............

[Buckeye Riveter]

At first I thought it was misprint, but Lionel has really done themselves proud with this piece of ??????????????.  This is actually in the catalog.  Is this the high water version??

[Blueberryhill RR]

Buckeye....Hmmmmmm....I don't know what to say except...It has a lot of ground clearance.

[dougdagrump]

That's the new model in preparation for global warming and high water in the coastal areas.

[jonadel]

Reminds me of monster trucks, all jacked up

[prewardude]

Yep, I noticed that when the vol. I catalogs came out. Kinda scary-lookin', ain't it?

 - Clint 

[dougdagrump]

Not sure if my memory is accurate but wasn't a similar engine in one of the "big box store" sets last Christmas.  

[kpolak]

That was in the Target stores...Sure didn't look like that on the box...I almost bought one.  Glad I didn't.

Kurt

[Roger Bielen]

We haven't had any pre-orders for it, nor will we be getting any for inventory.  At first I thought it was just poor artwork till I realized it was the unit from the big box sets and it was for real.

[ChiefEagles]

All Ohizoians should buy one.  Goes with the length of their overalls.  Highwaters.

[lionelsoni]

That fuel tank looks high enough to clear the tops of O27 switch machines!

[Black Diamond]

At first I thought it was misprint, but Lionel has really done themselves proud with this piece of ??????????????.  This is actually in the catalog.  Is this the high water version??

 

    I saw this to at Target, didnt like it so I didnt buy it. But this does sorta remind me of something...

    I think it was a production car by Ford Motor Company The Etzel. The car was dubbed one of the ugliest cars of all time. I dont know how many were or were not sold, but I would just like to know now, how much The Etzel would be worth today just because it was the ugliest car of all time.

    Maybe we could say the same thing about about this Lionel Lines Target Box Set?? I guess its like Tootsie Roll's infamous question. How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll Pop?

[cnw1995]

Our local Target had one of these on display during the holidays - the set box also flipped open and you could see the cars / engine behind clear plastic 'windows' - it certainly is a truck-and-a-half.

[BDT in Minnesota]

I could maybe go for one of those beauties if they are produced with "Lionel Ducksounds".....I can picture it going down the track :  'clickity quack- clickity quack'

[vsmith]

Are you sure that thing isnt from a $40 battery powered Xmas tree set?, if thats what Lionel is passing off for track powered these days, wow have they fallen.....

...How much were they asking for this...err, engine.

[Buckeye Riveter]

We haven't had any pre-orders for it, nor will we be getting any for inventory.  At first I thought it was just poor artwork till I realized it was the unit from the big box sets and it was for real.

Roger....Can you ask someone at Lionel, if there is a way to make it a Southern California Low Rider. 

[stubbsO]

Roger....Can you ask someone at Lionel, if there is a way to make it a Southern California Low Rider. 

No, It needs a set of 20 inch Blings on it, then it'd look cool. NOT!

[J. Daddy]

At first I thought it was misprint, but Lionel has really done themselves proud with this piece of ??????????????.  This is actually in the catalog.  Is this the high water version??

Is this the return to conventional classics they mentioned? But all kidding aside, did Lionel need a fill for the MARX train market? I guess this would be their target... price anyone? Looks like some interchanging going on here with a new paint job.... K line shell on some Lionel trucks? Hope this set gracefully falls by the wayside.

[brianel027]

Frist off, it's not a K-Line shell. Though there are similarities between some Lionel and K-Line products (particularily the beginner/traditional end) they are different. Try putting a K-Line 6400 series box car shell on a Lionel 6464 frame or even a Lionel 9700 frame... differing lengths.

Around 1996 Lionel made some modifications to the Alco frame and shell, which lowered the height to make it match the height of the 2400-series type passenger cars. There was a Lionel Amtrak and Reading set of Alcos made this way, with a new plastic frame. In the Lionel catalog at that time, the copy said the pilot had been restored, but all that happened was they filled it in and removed the front coupler. There obvsiouly must be dupicate shell molds as the Alco loco from the Greendale set was in the fashion of which they'd been made from the MPC on, with a sheet metal frame.

I wanted to hope that the illustration in the Lionel catalog was a mistake, but since Doug said he saw the engine, oh well.

Maybe Lionel goofed on this one putting the shell from the revised loco on a metal frame, or put the older shell type on the plastic frame. Either way, it still looks bad. The K-Line Alco FA's based on the Kusan tooling was always (and still is) a dramatic improvement over the Lionel ones.

I understand Lionel wanting to have some locos at a lower price point, but too many quality compromises (plastic frame, one single motor, no front coupler) will compromise the effect these locos are suppose to have... they want to introduce the hobby to folks and have them continue, not give up on the first try. At this Lionel's loco's price point, there are other engines that are a better value:

The K-Lionel Alco FA, the K-Lionel S-2, the K-Lionel MP-15, the Lionel 4-4-2 Columbia type starter steamer, the Lionel Docksider, the RMT Buddy, almost any Lionel MPC diesel, the Railking Dockside and some of the new Rugged Rails horn/whiltle only locos look attractive at their price points... I wish MTH had issued the SD90MAC instead of the Dash-8. The SD90MAC is a far superior shell to the Dash-8 in its proportioning.

[anjdevil2]

I also saw this at Target during Christmas and thought, who would buy this UGLY thing....But they were all gone just before Christmas day.  The Steam 4-4-2 was long gone before that.  High waters is right....Just so Jerry and the gang know... I WON'T BE BUYING IT.  I'm looking to piece a set together for my God-Daughter's son, and I'd sooner get him a 0-8-0 Switcher, than this thing..

[Buckeye Riveter]

... I WON'T BE BUYING IT.  I'm looking to piece a set together for my God-Daughter's son, and I'd sooner get him a 0-8-0 Switcher, than this thing..

Better yet, I won't recommend it for a starter engine for someone just getting in the hobby or for a child this Christmas.   A BEEP is better on my eyes than the LIONEL HIGH WATER DIESEL.  

[anjdevil2]

Hmmm....Lionel High Water Lines....I like it.  Still not buying the diesel though....

[Railroader_Sailor_SSN-760]

I remember last fall, during a short underway, I got an e-mail from my wife about seeing Lionel train sets at Target. She told me that she would buy me one of those, "while they are still in stock".

The steam version did not stay on shelves long.

I told her that we did not need anymore of the FastTrack stuff around the house, as it has proved itself worthless with our goal of running Postwar accessories without having to shell out riduclous amounts of money on the accessory tracks to make our layout work, never mind that you cannot run multiple loops with FastTrack on a 4x8 table.

When we pulled back in, there was a sale on the diesel version, so Nicholle took me out to look at it. The cars did not look all that bad, but that is easily the UGLIEST diesel that does not have CSX painted on it that I ever saw.

I personnally thought that the base level sets that Lionel made during the late 70's had better looking sets. At least with those you could understand why the used solid couplers on the base model sets for kids. We have two of the basic level sets from the MPC era, the steam powered Kickapoo and Southern set, all cars were short and were equipped with solid couplers. A reliable set to this day. The little critter diesel was also a very basic, but good engine. No problems noted so far with ours.

Whatever happened to those basic little haulers? No frills, just lots of basic, cheap fun.

This "Urkel Engine" is one that I would not see fit putting into a junk yard scene, even if they sold them at $5 each, you would still get ripped off, I am sure that little of the parts that go into the engine are reasonably usable with any other projects.

I am pretty sure that there are people in the design department at Lionel that should be more involved with Alcoholics Anonymus than with product design. I am doubtful that a sober person could have created and / or approved this atrocity.

.

[prewardude]

FWIW, I own the Lionel SF Warbonnet set from 1998. That set had an FA for motive power, and it looks MUCH better than this atrocity. Why the heck Lionel didn't use that chassis on this engine is beyond me. It was cheap but at least it looked decent.

 - Clint 

[ben10ben]

Let me add my voice to the "what were they thinking" chorus.

Lionel has made some really fine looking small/low end diesels, including some FA models, in the past. This one most certainly does not fall into that category. 

[mdainsd]

The tooling for that item should be permanently mounted to the director of engineerings desk to serve as a reminder. they could still get some value out of it that way.

[1688torpedo]

Lionel sure did goof up here. They should have made this Alco like the postwar 200 series versions with Two Diecast-Metal Trucks(instead of one plastic & one diecast) Pullmore Motor, Magne Traction & Brass Gears with a sheet-metal frame instead of what is offered here. I know that a 200 series will cost more; however, they will last longer than a can-motored, plastic frame Alco. Take Care.

[fjerome]

" I think it was a production car by Ford Motor Company The Etzel."

Edsel?

[magicman710]

How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll Pop?

 

Thats easy, 3...

[ChiefEagles]

We haven't had any pre-orders for it, nor will we be getting any for inventory.  At first I thought it was just poor artwork till I realized it was the unit from the big box sets and it was for real.

Roger....Can you ask someone at Lionel, if there is a way to make it a Southern California Low Rider. 

Then it would bounce up and down as it went down the tracks.

[Cubster]

IF:

• you could throw it against a wall without anything breaking
• the paint was certified to be lead free
• it had a price under $30

... it wouldn't be a bad engine for the 3-6 year old crowd.  As a pure toy, and semi-disposable - OK; much like Marx as someone else mentioned.  But at $90???