There’s some nice offerings out there right and I love to hear from people who’ve looked these over and/or run them.
The Williams, the Kline seem to offer nice diecast bodies. How are these as runners? There’s also the later Lionel GG-1. Is it diecast? Any comments on electronics?
I’m talking “traditional” size 14" GG-1s, not scale. My little 031 pike couldn’t deal with the big 'uns.
Old 2037, the Lionel latest releases offer the best of the old (Pulmore motors, Magnetraction) and thest best of the new (full TMCC, Railsounds 4.0), but no cruise control. Familiar die-cast cab, excellent decoration, tracking, heft, durability. No rubber tires here. The interior is jam packed full of motors, lights, and electronics. It is the priciest of the non-scale Gs.
All other manufacturers use can motors, rubber tires and sound in some form or another. Also some have cruise. While Lionel has remained true to the basic mold and paint decoration of the original 2332 G from 1947 most of the others have added more detail to their castings and more prototypical paint schemes. They also cost less than Lionel, especially the K-line club Gs.
I got the K-Line GG1 a few years ago when it was the loco that came with membership in their club. It looks sharp and it’s a great runner. Mine doesn’t have TMCC or even a horn or bell, but it does have directional lighting. In any case, it was a bargain for $100. My only complaint is that, for a canned-motored engine, it stops rather abruptly as opposed to coasting. I would recommend it for someone wanting a semi-scale GG1.
By the way, I also have the Williams scale GG1, and, since their reverse units sequence the same way–they start in forward–I have even run the scale and semi-scale GG1s as a lash-up.[^]
Keith
Warning!
There were some GG1s made by Lionel with TMCC but no Railsounds.
Keith, is there enough detail on your GG1s that you can tell which direction is forward? Although the innards were not symmetrical, there was not enough difference in the outside that I have ever been able to associate the ends of my Lionel 2360 with the prototype’s. In any case, they ran equally well both ways; so, whatever the e-units are doing, one can always just turn one around to get a match.
Yes, Buckeye, you are correct. The green solid stripe GG-1 by Lionel does indeed have the first version of TMCC with the LCRU, but no Railsounds. Also, you can’t program some things like top end and stall with this early board. The Lionel number is 18313, and the cab number is 4907.
But that is the only Lionel TMCC G without sound. That is why I said, “the LATEST” versions of Lionel’s Gs have sound.
Thanks, folks - it’s a great thing to have more options than you need and it’s even better when you have a forum like this to help you sort them out!
I’ve lived near the NEC for most of my life and I well remember seeing many GG-1s operate there in front of freight and passenger trains. (There were grade crossings then!) I only rode behind one once on a big family outing to Philadelphia, just at the very end of the PRR.
Thanks again.
Old 2037
My 10 year old son recently received a Penn Central Railking GG1 with PS-2 as a gift. We then had the opportunity to compare it to a new in box 2340 from the postwar period. The Railking version is slightly larger, with cleaner, crisper detail. Like the Lionel, the doors on the side are still flush with the body casting.
Although we did not run the 2340, we did run the Railking GG1. This was my son’s first locomotive with command control and he took to it immediately. It will crawl at 2 or 3 scale miles per hour and is incredibly smooth (a far cry from my own, beloved 1947 2332). The sound is loud, clear and of excellant quality (I have the Premier Scale GG1, and the electronics appear to be identical with the exception that the sound/personality file is slightly different in terms of the train announcement). There are two can motors and traction tires, so pulling power is not a problem.
This is one good running, high quality, traditional sized GG1.
Regarding which direction is which, are not the nose marker lights green on the front and red in the rear? Or do some manufacturers not have them?
Don
Bob,
With the K-Line GG-1, you can identify the front from the letter “F” on that end of the body. Also, when the engine has been powered down for more than a few seconds, it always starts in forward.
Don,
At least on the K-Line GG-1, the marker lights at both ends are red.
RAK,
A nice feature of the K-Line GG-1 is that, unlike the Lionel and the RailKing, the doors are prototypically indented into the body.
–Keith
I was told that the Lionel Model 18313, didn’t have room inside the engine for the Railsounds. Is that true or false? I’ve never opened one up to look inside.
I assume that to be true. At the time 18313 was produced, RS was not as small or modularized as it is now. If one wanted to, they could perhaps add RS to the 18313. The LCRU also is sized different than the current version of TMCC, that could affect available space inside the cab. The Pulmores are the same, only the electronics differ.
All Lionel Gs have red marker lenses both on the sides and ends.
I have a Williams “shorty” GG-1 and am very happy with its running qualities, as I am with all of my Williams locomotives. The class lights at both ends of mine are red. I consider the front to be whichever direction it moves when I first apply power.
I’ve got a williams , too. I am very happy with the performance of their “shorty GG1” ,however it seems that the pilot wheels like to occasionally jump the track if running in reverse through a switch…(granted, only through the “modern” lionel O-gauge switches, not the venerable 022s & subsequent re-issues[swg]).