Hello. This is my first post. Hi everybody. I have some confusion and maybe resentment towards Lionel concerning their Hudson J3a engines. The first of which I am aware was issued, I believe, in 2001 and I purchased it for $1,100 at a local shop. This was the correct retail price for it at that time. I often buy mail order or on-line, but the old gentleman who runs my local shop has been a great help in terms of giving me advice when doing my own repairs-I’m an engineering tech and love this kind of stuff. I often give this little shop large purchases in order to keep this relationship alive. It’s also a friendly place to hang out on saturdays.
I was dismayed to find a year or two after my purchase that Lionel had a J3a selling for a lot less but which looked, in the catalog, to be identical to the one I had purchased. I have not been able to get any information in this regard and would appreciate help.
Also–I have bought the 4 pack of 20th Century Limited heavyweights by Lionel and would like to know if they are appropriate behind the J3a.
Sorry for the run-on post, but this seems to be the season to be grumpy–I started buying CTT and OGR in the early 1990’s when my kids were young. The Christmas issues had covers and articles which truly evoked the Holiday season. I even recall a few stories about sad childoods being made tolerable by the kid entering his miniature world on a table. The sentimental stuff which hooks many of us back into our own world of model trains as adults. The Christmas season of 1993 or 4, found me just wandering around the same store I still go to with my then toddler son. I thumbed through issues of both CTT and OGR and it was the sentimentality which struck me. I imme
I assume that you purchased the 6-28072, NYC J3a Hudson which is full scale with all the bells & whistles and a couple of years later they released a couple of the J3a’s in what is called “Lionmaster”. This is essentially a semi-scale loco with the same bells & whistles as it’s scale sized brother only smaller and not requiring the larger radius curves.
Thanks for the quick response. I’m confident now and plan to get the add-ons from my local store this Christmas. I could get them cheaper, but he’ll let me pay something out of each paycheck–and that is how I bought the original set of 4 from him–and he’s been stuck with the add-ons ever since.
I was carying a lot of resentment for a long time concerning this issue. I even had a fellow O Gauge nut at work tell me that the only difference between the engines was that the tender was farther from the engine and the wheels were adapted-both to allow use on tighter curves.
I feel much better about the money spent. Thanks and I’m glad that I’m not the only one who misses the Christmas issues of old. Maybe CTT and OGR could establish a traditional expanded Holiday issue which allows space for regular stuff and for a couple of those personal stories of yore. I also recall articles of toy trains being featured on early holiday TV shows–there was a very good one on Arthur Godfrey (Talk show host in 1950’s) and the trouble which he gave Lionel workers who were setting up a complimentary layout in his basement.
I agree. Lionel has reasons all their own for limiting their product line, but the economy in general is causing boredom in the area of new equipment to review. There is just not much interesting going on. And we do not need another BIG BOY or CHALLENGER.
Still–right now I wish I was as moved by the current CTT and OGR Holiday issues as I was by the issues of the 1990’s. Sentimentality is what hooks most of who return to O Gauge trains.Thanks for the fast response.
Can I ask you a question about your NYC Hudson? Is it an engine you like and/or run often? Is it highly detailed and one that brings nostalgia back to you when you watch it? I posted recently about that very engine–I saw it on ebay and was smitten with it; I have been dvr-ing “I love toy trains” and they ran a three part series on the Hudson. From then on I’ve been searching for one that does more that just run a circle layout. The 28072 seems to have some good qualities for the year it was produced–pre legacy, but still has wireless tether, railsounds, odyssey. Would you say it’s one you’re happy you still have?
As for the nostalgic, sentimental nature of the magazines, I have to agree with you. Although I’ve only been subscribing to CTT for under a year, I have gone to great lengths to get my hands on numerous past issues from train shows or on ebay. I look at them for ideas on how I want to create my own layouts and such. But I think what has been key in keeping my interest in the hobby alive has been my children. I grew up with an HO set. And I played the life out of it. I took many years off from the entire hobby. Then my first two sons got into Thomas and I picked up a Cannonball Express set (70’s set that used a dc transformer) and set that up for Christmas morning. I will never forget the reaction of my then youngest son. I had stayed up late into the night making this behemoth of a layout in the living room. I had it all set and ready to go when they woke up. Upon the first rustling of their sheets, I sprang out of my bed, bolted to the living room, and fired up that engine. With video camera in hand, I watched as my youngest took the sight of a five-car consist running around the tree into his imagination–and all he could say was, “choo choo. Choo choo.” It was heart-melting. Perhaps it’s the sustained memories that we
I love running my J1-e Hudson (1-18056). To me, it is so “Lionel”.
It is also the smallest steam engine on my layout now, but gets a lot of attention. I only wish that I could figure out how to equip it with a front electro-coupler, as its duties are limited to yard switching now.