To all who responded to my earlier post - thanks for your suggestions and ideas. I purchased a Spectrum Consolidation from Trainworld. I got it for about 60% of the price the large Wisconsin people are asking. Although I did not request special handling or shipping, I ordered it on 12/21 and it arrived on 12/24! I ran perfectly right out of the box although it did point out one small area of my trackwork that needed a tweak. I am very pleased with it! I haven’t tested its muscle yet because I am working with a 4X8 and won’t pull more than maybe eight cars because I feel anything longer doesn’t look good on that small a layout and, besides, I only have four spurs, two of which are only long enough for one or two cars.
I also ordered the Mogul directly from IHC but haven’t seen it yet so I can’t comment.
Again, thanks for your input. I hope Santa was good to all the MRRers out there. [:D]
Chuck