I see prices on eBay that seem a bit high. Are folks buying quality or is it nostalgia? Thanks.
Nostalgia.
The earliest Lionel HO diesels were made by Athearn, the last ones by Kader - Bachmann’s parent.
[#ditto] Collectors paying outrageous prices for stuff that wasn’t the best quality by yesterdays standards.[:O]
Some of the HO Lionel diesels I remember were glorified rubber-band driven junk. Jack-rabbit starts and stops and warp speed runs.
I think Lionel’s foray into HO was more of an experiment…they didn’t seem to have a lot of stuff available, and like others pointed out used other companies models. I actually have a whole box of their track as a matter of historical interest. COX, more noted for model planes I believe, entered into the model railroad world by selling Athearn products.
I got a Veranda Turbine about 2 years ago. It was the most I ever paid for a HO loco @ $400!! It’s a decent runner, & I love the sound! I would never sell it because the grandkids love it, but I could get at least double what I paid for it!!! Lionel collectors!! I have 2 old ('70’s) flat cars with $.99 discount stickers on them - I could get $40+ each for them!!, and they are “train set” quality![:D]
The Lionel GP9 of the 1970’s had a General Electric motor if I remember correctly. It was held in place with two plastic mounts that wrapped over the top and eventually broke. No flywheels in that era either.
I got the HO Veranda and the Challenger, and both are excellent runners, with great weight (all metal), very well detailed and with superb QSI sounds. In the Veranda, the transition sound between diesel and turbine is exclusive, and wonderful. I´m very happy with both. I hope Lionel will release another HO model. Bye.
A club member asked me to look at a Lionel HO scale diesel engine today to see if it could have a decoder installed. After running it a vew feet and opening it up to have a look-see, my recommendation was to forget about wasting a decoder. Only the front truck is driven by a pancake motor mounted directly on it, and one wheel has a traction tire. Electrical pickup is only from the rear, unpowered truck. They run too poorly to justify the cost of a decoder, and nothing will improve their poor running qualities.
The only thing marked on the bottom was, “Made in Hong Kong” and a company name that I had never heard of and can’t recall.
This is one of the Kader units - same as Bachmann of the same era.