After my major disappointment with the performance and sounds coming from the Lionel FM Trainmaster, I thought I needed to reward myself with testing one of my FAVORITE steamers…my beloved S2. I had a brand new in-the-box S2 from MTH #30-1395-1 just waiting for me in my bedroom closet, so out she came. This incarnation of the S2 is MTH’s latest version (released in early 2006). It is a RailKing Imperial…which means LOTS of extra goodies that don’t come on normal RailKing locos. And WOW…MTH really outdid themselves with the extras. The loco and tender were nicely packed in seperate foam partitions, wrapped in plastic, and then in foam wrapping. The trucks on the tender and the front and rear pilot and trailing wheels were also cushioned with a sheet of foam to keep them from moving around. Nice pack job MTH! After carefully removing all the packing cushions I placed the tender on the track. HOLY MOLY!!! This thing is HUGE!!! Not an 8-wheel tender or a 12 wheel tender…a SIXTEEN WHEEL TENDER!!!
The really great news is MTH cleverly designed this tender-loco to work on a turn radius as small as 031. So even the smallest curve can take this beast. There are two holes in the tender connection…one for 031 track, and one for larger 072 track. Pretty slick! Next I unpacked the loco. MAN!!! This thing is HEAVY!!! I don’t think it really needs the rubber drive wheels. It’s heavy enough to pull a zillion freight cars without traction tires. There is a wire connection between the loco and tender for the Proto 2 goodies. It can only connect one way so no sweat there.
Just looking at this giant on the tracks is impressive. I couldn’t wait to see (and hear) it in action. I cranked the Z-4000 up to 18 volts and grabbed the DCS controller. A few quick pushes of the buttons and the DCS recognized the S2. I hit the startup button. The S2 jumped to life. Bright headlights AND tailights!!! VERY COOL! [8D] I remember having a prewar Lionel 2671WX tender with
Bob: Kinda like that Highlander guy…“There Can Be ONLY ONE”. LOL [(-D]
On a brighter note…I got my Lionel FM Trainmaster working pretty good tonight. Checking the instructions (geez…I HATE reading those things!), I found out what buttons on CAB-1 to push to make the talk stuff work. Unfortunately, I have the early version (I guess) of crewtalk. It’s mumbo-jumbo. But the tower talk is crystal clear. Everything else seems to be working fine too. That’s a relief. Buyers remorse is vanishing [:)]
BTW…total count of S2 Turbine roaming around my layout…
One 671
One 681
One MTH S2 (and another one on the way).
One Lionel 18010
One Lionel 18321
That’s probably WAY more than any person should have in one location [:D]
These babies used to be fairly common, but are starting to get harder to find. You might do a search for MTH 30-1395-1 on Yahoo or Google and see if you can find any cheaper prices. But those two are pretty good.
Oops…look carefully at the part number for this one on E-Bay (MTH-30-1149-1). This is an EARLIER version of the S2 Turbine from MTH WITHOUT the oiler linkage. The one I reviewed (MTH-30-1395-1) HAS the oiler linkage. Just so you know before you bid [;)]
Anj: Think I’d pass on that GG-1. Be advised that Williams sold some “kit” versions that were unpainted. This may be one that the owner painted himself. $75 is a bit steep. Should be able to get a nice one for a tad more than that. New they retail at $250. Most places sell them for much less than that. And they are all painted [;)]
Did’nt know about the oilers DEP . Was just thinking if you wanted another bad that seemed awful cheap. Are the oilers for your second one worth an extra $300 - $350.00 ? Just think for maybe around $100.00 you’d have both models !
Hobo: It’s more than just the oiler linkage. The one on E-Bay is Proto1 sounds. They aren’t as good as Proto 2 and have some qwerks with batteries going dead. It’s a good price but just not for me [:)]
