I have not purchased a locomotive in over two years but my dad’s friend is getting one of those MTH G- Scale Challengers. I guess the thing weighs 32 punds and he said that there are only goning to be something like two or three of them shiped to Colorado (where I live) and the rest will go other places so they are pretty hard to get.
My latest is a bluebox Athearn undec AC4400 my father-in-law gave me for my birthday.
Just got an Athearn GP35 in Mopac livery that will soon be MEC.
Waiting in the wings for delivery is my Athearn VIA P42 & a Proto 1000 RDC3 i’m picking up for $30 Canadian brand new.
Gordon
My latest (and it is also my first) locomotive is a Life Like Amtrak F-40. I know Life Like doesn’t have a great reputation with some folks here, but I didn’t want to spend a fortune on equipment when I was first starting out.
Although I have nothing to compare it against, I am very happy with it. It is quite heavy, sticks to the track well and pulls very smoothly even at extremely low speed.
[:)]
a couple of very old steam loco’s w tenders
(1) 2 4 2 , (2) 0 6 0-both appear to have been cast many yrs ago in japan.
rewired. cleaned,repainted, greased-they run well.
made by New One Model, could not find them anywhere on the net–so i really do not know how old they are. Yet they are old, Has anyone heard of this manufacturer?
Mine was a gp38 ph 2 union pacific by athearn.
Got these for Christmas----Athearn U.P. SD70M #4357 and Athearn SD50 U.P. #5043
Athearn Genesis UP FA3 #1410
A Stewart VO1000
My first was a battery operated 027 steam engine. The latest are a Proto 2000 Amtrak E8 A-B.
RMax
The latest one I got was an old Rivarossi 2-8-0 from the 50’s that’s actually a model of an Italian engine that’s had a few parts added on to it to make it look American (it was manufacturered that way). It’s an interesting conversation piece. It won’t be my latest engine for long, though, because I buy a lot of stuff from ebay and usually have something coming in the mail most weeks.
If you are doing much “scoping” at a hobby shop, you might need to learn the difference between diecast metal [ which the Lionel superstructure is ], and plastic, [which is what a Rivarossi superstructure is].[:p]
I wouldn’t pay $700 for the Lionel engine either, but…WHERE did you get your brass pricing from ? Twenty or twenty-five years ago ?[:0]
I usually don’t respond to posts that feature terrible spelling errors, but when they state outright falsehoods, and are misleading in content, I sometimes make an exception.
Happy New Year anyway…
Mike[:D]
My latest engine purchase was six of the new Life Like P2K NKP Berkshires. These engines are light years ahead of the old Rivarossi engines in every way possible! I’ve also got one of the BLI USRA heavy 2-8-2’s in the mail (in NKP paint, of course!)
[:D] Athearn UP, GP38-2, Happy New Year
The shell on the LifeLike F40 isn’t really too bad. I have one in a box somewhere. There was an article years back…and I can’t remember if it was MR or RMC that addressed using an Atlas FP7 chassis to repower it, but you could use others. Later on, if you decide to upgrade the insides, scour the swap meets for a suitable frame and motor and keep the shell. I personally enjoy rebuilding/remotoring and returning to service some of the older stuff I have. The important thing is that you’re happy with it.[:)]
My latest purchase…an Athearn F59PHI sitting in the repaint and detail que…my latest to hit the rails is a repowered/repainted 20+ year old pair of Athearn F7As with an Athearn FP45 to Ex-BNSF SDF40-2 conversion next once the final details and remotor gets done. Latest in my world doesn’t usually mean new, even the F59 was second hand. I haven’t bought a NEW loco in 2 years.
A used Bachmann N scale N&W J 4-8-4. The price was right.
The last ones I bought were actually for my dad. EMD F7 ABA set in NP freight livery. The A units has a gyralite in it and he loves it so much he wants them retrofitted to all his other F units…I weathered them fairly heavily as well so now he wants all his freight engines weathered too…oh well…lol. Like I don’t already have a hundred projects 
As for me, I’ve decided to stop buying any new locos and rolling stock until I finish all my painting, weathering, and detailing projects on the locos/stock I have. So, that could be a few dozen years 
Warren
A Bachmann “Jubilee” class 4-6-0 in LMS lined black livery - not American I know, but it’s very nice!
On a related subject, has anyone else had trouble with out of gauge wheelsets on Bachmann locos? All of the Bachmann split-frame chassis locos I have had major running problems (wouldn’t pull, lumpy running) that disappeared when I sorted out the wheelset gauges. I’m wondering if this is a problem with their US-outline range as well?
I got the FEF-3 for Christmas this year, As I commented before it’s quite the Ferrari, needs good track and has plenty of speed. Unfortunately the passenger cars (10) in tow can’t keep up and are now in the shops for upgrades. The Alegheny is well worth the wait. That was last years Christmas gift. Both are excellent pullers. The Allegheny has pulled a 96 car consist up considerable grades without much effort. From what Iv’e seen so far, the FEF-3 should be comparable. A double header of the two is in the offing.
The last one i bought about two yrs ago was a N Scale SD50 Rio Grande[:)]
i hope to aquire two SD70’s BN Executive Scheme that is if i can find them at reasonable price
Larry
My latest locomotive is an Athearn “Ready to Roll” Conrail SD-50 that I bought a few weeks ago.
Prior to that, this past summer I bought 3 Proto 2000 GP-9s, 2 PRR and 1 undec.