I like both, but I lean a little more towards vintage. It's more budget-friendly, better for smaller layouts, and is more serviceable if anything goes wrong.
I don’t have any, but for me, if I was spending all the time and money, I’d prefer modern with all those wonderful features and sounds. I’d love to be in a position where I can get bored of the modern and want a few older sets just for the heck of it.
I spot a Gundam model - it's cool. I only have 1 model (no layout though) & it's the HO scale 46200 - Princess Royal by Tri-ang (now Hornby) but sadly she's missing her front wheels & is also need of an overhaul, as she's also missing her left side rods too. Even though I don't have a layout to use, I know of a place that has some of my fav. Australian trains (even though my fav. fav. train's the 4014 ~ Big Boy) that I might try to see if i can enter the contest with (if they'll left me take a video of them running).
i have to lean towards modern. I understand, the vintage has so much character and better budget, but the modern is absolutely incredible and extremely detailed.
I like my vintage engines for one reason that I look for when buying a locomotive.. that is magna- traction. I have some pretty good grades and I love my magna-traction models. They've survived 70 years of abuse...(I keep the way I get them, they've earned their stripes). One of my best ones is a 2046 that I rescued from a antique store, busted, and missing many parts. After much tinkering, it's very dependable. I wonder how long today's modern electronics will last over time. That being said, I do have a MTH 611 myself, and am very proud of it. Both have their advantages, love them all, remembering that it all started in the mid 60s with a very cheap 027 set that I ran till it died years later. Still have some of those bits.
New, old, it doesn’t matter. Once you have decent scenery and the trains start running, it magically becomes real. One of my favorite books is “The Runaway Train” where David sets up his 10th birthday present of a Lionel train set but when he starts following it around the house he finds a switch that runs it out on the back porch and then all through 1943 Auburn, AL. and back into the house with the hopper car full of candy dropped by a girl in a five and dime store. And thanks for pronouncing Norfolk correctly.
Hard to say, I kinda like the vintage stuff for how cute it sounds to me, yet the modern stuff I like because it sounds and looks so cool. I am at loss and can not say that one is better than the other.
I'm on "Team Modern" for this one. They look, sound and perform much more realistically compared to their vintage counterparts, which is what I like about model trains in general a vast majority of the time. Only the Norfolk & Western J Class looks like its real life counterpart for the vintage steamers shown here, and that's why it's my favorite vintage steamer shown in this video. The vintage Southern Pacific GS4 is just a Norfolk & Western J Class with an oil tender and a Mars light. The other two vintage steamers are depicted as Hudsons, when in the real world, they were Pacifics. Nice that you were able to acquire these four steam passenger trains and two versions (modern and vintage) of each; very colorful collection of iconic trains from across the nation.
Can never go wrong with the Blue Comet from any Era 😉 its always fascinating to see how far along technology has come when looking back at older models that were outstanding for there time and how they are today! Nice video idea Chris, love it!
Excellent video Chris, I like them both. My three kids had a youth pastor who not only looks identical to you but also speaks and entertains with the same passion! I don't think he plays with trains, though. 🤔 Thanks for sharing, Chris!
Chris, One thing you could've added to make a better comparison is their RRP as appropriate. It may help to put them into perspective. Vision line et al could be considered frightfully expensive today, was the MPC blue comet the same frightfully expensive price in its day? I have some standard and wide gauge and as I'm sure you're aware the 381 3 car intercontinental ("state") set was extremely expensive in its day, although marketed for a different demographic, one that doesn't necessarily exist today. Great video, very enjoyable. I like both, were a probable lean towards modern, just due to their sheer impressiveness as a model. although as I'm wide/standard gauge my thoughts don't really count ;)
Great idea! I am wondering what the original Retail Price was for these sets in the 70s. Need to find out that info so I can run the good old calculator to see what the cost would be today. I like the standard gauge stuff! The history around it fascinates me. Thanks for watching!
Very cool video. I am a vintage train guy. I have 1946 675 steam set, a 1948 726 passenger set, and a 1950 671 small freight set. Most of rolling stock is vintage with some PWC freight cars and operating car sets. Most of my operating accessory sets are vintage. Track is o-31 tubular track and modern o-22 switches. My layout is 4 by 8. No room for scale track and locomotives . The vision line is out of league and not with in my budget. Vintage and MPC are affordable and work on O-31 track.I really like your channel as you have a layout witch scale engines and rolling stock. I get to see these scale sets run. Thank you. The neat thing about O gauge is any person can get into the hobby.
An outstanding video and topic, Chris. Hands down, the whistles of the modern era locomotives are the most appealing, although I don't like the higher pitch of the three pitch whistle on the SP Daylight. The look of the vintage and modern of each are both super. Great to see on any layout at any time. It was a real adventure into the development of O gauge model trains over the years.
I like the sound and the look of the modern version . The "hoot" of the 611 is very close . I also like the non brilliant varnish of the modern scale size model . Only thing I don't like is the prices of them !!!!
I always get excited to see a new video of yours and was super excited to see the daylight along with all the others here. I still have not gone down to my local train museum, but up here in Portland we have the last surviving daylight which I think is pretty cool! Also love to see the Astray Red Frame in your new videos. Looks to be a PG which was my first PG Gundam to build :) Do you have any other Gundam's in your collection?
Thanks Nigel and that is cool that you live so close to the Daylight. Would be great to see that one in person one day. As for the Gundam, I only have this one and a MG Wing. Looking to build a few more but that is becoming a slippery slope, haha!
@@RBPTrains I totally get where you are coming from for the slippery slope haha! My Gundam collection is far larger then my train, of which I just started collecting. I believe I have more un-built then I do built now😝
I love the vintage trains from the MPC era. Especially, the Norfolk & Western 611 and Blue Comet trains. Also, I’m going to see it at Strasburg on Memorial Day Weekend for the In-Cab Experience on May 26th and ride the train on May 27th. 😬 Can you feel the excitement? lol
I collect Post War and MPC. Like you, I run the Blue Comet and Crescent with multiples of cars in both, but add the Rail King Crescent cars only with a custom Lionel Southern-MTH F3 Diesel as the Loco. Quite a twister. I am really enjoying your channel. Keep up the good work!
That was an interesting comparison and your ever growing collection is impressive. You are correct in that you can't compare the electronic sound effects from back then to the present day digital offerings. But, for their time, they were a welcome addition. It has been said that those postwar Lionel diesel horns that used the D cell battery were actually door bell buzzers. Every Monday I watch the show I Love Toy Trains. Trainz is one of their sponsors and you did a good job with their ad. Keep up the good work and I look forward to your next video.
While they were probably door buzzers, early postwar diesel horns were stamped 'Delta Electronic Marion, Indiana' on the tops, and Delta used those same buzzers for bicycle horns, and later stall warning buzzers in some aircraft. So yeah, with some adjustment to pitch, those buzzers probably saw other uses as well.
Hi Chris, Great video! 👍 I like the older one trains but I love and collect the modern trains. If I could, I would buy all of them, but they’re hard to find in Europe.
In my opinion,you are by far the most entertaining model railroad UA-camr I've seen. I greatly appreciate it,needed this vid today. I primarily collect Post war and Mpc,although I like the scale stuff. I just don't have space for the giant curves.
I really enjoy your video's, one suggestion is to list the model number of the trains you run. I like a couple of your train and tried to search for them. Keep the the good work.
I had a large collection of MPC back in the 70's and 80's and I really enjoyed them back then. My complaint was you could buy the engine but it only came in one road name for the engines released each year (I hated that). I later sold all my trains as a complete collection with little regret. Now I have a large collection of MTH and Lionel trains and I love them because I could buy road name specific models with awesome detail and sounds.
@@sambrown6426 and have you ever seen Lionel prewar? Prewar in my opinion is interesting too and I would think that while the 1950s would be considered the golden age of Lionel I think an appropriate term for Lionel’s second best stage a silver age if you will would be the 1920s.
Another great show Chris! There's not much I can add except you're so right, people wanting to get into the hobby but not wanting to take out a second mortgage on the house should take a good look at the MPC Era trains and not just those. Look at what I call the Kughn Era Lionels made from 1985 to 1996, many of those are coming up o the second-hand market and be had for very reasonable prices. And there's also the Post-War Era trains, many of which are so common it's no sin if you want to take one in no-so-good external condition and give it a custom paint job of your own. And if one doesn't like the older sound systems they're easily upgraded with sound kits available from different outfits. Oh, and it's no suprise the Blue Comet sets tend to be more expensive, Blue Comets of any era and make are always hot items.
Hey Chris, Saw you in York at the point you were giving away the Triplex. Didn't want to interrupt. The look on thier faces... Thanks for being a great ambassador for our hobby!!😊
@@RBPTrains I personally like a mix of modern and vintage locomotives for a layout although my ideal layout would probably be primarily consisted of modern locomotives from the 90s to the present some pre-war sets and pre-war inspired sets along with modern remakes of them and at least a few postwar items. One or two MPC items would not be bad either. Overall, modern and prewar are probably my favorites.
We love them all brotherman, really nice colection. These engines take us back to being a kid again Bro, LOVE THIS VIDEO!!!! COOL MAN COOL!!! 😃😆😁😆💓💞💕👏👏👍👍👍👍
Great video 👍. 📹 👏👏👏. Thanks a lot! Always enjoying seeing those super cool trains👍👍👍 It would also be great if you could do a video about the different product lines of different brands. For example I saw an MTH amtrak set and I was like this is great 👍. But then I saw that it was just a starter set and maybe didn't have all the features of a premium level set. Is Rail king the premium line? Is Lionel legacy the premium line? Is the Vision line the premium line? It's confusing if you're just starting in the hobby. Thanks! All the best and looking forward to your next videos 📹
I like modern, but do have some vintage. I do run vintage every now and then. You provide a good comparison of current and past trains. Keep up the good work!
Thanks for this video, Chris. It's excellent as are all your videos. BTW, you have gotten me hooked on the MPC Era. You are right- without the MPC Era, we may not have the Lionel we all know and love today and the resulting products. MPC did provide the link to the modern day.
Hey Chris, I collect and operate primarily conventional postwar, MPC, and LTI Era Marx, Lionel, Williams, and K-line models. Come on man, you know there is no comparison to the modern railsounds sound systems as compared to the horrible, virtually identical sounding MPC sounds. I install railsounds in my engines whenever I can and get the best of both worlds. However, I can't get myself to replace the MPC boards if they are in working order. MPC sounds. It is what it is. I'm embarrassed to demonstrate these to anyone not familiar with model trains, especially since they have already heard my go-to engines with the railsounds first. I have demonstrated the sounds from each Era in successive order and surprised how many people like the postwar steam whistles over the others.
Haha! I couldn't help myself. I would have to agree with the people you mentioned who like the Post War whistles. The sound of a Post War whistle is so much more than a sound. It is a reminder of the past, of the first golden years of O Gauge and brings that nostalgic vibe to the train table. Thanks for watching Dale!
@@RBPTrains while I never have actually had a post war set the starter sets I got which were made around the 1990s and early 2000s were dirt cheap when my parents got them and as a result didn’t have a lot of modern systems in them. Because of this, the only features they had were puffing smoke and whistle sounds. They were supposed to have bell noises as well, but for whatever reason they never worked on any of them. The whistle sounds sounded very similar to the post war whistle sound effects you hear on 1940s and 1950s train sets and because of that I’ve kind of related to some of the postwar era stuff even though I’ve never actually set my hands on one. Personally other than modern stuff the things I would want to get my hands on the most is the O gauge pre-war sets from the 1920s and 30s as well as some of the modern remakes and reproductions of those sets. I Recall that recently Lionel made a remake of the state set as well as a prewar inspired, electric locomotive, freight set, and both of those are something that I would want to get if I had the time and money to run toy trains.
Very cool Chris!! One thing I notice as a non O scale guy (Im HO), it seems the new stuff is much quieter then the vintage. I think thats true across the board, but very noticeable here.
The newer trains are much quieter with their flywheel motors and such. In O Gauge, we often refer to the vintage trains as growlers, especially the Post War F3s. Thanks for watching!
Hi RBP, I just wanted to say I'm a huge fan. I love both eras because of the color schemes. It's nice to see someone bridging that gap between them and thoroughly enjoying both. I'm more of a modern guy myself, but I have great respect for those who still run vintage. I'm a bit young (literally and figuratively) to the hobby, but my collection consists of a TMCC GS-2, TMCC AC-9, Legacy Golden State E7s, and a TMCC Cab Forward which I'm selling to upgrade to a Legacy Cab Forward.
I remember seeing a blue comet on I love toy trains that look like vintage but it was more well done. As for the others I never even knew they had models like this in vintage design
So what about The Blue Comet from 2002? Is that considered modern? I have the opportunity to get the Lionel set, but now I have to rethink. Thanks, RBP. Trains are hard...
Modern in my opinion means something from the last 19 years. At 20 it becomes classic or vintage so 2002 would make it classic in my book since it is now 2023 making it 21 years old. It will still be at O Scale but the electronics in it are definitely outdated compared to current stuff (i.e. no synchronized chuffing, etc.) so don't expect the same as something from 2023 or even the 2010's.
Good question! I think we are on the verge of a new era but it has yet to be named. Following the MPC era is the "LTI" era and then it gets blurry around the advent of TMCC and PS2. So I agree...trains and hard
@@RBPTrains Well, I decided to go with Legacy Trains this time.I picked up the Rio Grande Heritage SD70ACE, a Boston and Maine SD70ACE and the METCA F40 Panama.
I appreciate the new offerings as they are by far more detailed than anything offered before. I collect everything from prewar to LTI, although most of my collection is postwar. Even though I was born in 1982, I gravitate to the older stuff.
I'm honestly quite torn between Modern and Vintage eras for trains. Vintage trains have that charming "semi-scale" look to it that can catch both young and old hobbyists eyes alike. Modern trains are impressive with how much detail and electronic wizardry they can pack into them.
You Choose Some Great MPC Sets, I Remember When They Were New, I Got A Job On The Railroad, Working Xtra Gangs And Was Able To Own Them, Dumb Me Sold Them For 500 Bucks And Bought HO Ouch.
I like 'em all Chris and run anything my layout will accommodate from American Flyer O-gauge, Hafner, Marx, Lionel, MTH, K-Line, etc., whatever I like.
I'm a vintage Marx and Lionel fan myself. The locos and rolling stock are much more budget friendly. Someone may have already commented on this, but here's a fun fact: Marx came out with a side smoker for the 666 and 1666 in the 1950s no other manufacturer of o gauge trains would have this feature until Lionel did it in the 1980s.
I find it funny that right now you are doing a comparison of old and new just after I had to make a decision. My father bought a G gauge loco, the LGB BR99 6001, when I was a kid. Unfortunately, he sold it and now that I can finally start building a small garden railroad myself, I wanted to have one. The version with sound, the 2080S, came onto the market in 1974 and at the time cost almost 3 times as much as the version without sound. It was revolutionary as it already had a bell, initially mechanical, whistle and synchronized cylinder sound in 1974! It was produced until 1993 with small changes, e.g. the sound of the bell was later also generated electronically, and the sound was only fundamentally revised with the 1994 model. I deliberately chose an old, analogue version. It's amazing what's possible these days, but the challenge is just getting the microcontroller right, which is what engineers had to do back then to teach a bunch of analog parts to sound like a steam engine, and at the right beat, too. that is worth preserving! ua-cam.com/video/tZf1Mbc6UmQ/v-deo.html
Been a vintage fan my whole life. Got myself a 736 and 746, love 'em both. I've had some modern stuff, but it just doesn't have the same charm as the vintage stuff. Gonna be picking up a 700E real soon, the true icon of Lionel in my books.
Great vidio,, the Yard layout stared with lionchief sets then a 681 set from the 50s. Running outside with postwar engines is the best, bt speakers ad a modern sound to it from the tender and the pulling power from the magna traction is great...Thanks for the morning coffee
The modern has them by looks but the vintage have that good old spirit of original Lionel trains that’s why I choose vintage and I have a steamer that is either 63 or 64 years old. Anyway nice video RBP thanks for giving us something good to watch.
I’ve been on a Postwar Lionel kick lately, between 1946 and around 1957, when Lionel focused on military trains. It has a nice balance of keeping Lionel’s toylike charm while still having a few modern features like smoke
I think I honestly prefer the 80s N&W coaches. But, that might just be the I Love Toy Trains nostalgia, and I don’t mean anything after The Final Show.
Both versions are cool, and I would take either one. I have a preference for the MPC version. I used to work in the railroad exhibit at Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh, and we had the MPC Blue Comet and Crescent, 3 of each. I took those apart and repaired them countless times. repairing the modern version would be much more difficult. I don't have any of them at home. While watching the video, the image of a miniature O. Winston Link with his camera set up track side popped into my head. Something to remember when my family and I get to build our own layout.
I like both but because of my budget and lack of room for a large layout, I tend to collect more of the vintage trains. One good thing is that Lion Chief Plus is now giving people with smaller layouts a chance to have engines with improved features, especially the sound and Bluetooth control.
i'm so going to send a video of what i collect so far! it isn't a permanent layout. my room gets cleaned every week, so i need to put away every week. but i run trains and i really like what i got so far
Mpc stands for model products corporation. It was an era where Lionel started to make much more than just trains, but also functioning buildings, cars, and more. Also, they made functioning train cars like the helicopter flatcar
Pls show the k-4 pacifics, nyc mohawk with deflectors, atsf and aft/American freedom train southern pacific daylight with they coachest or cargo pls 6:11
Just bought the premier Mth blue comet locomotive and tender with The Mth 5 blue comet passenger cars can I run these on Lionel fast track and what would be the best controlling system to purchase please get back to me thank you me and my Son Andrew love the channel !!!
so far i only have postwar 2025 and a prewar 262e. but i only have a generic loop bc i spent money on prewar shiny thing instead of track. i regret not buying track.
Although the details are better on the Modern scale sized trains I do like the Vintage trains as well as the Traditional sized Modern Era trains more better and I like Postwar as well because the smaller and more basic trains are more affordable and easier to work with. I am more of Diesel fan but do like Steam and Electric Locomotives though ! I am a big fan of Williams Trains which are basically a combination of different styles and Eras too !
I like both, but I lean a little more towards vintage. It's more budget-friendly, better for smaller layouts, and is more serviceable if anything goes wrong.
Agreed.
Vintage all the way!
Prefer vintage engines ,easy to repair and cost effective,better made in usa.
I don’t have any, but for me, if I was spending all the time and money, I’d prefer modern with all those wonderful features and sounds. I’d love to be in a position where I can get bored of the modern and want a few older sets just for the heck of it.
I spot a Gundam model - it's cool.
I only have 1 model (no layout though) & it's the HO scale 46200 - Princess Royal by Tri-ang (now Hornby) but sadly she's missing her front wheels & is also need of an overhaul, as she's also missing her left side rods too.
Even though I don't have a layout to use, I know of a place that has some of my fav. Australian trains (even though my fav. fav. train's the 4014 ~ Big Boy) that I might try to see if i can enter the contest with (if they'll left me take a video of them running).
i have to lean towards modern. I understand, the vintage has so much character and better budget, but the modern is absolutely incredible and extremely detailed.
I like my vintage engines for one reason that I look for when buying a locomotive.. that is magna- traction. I have some pretty good grades and I love my magna-traction models. They've survived 70 years of abuse...(I keep the way I get them, they've earned their stripes). One of my best ones is a 2046 that I rescued from a antique store, busted, and missing many parts. After much tinkering, it's very dependable. I wonder how long today's modern electronics will last over time. That being said, I do have a MTH 611 myself, and am very proud of it. Both have their advantages, love them all, remembering that it all started in the mid 60s with a very cheap 027 set that I ran till it died years later. Still have some of those bits.
New, old, it doesn’t matter. Once you have decent scenery and the trains start running, it magically becomes real.
One of my favorite books is “The Runaway Train” where David sets up his 10th birthday present of a Lionel train set but when he starts following it around the house he finds a switch that runs it out on the back porch and then all through 1943 Auburn, AL. and back into the house with the hopper car full of candy dropped by a girl in a five and dime store.
And thanks for pronouncing Norfolk correctly.
Hard to say, I kinda like the vintage stuff for how cute it sounds to me, yet the modern stuff I like because it sounds and looks so cool. I am at loss and can not say that one is better than the other.
I’m a huge MPC fan. I’m currently putting together all the trains of The Famous American Railroad Series. On the hunt for the Blue Comet.
RBT - Chris,
I learn from every video and from the comments from you fellas. I like the new track design also.
Hi Chris, I think the modern ones are the best. Especially the streamlined steam locomotives. Cory
I'm on "Team Modern" for this one. They look, sound and perform much more realistically compared to their vintage counterparts, which is what I like about model trains in general a vast majority of the time. Only the Norfolk & Western J Class looks like its real life counterpart for the vintage steamers shown here, and that's why it's my favorite vintage steamer shown in this video. The vintage Southern Pacific GS4 is just a Norfolk & Western J Class with an oil tender and a Mars light. The other two vintage steamers are depicted as Hudsons, when in the real world, they were Pacifics. Nice that you were able to acquire these four steam passenger trains and two versions (modern and vintage) of each; very colorful collection of iconic trains from across the nation.
Like em both too. All beautiful! Really great layout! Nice and clean ! Looks great
Can never go wrong with the Blue Comet from any Era 😉 its always fascinating to see how far along technology has come when looking back at older models that were outstanding for there time and how they are today!
Nice video idea Chris, love it!
Excellent video Chris, I like them both. My three kids had a youth pastor who not only looks identical to you but also speaks and entertains with the same passion! I don't think he plays with trains, though. 🤔 Thanks for sharing, Chris!
Definitely a bigger fan of modern. The vintage is cool, but the modern hits different.
Chris, One thing you could've added to make a better comparison is their RRP as appropriate. It may help to put them into perspective. Vision line et al could be considered frightfully expensive today, was the MPC blue comet the same frightfully expensive price in its day? I have some standard and wide gauge and as I'm sure you're aware the 381 3 car intercontinental ("state") set was extremely expensive in its day, although marketed for a different demographic, one that doesn't necessarily exist today.
Great video, very enjoyable. I like both, were a probable lean towards modern, just due to their sheer impressiveness as a model. although as I'm wide/standard gauge my thoughts don't really count ;)
Great idea! I am wondering what the original Retail Price was for these sets in the 70s. Need to find out that info so I can run the good old calculator to see what the cost would be today. I like the standard gauge stuff! The history around it fascinates me. Thanks for watching!
All great trains! All the classic trains were made in USA. Something you can't say about the modern trains.
Modern you get cause your just fascinated by all the bells and whistles but Vintage is a life time of memories
Very cool video. I am a vintage train guy. I have 1946 675 steam set, a 1948 726 passenger set, and a 1950 671 small freight set. Most of rolling stock is vintage with some PWC freight cars and operating car sets. Most of my operating accessory sets are vintage. Track is o-31 tubular track and modern o-22 switches. My layout is 4 by 8. No room for scale track and locomotives . The vision line is out of league and not with in my budget. Vintage and MPC are affordable and work on O-31 track.I really like your channel as you have a layout witch scale engines and rolling stock. I get to see these scale sets run. Thank you. The neat thing about O gauge is any person can get into the hobby.
An outstanding video and topic, Chris. Hands down, the whistles of the modern era locomotives are the most appealing, although I don't like the higher pitch of the three pitch whistle on the SP Daylight. The look of the vintage and modern of each are both super. Great to see on any layout at any time. It was a real adventure into the development of O gauge model trains over the years.
I agree. I love the way the modern whistles. Cory Mears
I like the sound and the look of the modern version . The "hoot" of the 611 is very close . I also like the non brilliant varnish of the modern scale size model . Only thing I don't like is the prices of them !!!!
The whistle is pretty cool on that one! Thanks for watching Louis.
Hey Chris! Love the contrast between the good ol' days and the newer and more deluxe selection of today! Thanks for sharin'.
- Vic
I always get excited to see a new video of yours and was super excited to see the daylight along with all the others here. I still have not gone down to my local train museum, but up here in Portland we have the last surviving daylight which I think is pretty cool! Also love to see the Astray Red Frame in your new videos. Looks to be a PG which was my first PG Gundam to build :) Do you have any other Gundam's in your collection?
Thanks Nigel and that is cool that you live so close to the Daylight. Would be great to see that one in person one day. As for the Gundam, I only have this one and a MG Wing. Looking to build a few more but that is becoming a slippery slope, haha!
@@RBPTrains I totally get where you are coming from for the slippery slope haha! My Gundam collection is far larger then my train, of which I just started collecting. I believe I have more un-built then I do built now😝
Fun to see how model trains have developed over the past 40 years. 🚂👍👊
Modern.just so smooth and easy to run.
Vintage or modern model trains are always cool. You got to love that MPC era simplicity and the totally prototypical sounds.
I love the vintage trains from the MPC era. Especially, the Norfolk & Western 611 and Blue Comet trains.
Also, I’m going to see it at Strasburg on Memorial Day Weekend for the In-Cab Experience on May 26th and ride the train on May 27th. 😬 Can you feel the excitement? lol
I collect Post War and MPC. Like you, I run the Blue Comet and Crescent with multiples of cars in both, but add the Rail King Crescent cars only with a custom Lionel Southern-MTH F3 Diesel as the Loco. Quite a twister. I am really enjoying your channel. Keep up the good work!
That was an interesting comparison and your ever growing collection is impressive. You are correct in that you can't compare the electronic sound effects from back then to the present day digital offerings. But, for their time, they were a welcome addition. It has been said that those postwar Lionel diesel horns that used the D cell battery were actually door bell buzzers. Every Monday I watch the show I Love Toy Trains. Trainz is one of their sponsors and you did a good job with their ad. Keep up the good work and I look forward to your next video.
While they were probably door buzzers, early postwar diesel horns were stamped 'Delta Electronic Marion, Indiana' on the tops, and Delta used those same buzzers for bicycle horns, and later stall warning buzzers in some aircraft. So yeah, with some adjustment to pitch, those buzzers probably saw other uses as well.
Hi Chris,
Great video! 👍 I like the older one trains but I love and collect the modern trains. If I could, I would buy all of them, but they’re hard to find in Europe.
In my opinion,you are by far the most entertaining model railroad UA-camr I've seen. I greatly appreciate it,needed this vid today. I primarily collect Post war and Mpc,although I like the scale stuff. I just don't have space for the giant curves.
Agreed, RBP/Chris is a very entertaining fella.
Will there be "Academy" awards developed for U tooba? 🤔
Thank you for the kind words! This video/topic was a fun one to explore.
I really enjoy your video's, one suggestion is to list the model number of the trains you run. I like a couple of your train and tried to search for them. Keep the the good work.
Great suggestion! I will update the description.
I had a large collection of MPC back in the 70's and 80's and I really enjoyed them back then. My complaint was you could buy the engine but it only came in one road name for the engines released each year (I hated that). I later sold all my trains as a complete collection with little regret. Now I have a large collection of MTH and Lionel trains and I love them because I could buy road name specific models with awesome detail and sounds.
I've had too many problems with shoddy workmanship from Lionel and MTH trains made in China. I'll stick with vintage.
I've only got Lionel Postwar, and the sound of those things growling along never gets old. And of course, Magne-traction.
Mine are too.
@@sarahhearn-vonfoerster7401 Mine used to belong to my grandfathers, and they gave it all to me. How did you get yours?
@@sambrown6426 and have you ever seen Lionel prewar? Prewar in my opinion is interesting too and I would think that while the 1950s would be considered the golden age of Lionel I think an appropriate term for Lionel’s second best stage a silver age if you will would be the 1920s.
Awesome video the daylight changed a lot over the years from the traditional conventional control model to the top of the line visionline locomotive 🚂
Another great show Chris! There's not much I can add except you're so right, people wanting to get into the hobby but not wanting to take out a second mortgage on the house should take a good look at the MPC Era trains and not just those. Look at what I call the Kughn Era Lionels made from 1985 to 1996, many of those are coming up o the second-hand market and be had for very reasonable prices. And there's also the Post-War Era trains, many of which are so common it's no sin if you want to take one in no-so-good external condition and give it a custom paint job of your own. And if one doesn't like the older sound systems they're easily upgraded with sound kits available from different outfits.
Oh, and it's no suprise the Blue Comet sets tend to be more expensive, Blue Comets of any era and make are always hot items.
Another awesome video Chris. I have the MTH Premier BLUE COMET and 5 car set, the engine is in PS only.
Hey Chris,
Saw you in York at the point you were giving away the Triplex. Didn't want to interrupt. The look on thier faces... Thanks for being a great ambassador for our hobby!!😊
Fantastic! That was my favorite part of York. We recorded the whole thing and I will post the video this week. A moment I will never forget :)
@@RBPTrains I personally like a mix of modern and vintage locomotives for a layout although my ideal layout would probably be primarily consisted of modern locomotives from the 90s to the present some pre-war sets and pre-war inspired sets along with modern remakes of them and at least a few postwar items. One or two MPC items would not be bad either. Overall, modern and prewar are probably my favorites.
Great video Chris. I think both modern and vintage are great. As I grow my collection, I’ll continue to get both b
We love them all brotherman, really nice colection. These engines take us back to being a kid again Bro, LOVE THIS VIDEO!!!! COOL MAN COOL!!! 😃😆😁😆💓💞💕👏👏👍👍👍👍
Great video 👍. 📹 👏👏👏.
Thanks a lot! Always enjoying seeing those super cool trains👍👍👍
It would also be great if you could do a video about the different product lines of different brands. For example I saw an MTH amtrak set and I was like this is great 👍. But then I saw that it was just a starter set and maybe didn't have all the features of a premium level set. Is Rail king the premium line?
Is Lionel legacy the premium line? Is the Vision line the premium line?
It's confusing if you're just starting in the hobby. Thanks!
All the best and looking forward to your next videos 📹
I like modern, but do have some vintage. I do run vintage every now and then. You provide a good comparison of current and past trains. Keep up the good work!
Great video Chris, really enjoyed it
Chris, I collect vintage & repo Tinplate as well as modern TMCC & PS2/3 MTH. Thanks.
Great content and great trains. Another "top shelf" video and I thank you !
Thanks James!
Thanks for this video, Chris. It's excellent as are all your videos. BTW, you have gotten me hooked on the MPC Era. You are right- without the MPC Era, we may not have the Lionel we all know and love today and the resulting products. MPC did provide the link to the modern day.
Hey Chris, I collect and operate primarily conventional postwar, MPC, and LTI Era Marx, Lionel, Williams, and K-line models. Come on man, you know there is no comparison to the modern railsounds sound systems as compared to the horrible, virtually identical sounding MPC sounds. I install railsounds in my engines whenever I can and get the best of both worlds. However, I can't get myself to replace the MPC boards if they are in working order. MPC sounds. It is what it is. I'm embarrassed to demonstrate these to anyone not familiar with model trains, especially since they have already heard my go-to engines with the railsounds first. I have demonstrated the sounds from each Era in successive order and surprised how many people like the postwar steam whistles over the others.
Haha! I couldn't help myself. I would have to agree with the people you mentioned who like the Post War whistles. The sound of a Post War whistle is so much more than a sound. It is a reminder of the past, of the first golden years of O Gauge and brings that nostalgic vibe to the train table. Thanks for watching Dale!
@@RBPTrains while I never have actually had a post war set the starter sets I got which were made around the 1990s and early 2000s were dirt cheap when my parents got them and as a result didn’t have a lot of modern systems in them. Because of this, the only features they had were puffing smoke and whistle sounds. They were supposed to have bell noises as well, but for whatever reason they never worked on any of them. The whistle sounds sounded very similar to the post war whistle sound effects you hear on 1940s and 1950s train sets and because of that I’ve kind of related to some of the postwar era stuff even though I’ve never actually set my hands on one. Personally other than modern stuff the things I would want to get my hands on the most is the O gauge pre-war sets from the 1920s and 30s as well as some of the modern remakes and reproductions of those sets. I Recall that recently Lionel made a remake of the state set as well as a prewar inspired, electric locomotive, freight set, and both of those are something that I would want to get if I had the time and money to run toy trains.
I like the vintage, But Man The Nostalgia🫠😃😄😁👍🇺🇲😀😆😉🙃🙂🤔😙
Great video Chris.
Excellent selection of sets to compare!
Me, I like all of the trains you ran. Keep having fun and enjoy them.
We've colected modern Brotherman!!! H.&J. M 👍👍😀😃😁💟💕❤
Very cool Chris!! One thing I notice as a non O scale guy (Im HO), it seems the new stuff is much quieter then the vintage. I think thats true across the board, but very noticeable here.
The newer trains are much quieter with their flywheel motors and such. In O Gauge, we often refer to the vintage trains as growlers, especially the Post War F3s. Thanks for watching!
Hi RBP, I just wanted to say I'm a huge fan. I love both eras because of the color schemes. It's nice to see someone bridging that gap between them and thoroughly enjoying both. I'm more of a modern guy myself, but I have great respect for those who still run vintage. I'm a bit young (literally and figuratively) to the hobby, but my collection consists of a TMCC GS-2, TMCC AC-9, Legacy Golden State E7s, and a TMCC Cab Forward which I'm selling to upgrade to a Legacy Cab Forward.
You have some nice trains in your collection! That cab forward is gonna be epic. I don't have one of those! Thanks for watching Nicolas!
I remember seeing a blue comet on I love toy trains that look like vintage but it was more well done. As for the others I never even knew they had models like this in vintage design
A friend of mine is a big fan of post war trains 😊
So what about The Blue Comet from 2002? Is that considered modern? I have the opportunity to get the Lionel set, but now I have to rethink. Thanks, RBP. Trains are hard...
Modern in my opinion means something from the last 19 years. At 20 it becomes classic or vintage so 2002 would make it classic in my book since it is now 2023 making it 21 years old. It will still be at O Scale but the electronics in it are definitely outdated compared to current stuff (i.e. no synchronized chuffing, etc.) so don't expect the same as something from 2023 or even the 2010's.
Good question! I think we are on the verge of a new era but it has yet to be named. Following the MPC era is the "LTI" era and then it gets blurry around the advent of TMCC and PS2. So I agree...trains and hard
@@RBPTrains Well, I decided to go with Legacy Trains this time.I picked up the Rio Grande Heritage SD70ACE, a Boston and Maine SD70ACE and the METCA F40 Panama.
I loved this video RBP. Great work keep doing what you do.
I appreciate the new offerings as they are by far more detailed than anything offered before. I collect everything from prewar to LTI, although most of my collection is postwar. Even though I was born in 1982, I gravitate to the older stuff.
I have to say, modern and vintage both have their own charm. I’d say I can’t like one more than the other.
I would love to see another video with the Yellowstone
Also the Yellowstone will be the start to my collection of O Scale trains
I'm honestly quite torn between Modern and Vintage eras for trains. Vintage trains have that charming "semi-scale" look to it that can catch both young and old hobbyists eyes alike. Modern trains are impressive with how much detail and electronic wizardry they can pack into them.
I love both vintage and modern era of Lionel trains
Steam trains
Always delighted to watch them
I love modern trains for the realism and features, but I also love the vintage stuff for the history and collectibility
Great video! Keep up the good work
Are you be buying New 2335110 polar express Lion chief Budd RDC combo (#1225)
Not sure on that one...yet
Vintage......like 1957. That's what i have.
Do you think you’ll do a third RBP & friends?Because I’m in the middle of a giant layout renovation and I probably won’t be done for a few more months
You bet! Take your time
"The turn of the century!"
2000?
Oddly enough the 611 is pulling passengers at Strasburg thru the month of May.......
I'll be there....👍🚂👍🚂👍🚂👍
You Choose Some Great MPC Sets, I Remember When They Were New, I Got A Job On The Railroad, Working Xtra Gangs And Was Able To Own Them, Dumb Me Sold Them For 500 Bucks And Bought HO Ouch.
I like 'em all Chris and run anything my layout will accommodate from American Flyer O-gauge, Hafner, Marx, Lionel, MTH, K-Line, etc., whatever I like.
I'm a vintage Marx and Lionel fan myself. The locos and rolling stock are much more budget friendly. Someone may have already commented on this, but here's a fun fact: Marx came out with a side smoker for the 666 and 1666 in the 1950s no other manufacturer of o gauge trains would have this feature until Lionel did it in the 1980s.
I find it funny that right now you are doing a comparison of old and new just after I had to make a decision. My father bought a G gauge loco, the LGB BR99 6001, when I was a kid. Unfortunately, he sold it and now that I can finally start building a small garden railroad myself, I wanted to have one. The version with sound, the 2080S, came onto the market in 1974 and at the time cost almost 3 times as much as the version without sound. It was revolutionary as it already had a bell, initially mechanical, whistle and synchronized cylinder sound in 1974! It was produced until 1993 with small changes, e.g. the sound of the bell was later also generated electronically, and the sound was only fundamentally revised with the 1994 model. I deliberately chose an old, analogue version. It's amazing what's possible these days, but the challenge is just getting the microcontroller right, which is what engineers had to do back then to teach a bunch of analog parts to sound like a steam engine, and at the right beat, too. that is worth preserving!
ua-cam.com/video/tZf1Mbc6UmQ/v-deo.html
Been a vintage fan my whole life.
Got myself a 736 and 746, love 'em both. I've had some modern stuff, but it just doesn't have the same charm as the vintage stuff. Gonna be picking up a 700E real soon, the true icon of Lionel in my books.
I love daylight I have wooden railway Lionel battery powered daylight by learning curve
Great vidio,, the Yard layout stared with lionchief sets then a 681 set from the 50s. Running outside with postwar engines is the best, bt speakers ad a modern sound to it from the tender and the pulling power from the magna traction is great...Thanks for the morning coffee
The modern has them by looks but the vintage have that good old spirit of original Lionel trains that’s why I choose vintage and I have a steamer that is either 63 or 64 years old. Anyway nice video RBP thanks for giving us something good to watch.
The last shot with the Daylight’s made me think:
GS Series Daylight: Hurry up lil bro!
MPC Daylight: WAIT FOR ME!!!
All of those are great!...the smoke on the Daylights is awesome!
I’ve been on a Postwar Lionel kick lately, between 1946 and around 1957, when Lionel focused on military trains. It has a nice balance of keeping Lionel’s toylike charm while still having a few modern features like smoke
RBP. I love ALL the eras except the general mills era of Lionel. My favorite set is my 1988 hiawatha reproduction.
I had the pleasure of getting a cab ride on 611 while she was in Strasburg for my Birthday last year. It was fabulous.
I am a HO/N/On30 collector.
I think I honestly prefer the 80s N&W coaches. But, that might just be the I Love Toy Trains nostalgia, and I don’t mean anything after The Final Show.
Both versions are cool, and I would take either one. I have a preference for the MPC version. I used to work in the railroad exhibit at Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh, and we had the MPC Blue Comet and Crescent, 3 of each. I took those apart and repaired them countless times. repairing the modern version would be much more difficult. I don't have any of them at home.
While watching the video, the image of a miniature O. Winston Link with his camera set up track side popped into my head. Something to remember when my family and I get to build our own layout.
HI I AM apart of a lionel train club in Milwaukee WISCONSIN MAYBE YOU CAN COME OUT TO WISCONSIN RUN SOME TRAINS AT MY Local TRAIN CLUB
i dont even like O scale stuff i do my modeling in N scale but your videos are highly entertaining
Old and New Chris! Did you know that Mr. Lionel was actually the nickname of long time Lionel consultant Lenny Dean? (1926-2007)
I like both but because of my budget and lack of room for a large layout, I tend to collect more of the vintage trains. One good thing is that Lion Chief Plus is now giving people with smaller layouts a chance to have engines with improved features, especially the sound and Bluetooth control.
I only operate in HO gauge (though O scale is awesome). Most of what i have are from William K. Walthers ,dating back to the late 1940's,lol.
Say will you buy the Southern Pacific gs6 4462 next.
Nah, I like the American flyer sound. I have one in HO and it sounds amazing enough to rival modern sound (excluding the whistle)
Hello Chris VINTAGE OR MODERN TRAINZ IS TRAINZ WE ENJOY THEM NO MATTER WHAT SCALE DID YOU GO TO YORK STAY SAFE GOD BLESS ;-)
i'm so going to send a video of what i collect so far! it isn't a permanent layout. my room gets cleaned every week, so i need to put away every week. but i run trains and i really like what i got so far
Mpc stands for model products corporation. It was an era where Lionel started to make much more than just trains, but also functioning buildings, cars, and more. Also, they made functioning train cars like the helicopter flatcar
Pls show the k-4 pacifics, nyc mohawk with deflectors, atsf and aft/American freedom train southern pacific daylight with they coachest or cargo pls 6:11
Just bought the premier Mth blue comet locomotive and tender with The Mth 5 blue comet passenger cars can I run these on Lionel fast track and what would be the best controlling system to purchase please get back to me thank you me and my Son Andrew love the channel !!!
so far i only have postwar 2025 and a prewar 262e. but i only have a generic loop bc i spent money on prewar shiny thing instead of track. i regret not buying track.
Although the details are better on the Modern scale sized trains I do like the Vintage trains as well as the Traditional sized Modern Era trains more better and I like Postwar as well because the smaller and more basic trains are more affordable and easier to work with.
I am more of Diesel fan but do like Steam and Electric Locomotives though !
I am a big fan of Williams Trains which are basically a combination of different styles and Eras too !