I managed to sidestep "most" of the dealer sales that have been going on in recent weeks. But I'll confess I weakened when I saw Pat's Trains was have a "dog days of summer" sale through August 13th. And this sale even included one of his Lionel Legacy custom-runs, a Copper Range 2-8-0 Consolidation.
Truth be told, I was scouting the market for a small steam locomotive to head up a whimsical D&RGW passenger "train" consisting of tiny disconnect cars. And I just missed METCA's D&RGW Mogul that recently sold out. It was my own fault, because I must have walked by that little gem several times at recent York and Allentown shows. But I never pulled the trigger on it.
Nonetheless... the beautiful thing about this hobby is there are ALWAYS alternatives. And this case, the 2-8-0 I did purchase comes with whistle-steam, whereas the Mogul didn't. And whistle-steam always seems to increase play value.
The other nice bonus with the Lionel 2-8-0 comes in the form of a snowplow on some of the models -- and you can't miss this one. If I'm not mistaken, I believe this is the first time Lionel offered this style of snowplow on the front of a steam locomotive. So you can't miss this pretty unique feature.
Pat's model as delivered comes with a black snowplow. But Lionel also catalog'd a Colorado Southern version that comes with a red snowplow. I gambled that Lionel's parts department might have the red snowplow as a separately available part. And I was in luck. They did!!! Even better... Lionel shipped their red snowplow quickly enough that it arrived the same day UPS delivered Pat's Copper Range 2-8-0 on my doorstep.
Swapping the black snowplow with Lionel's red snowplow was as straightforward a process as could be. Two tiny screws hold the snowplow in place, along with a vertical rod that attaches to the center of the snowplow. About 15-20 minutes is all it took to swap the snowplows. As luck would have it, the red snowplow is a near-perfect match to the red cab roof of the Copper Range 2-8-0. So they're a match made in model railroad heaven -- even if it might not be 100% prototypical.
Here are some quick iPhone snapshots of the Copper Range 2-8-0 on its inaugural revenue run tonight. Enjoy!!!
