Lionel O gauge 0-6-0T switcher

LET ME SAY RIGHT OFF THE BAT, this is the sort of quality entry-level locomotive that Lionel should have come out with five years ago! But I’m not complaining, because it’s here now and it’s a winner!

While Lionel has offered a few saddle tank locomotives in the past, this model is brand new. It follows on the heels of the firm’s terrific small Berkshire that we reviewed in the December 2003 CTT. (A modified Berkshire leads Lionel’s new movie-themed Polar Express set.)

The 0-6-0T has many of the Berkshire’s traits: a superb die-cast metal cab and boiler, smooth operation, and most important of all, a price that won’t induce sticker shock. The latter is essential to attract new toy train hobbyists.

The model

As much as I like the ubiquitous 4-4-2 Atlantic steamer found on the point of countless Lionel starter sets of the past 15 years, this little O gauge tank engine takes the cake for realism.

Lionel has selected a small industrial switcher of a style made by Alco in the early years of the 20th century. We found a photo of an 0-6-0T owned by the Leetonia & Cherry Valley Railroad that, save for the model’s lack of rear foot boards and a slightly taller whistle, could be the same engine. The Lionel model’s frame measures 29 feet long in O scale (71/4 inches) compared to the Cherry Valley’s no. 1, which measured 25 feet, 6 inches.

The surprises begin at the model’s pilot. There you’ll find a working magnetic coupler, footboards, and even some cast-in wood texture. There are also simulated uncoupler bars on the front and the rear of the steamer.

The smokebox is well crafted with a number plate on the front and cast-in outlines for builder’s plates on the sides. There are rivets where the smokebox joins the boiler, and the gray accent paint is a nice touch. The headlight is a turn-of-the-last-century style (with engine number on either side), and the smokestack is suitably tall – Lionel apparently avoided the temptation to use a 19th-century diamond stack, as it has on a few other tank locomotives.

The model has handrails on the smokebox front and sides (a total of five) and on both sides of the saddle tank.

The boiler and saddle tank include cast-in rivets and sand lines. On top of the boiler, you’ll find sand and steam domes as well as a shiny, brass-colored whistle and a bell.

The drivers are just under 48 scale inches in diameter and are bright and shiny, as is the running gear. While the rods look simplified, to my surprise the model quite accurately captures the look of the prototype.

Inside the cab are engineer and fireman figures, unexpected considering the low cost of this locomotive.

When I first looked at the model, I thought the firebox extended too far into the cab. But after I looked at the photo of Cherry Valley no. 1, sure enough, I realized that the Lionel firebox is in the right place.
There’s an attractive little pile of cast-in coal inside the coal bunker and a backup light that illuminates when the locomotive is in reverse.

Painting and decoration of the model are first rate. Our sample is lettered for the Reading Railroad’s locomotive shops, and letters and numbers are all crisp. The 0-6-0T is also available in a Santa Fe paint scheme, and was recently cataloged in the Jones & Laughlin Steel Co. road name.

On the test track

The model’s can-style motor powers six drive wheels, the rear set wearing traction tires. The motor is smooth in all speed ranges, and the drive mechanism is exceptionally quiet.

In conventional-control mode – TrainMaster Command Control is not available on this locomotive – the low-speed average was measured at 11.5 scale mph. The high-speed average was 78.9 scale mph. Drawbar pull for the 2-pound, 11-ounce locomotive was 1 pound, 5 ounces.

You’ll find on/off switches for the reverse unit, smoke unit, and whistle on the underside of the steamer.

The model has magnetically operated couplers at each end, although there are no finger tabs on either coupler for manual uncoupling. The smoke unit delivers nice little puffs of smoke when rolling around the layout (the higher your throttle voltage, the more smoke).

There are no RailSounds, but the tank engine does have a whistle.

Well, actually, our sample’s whistle sounded something akin to a whistle being fed through a door buzzer. My running joke with the CTT staff is that the 0-6-0T has the best sounding diesel horn I’ve ever heard on a steam locomotive. But for $99, I can live with it.

I love to be surprised by a locomotive’s quality, performance, and value. This little 0-6-0T locomotive has all three virtues and then some.