04-12-2013, 11:28 AM
Lionel has hit the S world with a modern locomotive, the SD70ACe. What really was a surprise was the fact they are so accomadating with the scale side of the hobby. They are less so in O but in S doing a fine job IMHO. I bought the KCS "Southern Belle" version. Out of the box it will run on scale track, i.e. code 100 rail. The big AF style couplers are mounted to the pilot, which is seperate from the frame and trucks. So you get a swinging pilot for the sharp AF curves when coupled to the train but not on the leading end. A nice bit of engineering and Lionel made provisions to mount the pilot steps to the frame and put Kadee couplers on it. This isn't your granddad's American Flyer that's for sure.
