Ok! Listen up all you Semi-Closet Milwaukee Road Fanzees (Explain please?) There here, I just Locomotives.. The Signature Locomotive that every N Scale MLW modeler has been waiting and hoping for for years and years. On a 1-10 scale it is way over that just like the Athearn Challengers in March. So much for all the excitement, now lets get down to the nuts & bolts, how are they ? I ordered a passenger locomotive in the original Orange & Maroon paint scheme. Very nicely done, someone on one of the N forums (lists) complained that one of the modern paint schemes he had ordered was cancled for lack of intrest. Too bad Overland could have sold a ton of them due to high Modeler Fan (another new catagory) intrest. Detailing on the model is wonderful ,fine wire handrails on the pilots ,rooftop details include piping,wireing horns,locomotives have directional headlighting. The factory installed MT couplers on the pilots look too big,Z Scale couplers would have been a better choice. The locomotive runs quietly and smoothly slowing down to a nice creep speed. I purchased it to pull a Railway Classics Brass Olympian HI train or freight cars. So far I have just Break-In ran it, no problems with curves, or switches in the main part of my yard or the engine service area. No this is not branchline power. I have no plans to install simulated catenary with messenger and trolley wire on my Western Location layout (Come on Go for it !) My only complaint, Overland should include a small instruction sheet showing how to carefully unlock and rase the delicate pantographs with out breaking something. I haven't tried this yet. They are not like those say on Kato Japanese electric locomotives where you gently grasp and pull up. The price is too high you say. Actually the $785.85 I bought my locomotive for seemes quite reasionable after spending just over a thousand last year for a Key Imports SP 4-10-2 Steamer. Infact I might try and locate a 2nd Joe at these prices ,double heading would be kinda of nice. Nate Goodman (Nato). Salt Lake, Utah.
