Hi everyone I've been into model railroading ever since I was a little kid and the 4449 Daylight GS-4 has been the train of my dreams. Basically I have been out of the loop on model railroading since I was in the Navy and have since gotten back into it. I need some serious advice on which Daylight to get. I have a 1991 Lionel Daylight GS-2 on hold at a train store but I'm also looking at MTH's Imperial GS-4 engine now.. I'm getting two different stories from different train stores. One won't even order MTH and the other is a major MTH dealer/ Lionel dealer. One guy says the new MTH Imperial Daylight is of poor build quality to the older 1991 GS-2 Lionel and my guess is just biased to Lionel since he won't even special order the MTH set in case I want to layaway it instead of the Lionel. The other store says the MTH Daylight is far superior due to newer technology and features. One thing the other store said is the newer MTH motors are inferior to the 1991 GS-2 just due to build quality.. So needless to say I'm torn. The GS-4 is the original 4449 which I love and for 100 dollars more than what I would pay for the Lionel I get 4 cars as well with the MTH. Not to mention it has the newest Protosound technology and is the most up to date and has the same electronics of the Premier line.. And has all the little details that I just love on the engine. The GS-2 is a collectable and I was told it's good if you just want to collect it and not run it. Well I don't intend for my favorite train to sit on the shelf! And also it has the older railsounds compared to the MTH. So what should I get? I love the MTH's features but I'm worried about the build quality compared to the Lionel... And the MTH is better bang for my buck but I don't want it to bite me later on down the road.
Thank you so much! I hope my question can be answered.. I know there's some sort of rivalry between Lionel and MTH... I just want a beautiful train to run is all lol...
Welcome to TrainBoard! There are a lot of folks who dislike MTH due to some business practices. Which I will not get into here. That may be why the one shop won't order. I cannot give a good opinion, as I have never had any chance to see the MTH version up close. Then again, I am a Lionel fan from childhood and used to collect them as well. So that does make me feel somewhat biased. If you can, I'd give it some time and hope to get enough feedback. My guess is that either has it's advantages, so you probably won't make an incorrect choice. Boxcab E50
Well an update! I had to search high and low to find the Imperial set. Seems there's only two available in the entire southern California area just about so my dad and I were able to go down and run the Imperial GS-4 in person. Wow!!! What a train! The smoke, chugging, detail. weight and build quality of that train was just breath taking. Luckily they had the set with four cars in stock and the cars are just a nice as the engine. Lights, tan seats to place figures, everything. I"ll tell you what that train got some serious looks and by all accounts she was the best looking train in the store! So put it on layaway and can't wait to pick it up!
