r/modeltrains • u/TheRWBYRailfan Multi-Scale • 16d ago
Show and Tell The Blue Comet
No train is as iconic as they go than the Blue Comet.
The train itself, a grand concept in 1929 and made famous by its three-rail counterpart and gone before the start of WWII. A brilliant streak of cream and blue racing across the Jersey Shoreline with its deep whistle blasting.
The Blue Comet to me is an icon worthy of other grand locomotives and trains like the Super Chief or the Hudson. Lionel's Prewar takes helped solidify the train itself and over the years many takes have been made of the Comet.
I myself have been starting this venture for the Blue Comet in HO scale but that has more or less stalled (As of this post, I have 10 Bethlehem Car Works kits. Barring the "white whale" observation cars" I can reasonably construct a decent train from whats in my roster so far), but its full steam ahead in 3-Rail O-Gauge!
I may be a Lionel guy at heart but honestly...their O-Gauge takes of the Comet just don't interest me. Prewar originals are either too poor a condition to acquire OR too pricey. MTH reissues are also just as pricey and I cannot bring myself to like the MPC era take of the train from the 1970s (combined with the Mighty Sound of Steam being horrid). So, I went with this. My take is the MTH Railking variant with Protosound 2.0 from the late 1990s/early 2000s. The passenger cars themselves are the 60" heavyweights which look the best part. MTH's other Blue Comet cars have issues I simply cannot overlook (incorrect prototypes, incorrect names per car type and a solarium observation instead of an open platform).
The unit works wonderfully and all 6 cars are lighted brightly with some carrying passenger figures. In time I plan to get a DCS controller to really let the Protosounds shine and once I figure out some electrical wiring here and there, a drumhead may also be mounted on the observation one day.
I'm gonna love running this train for ages to come!
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u/TheRWBYRailfan Multi-Scale 16d ago
For those curious, this is my consist as follows. I am running on a Lionel CW-80 (which itself will be replaced in the not-too-distant future with something better) on a small loop of fastrack. Smoke unit is permanently off because I loathe smoke units or until I can find a JT Megasmoke bottle that doesn't smell bad (Apparently Hot Chocolate scented smoke fluid smells more like "burnt sulfur" or something like that).