Lionel Legacy SD38

It's been a while since Lionel has put out a diesel locomotive that makes you think, "Wow, they put a lot of detail into this." I felt that way when unwrapping the Lionel SD38 recently. Trainworld loaned me a No. 2633341 SD38 free of charge for review.

The SD38 was one of only 63 units built by EMD between May 1967 and October of 1971. The 16-cylinder prime mover put out about 2000 of non turbocharged horsepower. With six axles and 90,000 lbs. of tractive effort, the SD38 was primarily relegated to rail yards and occasional short distance hauling.

The prototype SD38 No. 6925 was built in April 1970 for Penn Central. It was transferred to Conrail in April 1976. After the Conrail dissolved, it went to Norfolk Southern, and later the National Railway Equipment Company (NREX). It was scrapped in 2012.

Out of the box

As I opened the box and saw a tightly wrapped model in Lionel branded ribbon, I felt a more effort was put into this model. As I placed this locomotive on the track, I noticed more detailing than I've seen in a while, seemingly accurate colors, and the power to move anything I could throw at it.

This model measures 17 inches in length, which is almost a perfect 1:48 scale for the 68 foot prototype. Some of the details done well on this model are the open grating along the rear ventilation areas. I'm used to seeing the molded-in grated and detailing with the occasional add-on detail, so this was a nice addition.

Kinematic pilots provide added realism as this model navigates your layout. Keep in mind that these engines require a minimum of O-54 curves for operation. Looking at upcoming diesel offerings from Lionel, it seems the kinematic coupler will be offered with smaller locomotives, possibly as an answer to 3rd Rail/Third & Townsend bringing more diesel locomotives to market.

On the track

Unfortunately, I felt the standard diesel sound set left a bit to be desired. However, the speakers do pump out a decent thump and the dual maintenance-free motors provide about 2.4 pounds of pulling power.

This model is operational with Legacy, TMCC, Bluetooth, or conventionally. With a Base3 or the Lionel app, you can use 4 digit addressing to program this locomotive.

A fan driven smoke unit billows smoke out of the two roof stacks. Each 3-axle truck features two pickup rollers to produce a solid electrical footprint.

Lionel accurately released railroads that purchased the SD38 including Conrail (2633341, 2633342); Detroit, Toledo and Ironton (2633351, 2633352); Elgin, Joliet, and Eastern (2633361, 2633362); and McCloud River (2633371, 2633372). Lionel also offered a Cargill (2633331, 2633332) and two Lionel Lines versions (2633381, 2633382).

Get more O gauge action on the Chris's Trains & Things channel on YouTube

Lionel Legacy SD38 (No. 2633341)

Features:Legacy, TMCC, Bluetooth, or conventional operation; Lionel VoiceControl; 4-digit addressuing when using Cab3/Base3; quilling horn; lighted cab interior; kinematic pilots; adjustable smoke output

Roadnames:Cargill; Conrail; Detroit, Toledo and Ironton; Elgin, Joliet, and Eastern; Lionel Lines; McCloud River

MSRP:$699.99

Website:lionel.com