Wow, I can't say thanks enough for your responses. I am so excited to get this running I can hardly wait. As you may understand, I am just trying to gain enough knowledge to get started educated.
Larry, I appreciate the knowledge about the operation of the e-unit switch. I think I follow you but will know for sure when I get it in operation.
This totally makes sense now because it does have three very distinct switch locations and neutral being the middle would make sense.
Dave, I can't agree with you more. I bought this locomotive because I wanted a piece with nostalgia and history. I'm sure new trains are amazing in their own way, but I wanted something that I can enjoy with my son that is more than an iPad on wheels. I want to teach mechanics, craftsmanship, and play that electric instead of electronic. I will certainly buy vintage O tubular because of this.
As a note on this, I have no experience with trains as noted, but I have some of my best memories at my grandparents playing with a vintage electric race car track. This is not the kind that went up the wall like the 80's/90s stuff, but it was trigger-based electric cars on a track that was probably 8-10" wide. The cars were huge compared to what I grew up with as a child in the 80's -- but they were so much cooler! They came apart in many pieces and you could change wheels and make "Frankenstein" cars out of parts and pieces. My cousins and I would make something out of nothing and were happy to make a car go once around the track. Ultimately, this is the experience I hope to create with my son in Lionel trains. I don't need the best train track in the world or locomotives -- just the experience of making amazing things happen with a little bit of track, electricity, and toy cars. It just so happens these trains are so much more amazing than the vintage cars I got to play with as a child. I am already addicted.