Greetings to everyone, I am Newbie to the site... And to the world of model trains and have some questions for those with a little more experiance then me!
My main question is regarding the Rail King 6-8-6 S-2 Turbine Engine... I have been looking for a few weeks and just found one one eBay.....I have emailed the seller who (finally) told me his reserve price on the one he is selling but don't know if this is a good Loco to start out with or not? Is it too much, not enough or just about right for a newbie to start out with?
It seems like a good buy... I think?? It's brand new, In the box still and hasn't been used and he told me his reserve is $300..... But not sure if that's a good deal or if I could maybe get one cheaper at a convention or a dealer or if I should maybe look for a used Loco at first before buying a brand new one... There's a pretty big convention that comes to town once a year near me that I plan on attending for the first time but I just don't know if the deals there would be better then this one I've found on eBay. I did find this 6-8-6 in a catalog for $429.00 with a list price of $449.00 so $300 seems like a pretty good buy.(IF I could even get it at the reserve price)
Just wanted some opinions from some of you more qualified guys as my budget is tight and I want to get the biggest bang for my buck! I really like the 6-8-6 so want to stick with that or similar.
Thanks in advance for your input!!
DisasterDJ - Welcome to trains.com!
Darren (BLHS & CRRM Lifetime Member)
Delaware and Hudson Virtual Museum (DHVM), Railroad Adventures (RRAdventures)
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You might want to check the product number at the MTH website. MTH offers a small Turbine, dubbed the "Bantam" turbine which is fairly small (for starter sets) and might disappoint you depending on what your expectations are. They've done a slightly larger Turbine and they are currently cataloging a RailKing Imperial turbine which would be slightly larger (but not scale, mind you).
Bob Keller
My first question after bobs sugestion is do you want proto sounds and running or conventional. If your not set up for MTH proto system you may want to concider a Williams at http://shop.mapajunction.com/ He hsa them listed for $195 plus shipping now these don't have a type of command system in them these are classic conventional running only. But you can up grade them to tmcc by buying parts from err
Some of Railking have proto and some don't I believe but may be wrong.
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As Bob stated, MTH did issue a "Bantam" or "Baby Turbine" (small version) (30-1167-1) in some of its complete sets.
MTH also issued the "RailKing" 6-8-6 Turbine (30-1149-1) about 12 years ago with "Proto 1". MTH have now issued it again in their "Imperial RailKing" line (added detail) and with Proto 3. Both the 1149 and 1561 Railking Turbines, while not full scale, are about 6 inches longer than the Lionel (or Williams) engine and tender and has the long, 16 wheel di-cast Tender. The "Imperial" (30-1561-1) is nearly 26 inches long (longer than a scale Hudson).
Don U. TCA 73-5735
There was also a conventional whistle-only version of their earliest turbine. I reviewed it and really liked it. I think at this late date I'd be a bit more wary of PS-1-equipped engines – not that they might not run fine, but there are no new replacement boards which suggest future parts woes.
I like this Williams, available for around 200
products.php?act=viewProd&productId=2477
If you are going to run conventional Williams by Bachmann locos are an excellant choice with a huge variety of roadnames and configurations.
If you are interested in command control MTH RailKing PS-2 or PS-3 locos give you the best bang for the buck.
Bill T.
It might be ok but at $300.00 I would look for something new. And if you are a newbee try looking at sets from all the companies.
"IT's GOOD TO BE THE KING",by Mel Brooks
Charter Member- Tardis Train Crew (TTC) - Detroit3railers- Detroit Historical society Glancy Modular trains- Charter member BTTS
FWIW, I had one of the MTH RailKing 30-1149-1 6-8-6 Turbine locomotives with PS/1. My intent was go convert it to TMCC since that is my chosen operating environment. However, the locomotive ran like crap on tubular track, and not much better on Fastrack. It has lousy traction, even though it weighed a ton, something about the way the wheels met the track. I changed the traction tires thinking that was the issue, but still no dice. It could barely pull it's own tender, and adding half a dozen cars all I got was wheel spin! There was nothing physically wrong with it, just didn't like the track at all. It made it's way back on the sale block.
If you run tubular track or Fastrack, my advice is to NOT buy this model, or any of the derivative models.
I have the MTH PS-1 DAP 6-8-6 Turbine which is the same as the Railking Bantam and it pulls a ton of cars. I have had 11 of the K-Line Golden State streamliners behind it with zero problems. Also have the Railking 4-8-4 Yuengling Brewery Bantam which is PS-2 and it also is a strong puller. I usually run the PS-1 locos on Lionel tubular track since it is set-up for conventional control through the TIU.
Mine was not the bantam model, it was the full-sized one.
MTH released the "full sized" , 1/56 scale turbine in 4 versions. At over 25" in length, it is considerably larger than the MTH bantam turbine (20") and the Lionel 681/682 postwar turbine (18"), or the Williams reproductions of the Lionel post-war unit. The earliest release was 30-1149-0 (for conventional operation) and 30-1149-1(for command control-DCS operation PROTOSOUND 1). This was followed by another, later release 30-1308-1 (for command control-DCS PROTOSOUND 2). A third release, with upgraded details, 30-1393-1, was the first release in the IMPERIAL line; again, the engine was equipped with PROTOSOUND 2. The most recent release, reviewed in the December 2012 issue of CLASSIC TOY TRAINS, is 30-1560-1 with PROTOSOUND 3. All of these engines will run in conventional mode with a transformer. If the locomotive is an earlier protosound unit such as 30-1149-1, 30-1308-1 or 30-1393-1; make certain that the instruction manual is included! If it is one of these,you will need an MNiH rechargeable 9 volt battery and charger, because the engine will not run without a fully charged battery. A super capacitor or Battery capacitive replacement unit (looks like a 9 volt battery) that eliminates the battery can be substituted for conventional operation. These engines frequently come up for sale at train shows such as the GREAT TRAIN EXPO or GREENBURG shows or the World's Greatest Hobby on tour. For the Conventional 30-1149-0, you shouldn't have to pay more than $225 ; for the Protosound versions with -1 in the catalog number, $300 is about right, but I've seen them selling for as little as $275. I hope this helps.
For GunrunnerJohn,
You have replaced the traction tires, and still have problems. You might try applying BULL FROG SNOT, a proprietary rubber compound (I think that it is advertised from time to time in CLASSIC TOY TRAINS.) that you can paint on the drive wheels surfaces over the traction tires to provide a somewhat sticky surface to improve traction. It leaves a translucent green film on the running surface of the drive wheels when it is dry, and it acts as an overlay for the existing traction tires. It is available at local hobby shops or on order from Walthers (www.walthers.com). Follow the directions on the label for application and dry time. You might also check other manufacturers of traction tires. I believe that one of them is advertised in the January 2013 issue of Classic Toy Trains. Good Luck!
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