Yesterday I bought my first new engine since getting back into the hobby last year. I bought a MTH Railking Chessie GP-9 Diesel Engine w/ Proto-Sound 2.0, I believe numbered 9978. I think I got a pretty good deal on it. It was marked at $199 & was 10% off. The only engine I had prior to this one was the Lionel 4-4-2 starter engine. I must say that this GP-9 is very smooth & almost smoked my wife & I out of the house. So far we are very impressed with it. Can anyone here tell me if this is going to be a reliable engine & last? I'm still pretty new at O gauge. I had HO before.
Thanks,
Lee
Jon
So many roads, so little time.
Don
God bless TCA 05-58541 Benefactor Member of the NRA, Member of the American Legion, Retired Boss Hog of Roseyville , KC&D Qualified
Congratulations on the new engine. You should get good service from the engine. From what I have seen, the quickest way to damage a new engine with electronics is to run it on an old transformer, with their relatively slow acting circuit breakers. The newer transformers (Z4000, new ZW) trip VERY fast if there is a problem, possibly saving the engine.
Those new GP-9s look good. MTH has a new Southern GP-9 that I'm thinking about...........
Have fun,
Tim
Be sure to use only MTH smoke fluid in that engine or it may clog the smoke unit.
I have a somewhat new MTH steam locomotive and run it with MTH's Z1000 transformer, so far no problem.
Lee F.
Yes, as Jon said above, JT's will work great & I've been using it in my MTH steam engine almost exclusively for a year & a half now. I don't think it's possible to clog an MTH smoke unit & I've used Lionel smoke fluid in it to start with when I got it. Now there may be another bran I believe someone mentioned made by LGB that you shouldn't use, but JT's smoke fluid works great in all my MTH, Lionel & Atlas engines. You just can't beat all the scents they make, & I use the Frying Bacon in my K-line diner, too !! My basement smells great now !!
Thanks, John
jonadel wrote:I've used JT's Mega-Smoke for years in every MTH engine and have never had a clog. Even the new ones. Jon
Me too. In fact I use a mixture. For Lionels, I use 2/3 JT's and 1/3 Lionel. For MTH, 2/3 JT's and 1/3 MTH. Straight JT's seems to "burn" up mighty quick.
Me Too.
I am a person with a very active inner child. This is why my wife loves me so. Willoughby, Ohio - the home of the CP & E RR. OTTS Founder www.spankybird.shutterfly.com
I am in fact using MTH smoke fluid. I still have some MTH Christmas scent Protosmoke fluid from last year that I used in my steam engine. I have the smoke & sound levels set at what they were when I took it out of the box. Not sure if the smoke is all the way up or not. Like I said, this is my first new one since I got back into the hobby. Whatever it's set at certainly produces a lot of smoke . Even though I'm only 29 I still sit there giddy watching it smoke & playing with the horn & bell. Didn't have that 16 yrs ago when I was doing HO. This sure is a GREAT hobby, isn't it.
The only reason I mentioned using only MTH brand of smoke fluid is because MTH recommended it in the instruction manual that came with the locomotive.
From reading all the posts I may use JT's smoke fluid but don't know where to buy it, is it a mail order item?
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