Hi all, it's been a long time since I've posted, but with a new computer hope to get on here more often. Ok, the last train show up here in Hamburg Pa. I picked up a like new MTH Reading crusader. It's the early version from the 90's, I think with the proto 1 system. Runs great, sounds great, but no smoke. Before I jump the gun, does this engine have an on/ off switch for the smoke that I'm not seeing ? Is it a fan driven smoke unit? Any help would be great. Oh , it did take me awhile but a finally found a boxed set of the cars with the master carton to go with it. woow lol
I don't have a Proto-1 Crusader, but I do have a PS-1 Camelback. There's an smoke "on-off" switch on the underside of the tender. Check your tender for the switch.
By the way, I can't adjust the volume of smoke on mine, you proably won't be able to adjust yours either, just the way it is. It's either off or at yard fogger intensity when it's on. And yes, it's a fan driven smoke unit.
Good find! Ya done good!
Thanks, didn't think to check the tender for the switch. And yes , I heard the fan driven units really laid down the smoke.
Your welcome! Let us know how it all turns out.
PS: I've been looking for a Crusader myself for awhile but no luck. Last train show I went to I had to "settle" for a 1953 Lionel Berkshire. Woo hoo!
I have the Reading Crusader engine by MTH and have not seen the smoke unit's on/off switch, maybe I have search harder. Any way I have cab # 117 and had to replace the rechargeable battery in the tender once and recharge it last month. Don't run PS-1 without a known good battery.
I have the K-Line Reading Crusader passenger cars, bought the set from somebody on OGR forum and got a great deal. Have an extra passenger car # 2 for the set.
One question while at it about the Reading Crusader cars, are MTH # 30-6133C considered semi scale Crusader cars?
All of MTH's "Rail King" passenger cars are semi-scale, no different from a lot of other O gauge manufacturers.
From what I've seen in the last MTH catalog I saw with a Crusader set in it MTH did take some libertys with the Crusader passenger consist. There's a Vista-Dome car in the group, which the original train didn't have. Also, the Crusader's consist was unique in that it had a round-end observation car at each end of the train, it saved the trouble of turning the whole train at the end of the run, they only had to turn the locomotive. That double obs car consist survived the steam era and lasted into the diesel era.
The libertys taken don't bother me, there's a Vista-Dome car in my MTH Norfolk and Western steam set, looks cool even if N&W didn't run one. It is a toy, after all.
PS: Those switches on the underside of the tender are a little hard to spot, they're small. If there's no switch on the tender look along the drivers on the locomotive's underside. I've got an original issue MTH "Texas" 4-4-0 and that's where the smoke switch was.
There MIGHT be what's called a VR (variable resistor) on the underside of the tender labled "smoke." You adjust it with a small phillips screwdriver.
Part of the reason the Reading never ran a vista dome had to do with tunnel clearences, the vista dome may have been too high to clear all tunnels. The dining car was in the middle on the Crusader.
Also Reading never ran a very large engine on their line, usually would double head their engines. The largest Reading steam engines that I know of is a 2-10-2 and a 4-8-4. The largest diesels may have been an FM Trainmaster and an SD-45.
Also, you have to remember the Crusader was essentially a shuttle between Phiadelphia and New York (Jersey City), a high-speed commuter run if you will. A Vista-Dome car wouldn't have been appropriate for a run like that. At any rate, I believe Vista-Domes were a post-war invention and the Crusader started running in the late 30's.
I could be wrong on this, but I don't think any of the Eastern 'roads operated Vista-Dome cars, there wasn't the need.
By the way, for all interested in things Crusader not too long ago I picked up a fascinating DVD called "Northeastern Steam 1935-1937." Original footage restored to razor-sharpness with the Crusader featured among other Northeast 'roads. 56 minutes long and available from Anchor Videos.
www.train-video.com Click on the "Railroad Video Productions" bar and scroll down.
Firelock76 Also, you have to remember the Crusader was essentially a shuttle between Phiadelphia and New York (Jersey City), a high-speed commuter run if you will. A Vista-Dome car wouldn't have been appropriate for a run like that. At any rate, I believe Vista-Domes were a post-war invention and the Crusader started running in the late 30's. I could be wrong on this, but I don't think any of the Eastern 'roads operated Vista-Dome cars, there wasn't the need. By the way, for all interested in things Crusader not too long ago I picked up a fascinating DVD called "Northeastern Steam 1935-1937." Original footage restored to razor-sharpness with the Crusader featured among other Northeast 'roads. 56 minutes long and available from Anchor Videos. www.train-video.com Click on the "Railroad Video Productions" bar and scroll down.
Glad it worked out for you! I wasn't kidding when I used that "yard fogger" analogy. If I could figure out a way to vaporize bug juice in my Camelback I'd run it around the yard summer evenings!
One last thing: Don't run that smoke unit dry, you'll damage it. It's either "wet" or "off."
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