Mighty mack

[railfanespee4449]

I am new to garden railroading so I joined a club. I want an engine to run at the meeting this weekend. Is this HLW engine any good (St. Aubin price $35.00)

[bman36]

Hey there,
Don't own one so I can't help you there. Price is right though. I do believe vsmith owns one or two of these. Vic??? BTW...that SP Daylight is one beautiful train!!! Later eh...Brian.

[jxdere]

I have the blue version. I like it! It pulls pretty well too.

One limitation - wheelbase is small and only 4 wheels so you only have 4 track power pickup points. I've had it stall on switch frogs when going slow, or 'jitter' when it hits dirty spots on the track.

Another caution! My curious 10 year old got hold of a screwdriver and opened ours up. When I put it back together, I didn't tighten the screws up fully, and to my horror, my son was running a very long train behind it and it gave out a loud whirring/grinding noise, which turned out to be the nylon gears stripping out. So now, ours doesn't pull very well, until I get some replacement gears. But I might just buy another one.

Jeff

[railfanespee4449]

Thanks. I'm ordering tonihght
P.S. I'm only 1 year older than your ten-year old and I disassemble my stuff too The difference is 1- I put it back together 2- 75% of the time, I fix the problem

[vsmith]

I have three of these and for the money they are a screaming deal! They run good and pull well for there size, you do have to keep an Eye out for dirty track but I havent had any problems with AC or LGB 12000 switches yet. This is an excellent way to get started in large scale.

[Anonymous]

As a fan of small locomotives, I like the Hartland Mack too. Mine has been repainted Caterpillar yellow, the frosted window glazing replaced with clear, an engineer installed, the two halves of the tank cemented together, and a bell put on the far side not visible here. The number is vinyl and found in sets in a stationery store.

I agree with Victor that this locomotive is absolutely the best deal in large scale.

Incidentally, the key to disasembly is to remove the horn on top first by gently pinching its base and then slide out the rods that form the headlights.

Regards,
Bill C.
South Jersey

[Anonymous]

Hi
I have the purple one wifes choice of colour not mine. i have found it to run well and was a bit surprised at how well it runs given the absence of pick up shoes a la LGB.
I normaly run it with 3 LGB fairground style coaches and 2 industrial sized barrel trucks.
But would sugest the Bachmann or Hartland industreals might be a better choice for a train but do ensure stock has metal wheels
regards John