LGB Pearly Thomas Trolly?

[Anonymous]

I wonder if anyone might have "taken the plunge" for the LGB Pearly Thomas street car (New Orelans vintage). I've heard good things in "product reviews" but at that price, I'd appreciate hearing from "hands-on" owners as to the model's performance. Thanks much for any info. volunteered. Happy rails.

[Anonymous]

They run well. 2 motors and 12 wheel pickup.However before you leave the shop make sure it is picking up from the wheels as well as sliders.On my Dad's 2 LGB trams I had to take the bases off the motors and do some soldering to ensure contacts on the wheels.

[Curmudgeon]

Ya know, I looked on the LGB site.
It's in the "New for 2003" section.
I see a total of 8 wheels.

"They run well. 2 motors and 12 wheel pickup.However before you leave the shop make sure it is picking up from the wheels as well as sliders."

Some different model?

[Anonymous]

My mistake.I meant 12 point pickup.8 wheels and 4 sliders.The sliders were picking up but the wheels were not.Or was it the sliders not picking up?Can't remember now.
Thanks for correcting me TIC.

I found a picture of it.The U shaped piece of metal designed to link the contacts was warped on all the bogies and not picking up on the wheels.

[Curmudgeon]

Not so much a correct as wondering about 6-wheel trucks on Lousiana streetcars...

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the review and the caution. At these prices, I wouldn't expect such a faux pas. Thanks again to you both.

[Curmudgeon]

Just watch to see where the stuff is actually built anymore.
The contact problem is interesting.
As a general rule, there are contact rods that go u into the motor block to feed poe\wer up and to connect power to the motor tabs.
Then, there are spring strips along the bottom that contact the plungers and rods.
Of course this is a fairly short wheelbase, so that may exacerbate the issue.
TOC

[amotz]

Only issue I have is that they seem to have high power demands and are slow compared even to heavier two-motor locos. Overall quality and performance are excellent.

[Curmudgeon]

How high?
If I have to "convert" one, I need to calculate battery needs....
TOC

[Anonymous]

How slow? A scale 40 m.p.h. will do nicley but anything less could be a probelm regarding "meets" with other "light rail" components on same mailine. At present, only M.R.C. Prodigy is in use [16 v. power supply, 18v. twin power box]. Plans for "prodigy Advance" still on back burner.

[Anonymous]

No

rgds Ian

[amotz]

With regard to the questions of TOC and Ted, I can elaborate that I have two N.O. cars that are quite consistent plus an N.Y. which, not surprisingly, is even slower. The best I can do insofar as additional details, weather permitting, is to put a powered LGB item that you might be familiar with on the track w/ the trolley for comparison purposes. I can tell you that a well-run-in 1st generation 2040 crocodile will run about twice as fast. The trolley performance is pretty close to that of the 21872 Mikado, but slightly slower. Only a low-mileage 21420 Rhb electric is slower than the trolley. Hope this helps.