Aristocraft Old Time consolidation

[John Busby]

Hi guys
Am looking at the latest to me Aristocraft catalogue.
The old time Consolidation it will make it round my main line loop.
But I am wondering could it cope with 4' reverse curves like at sets of points
mine are all 4' rather than the 5' specified as a minimum for this locomotive
also are the coupling rods metal or plastic.
Has any one run it with LGB wild west D&RGW coaches does it look OK
to small or what??
Would be very interested in peoples comments.
Please no LGB biased comments I can come up with them myself as I normaly
stick with that brand but this one looks too nice to go past without further
investigaton.
Regards John
Ps any one know anything about the UK outline EWS loco I dont normaly concider large deisle locos iether

[kstrong]

It's a great little loco. It, and various versions of its Delton Loco Works predecessors are the mainstay power on my dad's railroad (See December '05 GR).

It looks great with the LGB and Bachmann coaches, (Photo 2 of the above article) and also the Hartland coaches--which used to be made by Delton. (Aristocraft bought the molds for the Delton C-16 and all their freight equipment, while Hartland bought the molds for the passenger cars.)

The loco has plastic valve gear, at least the three versions I've modified over the years.

As for its ability to negotiate 4' reverse curves, are you talking radius or diameter? If it's a 4' radius, you won't have an ounce of trouble. I can't say definitively about a 4' diameter reverse curve (such as that made with an LGB R1 switch.) I do know that when the loco was first introduced in the mid-to-late 80s, 4' diameter curves were still very prevalent in many garden railroads. I think it would be a "safe" assumption that the loco would have no trouble, but it would still be an assumption. Where you'll have trouble is the drawbar between the loco and the tender. In a worst case scenario, you'd need only to lengthen that a fraction of an inch or so.

Later,

K

[Tom The Brat]

I don't think I'd try it. The minimum diameter is pushing it on most Aristo equipment.

[John Busby]

Hi kstrong
Yes 4' diameter and its a reverse curve at a switch
I have not got much beyond the experiment now stage one and don't have room to change it.
Added to which it is imposable to find the two or three second hand RH old R2 LGB points which would allow some modification with out loosing standing space
I don't know why they stopped making them
Bit of a pain they could get me just enough out of the corner I put my self in.
will not be such a problem when I get passed the BBQ area.
regards John

[Tom The Brat]

Ah yes. The railroad needs to excape the space allocated. I understand that. Mine's all piled in a storage locker!

[John Busby]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Torby

Ah yes. The railroad needs to excape the space allocated. I understand that. Mine's all piled in a storage locker!

Hi Torby
Its more a case of the builder (me) geting off his back side and finishing the BBQ
area which has a track bed at the fence.
So the trains can escape from the side of the house to the great out back[:D]
I am lucky in that the back garden isn't a garden but a weed patch and desert.
So I have been given a free hand in what happens as long as I leave some space for plants, and lets face its not a garden without some plants
May be I should try and find a "G" scale jail box car so there is something to escape from[swg]
regards John

[kstrong]

Survey says "yes it will."

At least the informal survey I took after I dug out one of the old Delton C-16 kits I have and roughly assembled the frame well enough to judge clearances. It will fit around a 2' radius, and looks to have no trouble on a reverse curve, either. The saving grace is that the drawbar from the locomotive to the tender actually connects to a pin on the truck, not the tender frame. This allows it to negotiate far tighter curves than it would be able to with the drawbar going to the tender frame itself.

Now, I can't recall exactly if the Aristocraft loco uses this same arrangement, but I would image so since they're made from the same molds. If not, it's a fairly easy mod to make.

Later,

K

[John Busby]

Hi kstrong
Thanks
Time to go and talk to the local suplier[:D] .
And delve into the dangerous world of domestic negotiations[:(] ,
not to mention decide wood or coal fired as long as its D&RGW it don't realy matter.
regards John

[kstrong]

John,

Coincedentally, I just saw this photo posted over on MyLargeScale:


Dave Winter photo

That's the Aristo 2-8-0 pulling a short string of Bachmann coaches around R1 curves.

Later,

K

[John Busby]

Hi kstrong
Good grief and I thought my current set up at approx 30' X 10' was small
That looks to be conciderably smaller than my set up.
regards John

[Ray Dunakin]

Nice. I wonder if it'll do ok on 4% grades?

[vsmith]

John your 10x30 is still bigger than my 9x20 setup...thou I think Daves is actually smaller than mine.[:D]

[John Busby]

QUOTE: Originally posted by vsmith

John your 10x30 is still bigger than my 9x20 setup...thou I think Daves is actually smaller than mine.[:D]

Hi Vic
True but you seem to have got the "space what space" concept down to a fine art.
either that or you are have too much fun trying to get it down to a fine art[:D]
regards John

[kstrong]

Ray,

Should work well on a 4%. The grades on my dad's line are mostly around 4%, and the locos handle 5 to 8 cars without missing a beat.

Later,

K

[Ray Dunakin]

Does AC still make these locos? Are they only available direct from AC? I haven't seen them in any of the dealer ads in GR.

[Tom The Brat]

I don't think AC has any on hand. They're working on a prime mover version with a lowered boiler and a few other niceties.

[John Busby]

Hi Ray
According to my local dealer they are due back on the shelves later this year
after being improved by Aristocraft.
I will reserve jugment on the improved bit.
regards John

[kimbrit]

Hi John,
Bought one about 18 months ago from Scottish Garden Railways, runs a treat, never got the smoke unit to do its thing though, it generates heat, just never smokes. If I don't run it for a while I have to clean all of the wheels, a grey deposit builds up on the running surfaces that has to be cleaned off with a power tool and wire brush, obviously the metal they use oxidises, but apart from that a nice - small - loco. All my curves are 8' so can't help on the radius one bit.
Cheers,
Kim

[John Busby]

QUOTE: Originally posted by kimbrit

Hi John,
Bought one about 18 months ago from Scottish Garden Railways, runs a treat, never got the smoke unit to do its thing though, it generates heat, just never smokes. If I don't run it for a while I have to clean all of the wheels, a grey deposit builds up on the running surfaces that has to be cleaned off with a power tool and wire brush, obviously the metal they use oxidises, but apart from that a nice - small - loco. All my curves are 8' so can't help on the radius one bit.
Cheers,
Kim

Hi Kim
I ordered the track for the big engine loop today the visa card is in melt down
its all LGB R5 including the 4 sets of points probably still a bit short on straight track
and a few other bits and pieces
But at least I will be able to start in the great out back supose I will have to find out
what conditions Clematis likes so it stays alive when I plant it.
Which is also the name of the station the points are for.
So I guess by the time the new improved consolidation is on the shelves radius of curves will not be such an issuie
regards John

[Ray Dunakin]

QUOTE: Originally posted by John Busby

Hi Ray
According to my local dealer they are due back on the shelves later this year
after being improved by Aristocraft.
I will reserve jugment on the improved bit.

Thanks. I hope it will be the same scale as the old one (1:22.5). I also hope it will still be able to handle the tight curves.

[kimbrit]

Hi John,

Just took a couple of shots of mine in the storage area, notice the build up on the wheel shot. The storage is nice and dry and no other item is affected, so it must be the metal used by Aristo. This has built up since I last cleaned and ran the loco.
Kim

[TonyWalsham]

Ray.
The AristoCraft C-16 is nominally 1:24 scale. Not 1:22.5 "G" scale.

[kimbrit]

Yep. A throw back to it's Delton origins. If you look at the pic I have a Bachmann fireman on the footplate, 1:20.3 ish, he looks ok, it was a smallish engine anyhow.
Kim

[Ray Dunakin]

1:24 is OK. The 1:29 stuff they make would just be too small.

[dwbeckett]

My C&S 2-8-0 has the same buildup on the wheels and its only been run 2 times about 20 loops around a very dirty track as a brake in. it now sits on shelf above my computer.

[John Busby]

QUOTE: Originally posted by dwbeckett

My C&S 2-8-0 has the same buildup on the wheels and its only been run 2 times about 20 loops around a very dirty track as a brake in. it now sits on shelf above my computer.

Sounds like they have used a cheap carp muck metal for the wheels
any chance a suitable good quality replace set of wheels can be
sourced from somewhere
regards John

[Tom The Brat]

The old one was the delton loco at 1:24. They're retaining the scale.