Athearn C44-9W pulling power

[Anonymous]

Just bought a 30-car unit train of Walthers Bethgon Coalporters and plan to add coal loads. The layout's not done yet, and I've never tried pulling that many cars (strung out on the basement floor, they feel like quite a load). Can an Athearn C44-9W pull 30 cars? If I want to add weight for more traction, is there a way to gear it down for more power?

Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Get Athearn's new SD70'S there better engines.

[Anonymous]

I have an Athearn C44-9W. I doubt that it would pull 30 cars. However, I also have a couple of Kato C44-9W's. I'm pretty sure that they could pull the 30 cars on level track. The SD70's are Athearn Genesis models. They run very well, similar to Katos. They are big step up from the traditional Athearn line.

[Anonymous]

I used to run a 27 car unit train of those Walthers bethgons and MDC Thrall gons and pull it like I'd see them in Wyoming: with 2 C44-9s up front and one at the rear. Of course, on my train the two up front were powered and the one on the rear was a dummy. It did fine even on less than perfect track.

The SD70/75 by Athearn is nicely detailed, but it's very light. If you want power, get a pair of the Proto 2000 SD60s. But I don't think you'll notice an appreciable difference in power between the SD70/75 and C44-9/AC4400.

[Anonymous]

What you could also do is add in an Air Brake Repeater Car in the center of the train
These cars consisted of an old powered booster and when brake pressure dropped below its setting an air
compressor would kick in.
I use a beat-up-weathered proto1000 B powered unit on my longer trains(29)up an atlas 2.6 grade.

[BRAKIE]

Listen,my 2 old athearn GP9s will pull a 30 car train with ease.I don't think the C44s will have any problem.The main thing to remember,is start s-l-o-w-l-y so the engine will get started with out wheel slip. Good Luck!

[Anonymous]

To me, it depends on:
a]what will each car weigh when loaded ?
b]are wheels original Walthers, or replacement Kadee,NWSL,P2K,IM, etc.?
c]what is your steepest ruling grade, and what radius is it on?
regards/Mike

[Anonymous]

Hi Larry:

Do run on DC or DCC. I have found that with DCC power the Athearn C44' do not run well enough to pull long trains. They draw a lot more power and thus do not pull as many cars as the Kato's Proto 2000 or Genesis units. I've been running on a friend's layout using code 83 rail.

When I start my new layout, I will probably be using code 100 rail w/ DCC.

Jim

[BRAKIE]

To answer the frist question.I run DC.


Mike,These are stock athearn engines.The cars are a mixed bag,athearn,mdc,atlas,accurail,walthers,and bev bels.The cars are stock weight (weight that comes with the cars).The ruling grade is 1.5% at the club.BTW these cars have P2K wheel sets.these 2 old girls will walk up the grade,working hard.Now,my atlas GP7s will haul about 35 cars up the grade as will my P2Ks.DCC does cut the train lenght down.Why,this is,is beyond me.If you add the NWSL wheels you also cut pulling by 1/3. A friend of mine at the club did this and was not happy with the end results.He changed back to the athearn wheels.Now,I do not own any of the C44s to modern for my era.At the club I have seen 2 of these units lugged 36 cars up the grade.I did see a single unit pull 27 cars up this grade.I still beleive it is in the handling of the train that plays a big part in this. Best regards Larry.

[Anonymous]

Just my personal opinion here. I hope i don't contradict anyone here too bad ;)

The Athearn Dash 9 has plenty of power, traction is what i'd be concerned with. As much as i like the reliability of nickel-silver wheelsets, the stock Athearn wheels will give you more traction. This is one of those things you'll have to experiment with. There are so many factors involved, your curve radius, grade percentage, how free rolling the freight wheels are, etc.

If you add coal loads i might suggest you add a false floor to your hoppers. That way you won't be adding nearly as much coal (weight) to your cars. Although it'll cost you a pretty penny, adding Kadee trucks and wheels will ensure your cars will be very free rolling.

I personally don't think you'll have any problems pulling that load. It may take some tinkering though.

[tankertoad70]

Shouldn't be a problem. I have a rather old Athearn SDP40 that will pull 45 40' cars up a 4% grade. As Larry said, start slowly to avoid wheel slip. I do not believe there are any gear sets to regear the C44s, unless you could make one of those Earnst re-gear sets work.