I recently acquired an Oriental Limited Powerhouse USRA 4-6-2, made by Samahongsa. The mechanism is smooth and quiet, and the loco seems to run ok. It looks fine, though a bit plain. The tender, though, has issues. It doesn't quite match a USRA tender, but the big issue is with the trucks--they are very draggy. While they look ok, the design is unusual, and they are not bolted or screwed to the tender frame. It almost seems like they used cotter pins to hold them in place. And the pickup is a bit sketchy, too.
Others who have Powerhouse, what did you do with the trucks? I was thinking of replacing them, and tapping the frame to take a 2-56 screw.
EDIT: Added Pics
Gary
I have three Powerhouse USRA Mikados, and one Powerhouse USRA Pacific, all four came with the same tender.
One of the Mikados received a "clear vision" oil tender from Tenshodo. That was an easy and perfect fix, but expensive.
On another Mikado, I used an Athearn tender from a failed Genesis USRA Mikado, and that was a great fix.
On the last Mikado, I replaced the trucks with a set from a BLI boxcar that were insulated on one side only. I added wipers and that worked out great, but the tender still looks poor.
For the Pacific... no repair has been made yet. I am hopefully going to find another Athearn Genesis tender for that one too. That seems to be a good fix.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
If you have the trucks I dimly remember these engines had, my advice is to replace them.
I recall the construction involving thin dummy three-piece-truck sideframes, utterly non-structural, with the actual wheel bearings being machined grooves in fat axles which were clipped into plastic fingers. If you wanted a design that was the moral antithesis of smooth free rolling it would be hard to beat.
If 'collector' resale value is not a major concern to you, I'd go a little further than just tapping threads: build up a proper bearing surface on the underside of the tender frame to suit the replacement trucks and to give the correct ride height and side-bearing action ... then drill and tap to take an appropriate shouldered screw. (And use a truck tuner or equivalent for best action in actual axle running...)
I honestly don't know what the best lubricant for those plastic snap-tite bearings ought to be, if indeed any. Anything with nominally better tribology between hard surfaces, like nanodiamond, would be wasted on the plastic. Anything with better nominal hydrodynamic film generation fails on the large area and lack of 'crown' support... among other things. Someone here, I hope, can tell me at least what Olympic would have thought they were thinking with such a design.
I have a Mikado. Yes, the original tender and trucks are simply horrible. I swapped them out. The loco runs great otherwise...
Simon
I have one of the Pacifics, it now has a Bachmann Spectrum tender.......
Sheldon
garyait runs a lot better
That is great news.
SeeYou190 garya it runs a lot better That is great news. -Kevin
garya it runs a lot better
Yes, but the Bowser Tenders are a bit crude, too. Then again, they have enough weight to track well and give good pickup...
As an update, I worked on the tender trucks some--I pried the wheelsets out, and worked on the prongs that hold the axles. A little careful filing and spreading, and the tender rolls better. Not great, but better. Still looks a bit plain.
I'll see if I can find an Athearn Genesis or Bachmann tender for it, as it would be easier to add all-wheel pickup to a plastic tender.
Keep in mind the old (1980's?) "Powerhouse" engine line was Samhongsa's budget line of engines, a mix of brass and plastic with IIRC die-cast boilers. They weren't intended to be 'brass quality level' engines; Powerhouse line was meant to be a good engine at a reasonable price, kinda in-between expensive brass and cheapo plastic.
wjstixSamhongsa's budget line of engines, a mix of brass and plastic with IIRC die-cast boilers.
I don't think any of mine have plastic parts. The boiler is solid cast and heavy, giving them more pulling power. A lot of the piping is etched brass rather than cast brackets and brass rod. The tenders are very crude. The smokebox cover is terrible with the cast on marker lamps.
I have only really upgraded one of them. The 4-6-2 was replaced with a Key import, but I guess I am keeping it. I will not replace the two stock Mikados if they fail. They will be back-up for my Sunset Heavy 2-8-2s.
The boiler lacks a lot of cast in detail that plastic steam locomotive boilers have. It is pretty easy to drill, and upgrades like checks valves, sand hatches, and sander pipes are easy to add.
The one I have upgraded is a keeper. Ths is the one that received the high-class Tenshodo tender.