Best low speed?

[dragenrider]

I like to have short trains creeping through the hills and valleys, bridges and small yards. But which one would be worth my hard earned dollar?

[AggroJones]

The recent P2k releases have fabulous low speed control. In fact, their entire speed range is "slow speed"! You got to crank up the power to max to hit over 50 mph! My GP-7 only travels at low speeds. She would be great for switching. They crawl.

[Anonymous]

P2K

[philnrunt]

I have a RI P2K SW and it absolutely is the slow speed champ in my stable. And it did'nt cost an arm and leg,

[AntonioFP45]

Stewart (and Kato as the Stewart uses a Kato drive)

For those of you that haven't tried one, a Stewart F7 will crawl at 2 scale mph. The current draw of these motors is incredibly low.

Incrdibly quiet!

[Anonymous]

The best S L O W S P E E D is this connection. With a 1.2 meg DSL, it's S L O W this AM.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by AntonioFP45

Stewart (and Kato as the Stewart uses a Kato drive)

For those of you that haven't tried one, a Stewart F7 will crawl at 2 scale mph. The current draw of these motors is incredibly low.

Incrdibly quiet!

Stewart has been making their own drives for several years now.

Both Kato and Stewart drives are fantastic. Next come the Atlas Masters and then P2K.

[AntonioFP45]

Thanks for the heads up Bill.

I bought my Stewart NYC F7 in the early 90s. I'll check and see which drive it has. She's the quietest out of all my locomotives. She is still in "new" condition as I rarely take it out of the box. (awaiting layout)

I will be installing Soundtraxx DCC/sound system in her. Horn will be the Wabco E2. Also changing out the headlight bulb over to a "Warm White" LED.

[Anonymous]

I have a Atlas Master Series GP38 and it's the low speed champ in my stable!

[BRAKIE]

Guys,My claim to fame in the hobby is tweaking drives to make them run SLOWER regardless of brand..My Athearn Blue Box locomotives will creep from tie to tie..I use the stock gears,wheels and motors-I simply clean,oil and fine tune the drive..[:D] First thing I do to my P2Ks is remove that ton of grease LL uses.[xx(] I then fine tune these like my Athearns..I do my Atlas,Stewart,Walthers and my 4 Katos locomotives the same way.[:D][

[nfmisso]

Any of the Roco built switchers are excellent: Atlas S1/2/3/4 and Walthers H10/1244

Hobbytown of Boston: http://bearlocomo.zoovy.com/product/K055 chassis with the Bowser H10/1244 body http://www.bowser-trains.com/hoother/cary/cary.htm will perform switching duties better than any of the lightweights listed above.

[Anonymous]

Kato and the clones (Atlas, Stewart)
The only way to creep![:D]

[Anonymous]

It varies. My Athearn SD9 will creep so slowly that you can count the motor rotations, which my Proto 1k locos can't do - this could just be due to my choice of power pack though. New Athearn locos joining my fleet get an extended running-in on a loop test track and are then oiled/greased - grease in the trucks, oil on the bearings. I've tried the same technique with my Proto 1k locos but they're still not as good as that SD9.

[jfugate]

QUOTE: Originally posted by kbfcsme

Kato and the clones (Atlas, Stewart)
The only way to creep![:D]

This has been my experience with over 40 locos across nearly 8 years of monthly operating sessions on the HO Siskiyou Line. About half of this roster is P2K locos and they are the ones always getting the maintenance attention.

The P2Ks start out great, but as they age, their performance drops and you have to constantly be doing maintenance work on them. The Kato and clones just keep on running and running and running with very little attention.


Katos on the Siskiyou Line

[Anonymous]

Although my experience is only with steam, I would vote for Proto 2000. My 0-6-0 switcher can be set so slow (with clean wheels and rails, using a Tech 2 power pack) that it takes over 10 minutes to creep down my 3.5 foot test track...!

Andrew

[Anonymous]

Athearn Ready to Roll GP60M and CF7
great locomotives
they will get the job done fast or slow.

[johncolley]

AntonioFP45, I agree 100% I am also converting my Stewart FT's to DCC (Digitrax DH163D's) with 3 units powered and a dummy B with wall to wall sound (Soundtraxx +2 woofers and a tweeter). My BLI E-7's crawl nicely, too. GN4ever, Go Rocky!

[dragenrider]

I have noticed that my Athearn GP9's run very slow following a tune up and having Ernst slow speed gearing installed. They have a high voltage draw, though. My Spectrum GP30? and P2K SW1000? tie for second place.

I didn't know that P2K was so high maintenance. I would never date a woman like that, so I sure don't want an engine I'll have to constantly work on! [8D]

[Anonymous]

I would have to say Atlas and Kato. I have two Atlas GP38s and two Kato GP35s. Both of these put a whole new meaning on the word crawl.

[Anonymous]

It is pretty much the P2K engine. (0-6-0 etc)

But I have a walthers Heisler that likes it slow. I think this weekend I will hold a "Slow race" between the two to find out which is slower.

[Don Gibson]

WHICH ENGINES ARE "CREEPIEST?:

1. Seems each NEW release bests the old. Newest KATO's outperform their previous. Same with ATLAS ' , and Stewart's. Finally Proto 2000 got into the act with their SD-60. Overall: Kato, Stewart, and Atlas exchange leads, but are still the one's to beat.*

2. MOST power paks (non DCC) in use use half wave rectification or inject some form of AC at slow speeds to 'goose' the engines. (Put a 'Scope on it sometime) - so are the results the really the Engine, or the Power Pak's effect on the engine? Do you really care?

4. MY preferred criteria is lack of Jack-Rabbit bumps or starts - since some product require higher starting voltages to power their electronics (Proto 2K - Broadway Ltd)

3. The newest Atlas Chinese-made Dash 8-40B's are my current Champs.* on pure filtered (no bumps) DC. Smoooth! DOWNSIDE is some of the newest releases don't run with the older ones. RS-1's and SD-24's for example and KATO SD-45's.
Ah, The price of PROGRESS.

[Anonymous]

I dont care what starts the engine. I got a few engines that will sit and drink it's fill of voltage before starting. The others that jerk on starts get a blast of momentum off my DC Tech 4 and once the wheels start moving I ease it off. And get a hold of the train then move em out.

[CBQ_Guy]

Well I've got a creepy, little Kato NW2 switcher I'm kinda fond of. [^]

[ClinchValleySD40]

Out of the box, Kato hands down. However, every loco (Kato, Atlas, P2K) goes through a tune up before hitting the layout. Once done, they all preform great at low speed, walking speed.