?Articulated can pull how many cars?

[Boyd]

 I don't remember how many different articulated 3 rail locos have been made in the last 20+ years (haven't we been blessed) but with long straight sections and big wide curves could an articulated loco pull 100 scale modern cars?

[servoguy]

I saw a video on YouTube of an articulated pulling 100 cars. You might look for it. I am sure the cars were the newer cars with low friction bearings. You can't pull 100 PW cars because the couplers won't stay coupled. The friction drag from the wheels puts too much load on the couplers and they come apart. I tried 30 cars recently on O-31 track, half PW and half newer cars, and I could not keep the PW cars coupled. One or two of the couplers was always opening up. If I had wired the couplers so they couldn't open, I would have been able to pull the train. It would go for a lap or two around the track before the couplers opened. Bruce Baker

[Anonymous]

I have the new Lionel WM Challenger and have it pulling 15+ PS-1 boxcars around my second level with grades with O45 and O54 curves. I don't have 100 PS-1 boxcars but I don't see a reason why it couldn't at least on level track. However, 100 boxcars is a lot of weight to ask 2 motors to haul, along with the weight of the engine. Now double heading two would be beyond awesome!

[servoguy]

When I was pulling 30 cars, I was using a 2046 PW Hudson with Magne Traction. It had enough traction and power was not an issue. Just the couplers wouldn't stay together.

[Train-O]

servoguy, You're right about the Lionel P.W. 2046 engine. I have one and it's a work horse! Ralph

[lionelsoni]

I have yet to find the limit of my Rail King Big Boy, but that's because of pulling long trains off the O27 curves.  When the tires fell off, I discovered that I didn't really need them.  I found that, without the tires and because of the locomotive's weight distribution, I can make the front engine's drivers spin for a second when starting, to my great amusement.

[RockIsland52]

Same with my 2046 (1951 3 window) with the MagneTraction.  It can pull a load and not lose traction too badly on start up.  This postwar of mine has the second highest mileage in my fleet and is a favorite of mine.  It needs a new boiler front with the marker lights as one of mine snapped off about 50 years ago.

Jack

[Boyd]

 The 2026 I once had would never spin the wheels. This puzzled me until I figured out it had magnetraction.

[dougdagrump]

I usually will have about 25 to 30 mostly K-Line woodside reefers with just a few Lionel Milk Cars added to the mix behind my Lionmaster D&H Challenger with no sweat. The K-Lines roll quite well but the newer, by only a couple years, Lionel are absolutely amazing. When they are placed on the track and if it isn't pretty much close to perfectly level those suckers will start to roll downhill.

But if I was going with heavier or even older cars I wouldn't be running quite near as many. Why put undue burden on the mechanicals when it's not needed, it's not like they are working for a paycheck.

[traindaddy1]

Servoguy:  I thought I was the only one whose Postwar Boxcar couplers often open on longer consists. Thanks for your post.

[TexasEd]

 These are my videos of my Lionel TMCC Big Boy hauling reefers.  The single engine shot has almost 80 cars and the double header may have more.

 

We have run close to 130 cars.  The issue for longer trains usually has to do with the couplers opening or with stringling.  I would bet we could get close to 200 cars with a long enough straight track.

 Big Boy with ~80 reefers

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hldKZuL8nI

 4-12-2 and Challenger with ~ 90 reefers

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7d8h2waTIY

 

[lionelsoni]

Boyd, did you ever figure out how it got magnetraction?  (Mine has it because I replaced the worn-out motor by one from a 2037.)

[Boyd]

 It was the fact that it never once spun its wheels.

[dougdagrump]

servoguy

I saw a video on YouTube of an articulated pulling 100 cars. You might look for it. I am sure the cars were the newer cars with low friction bearings. You can't pull 100 PW cars because the couplers won't stay coupled. The friction drag from the wheels puts too much load on the couplers and they come apart. I tried 30 cars recently on O-31 track, half PW and half newer cars, and I could not keep the PW cars coupled. One or two of the couplers was always opening up. If I had wired the couplers so they couldn't open, I would have been able to pull the train. It would go for a lap or two around the track before the couplers opened. Bruce Baker

 

Bruce,

I have a few couplers like that, but I don't wire them closed. I use either rubber bands, from the ladies hair care section in the grocery, or orthodontic rubber bands. Either one will provide enuff additional tension to keep them closed but at the same time allow them to be fully functional.

[servoguy]

Doug, I had fun proving the engine could pull the consist, and took the lazy way out and took off some cars. Recently I replaced the 2046 with a 736. What a difference!!! The 736 starts much more smoothly, and I am convinced that it could easily pull 100 of the new, low friction cars. It is a real horse. Last night I replaced it with a MTH 2-8-8-2 which I think must have "infinite" pull. It handles the 20 car consist without a problem. Both the 2-8-8-2 and the 736 start so easily that pulling the cars off the track is not a problem. Traindaddy, I have had a problem with couplers opening up ever since I got enough cars to make a decent size train. That is 45 years or more. Lubricating the wheels on the cars helps a lot because it reduces the friction. Bruce Baker

[dougdagrump]

Sometimes just moving the offending car to the rear of the consist will work also.