I know it would probably make rubber traction tires come off and possibly burn spots in the track,,, but have you ever put two engines back to back, set each in foreward and turned on the transformer to see which one out pulls the other?
Modeling the "Fargo Area Rapid Transit" in O scale 3 rail.
On purpose ?? No.
Celebrating 18 years on the CTT Forum.
Buckeye Riveter......... OTTS Charter Member, a Roseyville Raider and a member of the CTT Forum since 2004..
Jelloway Creek, OH - ELV 1,100 - Home of the Baltimore, Ohio & Wabash RR
TCA 09-64284
Yes, once. When we were kids my brother and I hooked his Lionel GP-7 diesel to my Lionel 2-6-4 steamer to see which one would win a tug-o-war. The GP-7 won. Dammit.
Of course, the Geep had Magna-Traction, an unfair advantage if you ask me.
It would be easy to do with the clockwork trains... but it never crossed my mind to do so. Until now.
- James
Yes, when my Spirit of 76 was new, I coupled that to a NW2 600 and had a tug of war. I think it was a stalemate, but that is a long time ago. I didn't even think of the rubber tires at that time, and am glad I quit when I did. My Spirit of 76 has only been run a handful of times since.
Sooo.... I just had to try a couple of tug-o-war's with the windups. 1st tug-of-war was a Marx 6000 diesel with a modified 4wd Marx windup motor against a Marx 400 with added weight and a stock windup motor. The 6000 just sat there as if the brake was on while the 400 spun in spite of its extra weight. Score one for the 4wd. Next, I added the powered B unit to the 6000 and put it up against the kitbashed 1203 Triplex windup. All three motors on the 1203 spun furiously and managed to pull the 6000 A-B units backward a couple of inches before everything stalled out.
All in all, it was mildly amusing, but not nearly as exciting as I thought it would be. It certainly won't replace my preferred method of testing my locomotive's pulling power - long trains! At least today's experiment proved one thing to me: I prefer to watch a locomotive moving the freight as compared to it sitting still and spinning its wheels. An interesting experiment, nonetheless.
Boyd I know it would probably make rubber traction tires come off and possibly burn spots in the track,,, but have you ever put two engines back to back, set each in foreward and turned on the transformer to see which one out pulls the other? When I was younger I did that all the time to see which was the stronger engine. It never did any harm to anything. My Santa Fe 2343 with dual motors and Magna traction was the best puller then. I would have to think my 4006 Big Boy would out pull anything I have now, including the 2343 which I still have. You have stirred up some old ideas from the past and I can see me and the grandsons having a contest in the near future. I would think the rubber tires would take some abuse in that contest. The other thing I did when I was younger was drag race the engines. I would set up 2 scale 1/4 mile tracks of 27.5' and race em. Stopped them with several pillows which they hit pretty hard. Had a lot of fun with that one too. The quickest engine was my old 2026 2-6-4, which I also still have. Went on to drag racing cars when I got older.
OK you got me started:
I had to try NEW VS. OLD.
Here is my 4-8-4 #746 J loco weighing in at 5.7 lbs vs the 4-8-4 #4036 Southern Pacific at 8.5 lbs.
The J was the heaviest of my old steamers and it has magna traction. The other heavy steamer, the Berkshire 2-8-4, weighs in at 5.4 lbs.
It was like me fighting Bruce Lee, a no contest. The newer engine with traction tires pulled the older engine like it was not there. Lots of wheel spinning and smoke from the old J but that was about it. No spin from the SP and even at slow speed it pulled the J easily.
At over $500 a pop for most of my engines... no way.
https://brentsandsusanspicutures.shutterfly.com/
Yes as kids we did it all the time. But no traction tires then.
I think we would have probably tried it anyway.
"IT's GOOD TO BE THE KING",by Mel Brooks
Charter Member- Tardis Train Crew (TTC) - Detroit3railers- Detroit Historical society Glancy Modular trains- Charter member BTTS
Never tried that but I enjoyed drag racing my locos on about 25' of parallel track. None of my Tyco stuff could hold a candle to my Athearn Hi F. I think that thing would do about 240 scale mph! That was about 52 years ago and I still have the thing, but the old motor won't even turn over now. It came with a New Haven shell but that disappeared years ago. Talk about play value!
FWIW the old (1930) movie "Danger Lights" has a tug-of-war between a Milwaukee Road steam engine and an electric engine. However, in order to not pull out the drawbar of the couplers, the engines actually were "face to face" and pushed rather than pulled.
baberuth73 Never tried that but I enjoyed drag racing my locos on about 25' of parallel track. None of my Tyco stuff could hold a candle to my Athearn Hi F. I think that thing would do about 240 scale mph! That was about 52 years ago and I still have the thing, but the old motor won't even turn over now. It came with a New Haven shell but that disappeared years ago. Talk about play value!
Yes as I mentioned earlier I used to drag race my trains all the time. This turned into drag racing full size cars all the time.
Have to do it again when my grandkids are here. I am sure they will get a kick out of it. Wonder if the old #2026, 60+ years old, champ is still king. I don't think any of the newer trains stand a chance against that one as they are great for pulling but not for speed. If I remember right the fastest could cover the scale 1/4 in well under 5 seconds. Will have to try it again as soon as I can get enough straight track. Most of that is on my setup now.
Have to look for that old movie, "danger lights", sounds interesting. Pushing rather than pulling may work out easier to do but it might scratch the paint on the locos unless I would put some cushioning in between them.
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