I am sorry, but I have not seen another GG1, so my Trix is the only exposure I have. I can tell you that it is all metal, well painted and decaled, detailed to what I would call 'average' extent, not super-detailed, but not a lot of molded-on stuff either. The fans sound is good as far as I can tell, and seems to be realistic. Horn is good, and so is the bell. It rides very smoothly and is heavy. For the price, it was a very good purchase.
The MTH model has been available since about 2009-ish, if I recall, and is rather expensive, but most of that company's locos are expensive in the non-diesel classes, at least in HO. The MTH GG1 is fashioned closely after the BLI one from a few years earlier because MTH won the tooling for the BLI GG1 in a lawsuit if won over BLI's builder. The builder owned the tooling, apparently, a rather biting loss to BLI.
The MTH version is all metal, so presumably heavier than the BLI version. In the BLI version's case, I have heard nothing but good about them. I have never read a comparison between any two GG1's.
Hopefully someone will speak up who has observed a couple and formed an opinion.
The BLI one was all metal as well. Heavy. Had no trouble pulling a string of older cars with Walthers and Central Valley trucks, which aren't anywhere near as free rolling as modern stuff.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Thanks, Randy, it's good know they're both all metal...I guess it fits since the tooling would have been designed for metal shells for the MTH locos.
Crandell
Another question on my GG1: the couplers.
They just hardly couple at all! Manual states just F7/8 for them to perform but in fact, they just don't!
Any experience with them?
Thanks!
Sebastian
BTW, my GG1 came with only 3 screws linking frame and body. What to do now?
The MTH remote couplers are horrible. You need to literally slam into the cars to couple on, even if you open up the coupler first. It should have come with a pair of normal couplers yiu can swap out, which will result in much better performance (but no remote uncoupling).
For a locomotive costing USD400 I just can't understand how can MTH afford such things...
My unit did not come with replacement couplings. What to do now?
maxman Looking at the blurb on the MTH site, http://www.mthtrains.com/content/80-2147-1, all you can do with a DCC system is access the 28 different functions. You are not going to be able to read or change any CVs. However, you should also be able to change the address. Possibly you should re-post your question with a title like "how do I change the address on my MTH GG1?"
Looking at the blurb on the MTH site, http://www.mthtrains.com/content/80-2147-1, all you can do with a DCC system is access the 28 different functions. You are not going to be able to read or change any CVs. However, you should also be able to change the address.
Possibly you should re-post your question with a title like "how do I change the address on my MTH GG1?"
I know this is an older post, but I'm not sure this is entirely true. I just reprogrammed my MTH GG1 last night. This was one of the newly released Conrail GG1s that came out this past January.
Specifically, I gave it a 4 digit address, and changed CV52 to 1 to engage its "PWM" mode. This allows the MTH GG1s to run the same as the BLI GG1s so that they can be put in a consist together (three Conrail GG1s were pretty fun to run together!)
Important Note Added 7/11/13- Do not use the PWM mode, just change CV53 and 54 to 0 to make it run with the BLI GG1s. The problem is that the "Pulse Width Modulation" mode will burn out motors if the engine is run at a sustained speed. I'm told that the "pulse" cook the insulation off the motor windings if the GG1 were to be used running laps on oval for an hour or so.
This mode is apparently meant for switchers and things where the engine isn't doing a lot of work.
Maybe MTH has changed their capabilities? If that is the case, I'm a little less frustrated by them.
I used an NCE Power Pro in Programming on the Main mode.
Modeling Conrail, Amtrak and NJ DOT under the wires in New Jersey, July 1979.
If you didn;t get the plain couplers, might need to contact MTH. All the ones with the remote couplers come with a pair of plain couplers to swap out, if they were missing, someone took them out or forgot to put them in.
With each update to Protosounds 3.0, they have improved the DCC functionality. Mainly because people keep complaining. Some of the older locos can be updated, but you need a DCS system to do it. An MTH dealer should be able to help there.