Well, I really don't need another engine but I like the looks of this one. I read the review in the Nov issue of MR and it sounds like a nice piece of equipment. I was wondering if anyone out there has purchased one of these and how they like it. I have always wanted an engine with smoke and was considering the K-4 by MTH but it is a little pricey for my budget.
Would anyone care to offer their opinion on these engines?
Thanks,
MC
MC,
I have two PCM (Broadway's other brand) Reading T-1's from the original release several years ago. They are the stealth (no sound) DC versions as I do not use DCC and do not want/like sound or smoke.
They are very nice models, well detailed, run good and pull very well. I did have to do a little work to mine. Because they left room in the smoke box for that future smoke unit you are interested in, they were a little tail heavy, which made them derail on some turnouts or sharper curves - I added some weight up front - fixed.
Also, with the loco and tender close coupled, the drawbar rubbed the frame of the tender (it has an offset), so a little grinding/filing was needed to correct that.
Lastly, I have the traction tire drivers installed on mine, and the factory traction tires have always failed early, several times now, so I used after market one from Calumet Trains, all OK now.
Sheldon
I have 2 of the originals, some club members have the new ones. I never put the traction tires on mine and they pull plenty, so the traction tire wheelsets ahve stayed in the boxes.
One of mine had a slight problem with the sprung drivers, but since I heard about it ahead of time I fixed it before it even turned a wheel on the layout. It definitely would have caused derailments - most likely from shipping shock, the front drivers where somewhat jammed and did not move up and down freely against the springs. Solution was to remvoe the cover plate and align the bearings, 5 minute fix. The other one was fine out of the box. These are the locos I used to set on slow and just let run for hours while I worked at the workbench. NEVER derailed, NEVER got stuck. Mine are sound/dcc so they chiffing and hissing was my 'background music' while I worked. The new ones with Paragon II sounds are even better sound-wise, although there is a more accurate (because it's from a real T1) sound set for the Loksound decoder in the originals, if you have access to a Loksound Programmer to swap them.
The smoke in the new ones works well, but other than a couple of minutes to verify, everyone turned theirs off with the switch in the smokebox, since smoke is not allowed on the club layout.
--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 guys for the info.
I guess per Sheldon's last memo I will need to order at least a dozen of them.
I have a paragon 2 T-1-4-8-4 I love this locomotive it runs well and the sound Is Great from mountain