Larry
http://www.youtube.com/user/ClinchValleySD40
http://www.flickr.com/photos/52481330@N05/
http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/showgallery.php/cat/500/page/1/ppuser/8745/sl/c
QUOTE: Originally posted by dharmon QUOTE: Originally posted by Fergmiester QUOTE: Originally posted by 4884bigboy My best running is my HO Rivarossi UP FEF-3. Smooth, quiet, and with the traction tire equipped it can pull the bumper off a chevy.[:D][;)] Yes, if anyone is thinking about getting this loco, don't hesitate. The headlight has a nice, bright, white glow and it's almost blinding! I'll second that, an excellent engine bar none, in close second would be the Allegheny where as at the bottom of the heap would be my Rivarossi Big Boy, Coming to a scrap heap near you[:(] Fergie....I thought you were repowering that badboy..I mean bigboy....
QUOTE: Originally posted by Fergmiester QUOTE: Originally posted by 4884bigboy My best running is my HO Rivarossi UP FEF-3. Smooth, quiet, and with the traction tire equipped it can pull the bumper off a chevy.[:D][;)] Yes, if anyone is thinking about getting this loco, don't hesitate. The headlight has a nice, bright, white glow and it's almost blinding! I'll second that, an excellent engine bar none, in close second would be the Allegheny where as at the bottom of the heap would be my Rivarossi Big Boy, Coming to a scrap heap near you[:(]
QUOTE: Originally posted by 4884bigboy My best running is my HO Rivarossi UP FEF-3. Smooth, quiet, and with the traction tire equipped it can pull the bumper off a chevy.[:D][;)] Yes, if anyone is thinking about getting this loco, don't hesitate. The headlight has a nice, bright, white glow and it's almost blinding!
http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=5959
If one could roll back the hands of time... They would be waiting for the next train into the future. A. H. Francey 1921-2007
Originally posted by jfugate Kato and the newer Atlas engines. The Proto 2000 diesels start out running okay (they have slop in the worm gear, so will buck on hills without adding some washer shims) but they don't age well. The problem with the P2K's is mostly power pickup issues. Adding track wipers to the P2K's seems to solve the problem, but it's too bad they don't hold up like the Katos and Atlases. With a DCC back EMF decoder and a gentle speed curve, I can set the Katos to just above a crawl with a 20 car train in tow and they'll just roll along, smooth as silk, through turnouts, around curves ... what a blast to run. Here's some video footage of Katos and Atlas locos in action ... http://my-memoirs.com/preview.asp ... it's harder to get the P2Ks to run this smooth on video! [/quote I had a question for Joe Fugate, but see now that I hid it in his quoted thread. I have the same current pick up problems with two of my P2K diesels. They start running a bit erratically. How and where did you attach the track wipers? to the trucks or elsewhere? Hans Reply Anonymous Member sinceApril 2003 305,205 posts Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, April 13, 2004 10:46 PM The 2-8-0 Spectrum is just too smooth for words. I have three of them in the RI scheme. Reply Edit decapod39 Member sinceJuly 2003 12 posts Posted by decapod39 on Tuesday, April 13, 2004 12:35 PM I have 3 Bowser 2-8-0's with a new gear boxes and can motors. They run so slowly that you can hardly tell if you are moving. I can bring it into a cut of cars so the KaDee's just close without nudging the string of cars everytime. Fun to switch with. [:)] Bill Neale Reply Nieuweboer Member sinceApril 2001 From: Netherlands 226 posts Posted by Nieuweboer on Tuesday, April 13, 2004 9:50 AM QUOTE: Originally posted by jfugate Kato and the newer Atlas engines. The Proto 2000 diesels start out running okay (they have slop in the worm gear, so will buck on hills without adding some washer shims) but they don't age well. The problem with the P2K's is mostly power pickup issues. Adding track wipers to the P2K's seems to solve the problem, but it's too bad they don't hold up like the Katos and Atlases. With a DCC back EMF decoder and a gentle speed curve, I can set the Katos to just above a crawl with a 20 car train in tow and they'll just roll along, smooth as silk, through turnouts, around curves ... what a blast to run. I've got the same power pick up problems with my P2K GP30 and GP18. How did you attach the track wipers to the trucks or elsewhere......? Here's some video footage of Katos and Atlas locos in action ... http://my-memoirs.com/preview.asp ... it's harder to get the P2Ks to run this smooth on video! Reply Anonymous Member sinceApril 2003 305,205 posts Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, April 13, 2004 9:35 AM QUOTE: Originally posted by Roadtrp Well, keep in mind that I drive poor man's locos (though I'm more cheap than poor...), and that I only have two of them. One is a standard Life Like F40PH and one is a standard Life Like GP38-2. Now before you laugh me off the board, please remember that I'm in 'N' scale. And in 'N' scale, even standard Life Like comes with all wheel pickup / all wheel drive and a 5-pole skewed armature motor. [#ditto] I have several locomotives, none of which I can run on a regular basis. In N scale, I have one Life-Like E8A that pulls a decent passenger consist of 8 cars through lots of different grades. I've also got a Model Power 4-6-2 Pacific which is DCC equipped, and which pulls decently, but not a lot of cars. In HO, I've got an Athearn PA1 & PA2, noisy as heck, but run well. I've got 3 Athearn F7s from the late '80's, a Mantua 4-6-2 Pacific (do you see a trend in my steam locomotives?), and a Kato SD80MAC. I've only run the 80 a few times, and it seems to be a very smooth running, quiet, and responsive. I've also got my two Lionel steam locomotives, but since I don't have a layout in O scale set up, I can't run them as often as I like. I remember something an acquaintance said about locomotives. "If you're rich, you don't have enough locomotives. If you have enough locomotives, you aren't rich." Reply Edit cwclark Member sinceJanuary 2004 From: Crosby, Texas 3,660 posts Posted by cwclark on Tuesday, April 13, 2004 9:17 AM My best running engines are both Athearn (it's a tie between my SP high nose GP-9's and my DRG&W GP-50's. the constant lighting circuits fit well in them also. Reply dharmon Member sinceAugust 2003 From: Bottom Left Corner, USA 3,420 posts Posted by dharmon on Monday, April 12, 2004 1:38 PM QUOTE: Originally posted by Fergmiester QUOTE: Originally posted by 4884bigboy My best running is my HO Rivarossi UP FEF-3. Smooth, quiet, and with the traction tire equipped it can pull the bumper off a chevy.[:D][;)] Yes, if anyone is thinking about getting this loco, don't hesitate. The headlight has a nice, bright, white glow and it's almost blinding! I'll second that, an excellent engine bar none, in close second would be the Allegheny where as at the bottom of the heap would be my Rivarossi Big Boy, Coming to a scrap heap near you[:(] Fergie....I thought you were repowering that badboy..I mean bigboy.... Let's see best performing would be the SDF40-2 made from an Athearn FP45. I repowered it with a monster Sagami motor, hi torque / low RPM. Routinely pulls 35 cars around the club layout. Took awhile to get it groomed and the bugs works out though.....minor issues like the motor torquing itself off the mounts..I had to zip tie it to the frame....great smooth runner now. Reply Roadtrp Member sinceNovember 2003 760 posts Posted by Roadtrp on Monday, April 12, 2004 1:14 PM Well, keep in mind that I drive poor man's locos (though I'm more cheap than poor...), and that I only have two of them. One is a standard Life Like F40PH and one is a standard Life Like GP38-2. Now before you laugh me off the board, please remember that I'm in 'N' scale. And in 'N' scale, even standard Life Like comes with all wheel pickup / all wheel drive and a 5-pole skewed armature motor. I think that both of my locomotives operate pretty nicely, but I would have to give the nod to the GP38-2 for quietness and excellent low speed operation. -Jerry Reply jfugate Member sinceJanuary 2002 From: Portland, OR 3,119 posts Posted by jfugate on Monday, April 12, 2004 11:24 AM Kato and the newer Atlas engines. The Proto 2000 diesels start out running okay (they have slop in the worm gear, so will buck on hills without adding some washer shims) but they don't age well. The problem with the P2K's is mostly power pickup issues. Adding track wipers to the P2K's seems to solve the problem, but it's too bad they don't hold up like the Katos and Atlases. With a DCC back EMF decoder and a gentle speed curve, I can set the Katos to just above a crawl with a 20 car train in tow and they'll just roll along, smooth as silk, through turnouts, around curves ... what a blast to run. Here's some video footage of Katos and Atlas locos in action ... http://my-memoirs.com/preview.asp ... it's harder to get the P2Ks to run this smooth on video! Joe Fugate Modeling the 1980s SP Siskiyou Line in southern Oregon Reply Anonymous Member sinceApril 2003 305,205 posts Posted by Anonymous on Monday, April 12, 2004 9:36 AM Like many modelers, I have many more locomotives than I should. I also have some older locos from my late-teens c.-19th century layout that do not fit my current transition-era period. And of course, one reason for choosing transition era was to be able to play with early diesel as well as steam (which remains my true love). In diesel, I concur with several posts above - the Stewart/Kato F7 A/B HO diesels are awesome and definitely my best runners, period. But all but one of my diesels run very, very well - the exception being the Walthers GP9M that some others have praised. In steam, its the Proto2K 2-8-8-2. That would be followed by my Powerhouse 2-8-8-2 semi-brass and a few truly brass engines, mostly from SKI and Samhongsa. The Spectrum 2-8-0 is very smooth but draws more current and is noisier. Spectrum 2-10-0 is a decent runner but not up to the 2-8-0. Referring to my literally and figuratively older steam, I have several Rivarossi purchased in the mid-Sixties: two of their 4-4-0 Americans, a 2-4-0 and the 4-6-0 Casey Jones. All of these are still outstanding runners after 40 years (15 of them in storage in a dry but non-temperature or humidity-controlled environment) and many, many hours of operation; this company at the time was far ahead of the curve. Curiously, the Americans are now offered by IHC and, based on test-running at my LHS, are pale shadows of the originals in terms of running quality. Reply Edit orsonroy Member sinceMarch 2002 From: Elgin, IL 3,677 posts Posted by orsonroy on Monday, April 12, 2004 9:18 AM Virtually all of my new-generation HO steam operates very well. They're smooth, quiet and have very good throttle responce and low-end speed. I'm really impressed with my BLI 2-8-2s and anything in the Life Like Heritage line. That said, none of them really pull for poo, so my favorite PERFORMANCE engine is a 1960s vintace Mantua Mikado that I've remotored with an Alco Helix Humper can motor and idler gear. This engine pulled well with it's stock five pole open frame motor, but is now a superb puller, able to drag 105 cars on the flat. Up hills and 2.25% curvy grades it can lug over 30 cars. It's the single most powerful non-articulated HO engine I've ever seen. Too bad it's not a prototype for anything... Ray Breyer Modeling the NKP's Peoria Division, circa 1943 Reply timthechef Member sinceFebruary 2002 From: Brunswick MD 345 posts Posted by timthechef on Monday, April 12, 2004 9:10 AM my best engine is a IHC consolidation. It has a flywheel and will creep along at exceptionally slow speeds. It's not the most prototypically correct engine but it sure runs nice. Life's too short to eat bad cake Reply Anonymous Member sinceApril 2003 305,205 posts Posted by Anonymous on Monday, April 12, 2004 9:08 AM My Graham Farrish 0-6-0 switcher. Even though I model the present day, it was a present and it is smoooooooth. I have 3 Bachmann 8-40CWs and i think the roadname does affect its performance. (Voodoo? Witchcraft? Luck?) Reply Edit sparkingbolt Member sinceSeptember 2003 From: Central Or 318 posts Posted by sparkingbolt on Monday, April 12, 2004 3:27 AM LL P2K GP9 Smooth, Quiet. Reply AntonioFP45 Member sinceDecember 2003 From: Good ol' USA 9,642 posts Posted by AntonioFP45 on Sunday, April 11, 2004 11:04 PM This is a good post though it would have been an interesting idea to have put: BEST RUNNING LOCO, and WORST RUNNING LOCO. My top performing locomotive without a doubt: My Stewart Hobbies New York Central F7A. Incredibly smooth and quiet. Will move steadily at 2 scale mph with my TECH II 2500 powerpack. Wish all of my locos ran like this! Worst runner: I have a Rivorrossi E8 with a truck motor. It's a a junker but ironically the body is pretty decent! I'm going to try and give it a complete mechanical makeover with an A-LIne kit later down the road. BLI "I like my Pullman Standards & Budds in Stainless Steel flavors, thank you!" Reply Anonymous Member sinceApril 2003 305,205 posts Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, April 11, 2004 10:01 PM Best running steamer? My Bachmann 2-8-0 is hard to beat except by heavily reworked brass models[;)]. Best diesel is my Kato 8-40CW. Thing pulls everything effortlessly and dead quiet![:D] My kid has a P1K FM Eire built. Its like a brick with 12 wheels. Pulls like the Kato, just uglier![:0] Reply Edit AggroJones Member sinceJuly 2002 From: California 3,722 posts Posted by AggroJones on Sunday, April 11, 2004 9:27 PM Proto Y3 2-8-8-2 or Proto F3AB. Run about the same. "Being misunderstood is the fate of all true geniuses" EXPERIMENTATION TO BRING INNOVATION http://community.webshots.com/album/288541251nntnEK?start=588 Reply Budliner Member sinceFebruary 2004 From: Boston 2,226 posts Posted by Budliner on Saturday, April 10, 2004 6:47 PM I have some old atlas motive power and after one hit the floor it still the bad boy on the block I have some ols athern and some new I like the new one its a sothern 1500 I have two buchmann Spectrum 2-8-0 and the Spectrum 2-8-8-2's make it around my bumpy 18's way better I have the rivarossi 0-8-0 with the engin in the boiler wow I love the two I have, one is mint. one is old and both run and pull great ( they look cool too) my rr cab foward needs lubed (its the old one I think) but it also runs awsome well the proto 2000's I have 2 diesel and some boxcars are the best till I get some kato's K- Reply Anonymous Member sinceApril 2003 305,205 posts Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, April 10, 2004 3:50 PM QUOTE: [i]Originally posted by Fergmiester[/i I'll second that, an excellent engine bar none, in close second would be the Allegheny where as at the bottom of the heap would be my Rivarossi Big Boy, Coming to a scrap heap near you[:(] [:0][:0][:0] I hope you're talking about the older AHM/Rivarossi BB's. I don't see anything wrongwith the new re-tooled versions (except that all the stores are sold out, GRRRR!!![:(!][:p][;)]). Reply Edit mikebonellisr Member sinceJune 2003 From: US 641 posts Posted by mikebonellisr on Saturday, April 10, 2004 3:46 PM Almost all of my diesels run much better than my steam locos. I'm a little jealouse of you guys that operate diesel layouts, but we are closing the gap.I can't figure out why the enginers/designers of steam models took so long to get it right...and yet they still mess up a little,as with athearns genisus mike. you would think that with thier good name, experience and marketing skills,that they would produce a benchmark product. Reply Fergmiester Member sinceFebruary 2004 From: Out on the Briny Ocean Tossed 4,240 posts Posted by Fergmiester on Saturday, April 10, 2004 3:30 PM QUOTE: Originally posted by 4884bigboy My best running is my HO Rivarossi UP FEF-3. Smooth, quiet, and with the traction tire equipped it can pull the bumper off a chevy.[:D][;)] Yes, if anyone is thinking about getting this loco, don't hesitate. The headlight has a nice, bright, white glow and it's almost blinding! I'll second that, an excellent engine bar none, in close second would be the Allegheny where as at the bottom of the heap would be my Rivarossi Big Boy, Coming to a scrap heap near you[:(] http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=5959 If one could roll back the hands of time... They would be waiting for the next train into the future. A. H. Francey 1921-2007 Reply Anonymous Member sinceApril 2003 305,205 posts Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, April 10, 2004 2:24 PM My Walthers GP9M DOGGY GO CUBS Reply Edit dand200 Member sinceJuly 2003 From: Pennsylvania 52 posts Posted by dand200 on Saturday, April 10, 2004 2:01 PM I have a Stewart DS-44-1000 that is my best runner and I must be in the minority because I bought a Spectrum Baby Trainmaster and it is a piece of junk. Reply METRO Member sinceOctober 2003 From: Milwaukee & Toronto 929 posts Posted by METRO on Saturday, April 10, 2004 1:08 PM Kato REALLY needs to get a larger HO-scale lineup going. My best locos are my Kato-powered Stewart Hobbies F-7s. They run whisper quiet and have the smoothest acceleration and slow-speed running of anything I have. Reply Anonymous Member sinceApril 2003 305,205 posts Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, April 10, 2004 12:21 PM I only run diesels, and in HO my best runners are Stewart/Kato F7A's and a B. I am curious about Atlas these days as they seem to have improved in the last while - I just haven't bought one recently. In N, the Kato F's (again) come out on top for me; perhaps because of the Kato quality conbined with the ability to put a lot of weight under the cowl. I'm curious about Atlas these days in this scale as well. Reply Edit Anonymous Member sinceApril 2003 305,205 posts Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, April 10, 2004 10:32 AM My best running is my HO Rivarossi UP FEF-3. Smooth, quiet, and with the traction tire equipped it can pull the bumper off a chevy.[:D][;)] Yes, if anyone is thinking about getting this loco, don't hesitate. The headlight has a nice, bright, white glow and it's almost blinding! My second best would be my Spectrum 4-8-2 Light Mountain. Reply Edit simon1966 Member sinceJuly 2003 From: Metro East St. Louis 5,743 posts Posted by simon1966 on Saturday, April 10, 2004 9:50 AM My Atlas S2 runs really well and is my best running non-steam. I have several IHC steamers and they are suprisingly good for the money. My new BLI Mike turned out to be a lemon and shorts if the tender is connected. Sent back to BLI for repair and they "lost" it! Sent me an un-decorated unit instead of my CB&Q. To give them their due, they have promised to replace the undecorated with a Q unit when the next production run comes along. I have always stayed away from Bachman due to negetive press from friends, but it sounds like the Spectrum's may be worth looking at. Simon Modelling CB&Q and Wabash See my slowly evolving layout on my picturetrail site http://www.picturetrail.com/simontrains and our videos at http://www.youtube.com/user/MrCrispybake?feature=mhum Reply 12 Subscriber & Member Login Login, or register today to interact in our online community, comment on articles, receive our newsletter, manage your account online and more! 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QUOTE: Originally posted by jfugate Kato and the newer Atlas engines. The Proto 2000 diesels start out running okay (they have slop in the worm gear, so will buck on hills without adding some washer shims) but they don't age well. The problem with the P2K's is mostly power pickup issues. Adding track wipers to the P2K's seems to solve the problem, but it's too bad they don't hold up like the Katos and Atlases. With a DCC back EMF decoder and a gentle speed curve, I can set the Katos to just above a crawl with a 20 car train in tow and they'll just roll along, smooth as silk, through turnouts, around curves ... what a blast to run. I've got the same power pick up problems with my P2K GP30 and GP18. How did you attach the track wipers to the trucks or elsewhere......? Here's some video footage of Katos and Atlas locos in action ... http://my-memoirs.com/preview.asp ... it's harder to get the P2Ks to run this smooth on video!
QUOTE: Originally posted by Roadtrp Well, keep in mind that I drive poor man's locos (though I'm more cheap than poor...), and that I only have two of them. One is a standard Life Like F40PH and one is a standard Life Like GP38-2. Now before you laugh me off the board, please remember that I'm in 'N' scale. And in 'N' scale, even standard Life Like comes with all wheel pickup / all wheel drive and a 5-pole skewed armature motor.
Joe Fugate Modeling the 1980s SP Siskiyou Line in southern Oregon
Ray Breyer
Modeling the NKP's Peoria Division, circa 1943
"I like my Pullman Standards & Budds in Stainless Steel flavors, thank you!"
"Being misunderstood is the fate of all true geniuses"
EXPERIMENTATION TO BRING INNOVATION
http://community.webshots.com/album/288541251nntnEK?start=588
QUOTE: [i]Originally posted by Fergmiester[/i I'll second that, an excellent engine bar none, in close second would be the Allegheny where as at the bottom of the heap would be my Rivarossi Big Boy, Coming to a scrap heap near you[:(]
Simon Modelling CB&Q and Wabash See my slowly evolving layout on my picturetrail site http://www.picturetrail.com/simontrains and our videos at http://www.youtube.com/user/MrCrispybake?feature=mhum