Seems like the "New" mantua releases should be an improvement over the original. They have a can motor & flywheel along with directional headlights & a combination electrical plug & drawbar.Has anyone had any experience with the Pacific? Thanks
Dunno about the new Pacific. I got one of the old ones at a train show. It's as good a runner as anything else I have. With a bit of detailing and a good paint job, it looks very good. The old open frame motor performed quite well. I put a can motor into it and performance is even better. Slow speed creep is outstanding, it will creep from tie to tie with nary a shudder or quiver. The old one had room inside the boiler to take weight, which improved pulling power.
Mine came from the train show with a one piece plastic molding of pilot, pilot deck and boiler steps. That is an undistinquished bit of plastic molding. I replaced it with a piece of brass bar stock, a cast brass pilot, and a pair of air compressors on the front deck. Looks much better.
If the new one is as good as the old one, you will have a very nice locomotive.
David Starr www.newsnorthwoods.blogspot.com
As an N-Scaler I, of course, don't have any experience with the new ones from Model Power. I don't think Model Power is offering them in kits but in the '60s and '70s while still an HO-Scaler I assembled three or four of the old ones; I only remember retaining the provided Mantua boiler on one of these; the remainder, as well as all of my Mikes, got Cary USRAs. These barebones-generic-quality boilers -- both the stock model from Mantua as well as the Cary/Bowser ones -- provided a good starting point for assembling a family resemblance fleet of steam locomotives but it took between fifty and seventy-five dollars in superdetailing to turn it into an attention getting piece of motive power. As I am sure forummember Darth Santa Fe will attest to they were a lot of fun to build and I did master my learn-how-not-to-swear-around-the-kids techniques while assembling them.
Cary boilers are, I suppose, either completely unavailable or in very limited supply from Bowser but were I to go back to HO-Scale I'd probably pick up a couple of these Mantua Classics--at least the Pacifics; I never really developed a great affection for the Mike boilers . . . . . from Model Power.
From the far, far reaches of the wild, wild west I am: rtpoteet
I bought one of the new pacific's and I have 7 of the old pacifics and the new one runs ok, I wasn't overly impressed with it's performance. My old ones are still running well and with some super detailing on them they look as good if not better than the new one. It does run somewhat smoother than the older ones and yes the directional lighting is nice feature but for me it's a good RTR if you are looking for a steamer you can buy and just stick on the layout without any work.
Ray
I remember Mantua selling the MC94 can motor upgrade for the different steamers in the 1990's. It did not come with the flywheel though.
I still have some advertising when they came out with that can motor around 1995. Mantua at the time advertised the MC90, MC94 and MC95 can motors.
Made a big difference in the loco. They were a nice upgrade for the old Mantua General.
Don't know if that motor is still available. It came with an adapter to fit in the tender. I am sure the adapter for the General is no longer available. I have found about the same size can motor in old CD drives.
Rich
If you ever fall over in public, pick yourself up and say “sorry it’s been a while since I inhabited a body.” And just walk away.