MANTUA?

[schom]

How good is old Mantua Steam engines? Found 2 2-8-2 that look good...any thoughts?

[loathar]

I just bought and built a Mantua 2-8-2 kit from 1971.The details not great. The motor leaves a lot to be desired. But all in all, I enjoyed building it, and it looks and runs pretty good. NWSL sells a better motor for it for about $40. If you get it at a good price and your not real anal about detail, It's not bad....

[dinwitty]

all metal engine, good puller.

I took the 0-6-0 regeared with NWSL gearbox, and NWSL motored,, real slow, great puller for switcher duties in the yard.

[scubaterry]

I can't say anything about the Steam Engines but I just picked up five boxes of old HO stuff at a yardsale. There were several Mantua 40 ft gons. I was impressed with the sturdiness of the model. I had to convert the talgo couplers to body mount. It already had metal wheels. I will keep my eyes open for any more of the older Mantua rolling stock. Had several McKean model kits still in the box unopened. They were quite nice as well. They built a good hardy model back then.
Terry[8D]

[nfmisso]

Alliance offers remotoring kits. http://www.alliancelink.com/alp/

The Mantua locomotives can be made to perform very smoothly. The valve gear needs to be tweeked for very low drag. Worm to worm gear mesh is critical.

[bobwrght]

I have several that run pretty good. You can add your own detail. Heavy metal boiler makes them a good puller. One of the better Pacific engines around. Keep everything clean for electrical pick-up. I added copper strips to the tender to inprove pick-up and they run much better. The newer models have can motors.

Bob

[ICRR1964]

The nice thing about the older Mantua, is you can dress them up and do a remotor with a NWSL upgrade, or a Helix Humper motor regear. Both run $40 to $50 to do. But they have a very noticeable better running condition. Some people say why waste the time. But doing a motor upgrade with the Mantua diecast boiler, makes this loco, pull the rails up because its so heavy.

[Anonymous]

Out of the box, the old Mantua engines will outlast any other. They don't run all that good at low speed, but I've also regeared & remotored some of them. Put a can motor, idler gearbox & flywheel in an 0-4-0 Goat. Northlanz ,probably the largest HO RR in the world ,runs only "out of the box" Mantuas.

[Soo Line fan]

QUOTE: Originally posted by nfmisso

Alliance offers remotoring kits. http://www.alliancelink.com/alp/

The Mantua locomotives can be made to perform very smoothly. The valve gear needs to be tweeked for very low drag. Worm to worm gear mesh is critical.

As nfmisso has stated, the worm gear mesh is critical. At some point Mantua realized this and changed the worm mounting. The worm was removed from the end of the motor and enclosed in a box to better control the gear mesh and a lower speed. Here is a photo showing the enclosed drive. Mantua called it Power Drive. http://2guyzandsumtrains.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=824/postdays=0/postorder=asc/start=15.html
This also allowed a larger motor to be remote mounted, which further cut down on vibrations and the resulting noise. Later a can motor was added, although I have not seen one personally. For the earlier non-enclosed gearbox, the Alliance kit is probably your best bet as the worm is mounted directly on the motor shaft. You have more options if you have one with the enclosed gearbox, or if you can find the parts to convert it to the enclosed gearbox. That allows a round can motor to be remotely installed with a drive shaft connecting it to the gearbox. The NWSL 1630 series will fit with no modifications. The 20328-9 (currently out of stock) is the cream of the crop in my opinion. It is the one I used. It required grinding the inside of the boiler to fit but was worth it as it is a more powerful motor. 2 Timewell 120 flywheels back to back will fill the rear shaft and the available space in the cab nicely. It runs smooth and steady on 1.4V. Another thing you can do is replace the plastic leading and trailing loco wheels and 2 center tender wheels with NWSL replacements for extra electrical pickup. No blinkie lights or whoo-whoosh sounds but no high dollar price tag either.

Jim

[TomDiehl]

I have four of the Mantua Mikados. One of them I built from a kit in the late 60's. They are plain looking, but if you like to detail them up, think of them as a blank canvas. Great pulling power as others have noted. The valve gear thing isn't a problem to troubleshoot, if you have one that binds. Remove the boiler and motor, hold on to the drawbar and pull the loco chassis across the bench. If all is good, the wheels, rods, and valve gear will turn smoothly. When building from a kit, install the wheels and test like this, then the main rods and repeat, etc. You'll be better able to spot a problem as you build and correct it before you go on.

If these are used, expect to start with a MAJOR cleaning. Wheels, all contact points, around all moving parts, etc.

[nfmisso]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Soo Line fan
.....At some point Mantua realized this and changed the worm mounting. The worm was removed from the end of the motor and enclosed in a box to better control the gear mesh and a lower speed.

Actually, Mantua returned to something similar to the original gearbox. When the 2-8-2, 4-6-2 etc were first introduced 50+ years ago, they had gearboxes. Then in the '60s (may have been 50's), as a cost reduction they lost them. The mounting holes for the gearbox attachment were left in the castings, at least into the 70's.

[Duane (Tycos & AHMs)]

Hi there!

I am new to the forum and your info on the Mantua 2-8-2 is just what I was looking for. Can you tell me the part numbers for the NWSL wheels you suggest for the leading and trailing trucks?

Thanks - Duane