Found a pair of Shark Nose diesels on Ebay that has caught my eyes. They are made by E R Models. I have never heard of them. Has anybody had any experience with them pro or con? Charlie
Check Spookshow Someone did make a shark nose in N scale, IIRC. I thought it was ER models, but maybe not. Check the Spookshow for all N scale engines. Here...Baldwin Shark by ER Models.
Yes. One can see it as item number 320488518694. The seller lists it as brand new, the web page you included suggests it to be seven years old. Glad I asked.
wow...learn something new everyday. Walthers has it listed on page 6 at www.walthers.com/page/wkw_upd12_na.pdf
Bachmann made these for ER Models, and took over the remaining stock when ER Models went bankrupt. I seem to remember the ER Models owner got sick or went bankrupt. Six or seven years ago seems right. They were supposedly the next generation of Bachman Spectrum-Plus B-B diesels. They are generally acknowledged as good designs, although very loud with gear noise. DCC is a drop-in, if the decoder is still available. Modeling the PRR, I love them. They run at prototypical speeds, and their only flaw is that they are rough at slow speeds, and rather loud. They are good on detail (for the price), and good-to excellent pullers. I'd give them an A-. They are underrated engines because they are loud. That never bothered me. Diesels are rather loud beasts. They are great on the point of a coal haul:
My first loco as a kid was a Sharknose so I've always had a fondness for them. I've got two of the ER Models sets and l like how they run. For the price you can find them sometimes I think they are a great value. As Pete said Digitrax made a decoder for them but has been discontinued so may be hard to find but several examples on the net of wired decoder installs that are very straightforward. Only problem I had was a cracked axle gear on one unit and I ended up pulling that gear off.
I found that the noise emitted from these engines disappears when run on filtered DC. When I ran them on my MRC power packs they were noisey. But at the club and running on an Aristo Craft radio throttle with filtered DC the noise disappeared. They do emit a gear whine at higher end of the speed range but at low speeds they are quiet. That being said, these are Bachmann design and subject to Backmannitis. I got 2 ABBA sets. One set runs well the other is a disappointment.
I have an... ...A-B-B-A set my darling wife bought for me as a birthday gift. I do recall they growl a bit and I love it- they're Sharks. They run great together. Smooth. (Was I just Hoping?- these are ER originals/first run) I can't wait to break 'em out again to drag the 50 or so hoppers I collected awaiting their arrival- soon as I get another spare bedroom to hide in. I did run them with 35 car trains on a loop and was looped that they ran so smooth. Sounds like I'm in for sad day with the rest of the choir chiming in though. NOT! They're Sharks. Mark
That beautiful picture of Pete's proved very expensive for me! I now have an ABBA set of NYC lightning stripes and an AA set of D&H's. I found that I had to do a lot of trimming on the side frames once I guaged the wheels properly. The molded brake assemblies rubbed on the wheels. However, it was worth the effort. They run beautifully now on my Atlas code 55. They couple closely with MT's and the detailing is very nice. I paid about $25 a piece for the engines (used) and they're well worth it.
I just picked up an A-B set of sharks a few weeks ago. I was hoping to get at least two A-B sets for a nice four unit lashup, but i just happened to order in the absolute last set that was in stock from Walthers. I'm happy for the moment, but I am looking around for a couple more sets (maybe), as well. I haven't had any problems with them yet, except for the noise, but it does seem to be the worst when I only run a single unit by itself, especially if you have the throttle completely wound out. They seem to be naturally slow geared, so turning the throttle up to the highest notch (as some people like to do) doesn't really make them go faster, it just makes the motor turn faster and start screaming. I'm really just curious if they'll be okay for the long run just running them out of the box, or not. I've thought maybe putting a little oil on the gears would be advisable. However, I don't even know how some guys manage to find the hidden problems in them, let alone fix them. For example, I doubt I'd have the first idea how identify if the wheels were improperly gauged, or if anything was rubbing on the brake assemblies.
If they're running well on your track and through your turnouts you don't need to worry about the guage. All six of mine needed guage adjustment (use an NMRA N scale guage--most hobby shops or e-tailers will have them) to run reliably on code 55. When you hold the loco upside down, you can tell if the wheels are rubbing on the side frames/brake detail. If not, again don't worry about it. When I re-guaged my wheels they would rub, therefore the above mentioned filing. Oiling will probablyl not make the engines run quieter. They're just delightfully "growly" as they pull the long trains.
I have a pair of these. Same comments as the others here. I love 'em, though. Always loved the Sharks. Planning to wire in Silver Mini decoders.
One more thing about these. If you look at the above photo of them you will see that the grills are painted silver. I could not locate any photo of the prototypes [PRR prototypes] that had silver grill work. ER also did the top ones in silver too. The builder photo I saw had the grill work the same color as the body [Brunswick Green]. I painted mine with some Ceramcote acryllic paint from Walmart called green black. It is an almost exact match and under most lighting you cannot tell the difference.
These made the scene a few years ago, and the scuttlebutt was that these were from an oldie N mfr named Roco, who made some nice locos in the eighties and nineties. Then it came out that Bachmann made these for E-R. I had a friend who bought one and hated them for "every reason in the book", which sort of swayed me. Based on some of the responses above, I just might splurge for a PRR ABBA set if I can find one, and take the chance. As a kid I used to watch PRR Sharks bring in large coal drags through Sharpsville, Pa on its way to Sharon Steel just down the tracks. I loved their designs after getting into N, so I bought some aftermarket shells and installed them on Atlas/Kato RS3 mechanisms. I am lucky to have a factory painted set of PRR's, NYC's and an undec which I am trying to decide what to color it. Ken "FloridaBoy" Willaman son
I worked on these units for E-R, correcting the tooling drawings which were more a blend of several different models than the way they turned out. I didn't have anything to do with the mechanisms but I've run the units on the Reid Brothers Cumberland Valley System and they are very reliable good pullers. Technically, they weren't made by Bachmann.... their parent company Kader made them and they do contract work for many different companies. The execution on the Sharks is still better than most Bachmann units. Bachmann is offering them under their label since E-R was driven into bankruptcy due to an unfortuneate stillborn partnership with Roco. Charlie Vlk Railroad Model Resources
Not to hi-jack this thread about the sharknoses, but since you have a connection to what was E-R models, can you tell me if anybody took over the Talgo sets? I really want some, but long out of production they are! Just wondering if somebody else is making them now?
Painting anything in D&H colors is the unpardonable sin. It consigns your soul to hell automatically. You do not pass GO and you do not collect $200.
