Does anyone have any experience with these Micro Ace Japanese Style Steamers ? They look like they are very detailed, just wondering how they run, and can they run on Code 55 ? There seems to be quite a few different types of Micro Ace Steamers. I have pretty much acquired most of the American type Steamers and wondering if adding some of these Micro Ace Japanese types would be fun. They sure do looks nice,espacially this one. fatalxsunrider43
I have a few Micro-Ace steam locos, they run well and are nicely detailed. I haven't tried them on Atlas C55 but some of the flanges may be a bit deep though the driving wheels look OK. BTW Kato are shortly releasing their completely retooled version of the D51. http://www.katomodels.com/n/d51/ An enlarged view. [KATO] Model Photo View
Thanks for the pics of the new version, although the older version has a shorter dome on the top of the boiler which looks better, otherwise the new one is more detailed. I would really need to know if they run on Atlas Code 55. Seems like the Atlas Code 55 is going to require that every locomotive qualifies first before I can purchase it. I didnt reliaze this when re-commiting from Code 80 to Code 55. Hopefully someone will know if these run on Atlas Code 55. fatalxsunrider43
IIRC... a couple of Atlas products are essentially re-branded Micro-Ace equipment. The track cleaning car and the 2-6-0 Mogul. I believe the models re-worked [Americanized] by Atlas are pretty reliable. I have a couple of the 2-6-0 Moguls which run well... though... due to their diminuative size are a little weak on tractive effort uphill [no traction tires]. The flange size on the Mogul is suited for code 80 track... and looks like it might have trouble on code 55... though I've not confirmed that since I don't use code 55. The item you're inquiring about will have a lot more 'heft'... so probably will be a better puller. It may be built to current flange standards to accomodate code 55 track... but... remember that the foreign model train market may still be using code 80 as a standard. One thing I recall about the Micro-Ace models is they may not be true N scale [1:160], but rather 1:150 scale which is slightly larger.
The Micro-Ace D51 is actually closer to 1/140 and the old Kato version almost 1/135, the new version will be the correct 1/150 as is the retooled C62 4-6-4. Here's a Japanese website comparing the different versions, the new Kato version is not shown yet of course. You'll have to run it through a translator. ‚c‚T‚P^‚c‚U‚P The Micro-Ace/Atlas old time 2-6-0 is 1/130 scale. http://www5a.biglobe.ne.jp/~toyoyasu/7100_1.htm
I have two of the 2-8-0's that I bought for $40.00 each. These are diminutive when compared to the Bachmann Spectrum 2-8-0. They run great and with the traction tires will pull a surprising number of cars. The models come with a rather funky three axle tender. I believe Tomix and Kato both make a similar locomotive but unlike the Tomix and Kato the Micro-Ace has the motor in the locomotive and not in the tender. This allows for fitting the Bachmann Spectrum tenders to them if one builds a new drawbar. They look best with the short USRA tender and the slope back tender.
I have several Micro-Ace locos and like all of them. They are very reliable and smooth running. The overall size seems a little small compared to US steamers, I have used the mechanisms to free-lance locos for my own railroad, the RGW. Below is a photo of the original Micro-Ace loco and the RGW 2-10-4.
Interesting. We have two; one sold as "Atlas" and one under the "Micro-Ace" label. Both of them have tracton tires on both sides of the rear axle. They pull well on the level, but I have never tried them on any significant grade. Did they delete the tires on later runs???
Show-wa-no... I hadn't taken the Atlas/Micro-Ace Mogul out of the box for years when I made the comment about the traction tires. In fact... it does have traction tires on the rear axle. The Show-wa-no is the first D&RGW roadname done using the Micro-Ace model. The traction tire is a silvery-grey looking rubber and might need to be run to breakdown any slickness. This is such a diminuative model... that even at 1:130 [as noted by Westfalen] the model looks tiny compared to other 1:160 models. It did perform well on level grades as long as no turnouts or cross-overs were around... it would momentarily stall. I use the old Roundhouse/MDC Overton cars with it. The second run for D&RGW was Tabi-wa-chi... still looking for it to check for the traction tires... hopefully I didn't lose it under all the dust . BTW... that Rapido coupler is so huge and out of scale that I probably lost interest in running them. A body mount Z scale coupler should make them look better.
They are great runners in my experience. I modify them to resemble North American prototypes. I moved the motor to the tender on this one to make a ten wheeler. This one now has a new boiler and tender and looks real nice.
search the forums, search google. a Work in progress. N scale Micro-Ace JNR 0-6-6-0 Mallet converted to a US 2-6-6-0 logger. second tender option:
Kozmo, that's nice. Personally, I like the vandy version; something about the boiler and tender balancing each other. Nice! Regards, Otto
The current version of the Kato 2-8-0 is completely retooled and has the motor in the boiler with an open cab. ‚j‚`‚s‚n»ö‹@‚Ì•ª‰ð I've also fitted my 0-6-6-0 with a vanderbuilt tender. While I was in the town of Kushiro in Hokkaido on my recent vacation I happened upon a little hobby shop around the corner from the hotel who had an 0-6-6-0 sitting on the shelf gathering dust, needless to say it came home with me, now I have two.
I considered getting the 0-6-6-0 in order to bash a 2-6-6-4. But it never proceeded beyond the consideration level. Only 60 locomotives of this wheel arrangement were ever built as most RR"s who considered them opted for 4-6-6-4 Challenger types as the four wheel pilot truck offered better stability at speed..
John, that's very nice; you've captured the Salt Lake engines beautifully... never mind they never made it anywhere near Salt Lake.. Love the front end and the flip flop stack! Regards, Otto
John, Ive never seen this loco before,can you elaborate on the boiler etc? Also luv your 2-6-6-0,what did you use for the front cylinders? I have 2 of these loco's,one is for a conversion the same as yours & the other,well lets just say Im waiting on a reply from Intermountain before I comment on that one ;-)
Jason, The boiler from the original loco was used as a starting point; It was built up with layers of plastic; Details were added; The complete set of construction photos are in my Railimages album J WIDMAR- RGW 2-10-4
The top of the cylinders were just built up from plastic. I got as many photos of the D&SL locos as I could and tried to follow them as close as possible. The driver size and spacing made this a great candidate for the D&SL/DRGW locos. I decided to go with DRGW because the D&SL had raised numbers of a special style and the decals were availble for the D&RGW. Here is a closer view of the front;
