I'm looking at getting a Kato P42 w/ 5 Amtrak passenger cars, and I was wondering if a single engine would be able to comfortably pull the train up a 2% grade (on a Club Layout). Anyone have experience with a single engine Kato P42? How many cars should it be able to pull up a 2% hill? I realize that most are two engine consists, but my budget will not allow the second engine for a couple of months. Thanks
If it won't, there's somthing wrong with the track, etc. Kato passenger cars are very light and roll very easily. As has been mentioned, the large Kato engines with full width bodies and long wheelbases are strong pullers.
Yeah, I have 8 Superliners + 1 baggage + 1 Step-down coach and I can pull all with a single P42 up a 3% grade.
Most are two-engine consists, not necessarily for the pulling power (Passenger cars are extremely light and are mostly air inside, compared to boxcars or hopper cars that are densely packed with materials), but for practicality -- a single loco doesn't need to be turned around at the end of the route.
I think you mean that a pair back to back don't need to be turned? While that is true it is a very expensive way to avoid having a wye or reverese loop. A single loco will need to be turned.
In most cases, the extra loco is to meet HEP requirements. A single loco can only provide enough Head End Power for only eight passenger cars, they have the HP to pull many more cars, but the electrical power demand of the cars is the limiting factor. It would not be out of place to see a single loco pulling 7-8 passenger cars plus a whole string of MHCs or Road-Railers, but the 9th passenger car adds the second loco to the mix, even without the extra cargo cars.
Does Amtrak still use MHC's? I noticed that Kato offers a Phase III car, but when I did a search to learn more, I read that many are "moth balled" in remote areas, and few are seen on the road. Apparently, the load capacity of the MHC (1500 series) is too small by today's standards. If I'm creating a Phase VI era Amtrak train, would adding MHC's be representative of the Phase VI era? Thanks Dave
There are MHC on many of the Amtrak trains running through Sacramento. I think it depends on the routes the trains are on as to thier utlization. Kato has also produced Phase IV MHC as well as the Phase III.
Phase IV was introduced in 1993, ExpressTrak wasn't mothballed until 2003 or 2004 so there's definitely some overlap if you want to run MHCs on a Phase IV train. IIRC the reason ExpressTrak was mothballed was that Gunn had some accountants run the numbers and when you factored in overhead/admin/maintenence it wasn't really adding nearly enough revenue to justify the effect it had on scheduling.
Is there any reason why passenger cars couldn't be outfitted with electric generators in their axles to produce electricity?
The Mighty Kato Amtrak locomotives Sorry to pop in so late here, but I think I am unconsciously addicted to Amtrak, and really do not enjoy it because I am a steam era Pennsy/Northeast fan. But I live about a 1/2 mile via road from the local Amtrak station which also duplicates as a TriRail station so I see lots of P42's and F40PH"s and others quite a lot. The road makeup allows that you can pull into the station when you see the crossing lights on and railfan quickly and easily. I live in a remote corner of the US in south Florida, and there are two Amtrak passenger consists daily north and south, along with twice hourly commuter cars, and I quite often pull into the shady parking area in the afternoon just to take in the absolute raw power of an idling Amtrak or TriRail locomotive, which probably addicted me. For my steam era Pennsy era layout, a few years ago, I purchased 2 F40's and 2 P42's along with a real assortment of Amtrak cars, and ran them a heck of a lot, but for financial reasons, I sold them all to a friend who was dying for Amtrak on his layout, and I thought I could spare them because all I had to do was buy some back. I made that much money on my fleet, regrettably. It turned out that I totally missed the Amtrak trains, although I kept the TriRail trains. So, over the past few months, I purchased a used P42 and a new F40, some passenger cars, and added Viewliners and an MHC to my wish list. All this background and here are my points............. Point 1. P42's often run single, particularly in the offseason when there are noticeably fewer cars to pull. Point 2. First don't even worry about the power of the Kato F40, they will "pull stumps" too, and mine even lashes up to my friend's LifeLike model comfortably. Second, all of my P42's had more power than I ever anticipated. They are all freaks. And if yours needs to be more powerful, just run it a while and it will get stronger as it gets older. Sigh......wish that were true in my case. lol. Ken "FloridaBoy" Willaman
Drag, maintenance, weight, reliability . . . . With axle generators you need (heavy) batteries to keep power when the train is stopped. Also, and this is particularly true of short, commuter running, you don't always generate enough power between stops to recharge the batteries. The CB&Q found that out the hard way and had to run power cars on their bilevel commuter trains. With HEP, you have one system to maintain and not a lot of little systems on all your cars. Andy Tetsu Uma
But certainly the technology has improved over the decades? Light rail and modern subway vehicles employ regenerative braking to generate additional electricity. The aim isn't to eliminate HEP but to lessen the electrical load on a single loco.
Regarding the original model question: Confirm you're talking about Kato cars, not just the engine? Bachmann Amfleets are often complained about as high-drag equipment. Regarding the prototype question: I was wondering why modern passenger trains seemed to have a lot more horsepower on hand than steam-era trains, though they aren't usually long enough to warrant it. The description of the P42's capabilities begs the question: why wasn't it built with more HEP relative to tractive power? And even given that they do exist, why not use HEP cars? Or even coach/HEP cars, like CB&Q used: http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=365261
Are those lights I see inside? I don't get Kato's deal with the P42 Phase V blue. On my model (and yours) it's more teal, but I've seen other modelers have the more proper dark blue.
Yes, all 5 cars have interior lights. I bought the KOBO Shop train. They installed the TCS DCC decoder and the lights. It was so nice to just place the train on the track and run it. The Lights are LED and Very bright. I turn the room lights off and run the train. Here is a short video of the train http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNEGn_GIfZw
Nice video I dig the slow speed! Although if I were a 1:160 Amtrak passenger riding in that train, I'd be getting a mean tan
