Just got one of these monsters and generally quite pleased. I do have a few questions for those of you who have experience with this model: 1) I operate straight DC; the loco out of the box seems to run well, but there is a dummy plug included in the packaging. Is there any reason I need to open up the loco and install the dummy? Pros and cons? 2) I'm thinking of installing body-mounted couplers with long shanks and fill in those big holes in the pilots. If I were to do this, what would the minimum operating radius be when pulling cars? My mainline minimum radius is 28 inches. 3) Has anyone removed the inboard flywheel for the rear motor, the one that occupies the open space in the middle of the locomotive? If you removed the flywheel did it cause balance problems with the motor? Thanks for your help!
I have had one for several months. No problems at all. If you use the dummy plugs the engine will probably start running faster but that is the only thing that will change. I have not removed any of my decoders and the engines run fine on DC. If you remove them you could sell them to someone else. Bob
I model the L&N but can't resist those big UP locomtives. :tb-cool: Can't answer either of those by experience, just reasonable speculation. You're probably going to have to find the answer to #2 by trying it. 28 inch minimum radius should give you plenty of leeway with the body mount (I have to work with 22!) but those things as you know are pretty long. As for the flywheel, I understnd wanting to clear that open space as much as possible but you'll lose half of the momentum the flywheels give you. Let us know the results!
Thanks for the input on my questions. I took the plunge this weekend and made some modifications to the model. First, I removed the truck-mounted couplers and used a Dremel to cut off the mountings, being sure not to damage the locking mechanism for the bottoms of the trucks. Then, installed body-mounted long-shank, centerset Kadee whisker couplers. After some testing, these couplers work great on my mainline tracks with a minimum radius of 28-in on the inside main and 30-in on the outside; I even tried a 35-ft car and had no problems with it behind the DD. The locomotive itself will go around a 22-in curve, but only certain cars will stay with it without derailing - not a problem for my operations concept. Then, I made pilot overlays, made cutouts for the couplers and clued on the pilots. I also installed MU cables. While I had the model apart, I replaced the DCC board with the dummy plug; the model does run faster. I also installed two sand fills on the top of the nose, along with four grab irons; the nose doesn't look as bare now. I did not remove the one flywheel that's in the opening midway along the locomotive - the flywheel is anodized black and barely visible unless looking directly at it from the side; I didn't want to unbalance the rear motor. Lastly, I added some additional weight in the fuel tank. My impressions of the model: I think it's a good buy for the $80 I paid for it. It has two separate motors, one for each 4-axle truck. The nose and tail grab irons are separately applied at the factory, though the tail ones are too close to the body. The model runs fairly quietly and smoothly, even on my poor trackwork. It easily pulls about 20 cars, depending on total weight of the train and track curvature. My model represents UP 6900, the class engine, when it first went into service. Besides the huge hole in the pilots to allow for the swing of the truck-mounted couplers, my only other nits to pick would be the over-large flashing beacon with its too-fast flash rate and certain handrails at the front and rear ladders, which I may replace with wire. All-in-all, I consider this model a nice addition to my mainline fleet and the modifications made for a nice weekend project during very cold weather outside.
On my beacon light i snipped off a piece of heat shrink tubing and slid it down to the roof to make a ring. Light doesn't look so large now and i can always remove the tube. Bob
I replaced the beacon with a detals west beacon with grain of sand bulb inside. I also rewired/added LED lighting when I installed DCC in this one for independent control of lights. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-1VeD-oXbU
that beast of a engien loos awesome man ive always had a soft spot for these enines wish that there was somoen around ere id have them paint me one in ns i know it's a freelanced ns railroad. but as said very nice work lfb.
and i suck at both painting locomotives and decaling them i tried to do an old e8 modeled after the old souther e8 6900 even down to the roof details but that wound up in a ton of pieces ill keep you in mind if i ever decided to do that thanks lfb.
those look sick yeah im a big ns fan even though im just really getting into modeling lol. id love to have one in ho scale but im shooting for a engine with sound onboard right now but when funds open back ill prolly buy one and get someone to paint it like that thanks for showing me what it would look like zach.
bobwrgt - Thanks again for the tip on using heat shrink tubing to cover part of the beacon. Finally got some tubing and it works great! Now waiting for fuel fillers and gauges to put some detail on the fuel tank.
