Uh-oh... I've heard some guys down at the local club, swear at Unimates, but then that was rolling stock that came equipped with unimates. However, half that crew didn't seem to know what a Skarknose was either! :tb-cool:
Inky, I'm using NCE DCC, and I've never run them on DC. I never had a chance to compare DC with DCC as regards to noise, as one layout was DC and the next DCC, and the Sharks were DCC from the beginning. I run them at low speeds, less than 30 MPH, and love them--they are my favorite engines, along with the IM F-3s, which are quieter. As I said, on the bridges they are very quiet, so I think they are transmitting vibrations to my foam board tables rather than being noisy all by themselves. Some of the Life-Likes do the same. The Fairbanks-Morse liners are noisier than the FA-1s, although the frames are nearly identical. I really can't figure this one out. I'm convinced that some engines are louder solely because they transfer more vibration to the table(s). But I don't have the equipment nor desire to test this hypothesis out. And I can't figure out what pulls and what doesn't. The L-L Erie-Builts should be champions, but they are not--perhaps the motor is too small for the weight of the loco? They are good, but not champions. I think the L-L FA-1s pull better than the FA-2s--perhaps a hasty lengthening of the chassis didn't work out well? The Sharks are my favorite engines because they look so good at the front of a long coal train.
Just an important brief warning to all of us about the Sharks: Unless you have them properly equipped with a decoder chip, do not run them in any way on a DCC powered system. They do not have the right electronics to absorb that much amperage. One of mine got hot enough the other day that some of the grease inside cooked and actually started smoking! On standard DC they are fine and can run for hours (probably) without getting too warm, but maybe five minutes on a DCC system (running as analog) and mine were literally getting to hot to even pick them up: definitely too hot to be considered safe!.
I feel very fortunate to have purchased some shells of Shark nosed hood units from an aftermarket supplier, I think Detail Associates, which fit right on Atlas and Kato RS mechanisms. I have a Pennsy 5 stripe aa set and a NYC lightning stripe set at this time, but also am working on an undec set already mounted on Kato RS3 mechanisms. I use Unimates between the AA units and MT couplers on the ends, and feel very thankful I have dependable quiet and powerful mechanisms to pull rather long trains. There is a Pennsy book with a pair of shark noses headed on an oncoming track and it is one of those photos which always comes to mind. I am glad I am able to recreate that scene, as there is nothing more powerful than an oncoming A unit no matter who makes it, EMD, Alco or FM. Gives one goose bumps. Ken "FloridaBoy" Willaman
I don't know if this was done by anyone here, but for any of you out there wanting a good look at the E-R models RF-16 Sharknose, I just found several very nicely done videos on Youtube of an A-B-B-A quartet of sharks pulling a freight on an N-scale layout. Links below: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbNCNDdGRaw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvkBMJcOosM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ys7Je6aL4xI
I have a pair of D&H Sharks I did with Deluxe Innovations shells a long time ago,they had Life Like F7 drives and Model Power C420 sideframes.I say had because now the shells are sitting on a shelf,the chassis now under a pair of PC F7's.Rather than pay the $120+ bucks for the ER D&H sharks,I bought two cheap ABBA set of PRR's for pretty much the price of the D&H set,left one alone,[for now,getting the later single stripe paint soon..]and I used the A's from the other set to paint D&H.I just finished them a few weeks ago.Not a fun paint job,but worth the work.The B chassis are going under a pair of CNJ Baldwin babyfaces I'm working on,I may use the B shells on dummy chassis,and leave them 5 stripe to run with the single stripe PRR sharks...If anybody is desperate for D&H Sharks,the old shells are available..
Wow, Lou! You sound pretty prolific, there!. The D&H paint scheme must be one that is particularly difficult to duplicate in N-scale. It would be neat to see those sharks in D&H colors, but I think i remember someone on this discussion say once it was sacrilige to paint anything in D&H colors, ha-ha. It would also be really neat to see those Babyfaces, too, especially if they were home-built. I'm pretty sure they would be relevant on a thread for sharknoses.
