Who do you think made or makes the strongest pulling n scale engine ever made? It sure isnt that Model Power c420 I just bought on ebay for 10 bucks!*L* Comments please.
I'd have to say the old Con-cor/Kato and Kato PA-1's they weigh a ton, and pull like a 2005 Cummins turbo diesel Ram 1-ton truck.
If kitbashing is included, Jason got it with Jim Fitzgerald's COTTON BRUTE. From my roster, so far the Con-cor GS-4 is the champ.
I have a Life-Like E7A that can pull out tree stumps! It generally gets track cleaning duty as all my other locos have difficulty running with the Atlas track cleaner on my relatively steep grades. Russ
I second HemiAdda2d"s nomination of the Kato/Con-Cor PA1 (first edition). I have one of those things lying around and it will pull 70 forty foot box cars (and/or reefers) on level track. Not while it's lying around, of course.
Barring some obscure brass loco that only ten people in this country own, I’d say the best pulling mass market plastic body diesel is the last release of the Bachman DD40AX. Twin motored with 16 wheel drive and enough weight to use as a night stick these things could drag two of my Kato Sd40s backwards even with the Kato’s at full throttle. Use of DCC necessary for this test. At least until their cheap plastic gears split on the axles and they became “Shelf Queens”.
Concors PAs number one for sure, then the Kato first GP38s they were great pullers and they to weighed alot more than the engines that came after. Dave
Kato/ConCor E7 tops off my roster I am guessing that the K/CC E7s, E8s and PAs are basically all the same under the shell - a good motor and lots of weight! The Atlas TMs are my 2nd
How about one of those lightweight fishing scale thingos. Build a horizontal support for the scale, hook one end to a nail and the other to the loco, or a specially prepared idler car, on a test track. Then go for it!
Here are actual TE test results taken on a level Kato Unitrack loop I use for testing and running in locos: 40 Cars: LL FA2 plastic frame NYC 1044 40 Cars: LL F7A Bev-Bel custom paint D&RGW 35 Cars: Kato F7A SF warbonnet #306C 34 Cars: Bachmann WM 2-8-0 (TT's) 33 Cars: Atlas/Kato RS-11 MEC #801 (TT's) 31 Cars: Kato 2-8-2 Mikado GN #3200 (TT's) 31 Cars: LL FM C-Liner A unit PRR #9448A 30 Cars: LL Alco FA1 SLSF #5215 (split frame) 30 Cars: Atlas/Kato GP35 D&RGW #3061 29 Cars: Atlas Classic GP35 SOO #722 29 Cars: Kato SD45 UP #6 28 Cars: Atlas FM Train Master PRR #8703 27 Cars: TRIX FM HH Switcher SP scarlet/gray 26 Cars: TRIX GE U28C SP scarlet/gray 26 Cars: Atlas SD50 MOPAC Canary #5010 25 Cars: Atlas Classic RS1 CRRofNJ #1201 25 Cars: KATO RS-2 CGW #55 24 Cars: Kato SD40-2 Snoot CP #5864 23 Cars: Atlas SD35 PC #6108 22 Cars: Kato SD40 CP #5524 21 Cars: Atlas SD60 CNW no number 21 Cars: Con-Cor SW something SP #4602 21 Cars: MDC 2-8-0 Teakette D&RGW 21 Cars: Atlas/Kato RS-11 D&H #5001 (no TT's) 20 Cars: Atlas C628 CN #2043 14 Cars: Atlas Classic RSD 4/5 CRRofNJ #1604 14 Cars: Life Like 2-8-4 Berkshire "C&O" 13 Cars: LL SW9 CNW #1122 Of regular production locos, I don't have anything that will out-pull the plastic frame Life Like FA2 and F7. Two are good for 80 cars. I don't own an Erie-built, but based upon NTrak observations, one unit will pull over 50 cars without slipping. Notice how well the old Minitrix U28C and FM HH swither did? About the same as the current Atlas Train Master. Those old Trix units were the mainstay of my roster for many years. Notes: * All measurements use MT 40 foot "20000 Series" box cars as the standard "car". * Multiply by .8 for the 50 foot car rating. * All measurements are the maximum cars pulled without wheelslip. * All tests run at the 25-35 smph "drag" speed I usually run my trains on the NTrak layout. ALSO: your results may vary. I wasn't looking for a traction "champ" when I did this. I was looking for a reliable measurement so I knew how many units it would take to pull a given train on the NTrak layout. [ June 29, 2005, 02:36 PM: Message edited by: LongTrain ]
Suggestions for a test? Yes, I have a $25 box of Kato Unitrack I can set up on the dinette in 5 minutes. I use the same group of MT box cars to test all my locos, and I test them all on this same track layout, which simulates the relative lack of tangent track on our NTrak layout: I find the ratings I obtain this way are more valuable to me than anything I could get with a scale. I don't care how many "grams". I need a rating in "cars" for Ntrak running. The ratings I get with this method have proven very accurate for use on the relatively level NTrak layout. METHOD: I put a loco on, and add cars until it slips. The traction rating is the number of cars it pulled without slipping. [ June 29, 2005, 04:14 PM: Message edited by: LongTrain ]
I have a set of the LL F7's and a few of the old LL GP18's. Both of these types are the best pulling engines I have.
The Kato made mechanism that was used in the Concor U50 and Gas Turbine is my personal best puller. The new Life-Like FP-20 Erie builts and the new all metal frame E8's are close seconds. The Kato made Concor Hudson is my best steam loco.
Well Steve, I take a "keep it simple" approach. I put a loco on the loop and add cars until it slips. I remove cars one at a time until it can pull the train with no slippage. The rating is the number of cars it pulled without slipping. Since I weight my cars according to NMRA recommended practice, and since I use MT trucks on all of them, they are very consistent in the amount of drag per car. So the car count makes a simple and effective measurement for my purposes. EDIT: I went back and added a couple lines to the original post, Steve, so it is less confusing now, I hope... [ June 29, 2005, 07:28 PM: Message edited by: LongTrain ]
