The Depleted Uranium Loco was the Cotton Brute, made by Ntrak's Jim Fitzgerald. I don't remember what his real job was. I hope he & others can write the story of the early days of Ntrak & Nscale very soon. IIRC he used an HO scale motor that would fit on the frame, then stuff the cavity with as much Depleted Uranium as possible. I don't remember if anyone tried to split & repower a Trix 3axle Uboat frame. The Mehano FA-2 split makes me think if anyone tried repowering a Bachmann DD40? Too bad the B's gears were so weak.
Are we talking production engines here or custom made pulling machines?:tb-biggrin: At a show we once pooled our Kato passenger cars and ran a 52 car train behind a single early run LL E8. I'll also vote for the IM FT's and early Kato F3's and 7's whose body shells were crammed full of weight. My best pulling hood units for their size are the early Kato GP38-2's. You can rule out any recent Atlas products, they seem to have lost the plot and started searching the world for the lightest metal to make the frames out of. P.S. someone asked what the Minitrix FM switcher represented. It's a late model H12-44 such as ATSF 531-564. If any manufacturers are listening we could use an updated version, (with the same pulling power).
Early version of split frame cab units were the most prodigious pullers. Ounce for ounce the best pullers I've had were made by... LIFELIKE !!! Yes the FA-1 and FA-2 units were great performers and could be purchased for a fraction of the comparable Kato F3 or F7 units. BUT... my favorite puller from LifeLike is the Fairbanks Morse Erie Built. The reason I mention 'early' split frame engines is that for some reason... probably DCC compatibility... the newer split frame designs seem to be MUCH lighter. I know that accommodations for DCC took some metal out of the split frame mechs... but... I also think that manufacturers may have gone to a lighter metal alloy as well... perhaps due to the warnings of LEAD content and possible legal ramifications of LEAD poisoning.
I think they are a lighter alloy and, of course, space for a decoder takes away weight. I find the FA's pull a tad better than the Erie-Builts. I think they sit on the track just a bit better. The Erier-Builts are A-1-As, and just don't seem to grind it out as well. Maybe those early E-Bs were too heavy? Both FA's and E-Bs, as well as the C-Liner, will pull more cars up my grades than the couplers can take, so these are just impressions. I should have a pull-off, but I'm out of that kind of engine torture. Besides, I think I'd have to bolt them together.
Yeah....it's probably the liability thing. But do you know what? If I had a lawyer who suggested that I go after a model train company in a liability law suit, I'd fire him on the spot. The reason for this is not because I'm a model railroader, it's due to the depth (or lack of depth) of the pockets of model train companies. A FAR better target of a lawsuit would be the water company, or house construction company. If in the legal department of Atlas, or any of the other "large" model companies, I would be dismissing the liability exposure as minimal. A lawyer who wanted to dilute the target impact of the lawsuit certainly would make other poor choices during the litigation stage of the suit. His lack of judgement would be observed by the choice of the target of the lawsuit. Sometimes business discisions must be made that are hard....however, crippling a company's options due solely to liability exposure will certainly doom a company in the long run. If I would guess, I believe that the "lawsuit Boogeyman" caused the use of alloys. I have personally worked with lead alloys and tin alloys, and I can assure you that the lead ones are MUCH easier to work with.
My vote is for the ConCor Kato PA's, DL109's, and E units, which are all brutes in their own right. As for steamers, the ConCor Kato Hudson, and the Kato JNR Hudson are brutes. I have seen the Athearn Challenger and Big Boy pull a mass of train cars I shuddered to look, and they easily did it without slippage. I estimated 50 cars on level grade. On an antique note, I have an Arnold Rapido Pacific that will pull 30 ConCor Smoothside passenger cars without effort. Ken "FloridaBoy" Willaman
The best puller I have in my collection is Con-Cor/Kato PA unit and I have SD90s and all. The PA is hands down impressive, I guess it makes up for the dummy B unit that it comes with.
The best puller I have had was a Nakamura AC-12, that thing was a horse. Mine would pull about 70 cars on the level without traction tires. My next best is my samhongsa ac-4, it will pull about 50 with traction tires.
OK, time for the guy that started this to clarify the paramiters. Mass produced out of the box engines. Sorry, cogs dont count. I may have to run my own test. I have one of the new challengers that pulled a hundred cars. Brass engines are included as long as they arent custom built. I realize they didnt make thousands of each one but they are produced in quanity. Class, continue.*S*
I call it an FB-8. Legend has it that two Mehano FA-2s, running at their legendary light speed, had a cornfield meet, and the cabs fused in the middle. I originally called it an FB-4, until I realized Alco actually made a few FA-4s. But you're right, it should probably be an FBB-2. As they were plastic frame beasts, it was really easy to build: just cut off the cabs (leaving one door on one of them), splice the frames, and reverse the wqiring for one motors. With two motors and lots of lead, this thing might be up there with the Cotton Brute. I'm actually thinking of something with two motors driving three trucks, with the central motor/truck being able to slide/pivot, and perhaps articulating the beast at the center. I've got two LL PA's, so I know I can build it when I have a little time. LL's palstic framed E-8s are another candidate. And I wouldn't have to grind any axles!
My best pulling, with no modification, production locos: Steam: Bachmann Spec 2-8-0 - 65 cars on a folded dogbone test track around more than 720 degrees of 11" radius curves. The caboose was about 5 cars from being caught by the engine. Diesel: Hard to say, I have never tested them head to head but my split frame Life-Like E8's or the plastic frame E6's with the factory lead weights are probably the champ. An E8 will drag a Kato SD90/MAC around the track. The E8's do have quite a bit of run time on them and the blackening is gone from the wheels. For their size, the ER Sharks will hold their own.
The "hold their own", but you will be "holding your ears." I have a pair of these (with DCC) and they are AMAZINGLY loud!
ER Sharks They are growlers but not objectionaly loud. I like the sound they make. The pulses created by the decoder may be adding to the noise. Mine are run on pure DC.
I run my ER NYC ABBA's on DC and enjoy the "growl". I really don't need all four to pull a 28 car coal drag, but I really like seeing them on the headend slowly working their way around my layout. It's irrational, but they're my favorite diesels!
Given the renewed interest in this post I decided to run a quick little test to see what I had sitting around that would be the king of the hill. Here is the power I tried. Bmann 2-8-0, Bmann heavy mountain, LL PA1, ConCor PA1(Kato drive), Bachmann DD40X, Lifelike F7, LifeLike E8, LifeLike FA1. ConCor E8. Anybody wanna guess who won?
The best puller- straight outta the box... ...was my Atlas SD-45 with traction tires (70s era?). Pulled 45 cars up a grade that rose 8 inches in 3 feet (I was a teenager at the time=Grades/Schmades, hadda get over that hill!). Pulled 55 cars 'cause the last car was a caboose and the front coupler of the SD45 was an eight inch away- a little spring action from all the couplers had ther whole string attached to itself. Mark
