Hi all,
What would be a good price to get one of these with DCC and Sound?
Are they any good? I am used to Atlas quality and QSI sound.
Would this loco likely haul freight?
THANKS in advance,
Joey
Walthers latest flyer offered them at $109 for A units only, well below the MSRP. My LHS had them marked down $124 before that came out. At either price they are a steal. I am undergoing a major renovation on my layout so I haven’t been able to run them except for short distances but from what I have seen they run, look, and sound great.
The reason the price is so low is because they are not selling well. This is one P2K model that has several flaws in detail, but if you are happy with it, buy the model. They do run well.
In my experience the P2K E8s are very nice running units, but a prototype running E8s on freight would have been rare in my opinion (note I said rare, not NEVER). It was a passenger engine. They made passenger versions of F units, but not freight versions of E units, as far as I know.
P2K uses QSI sound electronics. I would say they are just a tiny bit lower than the Atlas drive quality.
No. They were excellent flat land passenger haulers. They didn’t do well in the mountains. When they were assigned to freight service the traction motors quickly burned out. They couldn’t handle extended time running under full load under 20 mph.
Thanks all,
Now I am on the fence. My wife will tell me that 100 bucks for anything is a major purchase. I love the MARS light that is on some of these models, and I think the AB look of the older E and F locos can’t be beat. However, I only haul freight, and I would not want a consist that doesn’t look right. 99 bucks for DCC and QSI sound is AWFUL tempting…
Maybe they all have MARS lights? I could get away with NYC or PRR on my Michigan Layout.
JOEY
Did NYC’s E units ever work on the Michican Central? If they did, you could run a small passenger train “detouring” because of a washout 
I don’t care what anybody says, I use my E units in freight service. As far as the price goes, I don’t mind paying extra for a locomotive that will staill be running years from now. My fatehr suggested one time that I should buy the cheaper standard line locos instead of the top shelf stuff. I went out and bought two cheap locos and let him see why I don’t use them. They ran well at first but started having trouble after a couple of hours and in about 2 weeks didn’t run at all. You get what you pay for. My P2K E units, PA’s and GP’s all cost over $100 each, but their well worth it.
Well, why not get an F unit? All the look of an E in a 4xle, freight hauling package. BLI did F7s, as did Athearn (both have versions with working MARS lights). PCM is coming out with F3s and so is P1K. All except the P1K come in DCC/Sound versions.
I know in the late '60s at least one railroad, Erie-Lackawanna, re-geared some of their Es for freight service. I saw them many times on the Lake branch between Cleveland and Youngstown hauling empty hoppers. It was a relatively easy job for the shop to swap pinion and axle gears to a higher ratio for lower speed/higher torque. In fact there were a few occasions when No. 628 and 629, the Cleve-Y’town commuter train was powered by a freight SD-45 and an old Alco RS-2… the RS-2 was only being used for the steam generator, the engine itself was dead and the shop crews in Cleveland probably didn’t have needed time or parts to repair it so they used what was on hand for power.
Even if you don’t run passenger trains perhaps a mail and express train with Es would be perfectly acceptable. I don’t imagine you’d run them on a coal drag but a flatland merchandise freight would be fine.
Ed