I am generally impressed with the appearance of Athearn’s recent MT-4 series and am thinking about snapping one up. I will not be waiting for the streamlined version as I’m really old school and like seeing all as much stuff on the top of boilers as possible. I have a few questions that likely will produce just a few responses (and may expose a fair portion of the ignorance found in new hobbyists):
Specs say they will handle 22" radius curves. Any problems?
Any problems with #6 turnouts?
I have not yet upgraded my other two locos to DCC. Do I face immediate compatibility problems?
If I get one with both the factory DCC and sound preinstalled can it be disabled in the interim or must I choose between upgrading my whole system from the get-go, adding the goodies to a dumb unit later on, or just curbing my enthusiasm and turning instead to the cleaning of my gutters?
Any other major issues with the units?
If I choose to bypass my local hobby shop and buy on-line, can I expect delivery without damage?
I don’t own one of these but I do have the Big Boy and Challenger so I’ll try to help as best I can for you.
#1 If Athearn says it will run on a 22" radius you can rest assured it will do that and maybe a little smaller.
#2 Number 6 turnouts are a lot bigger than a 22" radius, so the answer is “should be NO problem”.
#3 I don’t have DCC and can run mine just fine on straight DC
#4 You don’t have to do anything except put it on the track and run it, if you don’t want the sound just adjust the volumne to zero. These engines run just fine on DC with all of the DCC and sound equipment in them, of course the ones without are cheaper but if you think you might convert to DCC at some point buy it that way from the start, it’s a lot cheaper and easier to get it “factory installed”.
#5 Haven’t heard of much in the way of complaints about them, if they operate as smoothly as the Challenger and Big Boy do I can’t see how a person could ask for much more.
#6 Nobody can answer this question for you, I guess it all depends on how well the seller packs his items for shipment, some do an excellent job and others don’t, just make certain you get it shipped “insured” but again, if it gets damaged and they discover it was packed improperly they probably won’t pay for the damage. If the seller ships UPS they will not accept it unless they inspect it for proper packing first, might be an alternative.
Well, hoped this has helped you some, I wouldn’t have responed as I don’t own this specific model but no one else did and and at the vey least you deserve an answer to your question.
I own one of Athearn’s pre-streamlined MT-4’s and will try to answer your questions best I can.
“1. Specs say they will handle 22” radius curves. Any problems?" I have ran mine on curves down to 18" radius without any problems although it is not very prototypical looking but it functions fine. A rep from Athearn told me that their experience with the MT-4’s is that they will all handle a 22" radius and with the exception of a few individual units they tested, they will handle an 18" radius as well.
“2. Any problems with #6 turnouts?” I have not had any problems with it negotiating #6 turnouts and my layout is built with code 70 track and I haven’t had any issues with the flanges and the frogs either.
“3. I have not yet upgraded my other two locos to DCC. Do I face immediate compatibility problems?” I run DCC and am not sure if the Tsunami Sound decoder is a dual mode decoder or not. You might want to go to Athearns website and download the manual for the Tsunami and see what it says about DC operation.
“4. If I get one with both the factory DCC and sound preinstalled can it be disabled in the interim or must I choose between upgrading my whole system from the get-go, adding the goodies to a dumb unit later on, or just curbing my enthusiasm and turning instead to the cleaning of my gutters?” Not sure what you are referring to by disabling but if you are referring to the sound, the answer is yes, you can disable the sound if you prefer. As far as adding sound to a non-sound unit, I would say that anything is possible but if you see the level of detail on one of these I would imagine that it would deter most people from risking damaging something trying to get it apart. I would advise if you think you want sound, then get a sound equipped loco from the start. You won’t save anything by trying to add it lat
Thanks, Pat. I may have gotten a little skittish from comments by one of the guys at my train shop (the 22" and compatability issues) and a couple of old posts (May of last year) on the #6 turnouts.
I´m also thinking about buying an Athearn MT-4. But I have 20 inch radius curves on my layout. Athearn says that the minimum radius is 22 inch, but I heard that during the testing some engines also went through 18 inch curves without any problems, but some engines didn´t. So this is a risk for me to buy this engine then. Because I cannot know if my engine will belong exactly to those who just can´t handle anything below 22 inches. What do you think? Should I still try it out?
And what about the smoke unit? I never heard any review about that yet. I like my steamers to smoke, and Athearn says it comes with a ready smoke unit with no soldering needed. So does it work well? Any experiences?
Interestingly, when I asked Athean some questions about the new skyline casing equipped MT-4´s, they told me that these engines will not feature a smoke unit. I really wonder then why the first run of MT-4´s featured and the second won´t… . Well, at least I´m more interested in the first run without the skyline casing anyway.
And what can be said about the pulling power? I would like my MT-4 to pull 10 Athearn heavyweight cars, all equipped with 6 wheel trucks and metal wheels. Can this engine handle it?
I’ve got the original run Athearn MT-4, strictly DC. It will handle down to a #5 turnout without any problems, so I would think that a 20" radius shouldn’t give it any problems (18" might be ‘iffy’)… It’s a very smooth runner, beautifully detailed–I have several brass MT-4’s, and frankly I can’t tell the difference as far as detail goes.
It will handle 8 of my Walthers heavyweights with absolutely no problem, and that includes several stretches of 2-2,2% long grades on my layout. It’s an extremely well-balanced locomotive, even without traction tires.
Ok, then I hope that it won´t get “iffy” on my 20 inch curves. And if it can handle 8 Walthers heavyweight cars, which are longer and heavier, then it should be able to pull 10 Athearn heavyweight cars as well, which are shorter and much lighter because they don´t feature so many details and interiors as well.
Your MT-4 doesn´t have traction tires?? I thought all of them are equipped with them…
And what about the smoke unit? Did you ever let your MT-4 smoke?
How bad do you want it? Enough to redo the curves on your layout (or another layout)? Is there a club in your area where you could run the model until such time as you rebuilt your layout? Or would you prefer to stick with smaller engines that you know will run on your 20" radius curves - and look better doing so?
Probably because most buyers - not you - consider smoke a low priority feature at best, and many consider smoke a negative that drives up cost unnecessarily. This is also the reason you won’t see many reports or experiences with the smoke units.
Just like the minimum curve radius, actual pulling power is going to vary from sample to sample, possibly by as much as 25%. Ten heavyweight passenger cars on 20" radius curves is a pretty substantial load. On straight and level track, I would be surprised if the engine couldn’t do it. But how free-rolling your ca
Of course I won´t and can´t change the curves on my layout. There is simply no more space for larger radii. So my engine has to handle my 20" radius without any problems or not at all. I absolutely don´t care about how it looks, the most important thing for me is that it can negotiate the curve without any problems.
Yes, it´s really weird that I didn´t read a single review on the smoke unit operation yet…I must be such an exception on this point!
Well, I don´t think that 10 Athearn shortened heavyweight cars on 20" curves are a pretty substantial load. I have another heavyweight passenger train, which is very heavy and which is made up of 13 Walthers heavyweight cars, all cars equipped with interiors, figures and interior lighting. My 4-8-4 pulls that train without any problems through the 20" curves. So I guess 10 Athearn heavyweight cars without lighting and interiors shouldn´t be a problem. The only problem will be if I pick up one of the MT-4´s that will absolutely not be able to negotiate 20" curves. But it´s of course like you said: nobody can guarantee that it will work with my sample. And this is what still keeps me away from buying it, because I´m so not in the mood of exchanging engines/finding other one´s.
By the way: maybe it´s also a big difference when it comes to the point of what materials the engine is made. My 4-8-4 is a 100% die cast metal engine, while the Athearn MT-4 is all plastic except the chassis and wheels. And a plastic steamer usually can never pull as much as a die cast metal steamer.
Well, I’ m more than a little embarrasssed, LOL. Yes, the unit does have traction tires on the second driver set. Frankly, they’re so small I didn’t even notice them. [:$] That would certainly explain being able to haul those Walthers heavyweights up my grades.
But as far as a smoke unit, I don’t see anything indicated-- no switch or anything. Myself, I wouldn’t use it even if I could find it–I have COPD and the last thing I need on the layout is a smoking locomotive. But if there is a smoke unit, as I said, I can’t find anything either on the locomotive or in the directions that come with it to indicate anything.
But as I said, it’s certainly a beautifully detailed locomotive. Oh, one more thing–be VERY careful handling the loco–some of the details are extremely fragile. I knocked off one of the cab visors, and ordinary plastic cement will NOT repair it. It needs CA to re-attach it.
[:D] You don´t have to embarrassed about that, sometimes you just oversee things.
That´s really VERY interesting info you gave me right now! That means the first run of Athearn MT-4´s also didn´t come with a built in smoke unit! That´s really interesting, because on many websites I read in the description that it features one. And now you wrote that even in the directions there isn´t a single word mentioning it! Weird. Very weird…
Ok, then I think I´m gonna cancel the MT-4 totally. I don´t wanna have an engine where parts can break off so easily and it is so difficult to reattach them.
I think I must a find a brass 4-10-2 then to pull my train, which I will upgrade with smoke, lights and DCC sound. WIll be expensive but in the end I think it will be worth it. Recently I read on another forum, that the 4-10-2 made by Westside even handles 20" curves although 22" is the official recommended minimum radius. Of course, that doesn´t look good aesthetically but I don´t care.