I noticed that Overland is releasing the Chessie M1. Due to it’s extreme size, how difficult would this model be to operate? Or would it be more of a static display?
Aww yes… The big engine. I think the B&O museum has one of these. Whadda monster!
Put the darn thing on the track and fire it up i say!! Too bad, I think the lot of people would sell the soul to the devil to acquire one of these.
If any of you lucky people even runs one of these on the track, come back here and tell us what radius it takes! =)
No, the B&O Museum doesn’t have one (all three of the M-1s were scrapped), but they have one of the three streamlined L1 Hudsons (#490) that the C&O built to pull connecting trains.
Knowing the extreme size of the M1 turbine, I would think that it would require a minimum of #8 switches, and 36" radius. And, that’s if the truck pivots are loose. But, yeah, the model wouldn’t be too hard to operate, if you have very generous turns.
And, yes, fmilhaupt is right, the B & O does not have an M1, it indeed does have a C & O Hudson. All three M1s were scrapped, rather silently and secretly, by the C & O. It’s not like anyone would see a difference in performance in the C & O, though, the trio of M1s were trouble from the start. But HEY! This is model railroading, if we say the M1s were perfect, then they were!
~[8]~ TrainFreak409 ~[8]~
36" radius is a bit small for a brass HO scale C&O M1, think more like 60", and #10 turnouts, maybe.
Hey. If manufacturers can get eight coupled mallets to bend around 18" radius curves, they can get an M1 around a 24" curve. It would look terrible but the alternative is maybe no M1 (or eight coupled mallets).[;)]