Con-Cor Galloping Goose, rookie's review

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

This is meant to be a informal review of the new Con-Cor Pierce Arrow Galloping Goose in HO scale. I purchased my Goose thru Con-Cor’s pre-buy program, and have waited almost a year for it to be sent to me. I paid the additional $60 to get the DCC and sound version.

Layout info

I have an under construction layout based on the B&M in Southern New Hampshire in the early 20th Century. My layout is a roundy-round with lots of main line and a maximum 2 % grade and is mostly 18” curves. All track work is HO Code 100. Power is thru a NCE Powercab with no power booster. My loco fleet is a Roundhouse 4-4-0, Bachmann Spectrum 2-8-0, and a BLI 2-8-2 all with DCC and sound.

For more layout information please visit http://sites.google.com/site/lewismodelrailroad/

Initial impressions

The Goose arrived this Wednesday and was packaged well in a foam pack, wrapped in clear plastic wrap. The box includes a detailed parts list and CV suggestion sheet showing the factory defaults. The Goose includes an alternate front pilot and a snowplow, which are packaged nicely in a plastic baggie. Con-Cor also included the plug should I ever decide to pull the decoder. The engine, bell, and horn sound levels out of the box were perfect for my layout room. Detail is acceptable to me. The lights function correctly and the glow, yellow not white, is correct for a Goose.

Problems

The Goose is very light. So there is some wheel slippage on an uphill grade. A small amount of weight added should alleviate this issue.

The screw holding the cab to the freight body was found to be very tight and was causing the body not to articulate fully. So with a ½ turn out the issue seems to be gone. The body now moves as it should and I’ve had no more derailments.

The Good Points

I have about 6 hours or so of run time on this Goose. Using 128 Speed steps the engine will start at Speed Step 1. And I mean that literally. You can hear the engine rumble to life and catch it’s idle. I ha

2

Thanks for the review, but it would be much more readable if you were to break it down into smaller paragraphs instead of one huge one. People when reading a lot of text need space between paragraphs/thoughts.

Perhaps you can edit your post and break it up a bit?

3

I tried. I can format it fine when I write, but once I hit “post” it garbles it all up. I have no clue as to why. I’ve even tried to write it in MS Word and copy and paste it. Does the same thing.

4

Also add a couple of pics if you have any [:D]

5

Haven’t gotten that far yet. But you can go to www.con-cor.com and see it!

6

I corrected the post and put it in paragraph form so it’s easier to use, now that I know how to…

Jay

7

Thanks for the review. I have one of the first run HOn3 Geese. Got it when the layout was still DC, but have since gone to DCC. Hoping that the current DCC/sound unit will retrofit to the first run, but haven’t heard one way or the other on that yet.

8

Update:

I’ve marked my Goose for the B&M. Not historically accurate, but we thought it would be cool. You can check out the pictures here:

http://sites.google.com/site/lewismodelrailroad/Home/b-m-railcars

The decals are a mix. The B&M marking are from BEST and the Goose decals are from Colorado Narrow Gauge.

Thanks for looking.

9

Thanks for your review of the new Goose, Jay… your report was “dead-on” in all areas!

I just received my Goose… a GN MOW version, and I know it’ll be a show-stopper on my little pike. I plan on painting the hood flat black, and as well as some weathering touches, after I crown it with a Tsunami decoder.

Thanks again for your posts… Bob

[View:http://cs.trains.com/TRCCS/themes/trc/utility/

:550:0]

10

_

11
12

I bought the Con Cor HOn3 Pierce Arrow goose last year. I like it a lot better than the school bus model. I installed the digitrax decoder. Unfortunately, I was already in possesion of three Blackstone HOn3, K-27 mudhens. The Tsunami sound in them ruined me forever.

The digitrax sound is terrible with a capital T. I went out and spent the long buck ~$100.00 for the Tsunami sound decoder and what a difference! All is now well in Gooseville, sound and run wise.

The Con-cor lighting is abominable and doesn’t even come up to the standard of being considered simply bad! I am still working on the idea of re-lighting the thing in some custom fashion.

The model, as delivered, is indeed a bit light weight.

Overall, I love the look and motoring of the Con Cor Pierce Arrow Goose. However for all you folks looking for that special bit of perfection, Be prepared to pour another “C” note into this model and do a good bit of bashing on the lighing. That being said, it is a good base to work up a good model from.

One question, is there a Con Cor goose in HO? Seems to me I remember some company offering it in HO

Richard