Love this engine!
The drive system is great, really detailed in most parts, my only wonder is, why don’t they take this detail to the interior?
Does Bowser or any other company make interior kits for this model?
I have also another version with an oil tender.
Do you own that? I bet that cost a few cents! Sweet![^]
I picked it up yesterday. I bought it on ebay for $411.85, shipping included.
You got a good deal on that one, my friend. You’re right, it’s a honey, and it will pull the paint off of the walls, believe me. Akane made superb running, heavy pulling locos, especially their articulateds, back in the 1960’s. Very few brass locos back then had any kind of cab interior detail, the cabs were usually taken up with the heavy-duty open-frame motors instead. One thing I would recommend, is that if the articulated drive connection is rubber tubing between the 1st and second set of drivers, that you replace it with some kind of ball-socket mechanism, that will put less strain on the motor on the curves. I’ve got four Akane articulateds, (two AC’s and two Missabe M-4’s) and I replaced the connections with Proto West slip and socket drive shafts (the same thing used in Athearn diesels), and it works out very well.
Enjoy your AC–I think Akane produced some wonderful brass locos when it was in business–wi***hey were still around.
Tom [:D][:D]
PFM made a complete interior kit for the Tenshodo AC12 they offered.
You might check around to see if any are for sale.
twhite, where can I get these to buy. Is it found in the older model Athearn diesels because I have quite a number of these that I’ve packed away. I would hesitate to go scavenging.
bangert1, I’ll definately be looking out for them. Thanks man.
Congradulations. Will you be using Scalecoat 1 to paint it?
Thanks for the tip on the U-Joints for the driveline twhite I have a couple of Akanes courtesy of Ebay also, one Cab Forward (needs work) and a 2-6-6-2 Mallet ( that looks like the motor had a melt down, but runs just fine) if you don’t want to put the U-Joints in just yet hit an Radio Control hobby shop for fuel line to replace the rubber tubing driveline connectors cheaply (for now).
Whoa, got the tender backward and on the wrong end of the loco! Just kidding. Drooled about these when they graced the covers of MR and MRC years ago. Sounds like you got a great buy on a true piece of railroading heritage and ingenuity.
Will
Aggrojones, what was that? YOU ARE GOING TO PAINT IT FOR ME…AND WEATHER IT TOO! GREAT! When do you want to start? lol.
Man I don’t think I’m going to paint any of them just yet, I’m still doing some research as well as gathering refferences.
I was running them on a loop last night just to make sure that e’ery thang was cool and these engines are quiet when running at medium speed. I’m going to be hogging them up whenever they appear for a reasonable price on ebay. I saw a cabforward switcher the other day I was gonna get but I had already maxed my monthly MRR spending cash.
Verse2Damax–the universal coupling kit is put out under Proto’s “A-line” series. It consists of about 26 pieces of male and female universal joints and spines. The diameter of the mounting holes is the same as the Akane shafts, so you don’t have to do any retro-fitting, except for the length of the coupling spine. It should give you enough material to do about three or four articulateds. It should be at your hobby shop, or if not, you can order it from Walthers. The Walther’s part number is 116-12030, the kit costs about $7. All you have to do is cut and fit a little, and you’ll have a very smooth articulation between the two sets of drivers. BTW, if your Akane still has its original open-frame motor, you might want to think about cleaning it a little–especially the brushes. I usually clean my open-frames about once every 3 years or so, and they run nice and quiet. I use plain old rubbing alcohol and a soft-bristled toothbrush and it de-cruds them very nicely. Just dip the toothbrush in the alcohol, turn the motor on and VERY GENTLY clean the brushes and motor mount. And for REALLY smooth slow-speed operation, I might suggest that you fit the loco and tender with the Tomar sliding pickup shoes–they’re hardly noticeable between the wheels, and not only improve pickup about 80%, but the sliding action of the phosphour bronze shoes helps to keep your rails clean. You can get them at your LHS.
Well, let’s see, that’s about all the Akane Improvement stuff I can think about–enjoy that loco, if you’re anything like me, that Akane will become one of your most frequently used pullers.
Tom
twhite, Much appreciated. I’m heading over to Walther’s right now to place an order.
What loco is that in your sig? I can remember asking and getting an answer but I forgot. Do you have any close ups of it? The front looks mean I wouldn’t like to be caught on the same tracks with that bad boy.
What are the things on the front of it called?
Don’t mean to sound like a 5 year old but that’s what this loco does to me.
I beleive thats a yellow stone and those things on the front are flying pumps.
Yup, it’s a Yellowstone. It’s one of my 2 Akane Yellowstones (this one is the older) and it’s a model of a Missabe M-4, just about the meanest, nastiest loco this side of an AC-12, LOL! And those things on the front are the air-pumps, the same that you have on your AC-12 (only yours are on the ‘back’ of the boiler). Actually, both prototype locos were originally built by Baldwin, and about the same year. The AC-12 came in at 124,000 pounds Tractive Effort, the M-4 was a bit more, with 140,000 lbs. TE. The bundle on the top of the boiler front is an Elesco feedwater heater system–I put it on when I did some major rebuilding on the little baby last year. I’ll have some close-ups of it as soon as I get a handle on this new camera of mine–
Tom [:P][:P]
Here’s my two Yellowstones on a meet in South Yuba Canyon.
Did you apply the paint? Are they weathered?
You have a nice collection of Akane going there. I definately will be collecting them myself.
I have a 11’x14’ layout setting up at my graphic studio. It will be strictly steam. I have two bachmann spectrum 3 truck shays fully loaded with sound and all and these bad boys will grace the outer tracks. I hvae a christmas deadline to fini***his and my N scale layout at home, if one is to suffer(miss deadline) it will be the N scale.
verse
$411? ? That’s a lot of bread, but that’s a lot of engine, now if they only made it in plastic it would be worth $399.00. I would have thought this loco would have cost a lot more, this just adds more fuel to the mysterious world of brass, again, beauty eh?
Tatans, for some reason, most used Akane brass seems to be on the middle to low end of the market, even though they have good detail and superior (for their time) drive mechanisms. My last Akane Yellowstone cost under $400, and is certainly not as detailed as a newer PSC model of the same locomotive, which usually sells for at LEAST twice as much, used. However, with some Cal-Scale castings and wire, one can superdetail an Akane as much as they wish. However, not ALL Akane brass is ‘bargain basement’ as far as price–my LHS had a 1967 Akane Allegheny on consignment last year, the asking price was $1200. So you’re right, the brass market IS variable. However, for their good detail and great running characteristics, a used brass Akane is QUITE a good buy, I’ve found.
Tom
twhite, I’ve seen Akane Allenghenys go for as low as 350$ on ebay!
WHAT!!! Where was I?
I slowly saving for an allegheny (both N & HO, brass) to add to my collection, and I’m gonna get them, probably not soon but eventually.
Is there a book out there that goes into full details about these articulated giants?
Akane made several runs of their Allegheny, the pre-1964 version has only one set of drivers powered (this was common with all Akane articulateds until 1964) and was fairly crude in detail. After 1964, the loco came with both sets of drivers powered and much better detail. Sometime later, they produced a rather ‘deluxe’ version with sprung drivers, intricate detail–equal to today’s brass offerings. It was this ‘deluxe’ version the LHS had on consignment. I’m not sure who the actual Japanese builder was (Akane was strictly an importer), but it was the most beauitfully proportioned and detailed model of an Allegheny I’ve ever seen. The ones on E-bay are probably the earlier runs. BTW, Akane also produced a B&O Em-1 Yellowstone that was a work of art!
Tom