I have a question about Life Like’s Proto 2000 Mallet.
Due to the fact that I have recently taken on a second job which pays alot more than my first job, I have decided I deserve a treat for working so hard. With my first pay check I’d like tp purchase a Life Like 2-8-8-2 Mallet (1 of 3 or 4 other choices).
I’d like to buy a Sound and DCC Norfolk and Western, but I want the whistle to be the N&W Hooter whistle, like that on the now inoperable 1218. Does anybody own these and can they give me details on the sound, as well as the operation of the locomotive before I make my purchase?
Forgive the light motor you hear in the track, a neighbor was mowing grass and the garage door was open. One of the hazards of video taping.
The 24 ore cars were fitted with metal wheels from Proto and custom ore loads made for it by a seller on ebay who did a reasonably good job with them. They added needed weight to the train.
The other side of that grade is the bridge and upgrade that is almost 4% and had to apply some power (About 25-30 on the DT400) to keep it moving until the center of gravity came over the top. Even so, you can see the tender lift slightly on a 24" curve towards the end because there is still alot of tension on the coupler. The downgrade was about 10 feet long at just under 3%.
The model was considered to be operating at it’s limits of tonnage because the drivers would slip and momentum was required to get to that point uphill.
But I would still like to know a bit more. In particular, how much can it pull, does it have traction tires, and does it have the N&W Hooter whistle?
I plan to buy 1 and then a second in a few months time. These will become the primary freight movers on my Smoky Mountain Central Railroad (A play on words of Great Smoky Mountain Railroad and the Tennessee Central, which are the prototype roads on which my fictional line is based)
I plan to have heavy grades, due to the mountainous area. This fictional line I made up has a mainline run from Asheville, NC to Knoxville, TN, where the tracks split. One line runs to Chatanooga and the other to Bristol, TN. In Bristol is the N&W interchange, Southern at Knoxville and Asheville, and Nashville, Chatanooga, and St. Louis in Chatanooga. The joining lines will be represented by a few leased engines, a Russian Decapod and 0-6-0 switcher from the NC&STL, 2 2-8-0’s and a 2-8-2 from the Southern, and a J 4-8-4 and maybe a mike from the N&W.
The roster for the SMC is a 4-4-0 (SMC #1 "Davy Crockett) a 4-6-0 (#2), a 2-8-0 (#3), a 2-8-2 (#4), a 4-8-2 (#5), a 2-10-2 (#6), and 2 2-8-8-2’s (#'s 7 and 8), as well as a re-painted ex-SP GS4 in SMC’s express passenger scheme (Maroon side skirt stripes and maroon tender with black top). These are the locos that will carry the SMC name. There will be a few diesels, as this is placed in the mid to late steam era (with a few changes to prototype history).
The newer 2-8-8-2s with QSI sound have an N&W hooter whistle and a set of traction tired drivers, so pulling ability shouldn’t be an issue. I am not sure it is the same hooter as 1218, as I couldn’t do a comparison, and N&W did use two different size hooters if I remember correctly. The older non-traction tired versions would get about 40 plus hoppers up a 2% grade after you added a little weight. It’s a great runner.
You will not get any Mikes from N&W; they rostered zero of those. A GS-4 is rather tall drivered for the line you describe.
I think I have a tape somewhere of it slipping without traction tires on the upgrade. I’ll see if I can find it. Nothing like a twisty 3.5 to 4% to kill an engine or bring em to thier knees.
Max pulling power depends on many things. I dont have that hopper set anymore, but reckoned it was about 5 pounds of train hanging onto that tender.
The newer run might do better, I dont know; I do have an interest in it.
Oh one other thing. I forgot… this engine had a Light front pilot and will derail at the slightest flaw in trackwork.
I watched the above video clips and that is the same sound chip that came in the first run of the BLI Class A’s. I personally think it is a spot on whistle sound when compared to the real thing.
I you want something that will pull the roots up, get one of the A’s when they come back out. I have 3 from the first run and love them. One will pull 65 cars up a 2.5% grade which also makes a full 360 degrees back over itself and the engine won’t miss a beat. It has also pulled 86 cars on a flat layout. That train was over 40 ft. long!! You may stall one by it not having enough voltage, but you will need a lot of cars it you want to stall it with load.
Since the SMC Connects with the Norfolk and Western I do plan to run leased N&W engines, one of those being a BLI 2-6-6-4 A. Or I might get one and letter it for the SMC, but thats another story.
Thanks for the info. I plan to buy it as soon as I get my paycheck.
I’ve got just one more question. Does the undecorated Model come with a “Doghouse” on the tender like the N&W version?
Thanks especially to Virginian for the info on the new run of the 2-8-8-2’s. As for the Mikes, well then I’ll get an A 2-6-6-4 instead, as said above.
As for the GS4, its my line, my route (which I made up), so I’ll have a GS4. The steepest grades will be between Ashville and Pigeon Forge, after that there are grades, but none as steep as the 3% grades on the part of my fictional route I am modelling.
This railroad is entirely fictional, it just draws inspiration from other roads. Since the fictional route is so long, I only plan to model the line between Pigeon Forge (where there is a junction with a narrow gauge road, based on the line built by Rebel Railroad in the 1960’s for a theme park which is now Dollywood, served by a Blackstone K-27) and Gatlinburg, where tunnels create the illusion of running off to Asheville. Same for Pigeon Forge to Knoxville.
I’ll be posting more info on my railroad and the fictional prototype later.
The model in my video was a undecorated one and it did come with the Doghouse which was one of it’s selling points to me as I need doghouses on my tenders. (More or less) The doghouse I had on that engine came in it’s little pack and fitted right into pre-holes on the tender’s water deck.
The Western Maryland Decals came from Champs and it was numbered after the WM’s #917 of the same class that ran at one time long ago and is a photo on one of the rail images sites. I have a little trouble with silvering but some advice at the hobby shop took care of that.
The NEW version coming soon with the 6 wheel tender, I DONT KNOW if it comes with a doghouse or not. I dont think the WM ever used these tenders as they are pretty NW in style.
The doghouses aren’t really needed, seeing as I only plan to use the 2-8-8-2 on mainline freights without much reversing. My Spectrum shay takes car of the run to the mines, but the 2-8-8-2 might make a run up to the mine or two.