I have just received this unit, a 2-6-6-2 articulate with tender in GN livery and have just tested it on my test track. The unit comes DCC ready, the detail is better than I had expected as are the running characteristics. It will actually crawl at a very low speed. The add on detail will require careful handling of the unit though, it arrived with a few of the pieces loose but it was no problem to re-attach the pieces.
I had not realized that Manatua had upgraded to this degree. I had heard that Manatua had gone under and that another company had taken over.
There is still plenty of “old” Mantua to be had at swap meets and even a few old dusty pieces survive on LHS shelves so it pays the buyer to look into what he or she is actually buying.
The various aspects of “very old” and “old” Mantua, “old” Tyco, newer Tyco, very bad Tyco, Mantua reborn, Mantua improved, Mantua getting into shiny Franklin Mint collectibles and failing at it, and Mantua sold to Model Power is complex and causes all sorts of complications in discussions. There was a time when Mantua was kits, Tyco was the same stuff ready to run, and both were of more than decent quality and excellent durability. Tyco became mostly junk and since some of us geezers continued to use Tyco and Mantua interchangably perhaps we were partly to blame for Mantua having this albatross of bad Tyco around its neck even after they were totally separate. It is possible to truthfully praise the Tyco gondola for example and have people wonder “what’s HE been smoking?” because they are thinking of a shiny hunk of junk, not a quite nice and interesting casting with a metal floor.
A significant number of postings and topics on the Forums here relate to this issue.
The Model Power website by the way has this notice on it:
UPDATE 4/12/07 Model Power is currently converting our HO Model Power brand Locomotives and Rolling Stock from Rapido/Horn Hook couplers to the industry standard Magnetic Knuckle Couplers. These couplers are currently found on our Mantua and MetalTrain brands. As these items are received we will be updat
Thanks for the review. For $100, I’ve been thinking of getting one, justifying it for Excersion trains. I’m thinking I like the looks of the T version better.
Micro-Mark is going to have the tank version for $87.50 by summer, but they only show the undecorated 2-6-6-2T. Did you get the tank or tender version?
The new Mantua 2-6-6-2 got a pretty good review in this months issue of MODEL RAILROAD NEWS. Evidently the Model Power takeover has resulted in quite a few improvements to both the detail and the mechanism. Actually, if I remember correctly, the original Mantua was a standard-gauge version of the 3’-gauge Uintah/Sumpter Valley 2-6-6-2 tank Mallet. The new Model Power version looks pretty nice.
I’ll be interested to see what Model Power does (if anything) with the old Mantua Mikado. I always thought it was a pretty strange looking locomotive, but oboy, could that devil PULL!
I bought one of these back in the late 1980s; it was and continues to be one of my best running steam models. It always gets a lot of attention when I take it to the Boothbay RR Village during open days at our HO layout.
If they’re that much improved, I may pick one up my own self. [:D]
Tom, I always thought those Mikados were odd too, but I think Mantua based them on Reading’s locomotives, like this Pacific. They were probably running in their backyard.
I don’t know if Reading used 2-8-2’s, but I can’t find any.
I have another Mantua 2-6-6-2 that I acquired sometime ago, this is somewhat unusual as it is a tank engine lettered for Rayonier, it did come with a slope back tender as well. The unit was produced in the mid 90’s. That unit runs like a watch, lesser detail but nevertheless a fine runner.
I had read somewhere that a new manufacturer was going to begin production of a 2-6-6-2 steam locomotive; I was not aware that it was now on the market. Yours is the first actual reference I have seen about it. Could you give us a capsule evaluation of its running characteristics and abilities; how does it compare to the old Mantua 2-6-6-2???
As for the present time I only have a small test track available to compare the two engines performance. As I mentioned the older Mantua tank version runs very well, the newer engine runs even slower starts at the beginning of a run.
I also have a couple of Spectrum 2-6-6-2’s that run exceptionally well, the new Mantua just beats them in performance. As to engine detail the Spectrum units win hands down with the newer Mantua unit a close second. While there is some cab detail it is minimum and unfortuantely a couple of wires show - although some black paint will take care of that. The connection between the tender and the engine is far superior in design to that of the Spectrum units with wire galore showing the Mantua has a clip unit that is almost undetectable and is also far sturdier than the Spectrums.
As to power/pulling until such time I progress to finishing the trackwork on my 12’ x 8’ U shaped layout I am unable to comment.
The centre two drivers are without flanges and there is a traction tire on one of the rearmost drivers so I would anticipate traction would be adequate. Same set up exactly as the older tank version.
Wonder if LL will make the extra details available to use on the older models. I have one of the last ones produced by mantua with the factory installed can motor.
I have an Mantua 2-6-6-2 tank loco that I removed the tanks and added an tender and some nice detail work.It is my favorit Locomotive,run great,and will pull 30 cars with know problem!![2c]
I don’t think there’s anything to worry about with the 12-wheeler, aside from the possibility that Tyco might have eliminated the brass driver axle bearings as a cost saving measure. I bought a Tyco Pacific in 1976 that was without them, and the drivers had so much slop in the diecast frame that the engine couldn’t maintain decent traction. According to Tony Cook (http://tycotrain.tripod.com/steamengines/index.html) the 4-8-0’s were sold under the Tyco name.
The earliest Mantua steamers had a big open frame 5 pole motor and an enclosed gearbox. Later, Mantua/Tyco engines were given a narrower open frame 5 pole motor with an exposed worm and worm gear, but were still leagues better than the “Power Torque” pancake motor drives, which were junk. The Tyco diesels were cursed with these starting in the mid 70’s, including their “GG1;” the only steamer to suffer from Power Torque disease was their 2-8-0 Chattanooga, a good looking engine with a horrible tender drive. Mantua also offered this Consolidation in kit form, with their normal motor in the boiler. IHC appears to have received the tooling for this loco, since their 0-8-0’s and 2-8-0’s are the same except for the tender and drive train.
If you have an older 4-8-0, you should be able to remotor it with a Helix Humper.
The old Mantua 2-8-2 used the same body as their earlier (c,1950) 4-6-2, because of that the 2-8-2 seemed to float kinda high in the air (because it had been designed to clear the 80" pacific’s drive wheels). In the 90’s they came out with a new body that was fairly accurate for a USRA engine.
