Like the title says, why am I so in love with Mantua locomotives? Why are they so appealing to me? They are so plain Jane, so non-descript, so generic. Yet, I seem to be attached to them.
I run DC and recently picked up a Mantua Pacific and Mikado. I own Bachmann, IHC, Athearn Genesis, Rivarossi, and yet those Mantua’s struck a special place with me. I just “won” another Mikado on E-bay hours ago and look forward to receiving it and adding it to my other one.
I know they can be detailed wonderfully with add-on Cal-Scale or other parts, which I am nowhere near doing (heck, the budget really didn’t allow for this purchase)… but I don’t know. For some reason they are just really appealing to me.
Anyone else feel the same way regarding “old school” or “vintage” technology? I’m also partial to RR offerings. Maybe that’s why my call sign in the military is “Old School”?
Thanks for your input from all! I look forward to hearing any input!
Yep! I’ll agree. For me it went back to being a kid and my Dad bought a Mantua Mikado kit to build.
He never finished it and I was too young to help. I found the same kit years later still in the original wrapper and bought it and built it.
Your right! It’s very plain Jane out of the box, but with places like Yardbird Trains and all the internet resources, you can get some great detail parts and make it look and run like a respectable loco.[tup]
One reason to love them is that they pull like a son of a gun. Another is that being metal, they look like metal when painted (and if you lack an airbrush, a thoughtful use of a rattle can does better with metal than other materials).
And Duane, just because you can’t afford an expensive bagful of Cal-Scale parts, don’t pass up the chance to add just a few parts that can change the look of a Mantua engine considerably. The headlight is a good example. Don’t ignore the (relatively) inexpensive Selley parts from Bowser.
Sorry to disagree but on engines, give me a Proto 2000 any day (look better and run 10 times better). Now that is my take on engines but I love some of the old rolling stock like Central Valley and Ambroid etc.
I understand your position. I’m hooked on Athearn. Why? There are certainly better engines, and I have enough of those to run my RR without Athearn. And I wouldn’t trade them for BB Athearn either. Still…
As far as being old school, well I started a thread last spring, "Left behind by technology. Am I Alone? ", that simply asked if I was alone or if there are many others who still run DC and older pre-P2K locos. I only expected about 7 replies. It went PAGES! Man, did that start a heated DCC vs DC discussion!
I kind of like Mantuas too. In the '80s I bought a Mikado with so called “Power Drive” It has a high quality smooth open frame motor, and a precision gear box. I highly recommend you acquire one (or more) of these quiet, powerful smooth running engines with switcher quality low speed operation. I still have mine, and picked up a Cary heavy Mikado kit for it on eBay.
I kept Rivarossi in business in the late '70s, despite the fact I hated the slot-car speeds they operated at. Lost the remains of most in a fire, and good riddance. Still have a Heisler, and a 2-10-2 which is re-motored, re-geared, and re-drivered!
For people who can’t be bothered with trying to update old school locomotives, or run them as is, there are certainly fine choices, more now than ever. But you can enjoy what ever it is that puts that smile on yer face! Dan
As a child growing up in the 60’s.I owned a lot of Mantua (Also Mantua-Tyco) steam locomotives,most were purchased second hand at yard sales and thrift stores.They were great runners then and looked very detailed to a ten year old. I especially liked the small 0-6-0 and 0-4-0 steam engines and tank engines.I still run them on occasion and that brings me back to a simpler time.
I think that for a lot of folks it’s fondly looking back on something you remember from your youth. I remember seeing shelves full of AHM engines at the local variety store around the holidays. But I was a little boy and didn’t have a clue what I was looking at. I also remember looking through pages of old train catalogs from Mantua, Revell, American Flyer and, of course, Lionel. Everything always looked fifty times better in the catalogs than in person. Your imagination could run wild.
But, as others have said, things were simpler back then. Our expectations weren’t as high. Each company usually made a boxcar, flat car, tank car, gon and hopper car. Most of us didn’t know about different models, lengths, accurate paint schemes, etc. We were happy to have a train. It doesn’t mean that things were better back then compared to now. They were just different and both can bring us enjoyment for different reasons.
Everytime I go to a train show, I can’t pass up boxes of old AHM, Revell, LIndberg and Varney items without stopping to look. Not because I’m looking for anything, but because of the memories they evoke. About the only thing I don’t bother looking at is trays of old Tyco stuff from the 70s and later. I still have my first Lionel HO hustler and Tyco 0-4-0 switcher. Every once in a while I get them out and run them on our display layout. It’s not quite as good as being on the floor with a circle of track on a grass mat covered piece of plywood, but it’s all I have. : )
I remember when the first Athearns with flywheels were introduced. I thought I had seen the face of God. They ran so much better than anything else I had (which, truth be told, was not very high quality). I still get a chuckle EVERY time there is a complaint about models which don’t operate up to buyer’s expectations since I remember trying to get AHM, tyco, lionel, and the previous athearn releases to run smoothly. I bought a U28B, painted it B&O, enjoyed it thoroughly, wish I still had it. Proto 2000/Genesis/Intermountain is just a bonus.
I agree, I love em! Might be the reason they were successful is that you CAN do with them with detail parts. My 1st one was a Pacific that my Dad & I built when I was 10. Yes, its been remotored and repainted few times, but the original running gear is now 40 years old and still turning smoothly! I wonder how many P2ks will be running in 40 years?? [*-)]
Detail parts are not that terrible in price, check out this LINK for detail parts from Yardbirds. Between Cal Scale, Precision Scale, Bowser, Yardbirds and a few others, most detail parts can be found, also a few driveline parts. Also NWSL for gears & motors too! If you want a specific type of e
I have a Mantua Pacific which I made a project locomotive, lots of cast brass parts, a can motor conversion, a rebuilt front end. It’s one of my favorites now. It was a good runner just as it came to me (used) and a really fine runner with a can motor. It’s heavy, it pulls well, and it’s rugged enough to rework without fear of breakage. . Those lovely plastic Bachmann steamers are sufficiently delicate that I fear to modify them, lest I break the fine detail already present.
I just acquired the Mantua Mikado, used but running well. To bad my road (B&M) never owned many Mikes. There went from Consolidations right to Berkshires, skipping the Mikado. But I’ll cope somehow. Some time real soon now, I will do it over, wire handrails, cast brass accessories, can motor. constant brightness headlamp. A pleasant project for after I get a couple of other projects finished and off the bench.
I do understand what you are saying and I have seen engines that were rebuilt and looked fantastic and ran like a swiss watch, heck, those MDC shay kits, I built one and got it to run at a tie a minuite. The trouble I have with Mantua is I only accept engines that run well on my layout and sold all others (except for a couple of brass shays that I will have to rebuild). Even the articulated that was fine tuned had trouble (my track is well laid and the mainline is level but it is all code 70 and I have a few 18" radius that are needed for return loops). Just could not get the articulated or any other Mantua I owned to qualify for the layout.
Karl, that’s a beaut! I’ve seen several detailed Mantua’s online, here and other places. They do make sweet platforms. Your tender swap reminds me of an IHC Mikado I have that received an old RR tender- it seemed to dwarf the engine at the time but has grown on me as time has gone on, to the point i have contemplated getting more RR tenders for other loco’s. Don’t know why, they just appeal to me. I VERY LOOSELY model something of an ATSF/UP railroad, where water was scarce and big tenders were the order. I will eventually detail my Mantua’s, and no, the parts by themselves aren’t terrible in price at all. I still need to learn what parts are what and where they’re supposed to go since I’m not a proto Nazi modeler.
That is a great runner, I added a NWSL 2032 and back to back flywheels to mine. Had to grind the inside of the boiler a little but it was worth it. This engine will crawl from tie to tie. I am currenly adding some yard bird detailing and then a repaint is in order.