I have been haunting ebay again and have been seeing a number of Mantua steam engines 2-8-2 Mikados in HO scale. I would like to know how good, bad or indifferent they are or what your experiences have been with them? Thanks for any input.
Their boiler superstructure is 1950’s technology, as is their drive systems if an older model. They have a somewhat questionable prototype and need a lot of detailing to bring them anywhere near today’s standards. However, if you are mainly interested in running trains and you are a drivetrain tinkerer, you can get them to run strong enough to pull down the walls, as well as start and stop at a crawl. For clever oldtimers these engines were great fun to work with. For today’s hobbyist, unless the engine was a very late run, they are generally less satisfying.
CNJ831
Mantua Mikes are a mixed blessing. They’re indestructable, very reliable with regular lubing, and will pull down a house. But…they’re completely unprototypical, their open frame motor lacks fine speed control, and they’re a pain to superdetail.
The best thing to do with them is to buy 'em cheap, slap in a Helix Humper can motor remotoring “kit”, and add a Bowser/Cary USRA light Mike boiler and lots of detailing. It won’t QUITE be a USRA light Mike, and will end up being more expensive than a BLI USRA light Mike (brass parts ain’t cheap), but you’ll end up with an engine that will run well, look good, pull down a house, and likely outlive you!
my dads old mantua always pulled great for us on are old layout when i was a boy.
I like them myself.
As said above, the Mantua steamers with the die cast metal boiler are rugged and great pullers. I take a different view of the looks, however. Since they have little cast on detail, I see them as a “blank canvas” easy to add details available from several manufacturers. Or you can leave them as-is for a clean, modern look.
If you can gat a hold of an Mantua W/power drive they are great,So far I have found that the cost for updateing the old open frame motor W/worm gear are quite costy to upgrade
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JIM
The mics and 4-6-2’s were real work horses, there weight is what gave them so much power, the open framed motors were pretty good for power, but the low speed response was not there and noise a factor. You can use the Helix Humper motor that is recomended for them, it makes a totally different engine out of them. It cost about $55 to $60 range to change them to this setup. It is one of the cheaper fix to consider. I have had good luck with these type of motors, but the Mantua is really week on detail, but can be done. You just got to way the price of the engine and up grade’s and see if this is what you really want, everyone has different opinions.
If you can get one at a good price, Bowser makes super detailing kits at a reasonable price and you can get current sealed motors to repower them.
Anyone have a Mantua Erie Berkshire ? I was just wondering how well they ran.Never saw too many of them on sale and am not sure when they were made.
Mantua’s “Berkshires” were made in the late 70s and early 80s. They were the same as the Mikado, but with a 4-wheel trailing truck added. The trailing truck may be available from Yardbird Classic Trains in New London, MO (danbush@hotmail.com). The comments above regarding the Mikes apply to the Berks. So if you want a Mantua Erie Berk, get a Mike and a 4-wheel trailing truck, and apply Erie decals. Mind you, it’s not very close the a prototype Erie Berk, but at least it’ll have the same wheel arrangement…[:D]
Thank you again everybody for the info, I like the older sometimes “funkier” locos so this sounds even more interesting now. Thanks again.