I’m just getting back into HO model railroading after a 30 year absence and was looking for opinions on the MTH K4. Yes I have read most of your posts regarding this loco and why MTH ever picked it to model, however it seams to me that it does some rather neat things to replicate real life which is what I believe this hobby is all about. Has anyone owned one long enough to rate it’s performance or back up the review Dave Hikel did? I am using a Digitrax Super Chief 8amp to control my layout, when it’s built, and was wondering if there are any issues between this system and the K4?
I hope I haven’t upset anyone with my first forray into this forum and hope that a few of you can come up with some helpfull opinions.
Hello and welcome back!!! I have one of the K4s in question, and have been running it with the NCE system with no real trouble. At first, the system wouldn’t recognize the decoder, but after shooting an email off to MTH describing the problem, I received some additional instructions not included in the book. Obviosly, MTH can’t cover every DCC system out there, so the techs wait for your particular problem, (if you have one), and will respond most rapidly. To include info on how to change CV values, which is like rocket science to me.
As far as performance, I’ve found that every review I’ve read hits the nail on the head with one exception. I had been running mine without the traction tires and decided to put them on. The installation was easier than expected, but now the rubber tread scrubs the brake shoe detail and I don’t want to shave the shoes just to make it work. It pulled fine before, and since I generally don’t run any consists longer than 5-6 cars, (mostly passenger), I’m planning to change it back.
The other problem I’ve had is my track related. My current layout is about 10 years old and everything was built for the traditional Atlas/Athearn/Rivarossi DC stuff, 18" curves and all. Because of that, my K4 has a tendancy to lift the front truck coming out of the curve and promptly slide the lead drive wheel off the track or drop the front truck off completely, both of which can be quite frustrating. My new layout, (scheduled for construction by late summer/early fall), will have 22" curves and NO Snap Switches. This should remedy all problems.
The sound and smoke are fantastic. I would recommend Protosmoke by MTH as it is scented with everything from Bacon & Eggs to Coal or Wood. I personally like the Christmas scent, and justify it by telling my wife it’s a moving potpourri pot!!!
If you have any other questions about the K4 that I might not have touched on, (remember, these are the things I have found in the last 6 months of
MTH features are not compatible with any other system than their own from what I have heard. They tried to bring the same attitude and business model to HO they have in O and it has pretty much fallen on its face. People who have them like them. The rest of us don;t.
Thanks for taking the time to read my review. Since writing it I’ve made a couple changes to my engine. Most notably I’ve added lead to the front of the boiler around the smoke unit. This solved the problem of the pilot and front axle lifting and derailing, so I moved the axle with traction tires back to the rear.
Like NYCfan I have the NCE DCC system (also added since I wrote the review) and it works fine. You shouldn’t have any problems using your Digitrax system. All of MTH’s sound features adhear to NMRA standards, but they use the new RP that allows for 28 functions. Since most DCC systems only support 10 or 12 functions, you can’t get all features with every system. MRC does have a system, Prodigy Advance2, that has 28 functions. It’s my understanding that the first of these MRC systems hit the market before NMRA published the RP, and did not work properly with the MTH K4 which followed the NMRA standard. MRC, apparently, has offered a software upgrade that makes the Prodigy Advance2 NMRA compliant. Once this upgrade is installed (newly shipped systems already have it) the Prodigy Advance2 can access all the available features in the MTH K4. If someone reading this has experience with the Prodigy Advance2 system hopefully they can add more light on that subject.
I think when ndbprr refers to compatiblity, he might have also heard about MTH’s DCS system. DCS is its own seperate system, which MTH developed for its O-gauge engines. The K4 will run in DCS or DCC. DCS is kind of a neat option for those of us who have DC layouts. I took the plunge and got DCC a few months ago, but prior to that I ran the K4 on my DC layout under DCS. I have O-gauge trains as well, and already had the DCS system. DCS uses DC power in the command mode. So, with DCS I could run the K4 in command while running a second conventional engine with variable DC in the same
Thanks for the replies. It’s good to hear that a couple of you have all in all had a good experience with the K4 and it gives me a little more confidence to look at something that is outside the norm… at this stage. I think I’m pretty safe in assuming that if it runs on NCE it will also run on Digitrax, coincidentally it was a toss up between NCE and Digitrax when I bought my system so I know they are very similar. The feature I was most taken with was the syncronised chuffs / smoke puffs to wheel rotation. I’m sure other manufacturers are going to come up with their own version of this feature in time. Adding weight to the front of the loco would seem to be the obvious answer and as I’m a keen fisherman the shed is well stocked with lead weights. The lack of functions on my Superchief I can live with as I guess once one manufacturer has 28 functions available it won’t be long before the others follow. I had noticed the sniping among owners of different systems but as far as I’m concerned, “if it works - use it”.
Thanks again and I look forward to any further comments.