[quote user=“ATLANTIC CENTRAL”]
Sheldon, I’m curious about your diaphragms. I also went to 72’ streamline cars for the same reason you gave. I was wanting to use Diaphragms but all I hear are the negatives no positives.
So as not to hijack this post could you send me an IM with your diaphragm details.
Thanks
Mel
Modeling the early to mid 1950s SP in HO scale since 1951
My Model Railroad
http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/
As a kid I was blissfully unaware of the accuracies and/or inaccuracies of Mantua steamers. My father built a few of the kits which we ran a great deal, and had a lot of fun with. Dad even put the Seuthe smoke units in them, too. Those engines survived for more than 40 years, the last 25 of which they were relatively unused, stored away at home, as I had “more modern” model trains, and they still ran albeit noisily. They were beat up, well used, and old, and I did not keep them but threw them away. I figured it is better to remember them the way they are in my mind than the way they looked “now”.
I never had the chance to try one of the Mantua articulateds with the can motor and enclosed gearbox. I’m quite sure they would be a neat engine for steam aficionados to have.
I have fond memories of the Mantua steam and diesel power and had a lot of fun with them all, though I moved on to other power today. They were reliable. I really enjoyed the big heavy mikado and how well they pulled. Those were good times. I remember drooling over the catalogues, too, lol.
It’s nice to learn in hindsight that the mikado is “close” to a DT&I prototype. I always wondered what the basis was.
John
More the other way around. Mantua started in the 1920’s, producing primarily railroad kits. In the 1950’s, the owner, John Tyler incorporated his name into their new RTR line, Tyco. Eventually the company became “Tyco Industries”, but the Mantua brand name was revived and used for their later production (1980’s-1990’s) before the sale to Model Power.
http://hotraincollector.com/tyco-trains-history/
BTW it isn’t unusual that the Mantua line has been produced by multiple companies over the years; there are a number of model railroad products that have been produced by different companies in different eras.
[quote user=“IDRick”]
ATLANTIC CENTRAL
Sheldon, I’m curious about your diaphragms. I also went to 72’ streamline cars for the same reason you gave. I was wanting to use Diaphragms but all I hear are the negatives no positives.
So as not to hijack this post could you send me an IM with your diaphragm details.
Thanks
Mel
Modeling the early to mid 1950s SP in HO scale since 1951
My Model Railroad
I would not say this locomotive is low in detain.
For those of you who want to get a shorter draw bar for your Mantua Pacifics, Mikes, & Shifters. I have currently asked someone on Ebay to 3d print a shorter drawbar.
I have MANY of the Mantua locos, including both of the 2-6-6-2 types. And in fact, I still have an old Shifter 0-4-0 kit that has the old Manuta hook and loop couplers, and cast Zamak slope tender body. The Zamak tender truck frames disintegrated years ago, so I replaced them with newer brass arch bar truck. I once set out about 10 linked sections of the old atlas (fiber tie strips) flex track, hooked 48 cars to one of the Manutua Mikes, and it pulled them! That was in the days when the newer smooth rolling trucks and smaller flanges were just coming out. One of my Mikes has a Pacific boiler on it, and another has a Cary or Cal Scale replacement USRA boiler. Maybe not well detailed, but great runners and pullers. BW, I ALSO have an old Athearn B&M? 4-6-2 that needs some major rebuilding, but when It kept burning out the Athearn motors, I instaled a Varney that did the trick!
The mantua locomotives I like the best are the Lehigh Valley prototypes pacific and mikado camelbacks. Each was the first of their LV class and each was a camelback. Also with both no one else made camelbacks in this wheel arrangement. The Camelback Pacific went right to work replacing the Atlantic pulling the Black Diamond the lehigh Valleys best name train. I have a model of this train using a upgraded camelback pacific and a four car set of Poundhouse Pullman Palace cars.