I’m planning to attend my first model train show this weekend and will be looking for, among other things, a nice 2037 to add to my stable. I’d appreciate input from those with experience with this loco. My layout will be 027 tubular with 1122 turnouts.
Are there other magnatraction engines that I should also be considering?
A 2037 in good condition is a dependable reasonable priced engine. That engine is almost base price for Magnatraction,most everything goes up in price from there. Take some sort of metal object with you to test the magnet force, like a keyring,ect. You want to look for one with good magnets.
I second sir james’ opinion. A dependable, base priced unit made for your O27 tracks.
Mike
I have a 2037 with tender and it is a nice locomotive. Surprising how much it can pull and the magnetraction really works well. Good luck on your search!
I love my 2046 4-6-4 Hudson, which is clearly superior to the 2037. [:D] That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. But…what are you going to do if, when you get there, you get torn between the 2037 and a 773, or a 726/736 Berk, or a sweet S2 turbine? This is how the hobby can conflict even the minds of the most opinionated. Have fun and, if conflicted, stick with your first choice, the 2037. Whatever you buy, you can always unbuy (technical toy train terminology).
Jack
Thank you all for your input. I found a reasonably nice 2035 K-4 with whistle tender. It’s been cleaned & tuned up and had a repaint somewhere along the line ( I would have done this anyway if needed). I’ll probably pick up some shiny new drive rods/linkage to really spruce it up. [:)]
The show (at Metrolina Expo in Charlotte, NC) was OK although I had hoped there would be more parts available. Seemed to be about 1/3 each O gauge, HO, and railroad memorabilia. I also brought home a nice pair of postwar track bumpers & a 1033 transformer to run the layout accessories.
Sounds like you got a couple of good finds at the show.
I don’t have a 2035, but I sure like running my 2025. It typically runs on the o27 loop on my layout, with 5 or 6 cars, and either a 6457 or 6417 caboose. I’m sure your magnetraction version will pull more than that.
The 1033 is a great transformer to have around the train room. They’re really affordable, and have a bit of power to them too.
J White
I also have a 2035 and it is the big steam engine on my layout. The extra valve gear and the boiler handrails make it a little more attractive than the 2037 (also a nice engine). The magnatraction on mine is fairly weak but I can still pull 6 well lubricated postwar freight cars up the Lionel graduated trestle set. On flat 027 track it can easily pull 12 or more. Postwar cars need their wheel bearings oiled often if you intend to pull a lot of cars. You can also pull a lot of cars and forget about lubrication if you have MPC and later cars with needle bearings.
One problem I had when I first fixed up my 2035 was that it occasionally would cycle into neutral as it shorted out on postwar 027 1122 switches. I noticed that the horshoe clips that hold the center rail collector arm pivot shafts will short against the wide part of the center rail of a switch whenever the horshoe clips are pointing downward. If you have this problem, you may be interested in the solution I came up with in a previous post I made on this subject at:
Thanks for the tip, especially since I’ll be using 1122 switches. Sounds like I made a pretty good choice with the 2035.
You’ll have fun with the 2035, its a nice engine, Heck, they all are!!
My two cents on running postwar cars is to make sure the wheels are clean and make sure the axles and clean and not gooey with gunk on the ends or under the wheels, I like using grease on the acle ends and wheel hubs as I feel it lasts longer then an oil job, but eitehr way is probably fine.
Have fun!
I need to go back and do an archive search on R&Ring magnetraction.
Jack
Jack, I was wondering just the other day if there was a way to restore the magnetism on these old locos. I used to race slot cars and some of the guys would get their motor magnets “zapped” to increase performance. I think it had something to do with realigning the magnetic fields. Have no idea if the principle can be applied to trains, though.
That’s exactly where I was coming from…slot car experience and both the the can motors’ and open frame motors’ magnets. I have a reverse implement, an audio tape head demagnetizer for 8 track, cassette, and reel-to-reel decks (stop laughter some of you older guys, and yes younger guys there were inventions in the day that reproduced sound).
Jack
I would think that “zapping” a slot-car motor’s field magnet would involve weakening it, since that would make the thing run faster. Prototype locomotives do the same thing, by connecting shunts around the motor field windings at higher speeds.
Bob,
In the early days of slot cars (early 60’s) we would buy 12 volt motors and rewind them for 1 volt. This made them faster, but the brushes did not last long. Soon silver brushes became available to replace the carbon OEM brushes. Then, after a few runs, the current would go sky high. Then some slot car tracks made magnet zappers available. For a small fee, they would remagnitize the motor. This would bring the current back down and had the added advantage of giving greater acceleration than when new. So, I would have said that the zapper was only to strengthen the magnets.
But, last week at work, we got a magnet zapper in for repair. The literature with this magnet zapper claimed it was for adjusting motors and d’Arsonval movements. It’s purpose is to decrease the magnetic fields of newly assembled motors and meter movements in order to “calibrate” them to meet specifications.
Unlike degaussing coils, which are designed to remove magnetism, magnet zappers are used to “adjust” magnets to give the magnetic field desired for the application.
I would be reluctant to try to zap the magnets in one of my locomotive’s wheels. I would want someone else to try it on their’s first. The reason is that a strong magnetic field can break or bend things. Automobile drive shafts are sometimes assembled by using a magnetic field to deform the tube around the yoke.
Reference: http://www.magneform.com/about.html
The question was about the 2037. I had one as a kid. It must have been indestructable because I never broke it. It went amazingly fast around my O-27 curves (magnetraction.) It smoked well with smoke pellets. I liked the way the piston under the smoke unit was pumped by the action of one side rod. Nice puffs.
2055 medium size steamers can be had at attractive prices and have all the features (magnetraction, whistle, smoke). They look good with 0 gauge rolling stock as well as 027.