I purchased the SW8 w\sound and I love the way it runs and sounds. Only question I have is that it seems too light weight. Is that the way they are supposed to be since it is considered a switcher? I thought it was a great buy at 99.95. I appreciate any comments. thanks Dave
My thoughts precisely. I haven’t opened mine up yet to see if there’s any extra room inside the shell. But, it’s a beautiful engine and sounds great, and you just can’t beat that price.
I’ve got a P2K S1 that is silent, but weighs more. It pulls very well, and it runs at a crawl. In contrast, the SW-8 moves much more quickly at the low end. I may make this one my first “speed table” experiment with DCC so I can match them up better.
I love the horn on the SW-8. Great sound. It’s very distinct from the Alco horn on my RS-3.
These aren’t “old inventory” Life-Like P2K’s, by the way. The instruction sheet inside the box says Walthers on it.
Ditto MisterB. This is my first with Quantum sound. The only other sound I have so far is an athern F3 doesnt even come close to the Quantum. I might try to see if there is enough room for some weight. Dave
So what if its light weight.It doesn’t have to weigh 10 pounds to operate correctly.I bought one and I can pull 14 cars with no problem on a level track. What really helped me is changing out the rubber treads on the one axle. I ordered another axle through my LHS for only $2.50. It runs even smoother now at low speeds. It was also very simple to swap out. You don’t even have to take the body off.
If I had a reason to buy more I would. This engine is fantastic.
Thanks Ill have to try that. Dave
Replacing the traction tires reduces its pulling capacity but sure helps in preventing stalling at slow speeds at insulated turnout frogs. I rarely pull more than 6 to 8 cars with it so it works great for me. I tested it once on a long string of cars (don’t recall the number) and it did spin its wheels but unless you have to do that this is a terrific loco.
Original reviews stated that the traction tires were necessary to overcome the weight loss in making room for sound. If any of you find ways of adding weight please let us know.
The non-sound versions are basically one big chunk of metal under the shell, only the cab is open, which makes for decent pulling power without traction tires. The QSI decoder and speaker are pretty large though, so a lot of metal had to come out to make room for it all. And they still kept the cab clear for that nice interior. I don’t think there’s much room to stuff more weight in - but perhaps removing more chunks of frame and repalcing it with a heavier metal would work.
–Randy
Again going back to my original comment. Whats the point pulling 50 cars?
Its a S W I T C H E R. Why would anyone need to pull more than 15 cars with it anyway? I don’t know why they even added the traction tires. I think it was a waste of time and caused me to have to buy a non traction axle.
I’ve been thinking of picking one of these up for my HO B&M layout. Unfortunately I’ll have to do some stripping and painting as I don’t believe it comes in the B&M livery but I can live with that. This would be my first sound equiped loco if I get it.
If anyone is interested in these engines, I ordered mine from my LHS. It showed up in a few days, I got the sale price of $99.98, and I didn’t have to pay shipping. Massachusetts state tax of $5 was imposed, but the list price on the engine is about $210 so I thought I did pretty well, and I was still able to support the shop, Maine Trains in Chelmsford, MA.
Maine Trains is where I’m planning on getting mine as well. I never have any issues providing Gerry with business.
My LHS picked up a number of these at the Sale Price. We looked them over and thought they were on the lite side due to the sound install. Looking at the chassis wieght of the NON sound ones certainly shows the difference.
Does anyone know if the older shells will work with these? I may want to pick up one and swap my NYC body onto it.
Chris
Well, the real thing could pull a heck of a lot more than 15 cars. Probably 50+ when flat switching. Not very fast, but they could move them.
Now, pulling more than 15 car trains is pretty much out on my layout, 10-15 cars makes for a decent looking train in relation to the size of the layout, so if it can pull 15 I’m more than happy. But some people like to see if they can pull enough cars to wrap around so the caboose almost couples on to the locomotive. Not my cup of tea, but, whatever.
–Randy
None of my Life-Like GM switchers have sound, but most of them have some extra weight added to the cab end. There are three cavities underneath the cab interior insert, two on either side of the cab and one under the front windows. I filled these cavities with chunks of lead, and with the added weight the locos are a little more balanced than before.
Here is my older S1 (Erie) and the new SW-8 (Lackawanna) in the yard.
