I am giving serious thought to purchasing one of these. Has anyone had any experience with them pro or con? The engine/tender is 25" which suggests a VERY semi-scale appearance, but if somone has one or has eyeballed one I’d very much appreciate any information. Thank you!
Just bumping this up for you so no one misses it in case they have one !!
I wonder if it has the new tether on it between the eng. & tender ? !! I would want that if I was looking at a new MTH eng. !!
Thanks, John
Thanks - sadly, this one has the VERY visible tether. Still lookes like a pretty engine. Trying to decide between this and the Lionel NYC S2 (yeah, two very different things).
Oh, well let me help you avoid the stress !! Just get both of them !! [(-D]
Thanks, John
Have you considered track clearance problems with the really long locomotive? My T1 by MTH takes some good clearance. The overhang will surprize you! You may need extra space on curves so the loco don’t hit another loco on a curve and switches too, may hang up at Lionel switches similar in style to the 022.
Also may need 072 size switches for a 2-8-8-2 steam loco.
Lee F.
Hmm,
I’ve heard good things about boh of them. As a steam man, I am particularly fond of the MTH Southern Mallet, out now, and I too am very seriously considering one. Its looks big, and I have heard great things about railking products, and I have seen how well the run too. They have great sound and smoke too.
The only con in my eyes is that they are not compatible with TMCC, unless you get a box of sorts that will make them work.
I’d say go with the mallet, but the S2 is good as well.
By the way Raleigh, you have mentioned in other posts shopping at Todd’s in Wendell. This past June our church group went on a road trip (its a performing group) and we stopped in Wendell. I tried to get there, but we had to practice and get the equipment set up, as we were performing outside that night.
But, the real question is, I asked about the railroad activity, as the tracks run through the downtown area, but people said the tracks are rarely used, maybe 1 or 2 times a week. Have you ever seen a train there before?
Cheese
The RK Imperial (#30-1452-1), C&O 2-8-8-2 H7 Mallet arrived a couple of weeks ago. Doing the math from the C&O Steam Locomotive Diagrams book, the H7 Class unit would have been 117’ 8" length OA, or 29.4 scale inches. The tender on this unit has 4 wheel trucks, and the actual drawing shows 6 wheel trucks.
I’m using it as a coal drag and will be running on Fastrack with 36" curves & switches. The dialogue sounds seem to be clearer and less hollow sounding.
Very pleased with it’s operation & look, considering it is 4.4 inches off the mark.
Included are a few photos of the unit spotted on an elevated line & layout in progress.
Hope this helps … regards, Dave
Thanks for all the responses!
I was wondering about the overhang and switch clearance, too. My layout is mostly FT 0-36s, which should be fine. I don’t honestly believe this thing (the Mallet) will work on 0-31 anyway (it says it does, but I just find that very hard to believe).
The lack of TMCC, which certainly is not its fault, is a factor. I don’t have DCS.
I don’t know, to be honest. The only time I visit Wendell is to go to Todd’s. Plus, the CSX tracks run right by my house in Cary; train fan paradise.
RTF : if you have TMCC, all you need is a TPC-300 or 400 & you can operate a lot of the functions on the MTH !! Best thing I ever got as I can now open my couplers on my MTH engine & use some of the other functions. Plus, a really big difference in running conventional engines & postwar stuff .
Thanks, John
Ah,
I see, why go see a line used 1 or 2 times a week when you can see 4 to 5 a day in your own back yard.
We arrived in Wendell after lunch, then we set up the stage and left the tech team there to work with the electronics, while the rest of us went to out hotel. When we returned, we saw a train, but it was the tail end, so I couldn’t tell if it was CSX or NS or a shortline.
Cheese