Tom, thanks for the compliment and good luck on your project!
I don’t disagree, I also have two HobbyTown PAs with original drives and two tiger Valley ALCo C-628s, (same style drive), that’ll pull the backdrop off the walls![:D]
My complements to Jay on the RS3. Impressive. Really impressive.
I agree with others regarding power of Hobbytowns. I have 90 watt DC power supply and can haul anything with the Hobbytowns. They don’t sneak up on you though. You definately can hear them.
I did however get an exceptionally smoothe runner - my Katy PA1. I have a “Pike-sized” Texas Special that I enjoy hauling with that engine.
Happy Model Railroading, everybody.
I’ve seen several comments about noise. The best remedy I’ve found is to use a real good flexible rubber coupling and drill rod or such between the motor and the flywheel. I think it was about a year and half ago I mentioned my noise problem to someone at Bear Loco and was offered that bit of advice. Got some of their tubing and took out the universals that I had in there and what a diff it made. Indeed much quieter. That’s with the original pittman motor, too. The other gearing still can be heard but, not enough that I think it’s a distraction! You bet, enjoy them engines! Fine runners. Besides that I was getting ready to buy some replacement parts to do some upgrades (i.e. replace parts I years ago ground or filed too much or etc)…will have to wait and see what happens now!
Quality rises to the top and I’m sure a new firm will pick up the ball. In the meantime, Howard Mosely, one of the nicest, most knowlegible guys in the business side of our hobby will now have time to enjoy it once more in his well earned retirement. Howard revived hobbytown of Boston from an uncertain future and returned it to its solid foundation for future modelers to enjoy.
Point well taken on the durability of today’s crop of beautiful imported motive power; it will be hard to find many that will function for 20 years, let alone 50, so the simple, but rugged h of B chassis may have a future in keeping the current crop alive. (I’m thinking now of my “hopping” Proto 2K GP-18s…!) Hobbytown assembly (READ THE INSTRUCTIONS FIRST!) is simpler than taking apart a modern loco to install DCC, sound and ditch lights! And yes, I have uh, many, many new ones too, being an active Erie/DL&W/EL & NYS&W modeler! But the hobbytowns form the backbone of the “Heavy Metal Fleet” and are an operating collection unto themselves.
A properly assembled hobbytown (rember no capital “h”) with the proper Custom Finishes, Cal Scale, Precision, Carey, DA, DW, etc. parts and properly painted will make every bit of a realistic locomotive as will one by Atlas, Athearn, Stewart or Proto. Power chassis by hobbytown have also come to the rescue of other vintage diecast locomotoves such as the John English Alco FA-1 and FB-1 as well as the metal Mantua Sharks.
John Chapper (founder of hobbytown in the late 1940s, was the first to popularize mounting the motors in the chassis, away from the trucks to enable powering a variety of models. He aslo popularized flywheels and had one of the few successful clutch drives as well. And he never left well enough alone, there were always upgrades of material or components when warranted.
Some of the vintage models of the past, like Strombeck