Anybody has opinions on these? I’m thinking about buying one. Specifically, the BEEF (short F3). I long for a unexpensive F3 for a long time.
I don’t believe that the BEEF has been made yet.
By all appearances, it looks as though the BEEF will have the identical chassis (although a modification is being advertised that will allow the BEEF to run faster than the BEEP) that the BEEP has. Meaning that if you are using 027 track with 027 switches, you are going to run into problems.
The BEEP has long arm sprung pick ups very similar to those used on postwar Lionel locos such as the F-3. Byt the Lionel locos have the pick ups mounted next to each other like this: \ /. On the BEEP the pick ups are mounted with a good space between them like this: \ /. I more than anyone would love to rave about the BEEP. But for me, it shorted out constantly on 027 switches. Not stalled, but shorted… there’s a difference. The actual rollers on the RMT BEEP are also wider than the postwar or MPC Lionel ones and are also not beveled. Though I replaced the RMT rollers with other beveled ones, and the loco still shorted.
The Budd car BUDDY uses a very similar design to that used by K-Line and Lionel LTI on their dual DC can motored locos and the BUDDY does just fine through 027 switches.
Unless a major mod is made, I have higher hopes for the now delayed RMT BANG diesel.
Anyone who has “listened” to me knows that I am a BIG fan of my BEEP!! With the ERR soundcard, I really love this little engine (in CNJ colors, natch!). I just wondering if I can get TMCC installed in it as well[:-^]. I am just waiting for my PSE&G coal hoppers from my LTS (4 of them!), to complement my BEEP. By fall, I may splerge for a RDC or 2…to duplicate the Princeton to Princeton Jct. Dinky (PRR, of course)! I run FasTrack, so I really have no problems.
I have seen the Beep, and I wonder what the Beef will look like. like with that huge bulldog nose.
If you have the Sept. 2006 issue handy, the prototype of the BEEF is the lead photo in Product News on p.20.
Rich,
Yes you can install TMCC in the BEEP. ERR sells the BEEP upgrade kits. Planning on getting one for my BEEP.
Anjdevil2, just so no one reading this thread misreads me, I DO think the BEEP is a wonderful product that this hobby needs more of. When one considers the vast quantity of new products introduced in the past decade, and how many of them have been along the lines of the BEEP, it is a very short list. The Railking MTH Dockside, the Lionel Dockside and the K-Lionel Box Cab come to mind.
When the BEEP was introduced there were a good many threads on the train forums complaining about problems similar to mine. I even posted a thread here some months ago just out of curiosity to see what types of track folks were using to run their BEEPS. It does appear that they do run better through FasTrack switches versus typical 027 ones. BUT the BEEP is advertised as an 027 product, and ironically doesn’t run too well though those switches.
But the BEEP obviosly has been successful. No doubt the wide selection of road names is a big factor along with the low price. From what I’ve been reading over the past few years, it does appear to me that many are using their BEEPS on loop types of layouts (such as kid’s layouts or under the tree layouts) with minimal switch tracks, or running straight through them. Or using other kinds of track other than 027… kind of a sad postscript for a loco that is SO PERFECTLY sized for 027 track layouts with the kinds of smaller cars run by these operators.
As a further point I’ve said before, I have a good many smaller kinds of locos with the style of pickups (short arm, snapped into a “sprung” copper strip) used by Lionel and K-Line on their cheaper locos. Short Lionel plastic 2-4-0, 2-4-2 and 0-4-0 steamers, the Lionel Industrial Switcher and MPC locos with only one set of pickups on the motorized truck… and none of them gave me the troubles the BEEP did. And again, the BUDDY does not suffer from these problems on 027 track, so that one, though longer in length and with the above mentioned pickups, can be added to the list. And RMT did
I bought one for Jr. and for what we use it for, it’s perfect. It runs on a small circle of elevated 027 tube track on top of a Lionel trestle set with a few short bridges inbetween the piers that cross over other, lower level tracks, adding another dimmension to the layout other than having everything run at grade level, but without the problems of running a larger engine on such a track. It’s low gearing, slow operating speed, light weight and small size make it a perfect loco to operate on such a confined track without the major possibility of a roll over accident caused by a child operating it too fast for the track conditions. The horn & bell sound awesome, and it was the only train I’ve ever seen in any gauge that had “Bethlehem Steel - Lackawanna Plant” lettering. Neato-musquito.
-B
Brianel, I know of your fodness of the RMT, and just point out the little sniggly things that could make it better. If it could run flawlessly on O27, there probably would be no critisism at all.
Thanks, Brent, NOW I HAVE to go get that TMCC board…[swg]
This a great loco for the little ones to practice and learn on, as long as it is on it’s own individual loop of track. No matter how much you crank up the throttle it will not go fast enuff to derail. I’ve got one with TMCC and it is a fun toy to run, it really gets some smiles and chuckles when you press the button and it gives the “roadrunner” beep-beep. [:o)]
There has always been lots of praise for the beep, in every way except on crossovers and switches. It either stalls or goes into neutral. The pickup rollers are too close together. Great little engine on a plain oval of track.
Rich,
Brianel is a bit hard on things that don’t run flawlessly on O-27 but his opinion and insites are very much appreciated. I’ve yet to run my BEEP on the layout so I can’t testify as to how it functions on Atlas O-45 or O-54 switches. Should be able to answer that in a few days.
"Brianel is a bit hard on things that don’t run flawlessly on O-27…
Hey Brent, I’m laughing. My warped sense of humor could take that as a compliment. Seriously, I don’t think I’m too hard. Most of the lower end products suffer from some amount of drawbacks. The K-Line S-2 (my favorite loco) jumps off the track when pulling a long train. The fix is to install a small spring between the truck and the frame over the guide pin. The Lionel Industrial Switchers out of the box aren’t worth much. But add weight, repaint them, add lights and details and they become spectacular little locos that for me can pull a dozen cars no problem.
I guess where I’m hard is no different from anyone else: I expect the product to be as advertised. Remember some years back when K-Line took a lot of heat for labeling products as “scale” when they were really semi-scale? People who want scale, really do want scale, not semi-scale or traditionally sized “0-gauge.”
Or on the same point, while I would NEVER pay a grand for a train engine, someone who does certainly expects to have a product that works out of the box and performs in accordance to the price tag. And while I have sympathy for the train companies with trying to develop/engineer new products on limited runs - no one forced them to do it. So they make these limited run products, price them accordingly and folks shell out darn good money for them… it’s certainly reasonable to expect more from a loco that costs a grand or more.
Final thought: Sir James, the BEEP pick ups are actually TOO FAR apart. With the long arm pick ups and the space between them on a solid chassis, when the loco goes around curves through 027 switches, the pick ups swing out away from the center rail and come in contact with other ground rails in the switch, thus causing the short. The same type of Lionel pick ups are mounted right next to each other on a much shorter truck length, and I do not have the shorting
Pickups to close/to far, the result is the same either way. It’s nice for the money on an oval.
[2c] I agree. I moved mine onto a non-switch track. It looks great and works just fine.
I have two of the Buddies in Reading livery, one has been converted to TMCC with RS and the other is waiting for me to find time. They look and sound great. I used ERR kits. I also have an L&NE Beep to convert when time allows.
I have the Budd RCD Reading Company roadname made by RMT, it is a little shorter than a Lionel passenger car in 027, runs great and works with 027 switches & Gargraves switches. As my budget allows I may buy another RMT product, right now I will have to wait.
Lee F.
I have one BEEP that I run on my layout that uses O-27 style track.My sharpest curve is O-42 and I use the last type of O-42 O 27 style switches made by K-Line [pre Lionel].
I have never had ANY problems with the BEEP.
How are the BUDDIES?
I purchased my beep without box or instructions but I have never operated a horn or bell, do all beeps have this feature or maybe I have one without it?