Spectrum GE 44 ton switcher. Thoughts????

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

Does anyone here have the spectrum 44 ton switcher??? What are your opinions about the engine??? Is there anything I need to be aware of??
Thanks!!!

2

I like my Southern 44 tonner, but it might be a little bit of a sentimental thing, having ridden in the cab of the prototype at a local Atlanta train museum with my then 4 year old son. It runs decently enough, and looks pretty nice. I get it out every now and then for a railfan tour around my layout, using a transfer car converted from a flat car, and a caboose to recreate the train we rode.

Thanks for reminding me I had that little guy. Guess I’ll get him out tonight when I get off work and run him a bit! [:)]

Rotor

3

  • Make sure you get the current single motor version, not the twin motor version.

  • DCC is a soldering operation, using a very small wired decoder. There are solder pads to hook up the wires from the decoder. Digitrax DZ123, DZ143, TCS M1 and Lenz Gold Mini W will work.

  • It is a small light locomotive, like the real thing, 3 or 4 cars maximum pulling ability.

4

If you should run on to any of the double motored versions, get them! Small inexpensive drive units are hard to find. And if you don’t want them, list them on ebay. Many people need them to complete On2 1/2 kits that use that drive.

Have fun

5

I have had two of the one-motor 44 tonners. They run decently but are very sensitive to dirty and uneven track. Not having flywheels, they tend to stutter or stall when they encounter dirty track. I like the looks and dislike the operation. Want to buy mine? Ha Ha.

6

I have several of the older two motor 44 tonners. One runs like a dream and has excellent low speed response. The rest are in the junk drawer with parts and pieces missing and their motors burned up. I’d say one out of four is a good runner. Great looks, though! [8D]

7

I’m not sure I agree with the previous posts. I have 2 twin motor 44 tonners ( both road #'s of Southern RR ) and both of mine run just fine! They both pull 6-7 50 foot box cars with no wheelspin, only just starting to slip the wheels with 7-8 50 footers. ( One does pull more than the other before slipping…wonder why? ) As far as I’m concerned, they are great little engines. And they look great, too! I’m sure adding a little lead to the locos would improve their pulling power, but do you really need to be able to pull a 20 car consist with a small switcher/industrial engine?

I love em! JMHO! [:D]

Rotor

8

I had a dual motor one and it somehow managed to wrap its motor windings all around the inside of the shell[X-)]. It ran pretty good and pulled 5 or 6 cars. Now I have a single motor one, runs great, pulls about the same. I still need to weather it, just havent got any inspiration yet.

9

On level track I can pull 6-8 cars with my 44 tonner with no trouble (all cars with Intermountain metal wheelsets.)

I have two 44 tonners and am fond of the real ones and the models. As you can see, there are varied opinions and I think that they may have just made some good ones and some bad ones.

Keep them lubricated–you can pop off the casings under the trucks to lube the gears but once in a while disassemble the shell to lube the worm gears directly.

Clean track is a must–personally I find that metal wheelsets help this.

One way that I often cheat when using 44 tonners: I use two of them, coupled together, for many of my yard chores. This mimics the prototype I model, which often used its 44 tonners MU’d for freight runs. This of course increases maximum pulling power, but also helps with dead spots on the track–if one 44 tonner hits a dead spot the other one can typically shove it over and keep right on going.

Don’t buy the two-engine versions: between the On30 junkies and the trolley modelers, we’ll take all of 'em off your hands!!

My 44 tonners and 70 tonner–the 44s in Sacramento Northern schemes, the 70 in CCT black.

10

Well, I got the single motor in a nice PRR paint scheme. My wife surprised me with this for my birthday. Anyway, I installed a decoder into it tonight and ran it for the first time. It runs fine, but is a lightweight engine, so about 5-6 cars is all it will do. Thanks for everyones input.

11

I think it’s great little engine - I have mine (new single motor version) wired for DCC, very neat item. I wouldn’t worry about its pulling ability - John Pryke, in his City Modeling book, mentions that the Union Freight in Boston found their 44 tonners had trouble with more than 8 cars, so they ran them MU’ed. Nice to see prototype performance here, then…

Marty

12

Whats the problem with the twin engine GE44ton locos then? I have got one - bought it second hand and it runs fine!

Regards,

Stephen.