Fixing the MP American

[daniel_leavitt2000]

I received the MP Pacific traction tire a few weeks ago and I finally installed it on my 4-4-0 today. I wanted to make this as easy as possible so here is what I did. Sorry no pics yet.

1. I removed the TT equiped wheels from the axle it came with and set them asside.
2. I removed the side-rod pins from the rear driver and set them asside. The rod should stay connected to the front dtiver.
3. The wheels on the rear driver were then removed from the axle. The axle should stay in place on the engine. Be carefull when removing the wheels that they do not damage the brake shoes.
4. I placed the TT wheels onto the rear axle of the engine. I lined each side up visually to the forward wheel. The side rod should be completly horizontal to the track. Adjust one side at a time. I then inserted the siderof pin, reconnecting the side rod. I then worked on the other side making sure to measure mechinism "slop". The "slop" should be centered (so that there is equal slop in each direction).

When done the engine needed no quartering, the mechinism actually ran better but I had some additional electrical issues. I was a bit puzzled at first. The tender is live, so the loss of one driver should not be a big problem. The engine would stall on curves and switches. I took apart the tender and figured out the problem. The trucks have wipers that contact the bolster screw that connects to a plate inside the tender. Unfortunatly, when screwed in, the truck rests on the bolster mount and the screw only intermittantly contact the conductive (bottom) portion of the truck.

To correct this, I turned the tender upside down, and removed the screw. I cut a spring from a Samhongsa brass engine in half, and put the spring on the screw. I then iscrewed in the truck. Now if I tightened the screw all the way, the truck would not turn, so I backed the screw out about one turn. I then flipped thetender over and soldered the screw onto the retainer plate inside the tender. This ensures the screw will not come undone.

I repeated this process on the other truck. The diference in performance was night and day. This model now creeps better then a Kato Mike and will pull 10 50' boxcars up a 3.5% grade.

[JoeS]

Great idea with the traction tire. Even though I mostly model Z these days, I have one of these and it is my favorite steammer in N. I modified mine with a Kato tender and I'll second the notion that with proper electrical pickup is my best creeping steam engine in N. It is better than my Kato mikado, Spectrum connie, LL 2-8-8-2, to name a few. I'd say it creeps as good as my LL Berk. I only run DC so I have no special decoders that help in the running.

[brokemoto]

As has Joe, I have modified mine with Kato or B-mann SPECTRUM USRA Standard tenders. They do not dwarf the locomotive and give you all wheels live. With the half wheels live tender, you do risk stalling on plastic frog switches.

Still, your fix to the tender might be worth trying on the mogul. The mogul, with the stock tender, at speeds below thirty-five SMPH, will stall on straight and level, even. I fixed it by swapping out the stock for the above named USRA Standards. I suspected that the traction tyre on the number three driver pair had compromised the electrical contact, as I had not experienced those problems with the eight-wheeler.

What does your eight-wheeler do over plastic frog switches at slow speeds?

The MP eight-wheeler and mogul are the best creepers out there. My moguls will pull fifteen loaded MT gondolas and a MT wood caboose up a one per cent grade at ten SMPH. I have not tried more than fifteen cars.

Maybe I will buy another mogul and try your fix. I wonder how it would work on the Vanderbilt (the SP version of this comes with a Vanderbilt). Thanks for the hint.

[daniel_leavitt2000]

We use electro-frogs through the mainline on the club, but the 4-4-0 seems to do fine on the plastic branchline switches. It will also do sub -15 over crossovers, dubble slips, crossings etc.

I'm not a steam nut so I was VERY reluctant to take this apart. I was so confident after the repair that I started to play around the Backmann connie I own. That one has been sputtering for years and I coulden't figure it out. I relubed it and rebent those wierd drawbar tender truck connectors.

[skipgear]

Sounds like Daniel is coming over to the dark and dirty side of steam. Keep playing, every success feeds the addiction.

[Bob Morris]

Somebody send this thread to MP so they do this at the factory! I love the looks of their little steamers, but cannot abide engines that stall on my Atlas code 55 turnouts.

[brokemoto]

MP stated, to a user of another forum, that it would be issuing the mogul and eight-wheeler with all wheels live tenders. It speculated that they would arrive in July of this year. July came and went some time back, but the new, improved versions have yet to appear.

If MP would issue its steam with needlepoint axle pick up on the tender trucks, in a fashion similar to that of B-mann SPECTRUM and Kato, it would have some real winners, especially the mogul.

Using all wheels live tender trucks similar to the WKW 0-8-0, the C-C hudson or the Kato JNR 2-6-2 would not be the best idea. The design of those trucks creates drag and does not provide contact that is as reliable as the contact provided by the needlepoint axle pick ups on the SPECTRUM trucks or Kato USRA Standard trucks (or Kato caboose trucks, for that matter).