Folks Cab Forward. Dang thumb errors!!! I found a vendor, with a few new units still in stock (I think) Spookshow's review had them as extremely delicate. How are they holding up? Thanks! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
My two continue to run wonderfully. The only key is to change the wheel sets, since the stock ones don't play nice with code 55 rail
I did what Rick recommended and the FVM wheels fit nicely. Here's the quote with sizes from Spookshow's website: http://www.spookshow.net/loco/imac12.html "Replacing them with Fox Valley .540" axle wheelsets is one way to deal with this issue (36" diameter on the tender, 33" diameter on the trailing truck, and 28" diameter on the pilot truck)." You can buy sets of 12 wheels. I used the extras for freight cars (28" for a caboose, 33" for 70-ton trucks and 36" for 100-ton trucks).
I have one, it runs well but is still somewhat noisy. I prefer my Key brass versions better, once you replace the motor with a coreless they are superb little runners.
Not sure why you would want to put 28" wheels on cabs... they should be 33". The only equipment regularly equipped with 28" wheels is intermodal flats and autoracks.
My biggest problem with these engines has always been the SLOW SPEED (after years of complaining of diesels going too fast, a steamer that doesn't go fast enough...). As I recall, the top speed is like 40-45smph. SP used them to pull passenger trains and they COULD go 70mph (although they were limited in most cases to 60mph due to the drivers hammering the rail). Put a cab forward on our NTrak layout and even at full speed it only creeps around the layout. It's too big to run on the home layout (I model the NWP...nothing bigger than a Mikado and even they turned the rails). I usually speed match all of my locomotives to 100smph so I can always tell what their speed is...but I can't speed match a cab forward to 100smph so it can't run (actually it shouldn't need any helpers) with anything else. This problem has kept my CF's in the boxes they came in so I haven't had to worry about any other problems with them...
Jeff - I put Lenz silver minis in both of my CFs, and they clearly do better than 40-45smph. I don't have an exact speedometer setting for them, and won't be able to get one for a couple weeks, but while they are not Kato Shinkensen speeds, they aren't creeping like road switchers, either.
Mine have either TCS or Digitrax decoders in them. Made sure that CV5 is 0 and I still can't get either to go faster than 45smph. I'm hoping that I've missed something so I look forward to what you find.
I have a couple of them that did run very slow. What i found was that if bemf was turned off the speed was then ok. These have the Sound track decoders. I use Decoder Pro to set changes. I think that it is cv10 that need to be changed to 0. Doug
Do you know if they have the N-scale IM #4294 in-stock; model# 79009 - Non-Sound or 79009S - Sound. I prefer to get the one with sound but I'm open I grew up going to the Railroad Museum and admiring this engine. Until I was older I thought it was a Modified BigBoy instead of a Mallet.