Hey all, Does anyone make an N scale heavy pacific other than Model Power and that old Rivarossi one? Neither of those is very good, are they?
Spookshow's site pretty much covers everything that has been released. http://www.spookshow.net/locolist.php?steam=1&nonbrass=3&sortby=4&Submit=Submit and for the brass locomotives http://www.spookshow.net/locolist.php?steam=1&brass=4&sortby=4&Submit=Submit
Bachmann made the PRR K4 which was a heavy Pacific. However, it was specific to the PRR and some of its related lines.
If you can find one, the old Arnold Rapido pacifics are rugged little grinders. The brass gears make a lot of noise but they pull well. I add all wheel pickup to the tenders to get them to run more smoothly. Fun for kit bashing.
The MP is a USRA light. The RR is a USRA heavy. The Arnold looks like a USRA heavy. The later issues of the MP are pretty good. They do run well, the problem is the contact/electrical pickup. The tenders, even on the MRC versions (the latest) are still only half wheels live. MRC did correct this problem on the issues of the eight wheeler and the Mogul. Hopefully, it will correct it on subsequent runs of the USRA light Mikado and Pacific. What many of us have done is purchase the Bachmann SPECTRUM USRA standard tender, substitute it for the MP factory and wire appropriately. If you will substitute an all wheels live tender for the stock, you get a real winner of a locomotive. Another drawback is that the USRA lights do have cast-on handrailings. I do hope that eventually Bachpersonn does offer a USRA light Pacific and Mikado in N scale. B-mann did sell a SPECTRUM tender with Western Maryland lettering, but it has the fireball herald, which did not appear on the tenders of WM Pacifics. You could purchase a B-mann tender, erase the herald, paint over, if necessary, then add the stripes, as needed and finally clearcoat. One thing that I do hate about the MPs, though, is that once you get the cab off one of those things, it never goes back onto the locomotive quite properly, thus the number looks cockeyed. UltimateNScale used to sell oil bunkers, if you plan on bashing one of the oil burners. Someone also once sold resin versions of the UnS oil bunkers, as well.
Huh... err... um... uh... okay. Anyone remember the old stockbroker commercials: "When E.F. Hutton speaks... people listen". If I were to have stated 'Not Yet'... no one would doubt that it is what it is... like... "sometimes a banana is JUST a banana". At first I just zipped by his post because I didn't realize it was Charlie Vlk... the renowned model railroading consultant to numerous N scale (and other scales) manufacturers. So now I'm not sure if the 'banana is JUST a banana'... or it is leading to something else like a 'banana split' or 'bananas foster'. I know Charlie can't say IF something is in the works... so all I can do is speculate. Will a Chippewa F3-as/F1 Pacific be created by Fox Valley for their existing Hiawatha? Might it be Kato going out on a limb to do a Chippewa (4-6-2)... or perhaps do the F7 Baltic (4-6-4) for their Olympian Hiawatha? Or... are there other passenger consists which regularly had a distinctive Pacific class locomotive on the point? And let's not forget that Charlie may have just meant exactly what the two words say... and nothing more.
Oh my! I didn't catch that either... ack. A nice "generic" heavy pacific would be a godsend in N. I understand the USRA heavy was only really used by Erie, and copies by a handful of other roads, so probably not as in demand... but I guess the K4 was used by *one* road (albeit a huge one) so I can hope! You know it's been a bit since Bachmann introduced a new steamer in N... and as they do seem to be taking the lead in N scale steam, I wonder what the next one might be? As they just did the K4, probably not another pacific, but... a nice light Mike, perhaps? Or a heavy 2-10-2? That one's only been done once, years ago...
If Bachmann ever decides to make other pacifics, they have the mechanism already in the K-4. They could easily put a different shell on that and make a B&O P-7, for example.
Yes, “Not Yet!”!! I believe that a USRA Heavy Pacific is on a short list but still not near reality. The problem is that in truth there was only the Erie that had originals although there were near copies for other roads. The Light has more “legs” with many roads having originals and duplicates. Maybe a NYC J2 before a Mohawk?? Charlie Vlk
The New York Central had a streamlined 'pacific class' named The Mercury... it was a 1936 dated consist. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Central_Railroad#/media/File:The_Mercury_1936.jpg
I'd love an H10 as well. I'd buy 3 or 4 of them, at least. It's on the short list of engines I intend to bash out of Kato Mikados. An L2 Mohawk is also planned, but alas, Spectrum Heavy Mountains are harder to locate for me, particularly here in Europe.
What really surprises me is that no one has done an A-2a, not even in brass. I would buy a brass A-2a or K-5a. The A-2a was ALCo's last steam.