Just bought a Bachmann Husdon and Kato NYC 20th Century Limited Set with factory lighting. Made a big mistake! The Hudson doesn't have enough traction to pull my super elevated curve and 3% grage to drag all 9 cars around the layout. I am holding my frustration in so I dont' sound like an old sailor. Should have bought the loco and tested it on my some of my dozens of passenger cars before jumping in so deep. So far aI have had to pull the consist back to 6 cars for the Hudson to make "the grade". Sure hope it gets a little better once it gets some hours on it. Now I am thinking of reworking around 10 to 12' to reduce the grade down to 1.5%. Currently I am climbing 2" in 96". (appprox.) OR, trying to convert one of my FEF3s to a stand in for a Mohawk.. I know that will pull the full train and grade. I also am wondering that since inertia doesn't really matter in N scale other than looks, should I go back to conventional flextrack or non elevated Kato sectional track if it will improve traction? I know there is a physicist out there somewhere.
The NYC was using E7 diesels (built in 1945) on the 20th Century Limited by the time the 1948 version of that train was introduced.
If it were me, I would add a motor and a geared truck to the baggage car along with added weight. I did this on a PFE reefer to add to my 60 car reefer block so that one steam locomotive would have no problem pulling it. It will pull about 20 cars all by itself on an NTRAK layout. That is always fun to watch folks reaction. One of the traction tiers is shown pulled to the side in this photo so you can see it. The left truck only picks up power.
Well, you know, the Santa Fe not only switched from Hudsons to Northerns before tackling the 3.3% of Raton, they added two ten-drivered helpers. So, yeah, reworking that is a thought. You are modeling the "Water Level Route". As for superelevation, the only way I can think of that might affect it is if a drive wheel or two lifts from the rail during transition. But if that doesn't work for you, I do know a guy...
Samhongsa made an NYC L-4B 4-8-2 for Key back in '92. Mine's a fine runner and pulls great. You might look around on the 'net for one.
Is there any extra space under the shell of the Bachmann Hudson to cram some tungsten? The on line pine wood derby sites sell a number of different shapes and sizes of tungsten weights. Tungsten is about twice as heavy as lead.
I have not pulled the shell yet to look for room for added weight. Just got it thi s afternoon. I have a small can of tungston putty on my workbench.
The kato FEF is a fine model, but a bit finicky in my experience. It can pull 10 cars around my layout fairly well, when it stays on the track. That is the finicky part, when you add dcc/sound to a straight dc unit. How does the FEF spec out driver and wheel base wise?? Will definitely have to get an NYC tender though, or bash the Bman tender a bit bigger. Would be an interesting build to watch.
Assuming you want the DCC+Sound equipped models, shop carefully and patiently and you can get them for about $360 (+ shipping and tax).
I have have my share of replacement parts for Kato FEF units but my 3 have untold numbers of hours on them. Everything is DCC and 2 of the FEFs have sound.
If I do both with sound, I might get off for 450. My real answer may just be BULLFROG SNOT! My old jar dried up. The Hudson does not have traction tires. Thinking out loud, I wonder if the Mountain Drivers are the same diameter and interchangeable? Time to get out the calipers.
No joy...BLI M1 Traction tired axle has no gearing. Diameter is aroud.437" over traction tire. Spokes on driver are wrong. Really surprised that only one axle of the Hudson is geared.
More than were geared on the real thing. Not uncommon at all. Connecting rods are proven technology (how's that for understatement?).
That's interesting. Yes, from what I understand, brass doesn't attract much attention from a newer generation of modelers.
I still have several pieces and have had a couple dozen total in my career. I ran them too hard for that big of an investment and too many of the importers are gone.
