Does anyone know the couple conversion (MT) for an Arnold S2 and if it has a pilot to fill the big opening on the model. Thanks!
I had the MT 1158 for the Atlas RS-1 on hand and modified it to fit the Arnold pilot. I had to shave a lot off the top to get it to fit right but worked out OK to mount the 1015 type coupler pocket. Of course I removed the truck mounted coupler pockets.
It's been a long time and I've since sold mine. Vague memory is I did some modifying, using #1015 and? Boxcab E50
Some S2's had a big opening in the pilot. http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=89927&nseq=3 http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=91536&nseq=2 http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=81451&nseq=7 http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=69682&nseq=23
The Arnold S2 was made back in the stone age...when 'pizza cutters' where the only game in town :tb-wink: .
it was made in the day that people were hand laying code 40 in N Scale Magazine, and was the first loco to be built with a factory DCC decoder...my Kato U30C is older and can run on code 40...next arguement?
Pizza cutters on S2 No problem! N.W.S.L. have a set of wheels and main gearwheel (which frequently cracks). Item #2679-6 - $23.95 works a treat!
IIRC the S2 takes the MTL #1049 coupler conversion, which is something like a special truck mount for 1128 couplers, no front cover. I have also used NWSL wheels on one, they are wobbling badly but the engine is at least running. My PRR S2 is still waiting for a proper dark DGLE paint, the original paint scheme is more like "Pennsylvania spring green". For the other S2 I got the GHQ T-6 conversion kit.
I have an early run S2, and at the time I bought it MTL made a pilot conversion adaptor that took a 1015 assembly. I could look for it to check, but it seems that this adaptor is no longer available.
Great info everyone! I never noticed the opening in the prototypes pilot and in doing some searching found that the ATSF version I am going to do is opened too. Thanks again everyone!
...Yea..thought about it after posting...but it was past my bedtime :tb-tongue: Lets just say 'Pizza Cutter' wheels where still the talk of the town back then...."ALMOST" everyone was using them. .
As far as I can tell, MTL never made a pilot conversion. Sunrise did, but that was long before they went out of business. I used a standard T shank conversion on the trucks, which required a small amount of filing. I left the gap in my S4's pilot as that is what the real Grafton & Upton unit had. To get the unit to run well, I ended up replacing the wheels, gears and motor. The replacment parts were literally 5 times the cost of the engine.
Daniel is correct. Pilot conversion was by Sunrise. I think it takes 1015. Micro-Trains conversion is 1049. I have both on my T-6 conversions.
Yep, Sunrise it is. I checked my S2, and the conversion piece appears to be metal. Additionally, I checked an early MTL catalog (1990/91), and it lists the 1049 for many of the same locos still listed today. This was before the S2 came out, but MTL just added the S2 to the list.
I use the NWSL lo-profile wheels in my S2, and I attached a MT 1015 coupler to the body in center of the open pilot. The 1015 comes out exactly at the right hight, and the whole thing ends up looking a LOT like some of the open-pilot prototype photos posted earlier. My NWSL wheelsets work great, by the way - though some folks have gotten sets that are off-center and cause wobbles, mine are just fine and are Atlas Code 55 compatible. John C.
