Hey fellas, same problem different tact. I have a Brass Forney runs well recently professionally serviced. Darn thing will not pull more than 2 cars on a flat track. I'm at wits end and I was thinking of de-motoring the thing and have a motorized car(?) drive the train. Anyone heard or done this before?
Good question. In real life, two heavyweight steel passenger cars or very well loaded freight cars is all you could really expect to haul at any speed with most American Forneys.
I would never doubt you however, Edaville railroad back in the day ran Forneys with at the least 4 passenger cars and a caboose. I rode those trains every Christmas when I was a child. I can't get this engine to pull more than 2 cars.
Sure, but those are scarcely heavyweights. Real Forneys hauled narrow gauge equipment that was lightweight long before the streamlined era, and switching duties were light too. They weren't big performers in real life and the models aren't either. Can you add weight to the Forney? Can you lighten up its train and still keep it on the track? What two cars are you pulling? Six axle heavyweight Pullmans? The fewer axles, the better. A powered car could help. No reason to de-power the Forney if the car is geared for similar speed. It'll probably stay on the track better if it and the powered car are both pulling, as opposed to the Forney getting shoved around.
Regarding the viability of a motorized car, the hardest part will be finding powered trucks. A motor would have no problem fitting in any covered car, but if you want motorized trucks, good luck. Locomotives have longer wheelbases than a boxcar, around 9 or so feet for a Blomberg B truck. Standard freight car trucks are around 5’6”. The easiest, least engineering intensive option, would be to utilize a rubber band transmission like the Athearn RDC. Also, look at NWSL Stanton motors to see if they have one small enough. Otherwise, you might have to scratch build a drivetrain. It all depends on what kind of car you want to power. I have seen power trucks for Pullman cars, intended for heavy brass trains. They are pretty rare though. See if 3 axle trucks, like from an SD40-2, would fit. The HTC or Flexicoil truck might be similar in length to Pullman trucks. Another problem you will have to address is wheel diameter. Locomotive wheels are larger than 36” passenger wheels. You might be able to ignore this issue, as long as you replace both trucks on the car.
No. Anything with Pullman trucks would look silly behind a Forney anyway. An industrial-type switcher like a 44-tonner could provide trucks and wheels close to a good size.
i had a couple of motorized jeeps, the drive wheels were a lot smaller, maybe only half the height of freight car wheels, and drove only on the back end ..
