i am planning to buy a pacific steamer to multi-couple with the mikado, but do they run good together?
I have never tried running them together, but you must see which is faster, and it will have to be the lead locomotive, then you have to get a coupler on the pilot of the trailing locomotive. -Robert
pray59: Why not put the faster one in the rear so it pulls more of the train and that slows it down? I think that is what we used to do in NTrak, but I may have it reversed.
The tenders are real light, so if pushed around a turn, they can derail easy because of the real long drawbar that Marklin uses. If pulled, they might have a better chance at staying together. I am not real sure though as I have never tested it. -Robert
Actually I have been playing around a lot with both of them especially this weekend. They both will run with the same speed after you move the throttle up, however the pacific runs slower at lower speeds longer. For example if the throttle is at 0 and I slowely crank it up, they are equal. Then as I get higher the mikado takes off faster while the pacific stays a little slower, but after you crank it up a little higher, the pacific catches back up and they are almost identical. I hope this helps for what it is worth.
Hey, wait a minute! I've just noticed somethin'. The Pacific and the Mikado both share the same shell!!
Yes, I swapped the shell between the pacific and mikado. I put a NP Pacific shell on an SP Mikado. -Robert
I saw a Marklin Southern 2-8-0 in the LHS the other day. Gee are those loco's expensive..I'm thinking about buying it. Sorry to change the subject... Stay cool and run steam.....
Yes, Z is expensive, so each and every purchase is carefully considered. But when you take home the prize, there is nothing like that pleasure. My Grandfather just got into Z Scale this year, after many decades in HO scale. (he's in his mid 90's and can't stand for long in the garage) Grandpa got one of the Marklin Pacific's in Northern Pacific, and he is building a small layout on the kitchen table. Grandma passed away a couple years ago, so he can do what he wants now. Grandpa will sit and watch that little steamer go round the layout for hours, all the while dreaming of what he is going to do to the layout next. He told me he just loves the siderods moving along. Having a small 2'x4' table top layout in Z Scale is like having a 5' x 9' HO layout, but you can reach everything, and all the while be sitting at the table. The only catch is he needs an optivisor to do his modeling with... well so do I. -Robert
