A channel dedicated to showcasing the work Ive done on my models, with the goal to inspire others and help guide those who want to copy my work. I specialize in DCC installs, remotoring, repowering, and general engine repair/restoration. I strive to inspire other modelers to become comfortable with working on their own models. I also include a few reviews and "just trains running" videos.
The goal of this channel is to share my work and improve my video filming and editing skills. Enjoy!
-----------------
My layout is based mostly around "The Virginian" 2012 Model Railroader Magazine layout.
-----------------
Find me on forums:
Instagram: trainman440
cs.trains(mrr): trainman440
tycoforums: trainman280
Пікірлер
Very impressive review of C&O Allegheny locomotive models from both MTH and Rivarossi, the Alleghenies are incredible examples of steam power and are among some of my personal favorite types of articulated locomotives. The mth model I assume has more weight but the Rivarossi model has a more accurate appearance, I heard that Rivarossi is releasing a new run of the C&O Alleghenies either later this year or early next year. I would really like to see a new release of the Rivarossi Allegheny type locomotives as the last time they produced this locomotive model was back in late 2014, this was an interesting and enjoyable locomotive comparison- Tom.
Thanks! actually both models have similar weight, despite MTH's being fully diecast. That's because MTH's has an empty boiler, whereas Rivarossi's plastic shell is filled with lead inside. Both have traction tires so I believe they are fairly similar in pulling power. Yes Rivarossi is doing a rerelease, I believe theyre $450 on trainworld, and after a 10% discount that brings it down to around $400. A VERY reasonable price if you ask me, in 2024. Cheers!
Had this one in a Tyco train set back in the late 60's.
The Spectrum car has more details because 'Spectrum' was the higher end line than the 'Silver' series cars. The wider coupler swing on the 'Silver' series car is to allow it to negotiate curves found on commonly found 4' x 8' layouts.
I love these cars. Its actually my favorite livery for ATSF. The body side color is kind of a greenish/gray.
I'll admit its not for me, but I do agree its a rather unique scheme for a rather unique period on the santa fe, during a time full of intense cost cutting measures (1953-1965). Cheers!
Would it be possible to take an air compressor wheth an nozzle on the end of the are hose do any good for it....
spraying it with compressed air doesnt do anything. It is completely stuck to the brass.
On brass upgrades: you may have covered this in a different video but do you generally replace gearboxes on your locomotives or just use the stock gearbox? I know this depends on the model too.
Good question! Most stock gearboxes are perfectly fine. It is totally un-necessary to replace the gearbox unless its performance is not up to par to what you desire. I often will tune and modify gearboxes to run smoother and quieter, enough to be satisfied with the gearbox. That being said the only times Ive replaced gearboxes were either broken/cracked gearboxes (from select/certain ALCO brass), or ones which Im not able to make quiet, notably some PFM/United gearboxes.
Hey, did you ever add sound to that 2-8-4 that came DCC ready? I just bought the Walthers release C&O (2746) that also came DCC ready, and was curious what sound decoder to buy for it. Thanks!
I did! ended up adding TCS wowsound, although i might switch it out with Loksound, since wowsound doesnt have a great NKP whistle. But buy whatever sound decoder you enjoy the sounds of! all of them are equally easy to install, i believe these have an 8 pin dcc ready plug.
Very nice review. Surprised the Rivarossi stacked up so favorably in detail compared to the MTH model. In my head the MTH would have been far superior.
thanks! rivarossis engine is quite good looking, I dont like the false mentality of "more expensive = better". Its not always true!
So I’m planing to buy a BLI NW Class A and Y6A/Y6b….but every time I do some research I hear so many bad and good things about BLI. As I am European, I can’t just send them back in case there is a problem. Costums etc are a big problem. So is it safe to buy these models? They had been released before already
MTHs chin ku detail is just lazy design, not a technology limitation. When even Hornby can make lovely, fine British running boards on ~$100 models (j15 & j36), then Mth are just not good at modelling, they could have easily had the running boards be tapered to be thinner at the ends, just like anyone who has made a white metal kit has done.
Gotta also remember the MTH engine was made in 2014. So if youre going to compare, you have to compare with Hornbys fully diecast offerings from 2014. But yes I agree MTH definitely could have made those running boards thinner.
Rivarossi is rereleasing their Allegheny later this year
indeed. Retail price is around $500-550. A far more reasonable price than the MTH which are going for much more.
You mentioned 1601 as being the one H-8 preserved, but 1604 is also preserved.
true! I forgot about that.
Great vid, helped me sort out a newly acquired old Balboa narrow gauge 2-8-0 in short order! THANK YOU!
Glad I was able to help!
I pre ordered the bli S1 with a smoke unit but the s1 is a big engine so I think it should be fine for me. I do admit I got a little scared clicking on the video, but I also remembered that S1 is a big locomotive
The S1 being brass shouldnt melt. And yea its big enough where youre not losing all that much out on weight. This was mostly directed to those original paragon models which were made of plastic.
what a wonderful chorus of chuffing! There's really nothing quite like it.
YES, mth protosound 3.0 is underrated. The deep chuffs are music to my ears.
Gotta love the Allegheny. It's one of those locomotives in the world that sum up the definition of powerful machine.
Agreed! Such chonkers.
Awsome locomotives
thanks!
I love this. Where can I get traction tirescfor my rivarossi allegheny?
im not sure where you can get a traction tirescfor.
maybe reach out to rivarossi/hornby customer support? theyre doing a rerun so they should have spare parts.
PRR Q1 Q2 R.I.P
tragic :(
Nice job! I just did one of my AEM-7s with a Loksound 5 Direct DCC decoder with built in keep alive. It's nice because the LED resistors are built on to the board. I have it on my channel.
based fusion 360 enjoyer
fusion 360 goated
Where did you get your prototype photos from?
rrpicturearchieves website
I saw your post on model railroader, and these look amazing!, I have been wanting to do something like this for a while, so thanks for sharing how you did yours!
thanks! good luck!
call the front half of the RDC-1 a 'sleeper' - that's why the shades are drawn ;)
😎
bellissima locomotiva, io ne ho una della Rivarossi! L Allegheny è una delle mie articolate preferite!
Grazie! Molto belli anche i Rivarossi Alleghany, più dettagliati di questi modelli della MTH. Sono modelli davvero fantastici. (tradotto dall'inglese)
Can’t wait to hear how you got these and what your thoughts on them are, MTH’s Alleghenies are beautiful
Thanks! might make a short review of this. Or maybe not. C&O isnt my specialty, idk if i am qualified enough to make such a review. I dont have much knowledge on the H8 background to know what is accurate and what is inaccurate.
Awesome video! There are very few videos of loksound decoders this old. We really have come a long way when it comes to sound decoders.
We really have! Sometimes you gotta look back to appreciate how far weve come :)
DONE THE REMODELING OF B.L.I. CENTIPEDES ROOF LINES AT THE REAR OF THE LOCOMOTIVES .... REMOVING OF THAT WRONG ROOF CONTOUR ,, ITS ALSO MOLDED IN COLOR AND A LITTLE ROOF WEATHERING AND YOU CAN'T TELL AT ALL .....
The newer run DGLE is in fact very dark green. Significantly darker than the 2005 run but it is green almost black, but you can still tell the difference between true black and this DGLE. The thing is there are at least two distinct shades of green that the PRR used and apparently called DGLE/Brunswick Green. I wish I can post a link because I know of a picture that wiukd show EXACTLY what I am talking about. If you can allow you channel to accept links I can show it. This is the same confusion with UP's Armour Yellow. It can be an almost canary yellow to a dark mustard color. Annoying.
My understanding was that all PRR steam locos had DGLE, brunswick green was used for other things. Potentially diesels/electrics, etc. Youre right after bringing my 2nd run K4 outside under the bright sun, it is ever so slightly green. Too black for my taste. Once I get to painting my unpainted PRR locos, Im hoping to make a green thats something between the first run and second run green. Cheers!
The worst thing about this model is that it seriously puts the Bachmann model to shame 😂😂
Haha Bachmanns definitely has room for improvement!
What is the motor you used? I don't see the details mentioned. I've several C-16 an C-6as. I've converted a C-16 to DCC but am not please with the performance and speed of the Rivarossi motor.
My bad, forgot to mention, I used a palin jane Mabuchi FF130 motor, found for like $3 on ebay. It fits very snugly inside the boiler!
Good review Thanks
i like these a5's, i have 2 rivarossi's im thinking of regearing with a cd rom drive motors. One is an older version with the complex valve gear linkage like yours, the other a newer version with simple valve gear tho it runs much smoother, same motor, same brass gear and worm drive..guess there's something to be had with a brass version, that runs so smooth.
Rivarossi 0-4-0s are based off of B&O C-16a prototype. Not PRR. But they are very cute engines! I have one myself which I added Tsunami sound and keep alive into a while back, and made a vid abt it too.
I ended up using a Mabuchi FF130 motor. Couldnt fit a CD driver motor inside there.
He's back! :D
:D
Did MTH make that version factory-equipped with the Box-Pok center driver set? That would be one I’d like to track down. Edit: just saw that you added it yourself, I’d love to hear how you did that
Thanks! I was gonna make an instagram post about it (I post about ALL my projects in a lot more detail there. Only a few end up making it onto my YT), but if it gets popular enough maybe I'll make a YT vid about it too. Stay tuned!
I’d love to have a day but sadly my first run K4 is bricked and finding a second run for a decent price is a pain.
rip. Have you tried factory resetting it? Program on the main CV 55 to 55 to engine address 55.
@@trainman440 that’s what caused it. It ran smooth but no sound, did a reset then bricked. I’ve done resets galore to no avail.
@@James-Railyard weird. Youre doing the 55 trick via program on the main right?
@@trainman440 yup
Really enjoyed this and got a kick out or your "basketball sized" coal analogy. Nice attention to detail. Granted, the paint was obviously atrocious. I suspect the 2nd run was during a period of declining revenue ...
haha thanks! and hm thats a good guess, you very much could be right. Although 2015 is also when they released some of their most sucessful engines including the C&O 2-6-6-6 and the DM&IR Yellowstones...maybe the K4 re-release was simply overlooked?
That is a good point and the other 2015 releases are selling for a premium these days. I was able to get some insight into model train product development from the late Charles Ro and his team when they were working on the USA Trains 4-8-4. The primary concern they had related to the potential theft of their intellectual property, not manufacturing defects. I suspect you are right that MTH was investing the bulk of their energy to other HO prototypes in 2015, but I am still aghast at the lack of QC!
MTH just loved to do reruns and made them worse each time, some new models along the way but MTH electronics have improved just a little bit. Still would replace it for loksound or TCS in the long run.
I mean for me this is a sample size of one. Did MTH really "love" doing reruns? I feel like they only reran a select few of their HO steam locos, most of which were at the very end of MTH (berk, GS4). But the majority of steamers they never did reruns on. NYC hudsons, mohawks, C&O 2-6-6-6s, USRA Miks, etc.
@@trainman440 Well they may not have reran much but almost every MTH catalog I’ve looked through has a couple of locomotives that were made in the early 2000’s with no great changes. An exception could be their passenger cars because there is nothing really bad about them. Also I’ve seen some reruns of the Mohawk because I believe that was one of the first models MTH made.
@@TheUnionPacificGuy Nope they only did the Mohawk once, 2008. Never again. The first models in HO were the the K4 and GS-4 as dealer appreciation samples.
@@TheUnionPacificGuy fact check next time you comment.
Kinda crazy how quality standards can go down so much in a newer model. Just shows that they were making the new run to ride off of the success of the old run.
indeed! Its a shame since its clear they put in effort to get all the new features working. But dropped the ball on the basics.
I've personally used batteries for my cars. Never a fan of track power for my passenger cars
thats fair, but for ppl like me who only occasionally run their trains, batteries would just loose charge over time sitting on the shelf. track pickup is better for me in the long run. but i agree batteries make it much easier!
Bachmann pricing has been inflated for years. Their MSRP for an HO car with 1970s/Model Power/Tyco tooling (thick details, no separate grabs or ladders, obviously cast from old molds) is $50.00-60.00, equivalent to Rapido, Tangent or Scale Trains (high-level of detail, including details specific to railroad-proprietary car classes), and 20-30% HIGHER than Kadee (ditto). At least, the Bachmann cars have (plastic!) knuckle couplers. No idea what they're smoking, at Bachmann.
good job, was it hard taking the tender apart?..I have two of these switchers and interested in adding power to the tender and new lights...dont have dcc yet, not interested as im starting small and all my engine are old DC
This would be a rather challenging install for a first timer. Id highly recommend doing some other engines first before attemping this tiny 0-4-0. That being said, the tender shell can be taken apart by removing the rivet which holds the drawbar pin in place. I grinded the top of it off, which dropped the pin, and allowed the shell to be taken off. Cheers!
-One comment I'd like to add to this Part II video, is that Walther's No longer stocks any parts for the Heritage 2-8-4's. NWSL has re-made the axle gear, so if yours cracks, you should be able to replace it with theirs, although a little work to "re-quarter" the drivers! Bachmann though, has re-released their Berkshires again, so they have a pretty good stock on parts right now, as of early 2024!
that is true! I had to buy 3 of these before I found two that had relatively intact gears.
The Bachmann engines are more correct in most respects! The biggest Error on the LL Heritage engines, is where the running board steps up on the Firemen's side of the loco (all versions!), it should raise up before the pipe from the cylinders! Only the NKP Class S (700-714) went back the same length on both sides, then raised up past the pipe from the cylinders! Don't like the yellowish Headlight on Bachmann's? Pull the shell off, pull the yellow LED out, throw it away, and replace it with a TCS Sunny White 3mm LED! The white-wash on loco tires, is mostly done on Excursion engines! But the added details that will really make the Bachmann engine stand out are: Blowdown pipe added to engineer's side; Cold water pump on the Fireman's side, frame mounted on bracket behind the last driver, and the water line on the trailing truck to the tender. Also add real scale coal cemented over the plastic coal load! And yes you're right---add a deck plate, and Handrails to the cab, tender (all 4 corners, and a short ladder from the coal bunker, down to the tender water tank area, toward the fireman's side! Also a nice weathering job with Pan Pastels will really make details stand out on engines with molded on details. In the case of your PM 1225, alight weathering job will make it look more realistic, where as your NKP 738, heavy weathering would look better, as those freight engines got pretty grimy after a long run. That and RR's didn't keep them as clean towards the ends of there careers!
good points! thanks for sharing abt the running board fact, I didnt know about that. I agree, the bachmann one is a great candidate for detailing and customizing! definitely one of their best models, esp for the price.
I have a few of these and the safest and easiest way to get them out of the box is to carefully turn the styrofoam case upside down and allow the cars to gently come out. Another way is to get a long piece of cardboard, place it on top of the styrofoam case and again, turn the case upside down then once turned over, remove the foam case off of the cars which will leave them on the cardboard making it easy to pick them up. I highly recommend this for the 3 car sets.
that's a good point! thanks for sharing
Hello, love the vids. I was wondering if you had seen the new BLI club conductors club and if you had any opinions on it. Also im lookng to ourchase my first BLI locomotive and was wondering if new Paragon 4 engines are worth it.
I dont like the premise of PAYING for a subscription just for the privilege of PAYING for a model. I dont agree with their business choices but alas my opinion doesnt really matter lol.
Play you are closed at least 30 of them were put aside for passenger surfaces to help with the heavier trains along with the K4 Pacific's
your comment makes no sense. please correct all the typos so i know what you're talking about. "passenger surfaces"? wtf
What I was trying to say was that the M1 mountains were also used on passenger trains as well as freight trains as 30 of them were put on passenger trains to help with the lk4s
@@Ryebread1945 where did you get the "30" number from? From my understanding, PRR M1 and M1as were intended for "dual service" on paper but in practice the vast majority of them ended up pulling freight. And rarely pulled passenger trains.
Nice job and very well explained. I have quite a few older brass steam which I'll need to convert to DCC in the near future. I will likely keep about 15 to 20 steam engines (out of about 50 engines) and keep the ones that are appropriate for my mountain style railroad (HO Scale) and sell the larger engines which would not be appropriate for a Colorado style mountain road. My dad used to send me in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s a lot of trains from him attending many train shows in southern California during that time period. Again, nice job and great details which is very helpful to someone like myself who will have to convert many brass steam engines. Phil NYC / Jersey Shore Area
thanks phil! the kind words mean a lot. I know what you mean, when you look at your huge lot of trains that all still need decoders, it feels like a moutain of work ahead of you. But take it one step at a time and sure youll get it done in no time. Good luck!
@@trainman440 Thanks for the words of encouragement...I'll look forward to watching more of your videos, especially on DCC installations!... Phil NYC / Jersey Shore Area
You say Lima wrong ..its like Lima bean minus the bean
yep, youre not the first to point that out. ill do better next time.
@@trainman440 our gps does it too LEEMA lol
kzread.info/dash/bejne/mp9ruMOfdbepYag.htmlsi=Q45sps5CWcn9ogKF