Rusty Traque posted:After giving this plastic vs. metal talk some thinking, I can see where metal would be preferable.
Because of the bulky proprietary electronics, there's really no room to add weight if a plastic boiler were to be used. Here's the innards that make the Y3 go, liberated from Carl Tuveson's website:
If a plastic boiler were used, there's really no place to place an extra weight.
Rusty
What are most peoples needs for the Y3 to pull a certain quantity of rolling stock? I would say that most people would be pushed to put 20 freight cars behind one of these except for those that are lucky to have the space for a large layout.
What would be interesting now is for someone with a Y3 to remove the boiler shell and then slowly load it up with traditional AF freight cars and see where the break point would be for a maximum consist. If it was able to pull around 30 then I think it would meet a high 90’s % for most people. Traction tyres would enhance its pulling capacity to assist a plastic shell.
