@Curt Henion posted:The Hudson is Lionel #6-82965 Santa Fe 3450 Lion Chief. The Northern is MTH #30-1140-1 Santa Fe 2926 Rail King. The Hudson pulled 24 cars easily. The Northern was spinning the wheels with 10 and 12 cars. I purchased the Northern from a guy in Albuquerque, but it was new in the box and had never been run. The traction tires are on it. He used it for a display during the presentation of the real 2926 that has been restored in Albuquerque. The Hudson, being a remote controlled engine, doesn’t get the voltage “jolt” at the beginning of movement like the Northern being run directly off of the ZW transformer. I purchased the Northern more for it’s likeness to the real 2926 anyway, even though it is a smaller “O” scale than my Legacy 3751 Northern.
I realize they have the smaller “O” scale for the .031 curves, but seems like it would pull as many cars as the smaller Hudson. I don’t know, like I said I am new to the hobby.
A couple of ideas...
The RailKing is a 23 year model. You said it was displayed, so maybe the traction tires are dried out. Also, with the Hudson being LionChief produced in the last 5 years, it's motor control technology is much more advanced. Also, the LionChief get's to start out with full voltage available where as the RailKing Proto is starting at 5-7 volts.
I don't think the comparison is all that fair. If the problem is the wheels are slipping, I would try new traction tires and/or adding weight inside the boiler. Lead sheeting is the best for this IMHO. If the problem is that it can't get the train started, or it bogs down on hills, then I'd say the lack of advanced motor control is the problem.
There is a YouTube channel called Eric's Trains where he regularly does pulling power tests on the locomotives he reviews. I don't recall there being a significant difference between the pulling power between Lionel and MTH locomotives. That said, he mostly buys Legacy and MTH Premier models which have bigger motors, better electronics all around, and bigger, heavier boilers.
