Frisco Brakeman posted:I bought a 783 Hudson that was new in box, it is a very nice loco.
So did I, and you're right -- it is very nice. In fact, mine is running on my layout right now, pulling a Lionel express reefer and three Atlast Trainman NYC passenger cars.
I have tuned it up from info that I've gained on here and the other forum. I've added shims, moved magnets, lubed it, and even ground the ends of the rods down.
You've done all the right things. I don't understand the part about "grinding the ends of the rods down," though.
And watch out for those magnets. Even after moving them away from the wheels and epoxying them in place, the one on my rearmost drivers still wouldn't stay where it belonged. I finally ended up removing the rearmost magnet. The locomotive still runs fine, with no wheel slip.
I've run this engine to break it in; don't know if long enough: several hours for sure. it runs some what better but; It still seems like a slug.
Several hours isn't nearly enough. These locomotives need a lot of break-in time.
I have a consist of 7 aluminum passenger cars -- all have been cleaned and oiled -- that I like to pull with it. I have a good ZW with great voltage,so no issues there: although I have to operate the ZW wide open for very little speed.
I can hook up a freight consist of MPC and Modern cars; even with the free rolling trucks, still a slug. Are they really that bad, for such a nice engine. Are there any more suggestions? Anybody else have one that snail paces along, and an ant could out pull. How many cars does yours pull? How many passenger/ freight cars do you suggest?
As others have correctly noted, the descendants of the 700e are geared very low, and are not speed demons. As others have INcorrectly said, running them at over 16 volts is not overkill. They were meant to reach their maximum scale speed at 20v.
As for the transformer, my vintage KW works just fine with the 783.
The 783 isn't for the impatient. The best thing you can do now is run it, run it and run it. I wasn't kidding about them needing a lot of break-in time.
