I had one of the original MTH PS2 versions. never had a problem, regret selling it. My friend has one, and the thing derails all the time on 31" curves.
I just added about 24 ounces of weight to my PS/3 one, made a huge difference in pulling power, practically doubled it. Now the rear truck doesn't hop up and down when I try to start the train with all ten coaches.
For anyone out there with a Pre-Order from last year. Clyde with Stockyard Express told me he is waiting for them to arrive anytime. By the end of the month.
Bryant Dunivan 111417 posted:For anyone out there with a Pre-Order from last year. Clyde with Stockyard Express told me he is waiting for them to arrive anytime. By the end of the month.
So who preordered it from the 2019 catalogue or will be getting the Aerotrain once it arrives at dealers? And for what road? Will you be getting extra cars, too?
Btw, GRJ, exactly where in the shell or on the frame did you attach that 24 ounces? Over the rear trailing truck, in the middle, at the front of the engine or evenly distributed throughout the shell?
Also, I am missing the fender, wheel skirts for over the engine's front wheels that came with the set. If you have a pair to spare, know someone who does, or know where I can obtain/purchase them, please let me know. My email is in my profile. Thanks.
I added the weight distributed. I had started with 10 ounces of weight over the rear truck in an effort to get more traction. Apparently, that was too much of a good thing concentrated in one area, it didn't work that well. So, I put another 14 oz from the middle to over the front truck. This worked out better and apparently allows the front truck to pick up more of the load.
I have one more idea on the Aerotrain for better running as well. I'm thinking of moving the tach reader to the front truck. I believe the oddball rear truck would fare better if it was just a slave to the front truck. With a little luck, I can just swap the motors, hopefully the worms are the same.
UPS shipping Monday. Grand Kids should like it too. That’s my excuse, and I’m sticking to it.
@gunrunnerjohn sorry to revive an old thread, but I've got all ten Aerotrain cars now as well, want the train to pull them and also to convert the coaches to LED.
Other than weight, what was your conclusion on upping the pulling power? Did you ever swap tach reader to the front motor to make the rear the slave?
Also, on LED lighting, do you sell the lighting regulators with the LED strips included or no? And, on the same topic, in the Aerotrain coaches, any idea the best place to hide the lighting regulator?
Thanks in advance as always.
The major issue is the rear truck design as that's the primary driving truck. I didn't move the tach, I really didn't want the front truck controlling the traction as most of the traction is in the rear when moving forward. My fixes were making sure the small wheels were free-rolling, lubing the arm that rides along the chassis, and forming it so that the small wheels didn't hop out of the rails, but also didn't bear most of the weight and result in loss of traction. After tweaking that, I was able to pull all the cars.
As for the regulators, I stick them to the ceiling of the cars with double-sided foam tape. I fold the regulator tab, and even looking up from slightly below window level, you just see the corner of the regulator. I position them between the window posts to minimize the ability to see them as well.
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The rear truck in my PS2 version slipped and chattered if you tried to pull more than 4 cars. As discussed above, the rear truck design is poor. Additionally the cars have very tight bearings and they roll poorly. I added a pound of lead weights around the rear truck, and after oiling all the bearings and running them to break them in, I can now pull 9 cars without slipping.
Bob
There is a fine balance between decent operation and either a hopping rear truck or the small front wheels lifting out of the rails on curves. That's where the tweaking comes in.
Crappy video, not sure what happened to the focus. However, it does illustrate how a properly tuned Aerotrain engine can pull ten cars, including a 2.5% grade with relative ease.
The one I'm modifying had no trouble with 2% grades and 6-car consists last year. The tightest curves it'll see are o-72 and the steepest grade is 2%, so I'm thinking I'll just start with weight in the engine. Never saw any issues with the truck jumping. Will modify that as needed.
The difference between six cars and ten cars is considerable. Mine would do 5-6 cars all day, but when I got the full 10 car consist, things started to go south.
MTH was just following Varney's lead who made this train in HO in the 1950's. The separate sale power truck was woefully underpowered as well and it was not known as a stellar runner. However, they do hold their value when found in good condition.
I'm sorely tempted to take my second Aerotrain engine and modify the rear truck to a non-swiveling design and lose the two small wheels. It would be closer to the prototype and as long as I stick to O72 and larger, I think it might be fine. That would also eliminate many of the issues with that flaky design.
I remember seeing the real one a couple of times. MTH should rerun this set.
For fun I ran the Lionel Jet Car (conventional) and the Aerotrain together.
@jim sutter posted:I remember seeing the real one a couple of times. MTH should rerun this set.
They have run it a bunch of times.
@gunrunnerjohn posted:
Very nice, John and it looks like you’ve had to do a lot of tinkering to get it running right. In watching your video, which is a great video by the way, the train looks like a bunch of 1950s Greyhound buses lined up behind each other, being pulled down the railroad track by some futuristic diesel locomotive. 
Well, after all, they were bus bodies that they adapted to use for the Aerotrain, so that's about right! 
All the original GM EMD Aerotrain sets were "rejected" after major railroads (NYC, PRR, UP and SF) tested them and sent them back to GM as unsatisfactory. The Aerotrains were sold at a discount to the CRI&P (Rock Island) and were first placed in service as the Peoria Rocket. When a teenager, I rode that train along its Peoria to Chicago route. The RI declared it "The Train of Tomorrow." It was impressive to view, but uncomfortable to ride. Subsequently, the RI changed its assignment to the commuter route between Joliet and Chicago -- a better "fit" for relative slower speed. The two remaining Aerotrains are on display at museums (n Green Bay, WI and St. Louis, MO).
I bought the MTH model of the Aerotrain (with PS-2) in RI décor because of my history with the prototype. I subsequently bought more passengers coaches and added scale passengers inside. It's now a 10-car consist. Gunrunner John installed Lionel's TMCC in it for compatibility with my TMCC-equipped layout. I applied his tips about the derail-prone rear truck for improved running. It runs great.
My short video is attached.
Mike Mottler LCCA 12394
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Videos (1)
