Hogwarts

Mario's Trains no longer show Gryffindor but I picked up the other three at a good price.

jefny

@Jushavnfun posted:

Since I have been away for a while, I discovered Hogwarts boxcar, finally found a GRYFFINDOR  boxcar for our Hogwarts Express at Mario's trains for a great price, looks great with the rest of the set.

What's your opinion of this set? Any issues? I love that it's a British engine. Does the motor seem robust?

The Achilles Heel of the Hogwart's locomotive is it's fairly heavy and it has the very small and anemic flat-sided set motor.

The Polar Express set, OTOH, started out with this motor and moved to the far more suitable motor that's twice the size.  Predictably, it will handle a larger load and the motor is likely to last much longer.

John, will the larger motor fit in the hogwarts loco?  

The Hogwarts loco has quite a good reputation, over here. I suppose, mostly because it IS quite a good representation of its type, and no other supplier has one in their range. 

They usually appear repainted in GWR livery, with the bell and whistle disabled and running on 12v DC, sometimes a DCC conversion. I saw one converted to 2 Rail, a while ago. 

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

The Achilles Heel of the Hogwart's locomotive is it's fairly heavy and it has the very small and anemic flat-sided set motor.

The Polar Express set, OTOH, started out with this motor and moved to the far more suitable motor that's twice the size.  Predictably, it will handle a larger load and the motor is likely to last much longer.

John  - can the larger motor be easily placed into the Hogwart locomotive or the original Polar Express?

Is the larger motor still available anywhere besides at Lionel?

I just on Lionels website for that part number: unavailable. They show a different part number: 620-8653-100 as Lionchief Berk Jr. Would that work on the conventional Polar Express or Hogwarts?

The larger motor won't fit as a drop-in, it requires frame alterations.  I actually send a Hogwart's locomotive to Frank Timko and he was able to fit a larger motor with the correct worm into the locomotive.  I'm planning on upgrading that to TMCC with fan driven smoke to replace the first one I converted that has the small motor.

I converted one of the PE set locomotives with the larger motor to TMCC, and quite predictably it's a much better puller than the Hogwart's locomotive with the small motor.  The PE locomotive will pull a dozen passenger cars on level track without breaking a sweat, I suspect it would handle a slight grade with that load as well, but I never got to test it.

Would you say the original motor would perform adequately with the set cars on a flat loop of track?

Yes, runs fine with three or four cars, I put eight behind it and it struggled on an O72 loop of Fastrack.

@Rockershovel posted:

The Hogwarts loco has quite a good reputation, over here. I suppose, mostly because it IS quite a good representation of its type, and no other supplier has one in their range. 

They usually appear repainted in GWR livery, with the bell and whistle disabled and running on 12v DC, sometimes a DCC conversion. I saw one converted to 2 Rail, a while ago. 

 

Hello Friend:

Is the set whistle a reasonable approximation of the actual engine?

Many thanks, and greetings from Portland, Ore.

John - thanks for the updates on the motors.

I have a 9 year old set (not Lion Chief) and it easily pulls 7  cars on a level setup with 042 curves. This includes the dementor car which I assume takes some power from the tracks but does not seem to affect the engine. I am still looking for the Gryffindor box car to complete the other 3 I bought. Will Lionel be making any more?

JohnF

I can assure you that the little flat-sided motor is working it's butt off with seven cars.  I don't often replace motors, but that set motor is an exception, I typically keep several in the parts box as they croak regularly.

@John F posted:

Mario's Trains no longer show Gryffindor but I picked up the other three at a good price.

jefny

Hey John,

Any chance you are willing to let a Gryffindor car go? I have been searching for one to complete my set.

Thank you,

Joe