I double-Decapod Dare You!

@Putnam Division posted:

George.....I would love to test the tractive effort when you double head them.....it's likely to be huge! My single RailKing Decapod from about 2002 is a monster.....

Peter

Peter,

I don't really know how well each Decapod will do in pulling cars.  I'm guessing 8-10 freight cars individually.  Double-headed we might be looking at 20-25 ore cars.  That's a test I will run at some point.

Unfortunately, right now the layout is in no shape to conduct this test.  We have lots of track feeders to connect, a number of switch machines to wire, and 1-2 power district buses to run before that is possible.  All of that will take time.  I am trying to only do things once and permanently, rather than give in to my impulse to run trains.    I know where that road leads - rework.

If your RailKing decapod is true to the prototype, it should be geared to slow running, brute strength.

A friend of mine (who shall remain nameless to protect the guilty ) has 9 of these 3rd Rail Decapods!    That's enough tractive power to pull Pennsylvania into the 21st Century!    I am jealous!

George

MikeCT,

Nice shots of your Decapods.  They are beautiful locomotives, aren't they?

George

@G3750 posted:

Peter,

I don't really know how well each Decapod will do in pulling cars.  I'm guessing 8-10 freight cars individually.  Double-headed we might be looking at 20-25 ore cars.  That's a test I will run at some point.

Unfortunately, right now the layout is in no shape to conduct this test.  We have lots of track feeders to connect, a number of switch machines to wire, and 1-2 power district buses to run before that is possible.  All of that will take time.  I am trying to only do things once and permanently, rather than give in to my impulse to run trains.    I know where that road leads - rework.

If your RailKing decapod is true to the prototype, it should be geared to slow running, brute strength.

A friend of mine (who shall remain nameless to protect the guilty ) has 9 of these 3rd Rail Decapods!    That's enough tractive power to pull Pennsylvania into the 21st Century!    I am jealous!

George

George, with their weight and traction tires.....I will bet more than 20-25 cars....Here is my RailKing Decapod....

Peter

Peter,

Very cool!  Like I said, I will try it out.

George

I love the 3rd Rail Decs and have both versions like you. Bob Bartizek told me to paint over the boilerfront numberplates a few years ago. I also trimmed the class lights a bit to sit a little straighter. Here's mine doubleheaded with ERRCo cruise:

Gorgeous Norm!  Thanks for sharing that.  As usual, your scenery and weathering are over the top!

My Decapods also have ERR boards.  I am looking forward to running them across the bridge hauling ore cars.

George

George, what sounds did you use? Lionel’s RS4 boards are starting to disappear now and I think the closest PRR sound from 3rd Rail/ERR is the ‘small steam’ version. I have two 3rd Rail M1a/bs I am thinking about converting over to ERR.

Great thread and nice pics of all the Decs. I bought a used MTH Premier Dec years ago and had ERR and 4 chuff modifications made. I don't know how it scores on scale and detail fidelity but it looks good pulling a string of tankers, hoppers or mixed freight. I have often watched the horseshoe curve videos with the decs fore and aft. Can't wait to see your decs in action George. An old poor photo of my short tender MTH Premier.

@Norm Charbonneau posted:

George, what sounds did you use? Lionel’s RS4 boards are starting to disappear now and I think the closest PRR sound from 3rd Rail/ERR is the ‘small steam’ version. I have two 3rd Rail M1a/bs I am thinking about converting over to ERR.

Norm,

I used ERR Railsound Large Steam boards.  I believe that's what Bob Bartizek uses in his Decapods as well.

George

@pennsynut posted:

Great thread and nice pics of all the Decs. I bought a used MTH Premier Dec years ago and had ERR and 4 chuff modifications made. I don't know how it scores on scale and detail fidelity but it looks good pulling a string of tankers, hoppers or mixed freight. I have often watched the horseshoe curve videos with the decs fore and aft. Can't wait to see your decs in action George. An old poor photo of my short tender MTH Premier.

I would imagine that MTH Premier Decapod scores very well on its looks.  I had one on order before scrapping DCS in favor of exclusively TMCC.  Cancelling that pre-order for it was very hard, but necessary.  Converting yours to ERR was almost certainly the right course of action.  I would do the same if I came across one.

George

Here's my long-tendered Decapod pulling an ore train the length of the train room.

George

Looks great!!