Here’s a very old video that I think was taken with a iPhone 2… but it’s 24 Mth die cast cars with a 4 motor Mth PRR Baldwin shark…my collection of Mth die cast has grown significantly since I made this video. I have around 70 Mth die cast cars in my collection now.
@taycotrains posted:Here’s a very old video that I think was taken with a iPhone 2… but it’s 24 Mth die cast cars with a 4 motor Mth PRR Baldwin shark…my collection of Mth die cast has grown significantly since I made this video. I have around 70 Mth die cast cars in my collection now.
Great video Bob. Didn't know that there were die cast cars out there that weren't coal hoppers. Also like the variety behind the PRR engine.
My K-Line Die-cast Hoppers arrived today, am very glad I bought them, they look even better than in the pictures. Way nicer than the Weavers I have. Despite reading how heavy they are, it didn't hit me until I picked it up. WOW!! Should have "lifted from the knees" to avoid injuring myself (just kidding).
To "tie-up the loose ends", I took pictures next to the Weaver Hopper in my earlier post. It is NIB so didn't remove plastic holding coal in place until I get my layout built. Bottom line is both Hoppers are 10.5 scale feet wide over top rail. The height is the same. The Weaver is a 36 foot long car, the K-Line is a 33.5 foot long car (too save weight, LOL). The Weaver in the picture is a 2R. One nice thing with the K-Line (3R) is the car sits at prototypical height. With Weaver 3R UNMODIFIED freight cars, they sit too high because of the space required for the coupler (over the truck). Adding Kadee's lowers them, if the wheels don't rub on the underside of the car.
Anyhow thanks for the replies, directing me to these.
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To end ALL of your speculations...
1 engine, 1 motor, Legacy speed steps: 65.
I'll let you do the counting, boys!
And, by the way...I weighed each hopper car (without the loads of course), and discovered most weighed in at 1 lbs, 13 oz, while a few registered at 2 lbs., 2 oz.!
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You can fit a longer train in if you turn your phone 90 degrees.
Really?? That's all you can say?
I wanted to make sure you had the chance to count! LOL
@Gregcz1 posted:To end ALL of your speculations...
1 engine, 1 motor, Legacy speed steps: 65.
I'll let you do the counting, boys!
And, by the way...I weighed each hopper car (without the loads of course), and discovered most weighed in at 1 lbs, 13 oz, while a few registered at 2 lbs., 2 oz.!
Looks like I need to buy 19 more. Liked the video, Thanks!
Now you just have to find a Die-cast Caboose to complete the train. Don't think K-Line made them, and the Lionel and MTH are not Scale size. Wonder if anyone has made one?
@Gregcz1 posted:To end ALL of your speculations...
1 engine, 1 motor, Legacy speed steps: 65.
I'll let you do the counting, boys!
And, by the way...I weighed each hopper car (without the loads of course), and discovered most weighed in at 1 lbs, 13 oz, while a few registered at 2 lbs., 2 oz.!
Do that run every day, for about an hour a day, for 6-7 months, then let’s see the wear & tear on the engine. While there’s no doubt a single locomotive could pull that train, and even a lot more of them, I doubt this is one of your regularly run trains.
Pat
I think that die-cast hoppers do look great. Sure having maybe a few on a train could be something good at the head of the train, but having something that is a little more light weight to bring up the rest of the train is definitely a better alternative. I think about Gunrunner John's tank train, about 70 cars. I don't remember what motive power was at the head, and I believe his cars may have had some weight added, but nothing like a die-cast car.
As Pat said, the die-cast cars make good over at the coaling tower or other areas.
enjoy the Kline hoppers I have some they are nice. My layout isn't that big so don't need to run a lot of them. could always use a few more though. :-)
@harmonyards posted:Do that run every day, for about an hour a day, for 6-7 months, then let’s see the wear & tear on the engine. While there’s no doubt a single locomotive could pull that train, and even a lot more of them, I doubt this is one of your regularly run trains.
Pat
I did it because there was earlier speculation that only a double-motor engine or more could pull such a consist. I am going to do another incline test soon with the same train.
My running sessions are hours long, but I don't run one engine that long...I have a lot of them and have freight yards and passenger stations, so enjoy multitasking and shift my attention to other areas of the layout.
I will "play it safe" and have at least a double or triple header pulling that consist when running it for a longer period of time (which was my intent when starting the collection). I will also do what the real railroads did especially on the N&W and have a helper steamer at the rear when I am in the mood.
@Gregcz1 posted:I did it because there was earlier speculation that only a double-motor engine or more could pull such a consist. I am going to do another incline test soon with the same train.
My running sessions are hours long, but I don't run one engine that long...I have a lot of them and have freight yards and passenger stations, so enjoy multitasking and shift my attention to other areas of the layout.
I will "play it safe" and have at least a double or triple header pulling that consist when running it for a longer period of time (which was my intent when starting the collection). I will also do what the real railroads did especially on the N&W and have a helper steamer at the rear when I am in the mood.
"CONOPS" as we say in aerospace. Long sessions for me are switching and multi-tasking. Loop sessions aren't that long but it makes sense to use the right engine. I would think that a 2-8-8-2 with twin motors would be a better choice than my semi-scale Mikado. Fortunately (or unfortunately) I don't have the layout space to pull more than 15 hoppers without things looking pretty silly.
I just got about nine of the KLine die casts from different buys. It was less than $20 a car so I HAD to buy them. Will be interesting to see what 6 die casts "feel" like compared to say 12 regular.
@Scott J posted:"CONOPS" as we say in aerospace. Long sessions for me are switching and multi-tasking. Loop sessions aren't that long but it makes sense to use the right engine. I would think that a 2-8-8-2 with twin motors would be a better choice than my semi-scale Mikado. Fortunately (or unfortunately) I don't have the layout space to pull more than 15 hoppers without things looking pretty silly.
I just got about nine of the KLine die casts from different buys. It was less than $20 a car so I HAD to buy them. Will be interesting to see what 6 die casts "feel" like compared to say 12 regular.
I hate to break it to you, but articulate, mallets and the like by Lionel consist of only one motor, not two.
@Gregcz1 posted:I hate to break it to you, but articulate, mallets and the like by Lionel consist of only one motor, not two.
The Lionmaster Lionel articulateds have twin motors, like the MTH RK articulateds. This design of steamer double-articulation is actually a diesel loco in drag (twin powered swiveling trucks, not true articulation).
The scale articulateds known to me, all brands, have a single motor and driveshafts to both "engines", but the motor is typically large and in charge, and probably equals (exceeds?) the power of the two smaller Lionmaster/Railking motors.
The die-cast cars are fine for most layouts, as most of us can't or don't want to pull 50-car trains anyway. If your curves are reasonable and you have no meaningful grades, run those heavy, well-tracking things in moderate length trains. I love die-cast cars. They feel indestructible. Grown-up. I've never gone looking for broken steps, or anything else.
Also - keep them toward the front of the train if running mixed DC and typical plastic cars.
I have 32 coal hoppers. Of those 21 are die cast and 8 are K-Line. No issues with pulling what I want. If I think it’s stressing the engine, I add another engine. I’m an operator more than a collector. When you run them often, you get better at knowing the limits and how to fix them when you push it too far. But, that’s only happened once and that was GGD passenger car’s fault, not coal hoppers.
Do the K-Line die cast hoppers suffer from zinc pest?
@Mallard4468 posted:Do the K-Line die cast hoppers suffer from zinc pest?
I once saw a listing for 3 k-line hoppers that were crumbling like a cookie! So far, (knock on wood) none of mine have fallen prey.
@jstraw124 posted:I have 32 coal hoppers. Of those 21 are die cast and 8 are K-Line. No issues with pulling what I want. If I think it’s stressing the engine, I add another engine. I’m an operator more than a collector. When you run them often, you get better at knowing the limits and how to fix them when you push it too far. But, that’s only happened once and that was GGD passenger car’s fault, not coal hoppers.
Amen!
@Gregcz1 posted:I once saw a listing for 3 k-line hoppers that were crumbling like a cookie! So far, (knock on wood) none of mine have fallen prey.
Thinking we are pretty safe. Zink pest takes a while, but usually not 20 years, to set-in.
I bought a food scale on Amazon and did my own weight measurements. The KLine diecast cars came in at 2.2 lbs and the equivalent MTH wartime hopper about 0.88 lbs. So that's 2.2 / 0.88 = 2.5 regular hoppers per diecast. If I consider all of the pull friction to be at the wheel axle truck inserts and proportional to weight then if I am pulling 2.5 regular cars per diecast hopper. I made up a consist of 9 diecast and 5 regular hoppers (left and right in the picture) so by my math that's the equivalent of (2.5 x 9) + 5 = 27.5 regular hoppers. I have an MTH PS3 GP-7 that I have never gotten along with and gave it the job of pulling the whole consist around the track. It did this at 8 smph for about an hour without trouble or any indications that it was having trouble. Startup acceleration was nice and smooth. I really love the detail in the diecast hoppers. I have others. Surprisingly inexpensive when you can find them.
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