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Hot Water posted:
Surefire posted:
MartyE posted:
AlanRail posted:

wish they would have added whistle steam to the S3.

ME TOO.

 

And loose the cylinder steam?

Easily. 

Darn right! That "cylinder steam" is a joke, as it doesn't represent prototypical practice, i.e. it doesn't alternate with the piston strokes. Whistle steam is at least believable.

Hot Water posted:
Surefire posted:
MartyE posted:
AlanRail posted:

wish they would have added whistle steam to the S3.

ME TOO.

 

And loose the cylinder steam?

Easily. 

Darn right! That "cylinder steam" is a joke, as it doesn't represent prototypical practice, i.e. it doesn't alternate with the piston strokes. Whistle steam is at least believable.

HOT WATER  ahhhhhhhh for cylinder steam to alternate  front and then back wouldn't they need 2 pistons on each side included in the model ! 

Last edited by StPaul
AmtrakNickFilms posted:

Does anyone have the new regular S3. like 261? If so can anyone send a video? Or pictures 

If anyone has the ability to compare, how does the latest rendition of the S-3 compare to the earlier run, quality-wise? I don't recall if the Lionel factory change occurred after or before the previous run, but IMHO some of the more recent diesels, at least, have had some fit and finish issues that seemed less frequent a few years ago before the factory change. Just wondering how well the new S-3s are finished.

Last edited by breezinup
TedW posted:

Stoopid question:  For those who have the S3, what is this die cast piece included for?  I could only guess.

Three views:

0A4A8B8D-46A8-42BA-B954-D8F78B29EB18

 

Since the Milwaukee Road S3 steam locomotives have an all-weather cab design, there is a large movable & flexible/telescoping "diaphragm" arrangement between the back of the cab and the front of the tender. The piece in your photos appears to by Lionel's attempt to model that "diaphragm" arrangement.

Hot Water posted:
TedW posted:

Stoopid question:  For those who have the S3, what is this die cast piece included for?  I could only guess.

Three views:

0A4A8B8D-46A8-42BA-B954-D8F78B29EB18

 

Since the Milwaukee Road S3 steam locomotives have an all-weather cab design, there is a large movable & flexible/telescoping "diaphragm" arrangement between the back of the cab and the front of the tender. The piece in your photos appears to by Lionel's attempt to model that "diaphragm" arrangement.

This is one of my favorite features of the S-3. It minimizes the gap between engine and tender - much more realistic and looks great.

jeffrey37 posted:
RickM46 posted:
jeffrey37 posted:

Here is a short video of the 260 S-3.

 

https://youtu.be/-LZ4y0Qepxo

Jeff, great video! Can you tell us:

How many drops of smoke fluid you used to initially dose the smoke unit??? 

Which dealer you bought the loco from?

Rick,

I used 20 drops of Lionel smoke fluid.

I ordered it thru Charles Ro.

 

 

Thanks Jeff, just looked at their website and it is not listed; maybe sold out.

Just received the Milwaukee Road S3 6-84067 Hiawatha today from Trainworld.  What I like about TW is they double box the locomotives with enough padding to protect the original brown factory shipper - first rate!  Ordered it the night before the 4th of July and it was on a truck the next business day.   It arrived in pristine condition in its factory foam - no loose parts - no damage.  

This loco is a sight to behold with its color scheme; the grey is almost white - OK - as GRJ once noted, it doesn't take much to amuse me.  Only one issue out of the box, one of the drive wheels seems to be out of round and you get a smidge vertical and lateral movement - barely noticeable - seems to be working itself out as I run it; I'm not going to do anything about it - adds some realism; probably one of the rubber tires.

I am not familiar with the original version of the S3 released some years ago (wanted it but all sold out then) but like the CAB2 features: the quilling whistle has 3 modes - high pitched, low pitched, and air horn via the AUX1 button; is a good smoker - supplied 20 drops to start off; will experiment with another 20 drops after 10 minutes of running (you all know of my experience with destroying smoke units); will probably never use the cylinder steam; all the lights work including the blinking MARS light when you press emergency stop in the center of the keypad; the smoke switches and PGM/RUN switches are located on top of the boiler under a magnetically held cover - nice touch; there is no odessey switch; there is no orange load module but Lionel Dave published a document on how to load the info into the remote; was surprised to see in the manual that it can be controlled by a Universal Lionchief remote; as for Bluetooth, I do not have a smart phone but will see if there is an app for my Windows laptop; have no issues running it thru my O72 right and left hand command control switches; will lube it later tonight------------Happy Camper!

UPDATE:  Did you ever get the feeling that the world was a tuxedo and you were a pair of brown shoes???

Ran the loco for about 20 minutes and decided to lube it; that was fortuitous.  Upon lubing the tender I found that the rear most wheels on the rearmost truck were not turning - they were binding up and dragging on one side.  No amount of lube remedied them.  Finally, removed that bracket (2 screws), swapped the rearmost axle with the middle axle, re-installed, all spin freely now - go figure.

Found that there is no Bluetooth app for Windows.  Other than that, she's a good runner; smooth thru all speed steps; no need for a capacitor on the motor!

Last edited by RickM46
Ted S posted:

@RickM46 if possible, I would like to see a video of the wheel out of round.  I wonder if it's a case of the wheel being out of quarter or a drive rod bushing that's too tight.

Hi Ted, didn't consider a drive rod being too tight or a wheel out of quarter - will have to look at some videos to see the position of the pins on the wheels vs the drive rods.  I have not discovered the wheel that might be out of round as I don't think you can manually push this loco.   The easiest to check will be the drive rods.  Video of the issue will be difficult since the movement if so small.  Have run the loco about 45 minutes and it runs smoothly.  Will give it a closer look. 

UPDATE:  Ted, took the loco off the floor track and put it on a length of track on my table for closer look; here are my findings:

Out of quarter - the drive rod for all 4 wheels on a side is one solid straight flat rod with holes drilled for attachment to a wheel - no chance for a wheel being out of sync with others.

Drive rod tightness - there is a small amount of play vertically and horizontally between the flat drive rod and the wheel; all have the same play; very good precision - nice to see;  all other decorative rods are loose with no binding.

Movement - when gently moving the loco forward and back, there is a small amount of play between the drive mechanism and the wheels allowing you to easily move the loco about 1/4 inch back and forth with no binding; didn't try to move the loco more than that distance due to resistance - didn't want to damage the drive.

Drive wheels - only the rear most and front most wheels actually touch the track; will have to visually inspect those next at crawl speed.

All in all checking these items makes me see how well this model is constructed - warm fuzzy!

Last edited by RickM46

Which axle/wheel appears to be out of round?

Often times the  blind driver/axle that is actually driven by the motor will have a bit of orbital motion if there's a little extra play in the bushings.

This gives the impression of an out of round driver.

It's usually not very noticeable as you described, but one you see it ,you always will.

I have a few locos that do this. It's a non issue.

Rick another way to troubleshoot it would be to run it upside-down in a cradle at very slow speed, while putting a little resistance on the wheels with one hand.  As you run it more, IF the wheel is out-of-round or even not pressed on the axle straight, this will manifest itself by a different pattern of wear / grease / dirt on the wheel tread.  So if you ever do decide to track it down that will provide a valuable clue.  Enjoy your new loco!!

Ted, thanks for the info; will pursue the issue after I put some time on the engine; I checked the drive wheel flanges for deformations but they are smooth. 

I also turned the loco upside down in a cradle and eye balled alignment of the tops of the flanged drive wheels and they all seemed to be at the same height and in line with one another.  Have run it for about an hour and it runs OK. 

Am experimenting with smoke fluid dosages and am adding 10 drops after each 10 minutes of running; at this rate the smoke plume has not decreased.

Last edited by RickM46

Regarding the S3, I experienced a Homer Simpson DOH!!  I took a look at the S3 parts breakdown on the Lionel website and saw that it has a dual smoke unit similar to the one on the Big Boy.  One unit for the stack and one for cylinder steam. 

However there is only the single stack for feeding the units.  Out of the stack there is one funnel that has 2 separate spigots for feeding each smoke unit.  That means when dosing the loco, your dose is split into 2 channels - 1/2 dose to each unit.  Out of the box, the cylinder steam activates automatically.  Probably not a good idea to shut it off and thus over saturate its smoke unit when you add fluid to replenish stack smoke.  Why care???  keep in mind that I am the grim reaper of smoke units.

jim911 posted:

anyone purchase the no. 260 what if version?

Yes, I have a couple of days ago.  The color scheme is more dramatic in person.  I feel a few to many color combos but I probably keep it instead of returning for an all black model.

I feel that Lionel did a much better job on the SP Cab Forward in daylight colors, much more sutble

jim911 posted:

Anyone receive them yet?

Yep, Happy Camper; all of my other engines are black; but the Hiawatha is my favorite due to its color scheme; it's the white/gray with orange color on the boiler and wheels that just make it work.; and, it's a good runner.  Besides the color, it's the two whistle sounds that make me nostalgic about my childhood home in Penn. one mile from the tracks along the Monongahela River where at night you could hear the steamers going by with those whistles.

MLW2

Last edited by RickM46

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