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I seem to like torque and pulling power questions as I believe I've asked these before on other motive power.

For those who have the LionChief Harry Potter Hogwarts Express, I'm going to be purchasing the current rendition of the RTR set and would like the consist to have 6 coaches.  The base RTR set comes with 3 coaches and I plan on adding the Dementors Coach without question.  What if I had two more coaches, does that stretch the limits of Locomotive 5972?

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@Volphin posted:

I pull six scale MTH LMS coaches with mine.  She handles it just fine, for hours on end.  Not bad for a "starter" set!



Wow, that was impressive.  I was not aware that MTH made LMS coaches.  Must be part of their European line.  Now that I've seen your video, I may very well do the same thing that you did, and get MTH coaches to run with it.  Thanks.

P.S. - I gave your YouTube video a like.  What is the route length of your FasTrack floor setup? How many power drops do you use?

Last edited by Amfleet25124

Wow, that was impressive.  I was not aware that MTH made LMS coaches.  Must be part of their European line.  Now that I've seen your video, I may very well do the same thing that you did, and get MTH coaches to run with it.  Thanks.

P.S. - I gave your YouTube video a like.  What is the route length of your FasTrack floor setup? How many power drops do you use?

Thanks for the like Kevin!  My layout is around 250 ft of FT with two main lines.  There is a feeder every 8-10 ft of 18 AWG wire from a 14AWG main bus for each main.  It is powered by a single Z4K, as are many of my accessories via the 14v fixed output.  The system runs full Legacy and DCS in tandem.  The grouping in the library (not shown in the video) uses wall warts to supply DC to my Menards buildings, my Starlite diner and Lionel Hobby Shop.  

Last edited by Volphin

While the Hogwart's will pull five or six cars, don't kid yourself about the longevity.  I've replaced a bunch of those small flat-sided set motors in starter sets, and the Hogwart's locomotive is about the heaviest one I've ever seen that uses the small motor.

I took a second locomotive and had Frank Timko install a properly sized motor in it, it will replace my small motored model.

Re-motoring the Hogwart's Express

Here's the re-motored locomotive chassis, this will eventually be what is in front of my Hogwart's cars.

While the Hogwart's will pull five or six cars, don't kid yourself about the longevity.  I've replaced a bunch of those small flat-sided set motors in starter sets, and the Hogwart's locomotive is about the heaviest one I've ever seen that uses the small motor.

I took a second locomotive and had Frank Timko install a properly sized motor in it, it will replace my small motored model.

Re-motoring the Hogwart's Express

Here's the re-motored locomotive chassis, this will eventually be what is in front of my Hogwart's cars.

Is that the chassis you added the ERR and Super Chuffer to John?  That motor reminds me of a Pittman but the flywheel looks different.

If I can fit the full ERR Cruise Commander and ERR RailSounds Commander into the tender, I'll go with the full setup.  Otherwise, I'll use one of my saved CC-Lite boards like I did in the first set, I know that fits in the tender.  I'd rather have the full Cruise Commander if I'm going to be pulling a lot of cars, I have ten or eleven cars for the set.  I have the old and new Dementors cars, I added TMCC control to the new one so I could turn the effects on and off remotely.  I'll probably lose the lame flashing lights in the old Dementors car.

I bought a Hogwarts engine for $150 from a Forum member who put ERR in it.  It runs fine, but the sound isn't good.  He admitted as much before I bought it.  Being an MTH guy who is only getting started in Lionel with a great used TMCC base and remote from you John, I don't know if it would behave any differently with a Legacy controller.  My take on ERR is that it is more similar to TMCC than Legacy, but I may be wrong.  I'll have to take a video of it and take the boiler off and post a photograph or two.  Come to think of it, I am assuming it was a conventional engine, because why would he upgrade a LionChief and sell it for $150?

Kevin, Thank you for asking the initial question.  It has caused me to delve into this a bit more and get the Hogwarts back off the shelf.

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