Pulling Power of LionChief Polar Express w/video

Now THAT'S impressive!

Jon  

Matthew,

It is a strong puller. I have weighted the 3 cars that came with the set to within a 1/2 oz. of NMRA standards (5oz. + 1 per inch of car body length-includes initial weight) by stuffing sticky wheel weights in between the bottom supports on the cars. It makes it run it nice. Now I know I can add more weighted cars.

Thanks for the video. Happy New Year!

First WOW, nice layout.

Second, Is the weight in the cars helping the loco pull the cars, or just keeping them from derailing on the tighter curves? I'm learning here. Among other things, that maybe my LC PE is atypical, in its anemic power, But I'm willing to add weight, if it will help. I have no inclines.

Can you point me to an explanation, or explain the weight helping? I read the NMRA weight page. But does weight help, if all cars are PE passenger cars? I have no grade and the curves are O54? 

Looks great strong puller. Great video and layout lots of fun. Amazing it stays on on the down hills at speed.

However do not pull to much weight very often. I have found that loaded trains tend to burn out the Lionel Motors and gears strip. Save the long trains for more robust engines perhaps dual motors Williams work very well and MTH.

Lots of guts and big motors and strong gears.

The entry level Lionel trains many I have run at train shows die off easily do not seem built for much heavy use or heavy trains.

Marty R,

The weight helped Matthew solve string lining . For me it was an experiment. I find the collectors for the lights to be noisy and of starter set quality. The weight helped stabilize the cars and pin the collectors down by keeping the trucks planted. I also felt it quieted the cars a small bit.

It doesn't really help the engine or the wear on the traction tires and gears pulling a heavier load.

So, it's not a must.

I think the starter sets like the PE are what they are. Any long term pulling like that is bound to kill the engine with the voltage pinned and the wheels spinning. It's a good engine but I wouldn't expect the performance of a higher end engine. I think the PE cars would be perfect it they went with die cast trucks and couplers which would add a good amount of weight to the car to track a little better.  

Marty, The purpose of the extra weight is only to prevent the coaches at the front of the train from derailing as they transition from the O36 loop to the straight away at the top of the incline. The coaches didn't start string lining until I added the eighth Polar Express Coach. Pulling seven coaches up the hill, I had no issues. The weights I had available were in approximately 3.6 oz increments. Pulling eight coaches I needed to add two weights in each of the front two coaches. I may have gotten away with less but 3.6 oz in each coach wasn't enough.

I would say something I've noticed about some of the Polar Express coaches is the axles don't move as freely out of the box as most of my older madison cars of different road names. I believe this causes more drag on the engine and may cause the Coaches at the front of long trains to string line. String lining is caused by the weight of the cars at the back of train creating drag on the cars at the front. The effect is like pulling a slack string taught forcing it to become a straight line. This makes the cars at the front of the train derail to the inside of the curve. It can be a problem running long trains on tight curves. It can happen on flat or a grade.

If you're finding your LC Polar Express is falling short pulling seven coaches, there are three things I would check. First make sure the engine is properly lubricated and all the wheels are clean(since the week before Thanksgiving I've lubricated my engine two times).  Second make sure all the axles throughout the train are seated correctly and moving freely.

Another thing to consider is the track. Fastrack laid over a very plush surface can have continuity and traction issues. This can be caused by the weight of the engine pushing the individual track sections down as it crosses over them, making the track pins separate and the traction tires not have full contact with the rails causing them to spin (may be slight and not always immediately obvious).

Hope I answered your questions Marty. Happy rails to you.

I agree with you Chris, Though I have noticed The LionChief Polar Express engine is a little more robust than my LionChief Silver Bell Express. The Polar Express is not as prone to freewheeling on downhill runs and has more pulling power. Though still not completely immune to freewheeling and it's still not close to the performance of a LionChief  + or other premium engines. Coaches aside, I do think the engine is at least at the top of list in performance for a rtr a set.

Though I'm a firm believer that if you can't afford to loose it you shouldn't be playing with it. I did wait until the end of the Season to test its limits and even then I only tested the limits for a short time.

We started testing and building the display back in August, running the Polar Express nearly every day for sometimes hours at a time. I'm surprised and impressed with how it has performed. Our Christmas display doesn't have prototypical grades. We put a lot of time into making sure grade transitions were minimal as to not cause the engine to spin its wheels. When we added the eighth car the first week of December we had to reconfigure the grade at the top of the incline to accommodate the extra weight, plus add some super elevation at the bottom of the decline. Otherwise everything ran pretty much trouble free. That is until my Great Nephew tried to back the engine through the tunnel portals and even that had some entertainment value.

Something I suggested in another thread is if Lionel made the PE Berksire a Lionchief "Plus" engine with cruse control.  With a layout as nice as yours with the train climbing the grade like the movie the cruse would give it a nice constant speed up and down the grade. 

Chris, I think we will see more of the PE from Lionel in 2015. They might just as well take full advantage of the popularity and offer good PE options at all levels of the market.

I do agree with you.

I would definitely be in for a LionChief + Polar Express engine and wonder if Lionel held back offering it this year so it wouldn't compete with the 10th anniversary addition. I guess that sounds kind of cynical. But I'll likely buy a 10th Anniversary addition in the next month and still look forward to and LC + when offered. I'd enjoy both LionChief + with cruise control and the LionChief without cruise control on our Christmas display.

Even though we currently regulate the speed on the downhill run with a relay to prevent derailments. No matter how long I run it, I stay on the edge of my seat with my thumb hovering over the kill switch every time it accelerates downhill. I don't think I'd maintain the same adrenaline rush with cruise control. But cruise control would allow for a break once in a while to enjoy and converse with company.

You did thanks! and enjoy that mountain.

If you want an adrenaline rush Thursday 12:00 sharp at the Orange hall at York will do it for ya!!