Turbo's The Ticket!!!

Very nice!

-bradstrains

I had the same problem with the electrical connection to the lead engine.  I did find that on 090" radius curves it would stay connected longer than on 072" curves but still would not stay connected for any length of time.  I finally super glued the connector on the sides and am happy to say it works perfectly. No disconnects!  I just have to remember to pick up both units at the same time.  Wont be able to put it back in the box but have no plans to do so anyway.  It's an amazing runner with incredible sounds.  I believe there are speakers in both powered units.

Sweet! 

Super gluing the tether does NOT seem like a viable solution to me!  Especially at a $800.00 MSRP.

Looks great. I order The Penn Central version with two extra cars  and should have it by next week. The curves on my main lines are Atlas  0-108 and 0-99 so I’m good to go.

That train looks awesome!  Thanks a lot...now I want yet another engine that I didn't know I wanted until now.

I'll keep an eye out for it in about 10 years when people start thinning out their collections.

I would certainly agree with that!  Talk about a radical fix!

Can't decide if I like or not. It looks like a ugly boat on wheels. 

Here is the complete sound set.  Love the french accent.  Reminds me of Inspector Clouseau!!!

Spence noted how the coupling is close on the corners of O72 and below is a photo showing the closeness.  I love this train and I will be replacing O72 RealTrax with O82 RealTrax.

If the tether keeps pulling out on curves, it may be that the zip tie that holds the tether inside the locomotive doesn't leave enough slack. I'll check out mine tonight at the club. If so, it will be fun trying to figure out how to get the locomotive apart.

Here is a video of the disconnect between the power car and the coach.  When the tether gets disconnected, power to the two trailing vehicles is cut.  This happens, in my experience, infrequently and does not alter my opinion that this is a great set.  The connection with the new Rail King Santa Fe Northern is far more problematic with a disconnect occurring while stationary.  The Northern cannot make a complete trip around the layout while the Turbo makes multiple complete laps.  If your operating session extends more than 30 minutes, you may experience a disconnect - but it is nothing like the vertical connection on the Northern.  I might try some electrical tape around the tether to improve the performance but it has not risen to any level I would call as a big problem (unlike the most recent Rail King Santa Fe Northern).  This train is a great train and will be a prized piece in my collection.  I hope MTH makes a cafe car next and perhaps more coaches.

Turbo Train Take Off!

So when it disconnects it rips the traction tires off the engine that is still powered?

What does the connection plug look like?? photo?

I do not have my set yet perhaps next week.

Has anyone with a set disconnecting asked MTH for a response and how to correct??

When I do get my set I have wide curves but many very hard to reach areas on the ceiling loops if it comes undone will be chore to reach and retrieve.

And I am not keen on the concept of glueing the connectors, how to take a train with added on cars to a show???

I haven't noticed any traction tires coming off.  The connection is just the horizontal tethered connection like the one that exists to connect my Rail King E-6AA set (powered to nonpowered unit).  The Turbo connects all its components with a tether.  You will also need to insert the suspension struts when connecting up the components.  The struts appear to be quite flexible and connect fairly easily.  The disconnects are infrequent and over a couple hours of running and filming, I only captured this one on film.

kj356, you are going to have a time assembling this on a ceiling shelf.  First off the torsion bars have to be inserted into hooks on each side, then the tether plugged in, and then the fork and pin connected with finally inserting the diaphragm. And that is for each car.

I have been looking forward for the PC set (no add on cars since PC only ran the basic three units).  But this is looking like it may be MTH's Waterloo or Acela.  So need more info before purchasing.

[kj356, please email me info on how you created the VIA passengers car.  Fabulous job]

Ron

Here is the requested photo of the tethered connection.  Horizontal plug in to a receptacle on the powered car.  The plug only works one way and you can damage the receptacle if you plug it in the wrong way so look for the top labeling on the plug and make sure the side marked top is facing up.  I also like to look at the notching on the side of the plug as an orientation tool.  As you can see, even the ends of the cars are quiet detailed.  To connect the cars, push down on the vertical pole while sliding the car prongs around the pole.  When you lift up, you should hear a clicking sound that lets you know the car is coupled.

Portland Rose, don't forget the torsion bars.

Portland Rose; I'm glad your able to run it. Nice video. I'm really sorry I had to send mine back. I'm jealous.

Sorry to hear of your misfortune, Spence.  You were observant on how close the edges of the cars come on O72 curves so I took a photo to illustrate it.  I am converting to O82 to better accommodate this train which is a personal favorite of mine as it combines jet age with railway.  As you can see, though, it handles O 72 very well (at least RealTrax) and I have not experienced any problem with derailment either at low or high speed.  What was the problem you had requiring its return?  I read of the derailment issue you were experiencing but that was limited to one portion of your layout.  Were there any other problems?

Yes it kept derailing one particular curve but was extremely tight on all of them & if I didn't go slow they would hit. Unfortunately I cannot change my track so I'm just out of luck. It's  too bad because I really like that train.

I've wondered if the model train manufacturers couldn't consider building an articulated trainset that used this old Marx design of half-round car ends which maintain a close-coupled appearance around sharp curves. I know it's not prototypical but it could be a good adaptation for our disproportionately sharp model train curves. This photo compares an old Marx 10000 alongside an MTH Zephyr on O54 curves. The Zephyr diaphragms just don't flex enough to cover the gaps through all the curves.

I am not going to change all my curves out for O82 - obviously, there is nothing I can do with the switches because I do not believe there are any O82 RealTrax switches.  Turbo runs fine on O72 RealTrax but is bound to look even better on O82.  Once my curves are set, I may be ready to start applying some scenery!

Hi Guys,

I really like the set and I really would like to purchase it,  But there's so many different stories about it. So Portland Rose you are saying that it runs around 072 Realtrax with no problem, because my lower level 2 main lines are 072 Realtrax. So then I would be able to purchase it. I apologize if it's been said above, there's too many posts to read them all.

Thanks,Alex

No problems at all with derailing on O72 Alex but I have experienced several disconnects between the power car and the first coach.  One of those appears in the above videos to show what happens.  It has happened several times over several hours of operations.  Not as bad as a problem I have with the Rail King Santa Fe Northern and a problem I should be able to work around with some electrical tape.  One of the commentors above said they used super glue on the side but I do not want to create a permanent connection of damage the plugs.  That being said, the joy of this set far outweighs the disconnect issue.  I was only able to capture one disconnect while filming and it appears in the above posts.

Thank you very much Portland Rose, I just looked at the video's above and see what's happening. I think the electrical tape should work out fine.  It's a really beautiful set

and thanks for sharing all the video's and pictures of it.

Thanks again, Alex

Ran mine down at the club tonight. The tail light lens on the trailing locomotive is white instead of red.

Ran well for about 1/2 hour, then the power truck on the lead locomotive locked up. Looks like there was too much play in the gear on one of the axles, so I have to contact MTH to see if I can send just the truck back to them for a replacement rather than shipping the whole train.

Looks and sounds great, though.

Good to hear no tether disconnect issues - I believe the tether problem, and it is only a minor problem for me, will resolve itself with some black electrical tape.  I have two more cars on order to go to a five car set.  MTH should make a cafe car as well.   What diameter curves are on the club layout, Matt?  I will be going to O82 RealTrax for appearance sake.  Turbo tracks very well on O72 RealTrax.

I agree about the cafe car. I ordered two extra cars for the five-unit Amtrak set and plan to repeat this if they do the other Amtrak scheme in another run.

The club curves are 48" minimum radius (O-96) except in the tunnel between the short and curved trestles, which is 36" radius (O-72) with easements.

Didn't have any tether issues, even with the diaphragms in place; just a bad power truck issue. Waiting for a response from MTH as to whether they'll let me just send the truck or the whole train back.

Thanks for that review.  I ran mine more last night and continued to experience disconnect.  The disconnection happens only between the lead unit and the first car.  Never between the first car and the trailing unit.  Once it even occurred while the train was stationary after I just reconnected it.  It is like the coach car has some retraction mechanism that wants to pull the tether back.  I have a couple more cars on order so I will see if some consist changes remediate the issue.

UPDATE:  I believe the problem is due to the train traveling through O 72 S type curves with the tight clearances.  The back and forth movement between the engine and the coach works the plug loose though this does not happen between the coach and the trailing power car.  One of the disconnect points occurs just after the train passes through an S curve.  I may try running in reverse to see if that solves the issue or place the new car on order next to the power car as well as use wider radius and some straights in the S.