One thing with working on the I5. At least the first run. Which may lead to erratic running. Is The tender is insulated off the chassis with plastic like grommets. The shell is the antenna. Nothing new here. But the drawbar is attached to the shell. Not the chassis. You can probably see where this is going. There is an insulating washer that just sets in the drawbar and then into the pin on the engine. Easily will fall out if your separating the engine and tender on the layout. Glue it in place. Cost me 2 days of troubleshooting before the lightbulb went off as to what the problem was. Luckily found the washer down between the ties right where I removed it.
My own I5 is from the 1st run. EOB was added to give it cruise and 4 chuffs. Good runner but could stand a little more weight even with traction tires. It has a good strong motor. What you want for sound. Is the set ror the Daylight. If you have watched A Great Railroad at Work. The whistle sounds pretty close. I’m not big on smoke effects but whistle steam would be awesome on this engine.
Marty Fitzhenry was a big NH fan and grew up right near their tracks and remembered the I5 As a kid. Marty liked diecast and MTH. He found one at a good price and added DCS and it became a favorite.
