What's your worst locomotive?

Couple of postwar favorites aren't particularly good runners.

1. My old 1666 2-6-2 only runs REALLY fast and lacks much pulling power.

2. My PW WARR General has never been a good runner. Looking forward to reserving it to shelf status and picking up a new Lionchief replacement come Spring/Summertime.

Any locomotive that has been infested with zinc pest and/or fried electronics for which there are no orderable replacements, and whose original price tag elicited pangs of buyer's remorse even before the worst became apparent.

Yeah.  Been there.  Felt that.

(Sort of like 10 years into the first marriage!)

Of course, hindsight is always 20-20.  OTOH, it's still the World's Greatest Hobby...for which I'm a player all the way to the Pearly Gates.

C'est la vie.

KD

I don't have any "worsts".

The 'worsts" got sold.

I have 2 lightweight locomotives that drive me nuts.  These are all go or no go, so they aren't much use to me as I like to run things at a slower pace.

1. 246 (from 1960-61) - this one sits on permanent display in my office in order to keep me from getting angry at home. (see attached)
2. 1060 Scout (from 1961-62) - this one gets used by my nephews so that if it flies off of the table at full speed, who cares?!?  My Grandpa bought it when I was a kid for the same reason!

My worst is a !ionel sd40t-2. It came with the old Odyssey jerkiness. A gear on the front truck broke and it took 6 months for a repair station to get a replacement truck and repair it. At slow speed I can hear a clicking sound that seems to be coming from an internal gear meshing with another gear, and the truck assembly is impossibly complicated to dissassemble to check it out.

Terry

The grey 2-6-4 from The Great Lakes Express set.  Crappy smoke, no sounds at all… except the sound of the flywheel rubbing on the shell.  Crappy little oil tender.  Great cars though!

Jon

None for me except when I break them lol. I do have a Lionel UP SP 1996 Heritage I bought for retail used on ebay and it arrived with a blown speaker.

You guy's sound like a bunch of snotty rich Kids. Back in the 50's you would love what ever you got!!!!! Mine are ALL GREAT>

Um, no. Having grown up in the 50's with one of those notorious Lionel Scout engines, I only loved it after a repair shop put in a "regular" motor.

Terry

• Lionel Commodore Vanderbiilt can't pull it passenger set. Should of had traction tires.

When I had my Lionel collection #41 Army switcher and its clone's nothing but coffee grinders

I’m a modern command control operator/collector and a tinplate(Marx),mainly prewar(US- Ives, AF etc...and European Bing, KB, Märklin, etc...) operator/collector. The later category has some BUT that’s due to mechanical or electrical problems. So I’ll limit this to working/should work and/or bought it working and still not right after repairs. The Last one listed- Lionel Legacy SD60, is my most frustrating.

Tinplate/Prewar

Lionel 204 Steam Loco(uncatalogued 1941)- It has worked well, then I took it for repairs. Now the armature/commutator/stator assembly is “loose”. It won’t run. If I put my finger on the stator on the non-brushplate side, it’ll start to move a bit but then something goes out of whack.

Marx Monom F unit: I do love this engine and it’s actually a somewhat rare version(2 wheel mini motor). The motor works, but the way the previous owner had it in the body was causing some issue(I actually forget) that I took it out. Now it just doesn’t sit correctly in the body and doesn’t properly contact the track. I’ve been tinkering to get it going correctly. Also- it’s a pretty poor puller but that’s to be expected considering it’s lack of weight

modern:

Lionel Milwaukee Road H16-44 w/ TMCC & Odyssey: theres absolutely nothing wrong with this loco- runs smoothly, smokes, good sound. I just happened to buy it at York and subsequently found a Union Pacific Legacy H16-44. HEnce, the Milwaukee Road barely gets run

Lionel Amtrak Dash 9 w/ TMCC: my first tmcc Loco. I bought it because it was a good deal, it was o scale, and I love Amtrak. Unfortunately, not knowing As much about Amtrak as I do now, I didn’t know Amtrak never had a Dash 9. It’s also a bull in a china shop due to lack of Odyssey- it can really pull BUT it’s also wildly fast and that I very much dislike. THe fact it’s not a prototype leaves me with no desire to upgrade this to ERR

Lionel Legacy CSX SD60 from 2011: Started out great, then the HD04-T bridge rectifier on the Legacy RS Lite board went(apparently somewhat common). So I lost sound and then smoke(not sure if they’re related, the fan works). Next it started to frequently derail, I found that the centering spring for the front axle was bent and then I lost a small but essential part nended to reassemble so I bought a new truck. Ok so that should be it.  it should be running without issue- right? Right? Nope- for some reason at 25 steps this loco moves like it’s at 10- which doesn’t even allow for it to be in a MU for which this loco would be perfect. I’m thinking of taking the new truck off, putting the centering mechanism on the old truck, and hoping that the reason for the issue with its speed is the lack of “wear” on the new truck Vs the old truck.  Maybe then it’ll be back to at least running normally & consistently  at speed steps 40 and below and be able to run in an MU.

That said, I’m lucky to have as many prewar & TMCC/Legacy & Proto2/3 locos that Work as well as they do! So I’ll name 2 or 3 to end this post on a good note:

prewar:

Ives 3250- first Ives loco

Lionel-Ives 3251(not working but I love it)

Karl Bub electric steam outline- first Prewar European electrically powered

Modern:

Lionel Legacy GECX SD40t-2 #8678- I love this patched ex- Up, ex-SP tunnel motor. With it being a leasing company Loco it’s  versatile in terms of consists it runs

Lionel Legacy Amtrak F40PH Phase III &  NPCU- Love the F40PH. Love Amtrak. Love Using the cabbage in MUs

Triple Toss Up!: TMCC Dash 8, Legacy ATSF Kodachrome GP35, Legacy BNSF GP35 “Santa Fe” yellow lettering on blue background and BNSF painted on each side of the hood

@dk122trains posted:

• Lionel Commodore Vanderbiilt can't pull it passenger set. Should of had traction tires.

I'm fairly certain there may have been replacement drivers for Hudsons with traction tires at some point.  If you can track them down, it could resolve your issue.

I have first been excited by, and then eventually disappointed by several Williams diecast scale Hudsons.

I also bought a new Mercury 4-6-2 from Sunset third rail. I brought it back to them to fix so many times that eventually the only original part was the boiler casting. After that, I did not trust it anymore, even though it was completely new again by then.

There has never been a Weaver brass steam locomotive in my roster that has not disappointed, either.

@RoyBoy posted:

I have first been excited by, and then eventually disappointed by several Williams diecast scale Hudsons.

I also bought a new Mercury 4-6-2 from Sunset third rail. I brought it back to them to fix so many times that eventually the only original part was the boiler casting. After that, I did not trust it anymore, even though it was completely new again by then.

There has never been a Weaver brass steam locomotive in my roster that has not disappointed, either.

And I havent had  1 problem with either

I had an early K line engine and it ran like CRAP!  It was supposed to resemble a S2 it was not even close to a S2.  It wound up down at the range where it met its end.

@dk122trains posted:

• Lionel Commodore Vanderbiilt can't pull it passenger set. Should of had traction tires.

Don, mine pulls 15 18” cars without breaking a sweat without traction tires. Send it to Harmonyards for a Pittman swap.

My worst was a first edition Williams Mikado. Sold it as it wasn’t worth the effort to make it right.

Pete

@Norton posted:

Don, mine pulls 15 18” cars without breaking a sweat without traction tires. Send it to Harmonyards for a Pittman swap.

My worst was a first edition Williams Mikado. Sold it as it wasn’t worth the effort to make it right.

Pete

Should have added climbing grade is the issue, but you gave me an idea.

@dk122trains posted:

• Lionel Commodore Vanderbiilt can't pull it passenger set. Should of had traction tires.

I've heard this. Always wanted one but I'd need to see it running and pulling first.

I must say, I’m happy and thankful for every engine I have, no dissatisfaction, most of my engines are either TMCC or Legacy, only 2 are conventional, The F3 Preamble made in 1975 and the Lionels Railroader Club GP7. Happy Railroading Everyone

Any equipment I have that doesn't run well winds up as spare parts for my...experiments.   

This encourages the rest to behave themselves.   

Mitch

I got an old 0-4-0 from the 80s (I think). I bought it for like $30 to practice ERR upgrades on. It pulls well! Runs well! But it moves like an octagon rolls It just has the weirdest gait and it bobs and weaves. It's almost comical to watch. It reminds of the time they had to build walking cars on Junkyard Wars and the one team used rotating feet to move. It wasn't graceful but it got the job done. I found it amusing enough that I've left it alone and I'm considering giving it Christmas duty instead.

My old RS3 had one powered truck and the wires and wheels were the only metal components on it. It can pull one or two cars at most before popping off the track. This guy is my worst runner by a long shot. I'll be pulling the motor out and making it a non-powered unit when my two new RS3s come.

So I got a funny runner and a crappy runner.

@KOOLjock1 posted:

The grey 2-6-4 from The Great Lakes Express set.  Crappy smoke, no sounds at all… except the sound of the flywheel rubbing on the shell.  Crappy little oil tender.  Great cars though!

Jon

Indeed. How many of us bought this set for the cars?!

K-line Allegheny with tmcc.  The dang thing will only run without stalling out if I have it moving quick while using tmcc.  If I run it conventionally, it works great.  She sits on display mostly

@BillYo414 posted:

My old RS3 had one powered truck and the wires and wheels were the only metal components on it. It can pull one or two cars at most before popping off the track. This guy is my worst runner by a long shot. I'll be pulling the motor out and making it a non-powered unit when my two new RS3s come.

I'm a glutton for punishment, and I've made it my life's work to turn one of those crappy RS3s (a UP1292) into a good engine.  (I even have an MTH UP1291 that has fantastic mechanicals and electronics.  So why am I fixing the crappy Lionel?  Glutton for punishment.)

It can be done.  I powered the second truck.  Put the motors in series.  Added some giant capacitors to even out the voltage to the DC motors.  (They had a terrible 60hz buzz from the cheap rectification in the e-unit.)  Added directional LED lighting.  Added more weight down low.

It'll pull a very long train now, and even pull it slowly.  The thing I don't have any way to fix is that the gearing isn't low enough, so it can creep along slowly on straight track, but when it hits a curve, the extra drag on the trucks will stop it unless you're manually compensating.  And it will absolutely race down hills.  The motors/gearing can't keep the speed in check.

It's a delightful madness.

I would love to make something out of it @jwetzel1492. I would like to add sound at the very least so it doesn't stick out. I'm waiting for the new RS3 to come out so I can see if any parts will will/work in the old one.

Maybe it's a glutton for punishment or maybe it's the satisfaction of polishing a turd and passing it off as a masterpiece. Either way, you should really make a post of what you accomplished. I knew a number of us would find it interesting and helpful.

My Great Lakes Express engine never was any good either. But top of the list goes to early Williams brass Hudson's. Among the first scale 3 railers but no flywheel action, they just run awful.

@BillYo414 posted:

I would love to make something out of it @jwetzel1492. I would like to add sound at the very least so it doesn't stick out. I'm waiting for the new RS3 to come out so I can see if any parts will will/work in the old one.

Maybe it's a glutton for punishment or maybe it's the satisfaction of polishing a turd and passing it off as a masterpiece. Either way, you should really make a post of what you accomplished. I knew a number of us would find it interesting and helpful.

Well, here's what I made out of MY RS3...

The shell didn't go to waste, either...

Mitch

Nice @M. Mitchell Marmel haha very well done!

@BillYo414 posted:

Nice @M. Mitchell Marmel haha very well done!

(bows) I have my moments. 

Anyone with traction tires and/or electronics.

@Brian DeFazio posted:

K-line Allegheny with tmcc.  The dang thing will only run without stalling out if I have it moving quick while using tmcc.  If I run it conventionally, it works great.  She sits on display mostly

That's an awfully nice semi-scale engine to leave on a shelf. Have you considered replacing the old K-Line TMCC with newer ERR components?

My "worst" locomotive was the last run of the MTH RS-1s, in particular, the Long Island Railroad "Tichy Scheme". In true MTH fashion, they used their default LIRR orange and gray, rather than matching the prototype and the catalog render. On top of that, the cheaped on the smoke unit required disassembly of the model for it to work properly.

I got the engine custom weathered by DJ's O Gauge Trains on YouTube and it is now one of my favorites.

I had a Williams J class that was probably a lemon. It constantly ran hot, had a traction tire fell off so the metal ring around the wheel would jam the drivers every now and then (I did not know where to get replacements) until I just removed it, the sound unit was too quiet and the smoke unit barely worked. Eventually it stopped working unless I manually spun the flywheel once power was applied to the tracks so I upgraded to one of the old "whistle only" MTH Js and gutted the Williams one. Bit of a shame because everyone I've talked to speaks highly of Williams but this one engine just did not like me.

Eventually I want to cut a hole in the pilot and mount a coupler in there for double/triple heading with my other two N&W locomotives.

@RJ I posted:

My "worst" locomotive was the last run of the MTH RS-1s, in particular, the Long Island Railroad "Tichy Scheme". In true MTH fashion, they used their default LIRR orange and gray, rather than matching the prototype and the catalog render. On top of that, the cheaped on the smoke unit required disassembly of the model for it to work properly.

I got the engine custom weathered by DJ's O Gauge Trains on YouTube and it is now one of my favorites.

Ugh!  Ordering something to have it painted the wrong color is not just a MTH issue as we all know...

Jon

@KOOLjock1 posted:

Ugh!  Ordering something to have it painted the wrong color is not just a MTH issue as we all know...

Jon

Oh yea I learned my lesson with this one. Now I am a little more cautious when it comes to preorders.

This is an interesting question. It seems like there's almost a 50/50 split between lemons from the factory, and lemons due to previous owners mods or abuse.

Like a few here, my experience (in O scale) has been almost all positive, in spite of the fact that most everything I have I got used. Guess I've been lucky. 😊

Mark in Oregon

Easy one. The MTH Premier Proto-3 PRR J1a I bought a number of years ago. When it ran, it was my favorite engine. Tremendous pulling power, terrific steamer and a wonderful whistle. Problem was, the tether kept disconnecting. Worst time was in my longest tunnel. Had a heck of a time getting it out. I tried a number of potential solutions, but none worked for long. Shelf queen now.

Pat

My worst locomotives are the ones I have taken apart as part of a project but failed to put back together again or ones I bought as projects and haven't started or completed the work on yet.  In other words, operator error.