Rooster is correct. The single motor block is underpowered relative to the trains he wants to run. The second motor block will enable him to run his train his way. The item is on back-order, so he has lots of time to engineer a consistent!
Eric
Eric,
Where did you order it from?
USA Trains. I got the out of stock notification after I paid.
Try …they are USA trains but your not paying for the advertising so usually a little less however they might not have them either. https://charlesro-com.3dcartstores.com/store_r22-115.html
I was just reviewing this thread and forgot the boy snail mailed me his plans for safe keeping. Now that we are getting close to finishing I thought I would post his plans. May I also say that he is “right on track” and it actually brought a tear to my eye and still does!
Looks spot on so far young man!
Mr. 
Shut Up John Bouck 
This child is all mine to corrupt!
Addendum:
Someone was very excited to see a box from USA Trains arrive on Friday!
Kid-zilla carefully tested to make sure both ran in the same direction. He had forgotten that, for whatever reason, we had to “flip” the motor on the first block to get it to run. He cracked the lid, flipped the motor, installed it in the truck, and now has the fastest NW-2 / PA-1 hybrid in the world!
He did find that at slow speeds, one truck will lose power on the frogs of or LGB turnouts, and that the other truck cannot push the locomotive over the deadspot. Should we run jumper wires between the trucks to ensure power connectivity, or should we just accept this locomotive for high speed runs that will rarely creep through the yards?
On Behalf of Kid-zilla,
Eric
2 Likes
yes.
he put so much work into that loco - and one cable for perfection is not much.
OK, @Korm, we’ll take it on. Presumable the jump would only need to be a short cable running between the power blocks, one per side. We could probably make use of the existing plugs we used to jump across the buses to connect the track pickups to the motors. You can see these plugs in the photo below:
Eric
I always connect the blocks on my multi-truck locos, It just makes sense.
You should also connect those LGB wagons with HEP cabling an MU ports after the minor kitbash!
I think it’s time to pass them off to the boy.
I drew up some quick plans for him.
Eric I think you are watering him too much , he is growing a LOT, both as a modeler and as a young adult!!! Food bill with him growing too???
1 Like
Pete,
That is EXACTLY why those LGB wagons should be passed on. They are HIGHLY WORKABLE and the boy is more than ready! Besides Eric can always get out his pull string trains and pull them around as long as they are on the passing siding when it’s time for Amtrak to pass.
Reverse rivets like Amtrak cars have are easier to make than standard old school hot rivets and I think the boy is certainly ready to take on the project!
1 Like
Update:
First, no @Rooster , the Boy doesn’t get my old LGB cars! Though the plan has merit and Christmas is coming!
Second, and more to the point, sometime in the last two weeks we set about lashing the motor blocks together. I stripped the wires, he crimped them into place…
…and we were off! Or so we thought…We had to snug down the connectors we use to jump across the pins on the motor block. Runs smooth as glass…A fitting consist is all that Kid-zilla requires!
Eric
2 Likes
I don’t know man, you better play it smooth now cause he’s gonna be the one deciding on whether to put you in a nursing home or not later!