Large Scale Central

Another day at the Wagners.

General Discussion
#1

Paul Wagner kindly invited us to run live steam on his layout, so I got “Henry” down off the shelf. [It’s actually named after Henry Dreyfuss, not Henry the Green Engine.] Ran beautifully, though it couldn’t get 5 USAT streamliners up Paul’s gradients - and coming down without r/c in control was a bit scary. Kudos to Paul that his track is in fine shape and no incidents were recorded.

#2

Nice …

#3

Very nice… Any video?(http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif)

#4

Sorry, I was drooling. At there is a right pretty locomotive.

#5

any idea what the grade was that it could not ascend?

#6

Nice look, in that picture.

#7

Greg Elmassian said:

any idea what the grade was that it could not ascend?

Paul’s grade is 2 1/2 % in theory, though there were several spots on curves that seemed a little tighter - might have just been the curves adding drag. The problem, like the real engine, was getting traction with a very heavy train - 5 of those USAT coaches weigh a lot which makes hills especially challenging. Slipping was evident.

This engine is an engineering prototype and hasn’t been sorted for production, so I’m extremely pleased that it runs, but I’m not expecting much from it and I don’t run it often. As I doubt it will ever be produced for sale, it’s performance isn’t really relevant.

#8

Thanks Pete, interested in getting a “calibration” in pulling power. My ruling grade is 3.1% and for 10 usat cars with the pickups still on it needs a couple of large diesels.

I’m very aware how heavy they are!!! And that is indeed a steep grade for a live steam run, and it seems there may be some curves in that grade which will effectively increase the grade a fair amount.

Greg

#9

Greg Elmassian said:

Thanks Pete, interested in getting a “calibration” in pulling power. My ruling grade is 3.1% and for 10 usat cars with the pickups still on it needs a couple of large diesels.

I’m very aware how heavy they are!!! And that is indeed a steep grade for a live steam run, and it seems there may be some curves in that grade which will effectively increase the grade a fair amount.

Greg

After re-reading this twice I have come to the 'assumption that you are saying the pickup’s are or are not necessary to make the 3.1% grade with 10 usat cars? If so could the 3.1% grade be achieved without the pickup’s or must you resort to a lesser amount of usat cars? Guess it all depends on other factors such as power supplies etc. so I suppose my question is mute in point and never mind.

Edit: Post deleted

#10

the 10 cars with pickups are passenger cars and they come with pickups for internal lighting. these pickups add drag.

just giving the conditions i am running under… and i normally use 3 locos so as to not prematurely wear out 2 locos working harder.

re-reading my post it would have been better to use “on them” instead of “on it” but the reference is clearly to the 10 passenger cars.

Greg

#11

Greg Elmassian said:

the 10 cars with pickups are passenger cars and they come with pickups for internal lighting. these pickups add drag.

just giving the conditions i am running under… and i normally use 3 locos so as to not prematurely wear out 2 locos working harder.

…

Greg

The first thing I did was take off the wheel wipers - pickups. They add a lot of drag and we don’t run live steam in the dark (usually!)

Greg - your diesels have traction tires and two motors per loco, I guess?

#12

Track power and DCC, so lighting is nice.

Locos are 3 Aristo E8’s with extra weight. Aristo stopped the use of traction tires long ago, but I swapped the wheels for custom SS wheels.

SS rail, very slippery.

Greg

#13

Since you mention it.

Warning…Thread drift

How much weight did you add to the E8s? I haven’t added any to mine, and it pulls just fine with the stock wheels. I had 6 Aristo stream-liner cars behind it on my 2.58% grade. But I am curious, how much weight could/should I add if I decide that I need to?

#14

To avoid thread drift:

http://www.elmassian.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=283&Itemid=314

I have lots of pages of information on the E8s

Greg

p.s. 55 cars up a 3.1% grade on SS track (slippery) with SS wheels (also slippery)