Large Scale Central

The Saga of My Ever Shrinking RR...Part Deux

Track and Trestles
#41

Oops - There seems to be a clearance problem with the tin snips :smiley:

Looking good Vic.

Jon

#42

In case anyone is interested

Some testing results of my roster on the layout, R1 curves with integral 4% grade, so far:

HLW Mack based engines:

Single units: 7 ore cars OK

Double headed: 12+ ore cars OK

LGB Porter based engines:

Single units: 5 ore cars OK (slicker wheels)

Double headed: 12 ore cars OK

LGB Toytrain based engines:

Single unit: 3 ore cars max, light engine, no pull

Double headed: 6+ ore cars, better performance doubled up

MDC Hustler based engines:

Single: 4-5 ore cars max, light engine, no pull

AC Centercab driveblock bashed engines:

Single units: 7 short (20’) boxcars+ (ran out of cars) these pull like a son of a gun! nice and slow. They are by far my best performers.

Double headed: not tested but I suspect I’d run out of cars

Big Haulers:

Gen 2 converted to 4-4-0, 3 short cars is limit, very poor runner, poor elect pickup, may end a shelf queen

Gen 4 converted to 0-6-0, 4 short cars OK, 3 large cars OK

Gen 5 stock. 4 short cars OK, 3 large cars OK

Bachmann Indy:

Pooper…only 3 ore cars more and the wheels slip, this is a flyweight of an engine.

Bachmann Saddletanker:

7 ore cars OK, 4 or 5 short cars OK, rough performer though, prone to clunking around the track.

AC Rogers:

7 ore cars OK, 4 short cars OK

Overall I am very impressed with the HLW mack bashes, they pull more than I would have suspected due to there weight, more than the heavier LGB Porters. The kitbash geared engines like the Shaykirk and the Climax have more than outperformed my expectations, they are marvelous pullers! The most dissappointing for me have sadly been the Bachmann products, Oh well.

Legend:

Ore car = HLW Minicar or LGB ore cars

Short car = 20’ freight cars

Large car = 40’ big hauler frieght cars

#43

Thanks Vic, that’s very useful info!

#44

Vic, nice videos on YouTube. I think I’ve only seen 2 permanent indoor set ups and one was in a hospital. Do you have any recent photos?

#45

Hi Bill, sadly I had to take this layout down. I later built the “Wreckless Experimentation” layout on the platform built for this. I thought about rebuilding this but the grade issues in such a tight area made me reconsider and go with the current layout.