a little help adding new engine

These engines you have brought up aren't exactly new, but I have had quite a few Lionel SD40's made in the USA. They pull pretty well and operate pretty smooth. The GP20's of the 90's should be better runners than the ones from the 70's, and Lionel hasn't done much differently in the GP38's twin can motor designs since their introduction in 1991.

 With all due respect to the folks raised on"pullmors" and love their old fashioned operating characteristics.

 

IMO anything with a pullmor motor is junk, anything with two of them is twice as bad. I avoid them like the plague. If your talking a CW-80, I don't know if it has enough power to get one of those **** things moving much less two.

 

I highly suggest that you find something, anything!, with dual CAN motors, or you'll be greatly disappointed. 

 

 

Maybe RickO overstates the case slightly (and by the way a CW-80 will just get two Pullmors running if there are no other loads on it and you are reasonably judicious with the throttle lever as you start the things up).  But he is basically correct overall.  Pullmor motors are an example of obsolete toy train technology.  Compared to modern can motors they are truly terrible things: they consume gobs more electric power for no more mechanical pull delivered to the wheels, they make a bit of odd unwelcome noise, their brushes spark through the windows of diesels or from underneath a steam boil visibly as they get old, and they have very non-linear current versus speed versus throttle setting characteristics.  The only possible reason to own one is the same reason you would choose to own a carburetor: it's attached to something (a classic car in that case) you dearly love.  I have a bunch of Pullmor locos I treasure because they are antiques or part of classic sets.  I would never buy a modern loco with a Pullmor motor if I could possibly avoid it.  

 

UGH!

 

Sorry I could not be more definite about my opinion here.

Gotta find the upright can motors, not those little can motors in the trucks.  I have a GP 38 chassis with Trainsounds, like your Dale engine.  Doesn't pull much & needs almost full throttle on the ZW to move.

Although you may only be running it in conventional mode with your transformer at present, one of the recent Legacy SD40-2 or GP35 locomotives would fit the bill perfectly as far as pulling power and power needs are concerned. They also look great, smoke like chimneys and sound fantastic. 

Its true, that Pullmors are older technology but I would not call them junk.  Can motors do outperform them.  It all depends what you are looking for in an engine.

 

Can motors have the following features:

Use a lot less power.

Slower starting and smother acceleration

Better slow speed performance.

They support cruise control very easily with after market upgrades (Electric railroad)

 

I still own several pullmor TMCC engines and pullmor conventional engines.  When properly tuned and maintained, they run well.   Pullmors will run and run.  They are hard to kill.  I would not let it stop me if an engine I wanted contained a pullmor motor.

Thanks for all the input, looks like I'll buck up and buy a MTH. The old saying is true, you get what you pay for.

Lionel has some nice GP30s & 35s out there

842,

    Take a look at a Williams GP30 Great Northern in Gray and Orange/Tuscan, cost you about $300.00 and it will pull anything you put behind her.  At the Train shows the bigger Williams dealers will probably give you a further price break on this engine.

Seriously good looking powerful Williams Engine.

PCRR/Dave

Hey man go with mth railking locomotives.From the gp9 to the sd70s and the ge dash 8 or dash9.They will pull anything you put behind them.Or you can go with williams they are very strong pullers to.Both mth and williams have can motors in them.

You should get a lionel centipede.
If you have o72 curves, they have great pulling power.  


Adam

From everything I've read MTH engines do not play nice with CW-80s. If that's what your using now, You might want to rethink that decision.