While at the TCA train meet, in Philly today, I saw a display set up in the lobby. One of the track ovals had an Aero Train running on it. Not sure if Lionel made it or MTH. In looks it's beautiful. However, on the oval of Fastback it kept derailing at the slightest bump.
I said to one of the guys running it, It is about as successful as the real deal. I don't think he was amused.
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Dan, I have the City of Las Vegas, it does not like less than perfect track work. It was not not MTHs finest. Does look cool though.
Chris Sheldon
I have a couple of the Aerotrains, I'm converting one to TMCC so I have a PS/3 and a TMCC model. Yes, they were made by MTH, and the oddball rear truck is responsible for the issues with running. I've had to do quite a bit of "tuning" to make them run decently, not the best design that was ever conceived.
They are a neat looking consist, and I get a lot of comments on it at our modular club shows, so it's worth the trouble. I have added cars to mine, I have ten cars to make a consist just like the prototype ran.
One person I knew had the original PRR Ps2 version [ like me] and all 10 carsadded 3 lbs of weight over the two power trucks in the lead unit in order to pull all ten cars.
Also note the orignal PS2 versions had light bulbs that can melt the shells if using command control. Anyone with the PS2 versions may want to either:
1] add aluminum foil as a heat sink between the bulb and plastic shell or
2] convert the light bulb lights to led's.
prrhorseshoecurve posted:One person I knew had the original PRR Ps2 version [ like me] and all 10 carsadded 3 lbs of weight over the two power trucks in the lead unit in order to pull all ten cars.
Also note the orignal Ps3 versions had light bulbs that can melt the shells if using command control. anyone with the PS2 versions may want to either:
1] add aluminum foil as a heat sink between the bulb and plastic shell or
2] convert the light bulb lights to led's.
Didn't the PS-3 versions come with LED headlights?
PS/3 comes with LED's, and of course I convert anything I run a lot to LED's as well. I like the look of the LED's as opposed to the bulbs for most headlights.
As some point I'll probably add some weight to these, I have plenty of the .45ACP lead bullets left over from my HHP-8 weight fix. 
A video of one running??
Gunrunner John - Great video!!
I've had a PS2 MTH Aero Train since 2008 or 09 ( can't remember ) and no problems at all with derailments. I agree that the rear truck of the locomotive is a poor design..... not one of MTH's better moments! I run it conventional so no issues with the bulb melting plastic. Good to know about the bulb melting the plastic as I will convert to DCS. I'll be sure to convert to LED before converting to DCS.
Anyone have close up pictures of the underside, showing the truck construction, etc ?
I have a old Loco Sound and a PS-3 Aerotrain and the Loco sound version pulls 10 cars with ease while the PS-3 struggles.
gunrunnerjohn posted:PS/3 comes with LED's, and of course I convert anything I run a lot to LED's as well. I like the look of the LED's as opposed to the bulbs for most headlights.
As some point I'll probably add some weight to these, I have plenty of the .45ACP lead bullets left over from my HHP-8 weight fix.
I found these in the bay and they will be good for Weaver box cars with plastic trucks as well at the Aerotrain..
gunrunnerjohn posted:
Very nice. I believe I saw this in Green Bay at the railroad museum.
There is one at the Green Bay railroad museum. I remember seeing it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...onal_Railroad_Museum
Gene H posted:I found these in the bay and they will be good for Weaver box cars with plastic trucks as well at the Aerotrain..
I already had the bullets from long ago, so until I use up about 35 pounds of them, no need to spend any money.
gunrunnerjohn posted:PS/3 comes with LED's, and of course I convert anything I run a lot to LED's as well. I like the look of the LED's as opposed to the bulbs for most headlights.
As some point I'll probably add some weight to these, I have plenty of the .45ACP lead bullets left over from my HHP-8 weight fix.
Gunrunnerjohn, I don't know about the engine or end car since I've had no reason to remove those shells but the two regular coaches and even the add on coach in my PS3 set from the 2015, vol. 2 catalog have three tiny incandescent bulbs mounted on the roofs of those cars and not leds. Since the newest Aerotrain PS3.0 version hasn't come out yet, I assume your PS3.0 version is like mine from 2016 and if mine has incandescent lighting while yours has led lighting I wonder why MTH opted for two different kinds of lighting in the same year's sets.
I think you missed the part where I upgraded all the lighting to LED. The PS/3 one from 2016 had incandescent lighting.
BTW, I tried my Aerotrain skirts, they do hit the body when the wheels pivot, even on O72 curves. They will have to be slightly shaved to keep from derailing the train.
Since I got mine last February, the Gunrunner has helped me out a lot to get mine operating better. When you buy it stock with 1 add on car, it can pull that consist but you will need to start adding weight to the engine inside the shell.
I have the PS3 UP train from the previous run. Nice train, I got all the stuff for a price I couldn’t refuse.
GRJ I can think of several better uses for those 45ACP bullets like launching them at pieces of paper with circles on them out of my favorite 1911.
RJT posted:GRJ I can think of several better uses for those 45ACP bullets like launching them at pieces of paper with circles on them out of my favorite 1911.
Sure, but I wasn't happy with these, I thought I'd try lead instead of jacketed to save money, I was wrong. The lubricant smokes a lot more than jacketed, and they weren't as accurate as the same weight jacketed FP bullets.
I had one of the original MTH PS2 versions. never had a problem, regret selling it. My friend has one, and the thing derails all the time on 31" curves.
I just added about 24 ounces of weight to my PS/3 one, made a huge difference in pulling power, practically doubled it. Now the rear truck doesn't hop up and down when I try to start the train with all ten coaches.
For anyone out there with a Pre-Order from last year. Clyde with Stockyard Express told me he is waiting for them to arrive anytime. By the end of the month.
Bryant Dunivan 111417 posted:For anyone out there with a Pre-Order from last year. Clyde with Stockyard Express told me he is waiting for them to arrive anytime. By the end of the month.
So who preordered it from the 2019 catalogue or will be getting the Aerotrain once it arrives at dealers? And for what road? Will you be getting extra cars, too?
Btw, GRJ, exactly where in the shell or on the frame did you attach that 24 ounces? Over the rear trailing truck, in the middle, at the front of the engine or evenly distributed throughout the shell?
Also, I am missing the fender, wheel skirts for over the engine's front wheels that came with the set. If you have a pair to spare, know someone who does, or know where I can obtain/purchase them, please let me know. My email is in my profile. Thanks.
I added the weight distributed. I had started with 10 ounces of weight over the rear truck in an effort to get more traction. Apparently, that was too much of a good thing concentrated in one area, it didn't work that well. So, I put another 14 oz from the middle to over the front truck. This worked out better and apparently allows the front truck to pick up more of the load.
I have one more idea on the Aerotrain for better running as well. I'm thinking of moving the tach reader to the front truck. I believe the oddball rear truck would fare better if it was just a slave to the front truck. With a little luck, I can just swap the motors, hopefully the worms are the same.
UPS shipping Monday. Grand Kids should like it too. That’s my excuse, and I’m sticking to it.
@gunrunnerjohn sorry to revive an old thread, but I've got all ten Aerotrain cars now as well, want the train to pull them and also to convert the coaches to LED.
Other than weight, what was your conclusion on upping the pulling power? Did you ever swap tach reader to the front motor to make the rear the slave?
Also, on LED lighting, do you sell the lighting regulators with the LED strips included or no? And, on the same topic, in the Aerotrain coaches, any idea the best place to hide the lighting regulator?
Thanks in advance as always.
The major issue is the rear truck design as that's the primary driving truck. I didn't move the tach, I really didn't want the front truck controlling the traction as most of the traction is in the rear when moving forward. My fixes were making sure the small wheels were free-rolling, lubing the arm that rides along the chassis, and forming it so that the small wheels didn't hop out of the rails, but also didn't bear most of the weight and result in loss of traction. After tweaking that, I was able to pull all the cars.
As for the regulators, I stick them to the ceiling of the cars with double-sided foam tape. I fold the regulator tab, and even looking up from slightly below window level, you just see the corner of the regulator. I position them between the window posts to minimize the ability to see them as well.
The rear truck in my PS2 version slipped and chattered if you tried to pull more than 4 cars. As discussed above, the rear truck design is poor. Additionally the cars have very tight bearings and they roll poorly. I added a pound of lead weights around the rear truck, and after oiling all the bearings and running them to break them in, I can now pull 9 cars without slipping.
Bob
There is a fine balance between decent operation and either a hopping rear truck or the small front wheels lifting out of the rails on curves. That's where the tweaking comes in.
Crappy video, not sure what happened to the focus. However, it does illustrate how a properly tuned Aerotrain engine can pull ten cars, including a 2.5% grade with relative ease.
The one I'm modifying had no trouble with 2% grades and 6-car consists last year. The tightest curves it'll see are o-72 and the steepest grade is 2%, so I'm thinking I'll just start with weight in the engine. Never saw any issues with the truck jumping. Will modify that as needed.
The difference between six cars and ten cars is considerable. Mine would do 5-6 cars all day, but when I got the full 10 car consist, things started to go south.
MTH was just following Varney's lead who made this train in HO in the 1950's. The separate sale power truck was woefully underpowered as well and it was not known as a stellar runner. However, they do hold their value when found in good condition.
I'm sorely tempted to take my second Aerotrain engine and modify the rear truck to a non-swiveling design and lose the two small wheels. It would be closer to the prototype and as long as I stick to O72 and larger, I think it might be fine. That would also eliminate many of the issues with that flaky design.
I remember seeing the real one a couple of times. MTH should rerun this set.
For fun I ran the Lionel Jet Car (conventional) and the Aerotrain together.
@jim sutter posted:I remember seeing the real one a couple of times. MTH should rerun this set.
They have run it a bunch of times.
@gunrunnerjohn posted:
Very nice, John and it looks like you’ve had to do a lot of tinkering to get it running right. In watching your video, which is a great video by the way, the train looks like a bunch of 1950s Greyhound buses lined up behind each other, being pulled down the railroad track by some futuristic diesel locomotive.
Well, after all, they were bus bodies that they adapted to use for the Aerotrain, so that's about right! 
All the original GM EMD Aerotrain sets were "rejected" after major railroads (NYC, PRR, UP and SF) tested them and sent them back to GM as unsatisfactory. The Aerotrains were sold at a discount to the CRI&P (Rock Island) and were first placed in service as the Peoria Rocket. When a teenager, I rode that train along its Peoria to Chicago route. The RI declared it "The Train of Tomorrow." It was impressive to view, but uncomfortable to ride. Subsequently, the RI changed its assignment to the commuter route between Joliet and Chicago -- a better "fit" for relative slower speed. The two remaining Aerotrains are on display at museums (n Green Bay, WI and St. Louis, MO).
I bought the MTH model of the Aerotrain (with PS-2) in RI décor because of my history with the prototype. I subsequently bought more passengers coaches and added scale passengers inside. It's now a 10-car consist. Gunrunner John installed Lionel's TMCC in it for compatibility with my TMCC-equipped layout. I applied his tips about the derail-prone rear truck for improved running. It runs great.
My short video is attached.
Mike Mottler LCCA 12394
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