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Lionel DD35A

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MatthewMatthewOGR Forum Member
quote:
Originally posted by trnluvr:
Have these hit the dealers shelves yet?


Doug


No, I called one of the dealers today and they didn't even have any word that they are coming soon. He told me once lionel posts that they are shipped on there website then it will take a few days to get to dealers. It's not lookimg too good for Christmas...especially for those people who have to wait for dealers to ship out to customers
HW Hot WaterOGR Forum Member
quote:
Originally posted by gunny:
Since August of this year they are owned by Progress Rail Services a wholly owned subsidary of Caterpillar/ If you had a relationship with EMD now you need a new account with Progress.

Gunny

You know this how? Since your previous statement. " Since EMD is no longer....", is definately NOT true. You should drive by the McCook Factory on a weekly basis and see the huge sign that plainly states Electro-Motive Diesel, with the big EMD logo. There is no Cat logo in sight.
HW Hot WaterOGR Forum Member
Web sites don't really mean that much when it comes to product recognition in the railroad industry, i.e out in the field. Cat tried their hand at big, high HP, main line RR diesels many years ago, and couldn't get their prime mover to perform. Now Cat has access to the EMD "H Series" four stroke engine, so we'll see how Cat promotes THAT next.
John PignatelliJohn PignatelliOGR Forum Member
If it is true Lionel is air freighting them in it sounds to me they are attempting to get them here before Christmas, They would have to go to the distributors then to the stores, it may be a tight schedule but it is possible, you may have to pick them up from the store to get it by Christmas. It shows Lionel is trying, good for them.
John
HW Hot WaterOGR Forum Member
Matthew,

Just looked at some builder photos of a DD35A, at the EMD McCook factory, and there is no cab roof mounted beacon light. But then the unit isn't lettered either because that was the era (early thru late 1960s) that UP got their diesel locomotives delivered dead in tow to the Omaha Shops. The UP Omaha Shops then "out fitted" each new unit, including application of the 3M Scotch Light lettering on the carbody. Reportedly, there was a UP board of director member from 3M, so the UP was getting "a deal" on all the 3M lettering & numbering, instead of having it all applied at the EMD factory. Even the DDA40X units where delivered unlettered.

Apparently UP added roof top beacons in the 1970s?

So, it depends on what era you are trying to model. Me, I'm in early to mid 1950s, so maybe an FM Train Master demo for me.
LORDtryzAlotLORDtryzAlotOGR Forum Member
quote:
quote:
maybe the milwaukee had a different set-up. will be interesting to see

Albert j Powers

The Milwaukee Road never had any DD35A units. Only the Union Pacific ever had DD35A and DDA40X units



I had a feeling they were'nt made I guess I was trying to convince myself they were since I liked the milwaukee scheme. oh well u.p it is then but I may also grab the milwaukee since its appealing to me.
Thx hotwater I can always count on you to get it straight. Wink
DD Diesel DanOGR Forum Member
A couple of DD35 images here, and DD40's,really have to scan through the gallery, but well worth it. a lot 1960-1980 images across the country, really a great site.
Mr Carr has a premier railfan site.

http://www.carrtracks.com/cacj62up74.htm

http://www.carrtracks.com/sullivan.htm

http://www.carrtracks.com/wyupo847up60.htm

http://www.carrtracks.com/wyupo546up77.htm

A great yard office building,
http://www.carrtracks.com/coupwbaup3506.htm


Dan
LB Larry BrownOGR Forum Member
The comment about the error in the manual regarding smoke fluid in either or both smoke stacks and the smoke fluid being different in "Ready to Run Sets.

I got a reply from Lionel this morning and according to them both stacks requre fluid and there is no difference with the smoke fluid within the Ready to Run Sets. I did check the on line manual and it indeed has conflicting info between what is stated and figure 3 and the caution about the smoke fluid.

Both of my UP (Powered and Nonpowered)units are at the dealer awaiting pickup so they certainly have shipped.
MatthewMatthewOGR Forum Member
Larry what state are you in? I have not heard anything from my dealer yet and I would have to wait for it to ship Frown I have 4 on order 2 UPs and 2 SPs

quote:
Originally posted by Larry Brown:
The comment about the error in the manual regarding smoke fluid in either or both smoke stacks and the smoke fluid being different in "Ready to Run Sets.

I got a reply from Lionel this morning and according to them both stacks requre fluid and there is no difference with the smoke fluid within the Ready to Run Sets. I did check the on line manual and it indeed has conflicting info between what is stated and figure 3 and the caution about the smoke fluid.

Both of my UP (Powered and Nonpowered)units are at the dealer awaiting pickup so they certainly have shipped.
LB Larry BrownOGR Forum Member
Matthew,

I reside in Oregon although my dealer is located in the Seattle area (Eastside Trains, Kirkland, Washington). I believe this particular shipment from Lionel came through Seattle so it might take a few days to get out to your neck of the woods and if your dealer goes through a distributor and you consider the time of year those might account for the delay.
MatthewMatthewOGR Forum Member
Charlie, I am going to talk to you for my pre orders next time since you are local and I could have just picked mine up from you when they arrived. I have purchased trains from you in the recent past that was in your inventory and had great experiences - thanks! I Just try to save on tax since I am local. I will certainly check your prices next time I pre order. Thanks for the update on status of your shipment.

Regards,
Matt bogardt
MatthewMatthewOGR Forum Member
Thanks Larry, keep us posted if you get yours.

quote:
Originally posted by Larry Brown:
Matthew,

I reside in Oregon although my dealer is located in the Seattle area (Eastside Trains, Kirkland, Washington). I believe this particular shipment from Lionel came through Seattle so it might take a few days to get out to your neck of the woods and if your dealer goes through a distributor and you consider the time of year those might account for the delay.
MatthewMatthewOGR Forum Member
I'm with Doug on this one...I am disappointed and I may not even get mine until after new years. Happy Birthday Doug

quote:
Originally posted by trnluvr:
I'm a little disappionted they did'nt make it for Christmas,but maybe those of you that did get them could post pictures or better yet a video of them.

Anyways my birthdays next week and will welcome it as my present Big Grin

Merry Christmas,Doug
R rdunniiiOGR Forum Member
quote:
Originally posted by Charlienassau:
Ours come directly from Seattle and as of this morning have not arrived. While we could ship out today they wouldn't arrive till after Christmas :-(


Not being aware of Lionel anything in Seattle could you please explain that?

I was under the impression that all this stuff was shipped to Lionel/MTH/Atlas on the east coast and then distributed from there.

Richard
H Hancock52OGR Forum Member
Yeah, same here - worse because I won't see mine before next week in any case as I'm away from home.

To feed my addiction to this subject I looked up the brass models Overland made some years back (UP nos. 70, 72 and 74) but of course they were in HO and in many respects indistinguishable from a DDA40X model (right down to the beacon). How sad is that??

However, if no one posts pictures between now and Wednesday of next week I'll do so then.
CS Chuck SartorOGR Forum Member DIGITAL SUBSCRIBER
To my surprise, The engine runs flawlessly through my fastrack 036 curves and switches pulling a train! Yea,a lot of overhang for sure, but it doesn't knock off my fastrack switch lanterns! The engine has rule 17 lighting, but its hard to notice as the LEDs are so bright. I noticed each time you rase or lower the volume on the remote, you get one chime of the bell, Haven't seen this feature before. Not many external lights, just the headlight and lighted number boards.
Nice EMD prime mover sound. Has a loud 3 chime horn. Some one asked about ground lights...not this time. I suspect the matching B unit will be cataloged soon.
Chuck
J Jim 1939OGR Forum Member
quote:
Originally posted by Tiffany:
hello guys and gals........
i am GLAD i didn't buy 16 wheel diesel locomotive to have ONLY 8 wheel drive as my railking challenger has 12 wheel drive and the Athearn DD-40 has full 16 wheel drive for few hundred dollars CHEAPER !!!!!!!!
the woman who loves toy trains
Tiffany

Your loco is not a DD35 or a DD40, and if this O engine had 16 wheel drive only a few people would have wide enough curves to run it on.
SantaFe158SantaFe158OGR Forum Member
quote:
Originally posted by Tiffany:
hello SantaFe158.......
that's true BUT for the amount of money paid for this monster diesel it SHOULD have BOTH full sound package AND FULL 16 wheel drive just like the real thing as the real one has 8 traction motors and plenty of noise or sounds.
the woman who loves toy trains
Tiffany


See Jim's post above. A challenger's trucks are pretty much right next to each other and on the rail king one, they both swivel to take tighter curves. This diesel is a whole lot longer and the trucks are spaced real far apart which would require huge curves that a lot of people don't have. I really don't think 16 powered wheels on a model would make much of a difference in pulling power either. Most people don't have enough cars to go near the limit of that beasts power.
TiffanyTiffanyOGR Forum Member
Hello Jim1939.....
well even with 16 wheel drive it still CAN go on 072 track just like the scale size Big Boy as they both are nearly the same size wise and lionel could have made both first axle flanged and rear axle flanged and the 2 middle axles blinded and all 4 axles geared for both trucks. I had a H.O scale athrean DD-40 and this engine went on 22 inch radius curves easy LOL. It still can be done for little more money and have monster size pulling power.
the woman who loves toy trains
Tiffany
LORDtryzAlotLORDtryzAlotOGR Forum Member
quote:
hello SantaFe158.......
that's true BUT for the amount of money paid for this monster diesel it SHOULD have BOTH full sound package AND FULL 16 wheel drive just like the real thing as the real one has 8 traction motors and plenty of noise or sounds.
the woman who loves toy trains



the price is pretty reasonable considering the size,detail and electronics package you get. I bought 2 of the up roadname and they run flawless and sound great!! with a steam engine the reason all the wheels are driven is cause there connected by rods driven by one motor. With this engine not being all wheel drive is ok with me it pulls plenty fine and if I was doing HO i would then want all wheel drive cause in ho you need all the help you can get. A+ for lionel on this one
RickORickOOGR Forum Member
quote:
Originally posted by Tiffany:
Hello Jim1939.....
well even with 16 wheel drive it still CAN go on 072 track just like the scale size Big Boy as they both are nearly the same size wise and lionel could have made both first axle flanged and rear axle flanged and the 2 middle axles blinded and all 4 axles geared for both trucks. I had a H.O scale athrean DD-40 and this engine went on 22 inch radius curves easy LOL. It still can be done for little more money and have monster size pulling power.
the woman who loves toy trains
Tiffany



Interesting concept,pulling o-guage rolling stock with an H.O. engine. Glad to see your back up to speed with your apples and oranges comparisons Tiffany Big Grin. Why not dump that railking challenger for an athearn DD-40?The railking challenger ony has 12 wheel drive, you'd still have better pulling power with the H.O. engine... 16 wheel drive Eek
MatthewMatthewOGR Forum Member
quote:
Originally posted by ZWPOWER13:
The B Units will be a nice though, But I will probably pass.

I now hope Lionel will bring the Veranda back with Legacy, or make the 3 piece UP Gas Turbine Set.


I'm suprised you say that. I really want those B units. I think they would look great between lead and tail engines...maybe even 2 B units between would look cool, long and plenty of pulling power to pull a long train.

Happy New Year Everyone!!!

Matt
MatthewMatthewOGR Forum Member
Ok, I am already having issues with my DD35s. I am going to list below. I am very disappointed in Lionel as almost every time I purchase one of their engines I always have some issue where it has to go back.

1. With both engine and non-powered unit connected together back to back I have an issue when ever I pass through my Ross Switches. The issue I noticed that I am having is that the fake wheels (4th set)are sloppy so it hits both center and outer rail causing my Z4000 to short out and trains stop running. I was able to temp. resolve this issue by putting black tape around the fake wheels so that it does not short out when touching both rails.

2. The front coupler on non-powered unit has trouble releasing as if the motor is not strong enough. I tried oil but that didn't help. So it looks like it will have to go back for repair. I was able to get it open but once I close it it will not release by using the electronic method.

3. I noticed that when the engines are running around the track you see a bouncing affect as if one or a couple of the wheels are uneven.

I have a MTH DDA40X powered and non-powered that is longer then the DD35s and never have any issues running through all of my switches so that goes to show you that MTH has done much better with there engines then Lionel did on these DD35s.

Has anyone noticed the bouncing when these DD35 engines are moving around the track?? I have all Gargraves with Ross switches (min 072)
RickORickOOGR Forum Member
Bouncing or wobbling from a diesel is almost always caused by the traction tires because the loco sits in the box for a month or more on the tires before you get it. In my experience this will lessen and go away with some use over time. I have also had wobbling diesels that spent some shelf time on their flanges and the "flat spots" in the tracion tires went away as well.
MatthewMatthewOGR Forum Member
quote:
Originally posted by RickO:
Bouncing or wobbling from a diesel is almost always caused by the traction tires because the loco sits in the box for a month or more on the tires before you get it. In my experience this will lessen and go away with some use over time. I have also had wobbling diesels that spent some shelf time on their flanges and the "flat spots" in the tracion tires went away as well.


Thanks a bunch Rick for the info. I sure hope that's the case with me and not that my wheels are just warped or something.
MatthewMatthewOGR Forum Member
quote:
Originally posted by Matt A:

quote:
Originally posted by Matthew:
Ok, I am already having issues with my DD35s. I am going to list below. I am very disappointed in Lionel as almost every time I purchase one of their engines I always have some issue where it has to go back.

1. With both engine and non-powered unit connected together back to back I have an issue when ever I pass through my Ross Switches. The issue I noticed that I am having is that the fake wheels (4th set)are sloppy so it hits both center and outer rail causing my Z4000 to short out and trains stop running. I was able to temp. resolve this issue by putting black tape around the fake wheels so that it does not short out when touching both rails.

2. The front coupler on non-powered unit has trouble releasing as if the motor is not strong enough. I tried oil but that didn't help. So it looks like it will have to go back for repair. I was able to get it open but once I close it it will not release by using the electronic method.

3. I noticed that when the engines are running around the track you see a bouncing affect as if one or a couple of the wheels are uneven.

I have a MTH DDA40X powered and non-powered that is longer then the DD35s and never have any issues running through all of my switches so that goes to show you that MTH has done much better with there engines then Lionel did on these DD35s.

Has anyone noticed the bouncing when these DD35 engines are moving around the track?? I have all Gargraves with Ross switches (min 072)


Matt



Matt - Is the 4th set of wheels plastic? I always thought MTH was cheap and did this on my MTH DDA40X however I now realize that while going through my 072 curves (min radius for this engine) that the plastic wheels actually leave the outer rails and extend toward the inner rail (they may actually touch the inner rail).

The bouncing effect is because the holes in the wheels were drilled off center.

Does your MTH DDA40X pull lots of cars good? Mine seems to struggle compared to my AC4000 with the same load. I'm not sure if this is due to the design of the trucks or having only one power pickup per truck. My DDA40X also gets stuck on back to back lionel 072 switches at low speed.

^Sorry for the thread hijack Wink

Where are the videos of the DD35 pulling lots of cars?



Hi Matt, I just checked my DDA40X and noticed that it has some sort of plastic non conductive metal 4th set of wheels. I double checked with a wire meter and it showed me that they were not conductive. I checked out the Lionel DD35s and noticed that it's 4th set of wheels were metal and were very conductive so MTH was smart by making them non conductive. I am sure this is going to be a huge mistake by them as I am sure I am not going to be the only one with these problems. I also noticed how much those 4th set of wheels overhang off the rails when passing through reg. switches and even 080 curves. I don't think the problem is that it touches both outer and inner rails on regular track but only when passing through my reg. Ross switches because the inner and outer rails get very close to each other on the switches near the frog.

As for the pulling power with my MTH DDA40X I have 36 cars behind the engine and non-powered DDA40X and pulls with very little problems even when moving up my 3% grades. I love the MTH models especially now realizing how they perform over the new Lionel DD35s.

Here is a video of my MTH DDA40X engine pulling a lot of cars.
http://youtu.be/WkR77FqpryA

I will make a video of the Lionel DD35s pulling the same cars and see if the 35s have any issues as I have not even tried this yet.


Matt
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