Lionel NYC Mohawk 18009

T

This Mohawk, lot like other steamers of the day by Lionel, is voltage sensitive. Try applying at least 18 Volts to the track - the more power, the more smoke comes out, so try and give it a decently heavy load to pull.

As for the bell/whistle activation, I am not familiar with MRC transformers, but I would assume the conventional bell/whistle buttons would do as such, as all my Lionel, MTH, and Atlas transformers do with these period engines.

Thanks 4501.  FWIW: I ran the engine and tender by themselves....w/o any load behind it.  I'll gladly run a full consist behind it when I get home.

 

-T

I have one of these that I got back in 1990. I also have a Chessie T-1 from 1991. The smoke output was never really great on these engines to begin with, compared to today's engines. Running under a load, as Makado 4501 suggested, will help. Also blow down the stack to make sure a bubble isn't blocking the stack.

 

The bell and whistle should work with your MRC. There is a on/off switch under the tender that controls the steam sounds, but not the bell/whistle sounds. 

Well....mostly positive progress to report.

 

I added A LOT of cars to increase the drag behind the engine and tender last night.  While anemic by today's standards, the smoke unit has begun to work.  Also working now is the whistle.  I couldn't get the bell to work yet but I'll try a few things over the weekend.

 

FWIW: I've wanted this piece since it came out in 1990....which just happens to be the year that I graduated from high school.  There was no way I could afford it at the time.

 

As much as we might complain about the fragility or sensitivity of our trains in the post TMCC/PS-1 world, today's three rail O-Scale trains are a substantial and material improvement over what was made as recently as the mid-90s.  While it's great to stroll down memory lane from time to time, I'm grateful to be partaking in the hobby NOW.  We've come a long way in a relatively short amount of time....our occasional complaining to the contrary.  (Not trying to ruffle anyone's feathers or start an argument.)

I bought mine from Larry at Train Express in Indianapolis right before Christmas, 1990. The price was $949 + Indiana sales tax. That's over $1800 in today's dollars, or about the price of a VL Big Boy. My wife just about died when she asked what the price was.

 

Fixing the smoke output on this engine is fairly easy. First take the engine shell off to get to the smoke unit. Open the smoke unit and remove the wicking that is around the resistor it will be burnt (cut it off). Then clear out the burnt batting material that you will find where the resistor touches it. Or just pull the batting and turn it over. Be careful of the smoke unit gasket it will be brittle and break easily. Put everything back together and it will smoke like a champ. When smoke is working fully it will also come out of the steam chest something that would be nice if the newer engines would do.

I have had the T&P version of this same loco for a few years now.  The only operational short-coming it has is a lack of Traction Tires, which kept it from making the grade on my previous layout with its full passenger train in tow.  But the thing runs like a champ.  The whistle sound is a bit clunky, but I have no use for too much smoke, so the reasonable output works well for me.  I find no fault with it otherwise and am thinking of converting to TMCC.  I do not feel that it has been left behind:  it has all the best qualities of a solid PW piece in a scale body, very much on par with the 700-series engines.

Hopefully I'll get some time to work on this some more this weekend.  My unit has very little run time on it.  But I did have it pulling 25 cars around 0-72 curves last night with my MRC Dual Power.

 

This man wins the prize.