Lusting For These In MTH Rail King

Oofah...(and I say that as one who actually operated the 1414 numerous times at SLTM)  

Where would one put the electronics? The only models of the open-bench streetcars I've seen in 'O' only have a small lengthwise can motor mounted in one truck, using spring-belt drives, and were strictly 2-rail+pole DC.

---PCJ

Do you mean a Long Island 2-8-0 like this? They still have them new in stock in a few hobby stores.

Just go to http://mthtrains.com/33-1040-1 and click on the "find it locally" tab.....

Penn-Pacific,

That version of the 2-8-0 is fictional. The Long Island's Sunrise Special's motive power was first a 4-6-0 Camelback and later a G5 4-6-0. The Long Island's H Class 2-8-0s were all freight haulers that rarely were used in passenger service.

So if MTH replaces the Sunrise Special logo with "Long Island" in gold or white Railroad Roman style lettering like the Pennsy used, and numbers these engines in the range of 102 - 114, there will be a lot of happy Long Island customers.

PCJ,

Considering that Mike Wolf and his team recently found a way to produce the GE 44-Toner with a full suite  of PS 3 electronics, I think it is time to apply that technology into an Osgood Bradley open trolley car. MTH applied their S-Gauge electronics to make the new 44-Toner. I think that there is enough room below the floor of the trolley to mount the boards. Also, a bump-up into the aisle floor to make way for electronics would not detract from the car in my opinion.

I would be ecstatic to have an MTH Rail King Osgood Bradley car in Connecticut's Yale Bowl livery, in Brooklyn's BRT Cream & Maroon and in the Third Avenue Railway's livery.

I could see one of the enclosed streetcars as a platform for a new low-floor power truck, but engineering an open-bench car sounds like the kind of thing you'd invest in once you've got proof of a decent market for streetcars.

Wonder if the Western Hobbycraft tooling is available somewhere (oh wait--that one would only be good for an enclosed car)

---PCJ

I think that the MTH Team is up to the challenge of designing and producing an open trolley car. The MTH Team's persistence with the GE 44-Tonner demonstrates that they can get it done. That Team has stuffed electronics into HO and S scale trains, so the technologies are there for applications into an open trolley car.

Preferably sooner than later, one of the O-gauge train companies is going to produce an open trolley car, so in my opinion it should an affordable MTH Rail King product.

Is there any O-gauge model of this streetcar?

I think I've seen them in 2-rail 'O',  (OGR ran a feature on someone's Connecticut traction layout years ago) but I couldn't say whether the open-bench cars were brass, kits or scratchbuilt.

One thing I do know is that the 44-tonner has something these streetcars don't--enclosed hoods to hide the motors. An open-bench streetcar would need at minimum, a drivetrain like the WBB Peter Witt, but not having one of those, I couldn't begin to speculate where they'd put the tachometer for PS3.

While getting PS3 into S and HO models is certainly a feat, is that really in the same league as hiding them  (along with the motor/drivetrain) under what is essentially a flatcar with crosswise benches and a clerestory roof?

---PCJ

Well, for TMCC with back-EMF or non-cruise, you could use these, they're the Williams 44-ton powered locomotive trucks.

A protrusion into the aisle for electronics can be disguised / hidden by adding passengers in the surrounding seats. I remain of the opinion the the MTH Team can rise to the challenge of producing an open trolley car. Perhaps the biggest hurdle is convincing Mike Wolf to invest in the non-recurring costs to get such a trolley into production.

Open trolley cars have world wide appeal, so I think that market is ripe for an Osgood Bradley type of car in the MTH Rail King product line.

Bobby Ogage posted:

. Perhaps the biggest hurdle is convincing Mike Wolf to invest in the non-recurring costs to get such a trolley into production.

 

And the second is getting all that innovation to market at a RailKing price point.

Have we ever seen anything that groundbreaking make it's debut in RK? We've seen innovations in Premier-priced goods that later on were incorporated into the RailKing line, but I don't recall off the top of my head any that began there.

---PCJ

OK, how about a:

1.  MUNI cable car.

2.  S70 Siemans LRT cars.  Many cities have them, as well as the French National Railway!  Houston METRO H-2 cars are the same as UTA's, so you have a "two-fer" there.

MTH Premier is not affordable to me, and my railroad is 100% Rail King. I do not think that I am alone because Rail King is MTH's largest selling product line. The Brill trolley, the 2-8-0 Consolidation, Real Trax,  and 13" heavyweight passenger cars come to mind as Rail King innovations.

Problem is that the "world-wide" appeal quite possibly would not result in sufficient sales to justify/amortize the capital cost of the tooling and design effort, at least not at a RailKing price.  Note the 44-ton is a Premier model, and priced higher than a RailKing diesel.  Same was true about the PS2 single motored Alco/GE/IR boxcab MTH produced about 10 years ago.

gunrunnerjohn posted:

Is there any O-gauge model of this streetcar?

Several variations have been done in brass - Kidder.  I think 9, 12, and 14 seat versions were imported a long time ago....

If Q-car can make an under the floor drive in 2-rail, then someone can make one in 3-rail.

mwb posted:

 

If Q-car can make an under the floor drive in 2-rail, then someone can make one in 3-rail.

Some have come close, but none have crossed the line.

I can think of a few examples of O-scale traction I'd take home if only such a drivetrain existed.

---PCJ

RailRide posted:

mwb posted:

 

If Q-car can make an under the floor drive in 2-rail, then someone can make one in 3-rail.

Some have come close, but none have crossed the line.

I can think of a few examples of O-scale traction I'd take home if only such a drivetrain existed.

---PCJ

Well, the vast majority of both Q-car and the older Wagner drives that were made for 2-rail operation were made un-insulated and set up for overhead power collection from the wire. 

If you don't have 3 rail switches to operate through that require the large 3-rail flanges, you probably could just add a center rail pick-up and then off you go.......

To MTH:

I have asked Mike Wolf to consider a Rail King model of the New York Central 4-8-4. He last told me that "we are looking into the retooling the Union Pacific 4-8-4 to make the NYC model".

Development of a an o-gauge 3-rail power truck has applications to many products including subway & El cars, trolley street cars, interurban cars, electric commuter cars, steeple cab electric locomotives, automobiles & trucks, small yard engines, and maintenance of way equipment.

Models of early wood burning steam engines were made oversize to accommodate current can motor drives, but could be to scale with powered tender trucks.

I can envision powering Corgi models with 3-rail power trucks.

And, then, there's Northwest Shortline's new Stanton Drive trucks or their 'Magic Carpet' axle drive for O2R.  Pretty nifty, I'd say!  

I've bought 2 Stantons in HO to convert some early brass EMC Doodlebugs to a decent drive system. Extremely well engineered.  Available in a variety of wheelbase lengths, wheel diameter, tread profile.

Another thought for the FWIW repository.

KD

Come on MTH. Make the Rial King 2-8-0 in Long Island Rail Road livery. Also offer a set of 027 heavyweight passenger cars in Long Island livery.