Magne-traction noise

I wouldn't worry about the noise, postwar Lionel is so full of interesting sounds, you wouldn't notice if a Magna-traction equipped locomotive was making more sounds.

All I can say is my non-Magna-traction 2036 would slip like crazy and barely be able to pull itself up a standard Lionel graduated trestle ramp.  My Maga-traction 2343 Santa fe F's would walk away with anything I could put behind them.

And I loved the 2343 growl...

Rusty

1. Will the grade (3%-5% depending on which design) be too much for a 10 car train w/o magne-traction?

2. How does a PW loco compare noise wise with its magne-traction brother? I've read a few posts saying they are louder.

Does it make a difference noise wise diesel to steamer?

Thanks. Just wondering about the noise thing. I have a 2035 and MPC 8600 and they are certianlly clunkier and louder, which I like...plus they smell great!

I read some threads regarding turbines not handling 27 switches well. Would they handle 42 switches any better?

Maybe that's because the 2343 has TWO powerful, horizontal motors as opposed to the 2036's ONE small, frame mounted motor.

The number and size of the motors makes little difference because the 2036 lacked Magna-traction.  As a philospher once told me, "Metal against metal, slides."  Slipping wheels is slipping wheels, six wheels full in syncronization.  No amount of motors would have corrected that. 

I remember pressing down on top of the engine and it would climb as long as I was pressing on it.  Maybe a brick tied to the top of the locomotive would've helped...

Doesn't matter, both are long gone now, and I had fun with them when I was a kid regardless.

Rusty

Lee has a Santa Fe Brick.   Perhaps he could make you one so that you can fit it to your loco? 

Any more .02 on the grades...3-5% OK for the T-1? How will traction tires do? I'll be running a 50/50 mix of PW and modern rolling stock.

The 2036 DOES have magnatraction, the 2035 does not. If you plan on running post war train up and down hills you will be busy at the throttle adding and reducing power. You can put the hill sections on a different transformer, with isolated track, with different settings to eliminate that though. I would stick to a level layout for a new guy.

Rob

the 2035 DOES have Magna-traction

675 and 2025 do not.

8600 has it too

I just learned how to search properly. Before I was searching everything I guess and it listed lots of members first. Anywho this is an informative thread:

https://ogrforum.com/d...ent/3963862652249897

"the 2035 DOES have Magna-traction"- Yep, my bad. Too many numbers to remember.

Rob

Well, mine was a 2035 in 2036 clothing then.  It never had Magna-traction.  My parents bought it at Goldblatt's on 26th & Christiana in Chicago. 

According to them, the 2036 came as a set (not separately) with a black 6462 NYC gondola, 2465 Sunoco two dome tank car and 6357 SP style caboose.  Probably one of those whacky uncataloged sets, or the store assembled their own set.  My folks also bought a 3656 stock car separately.

The above along with the 2343's, a 2532 vista-dome and a 2423 observation, a 6560-25 crane car, along with a hand full of Kusan cars were pretty much my Lionel train world until the 1960's.

I guess oddballs appeared way back in the 1950's also.

Rusty

A good synthetic lube oil is quite helpful: it doesn't dry out or become varnish-like and it will get into the pores of the metal. I have used Militec-1 for many years and my postwar cars and engines roll extremely well. Furthermore, it isn't necessary to keep adding oil every few hours of running when this material is used. I have a 3% grade on my layout and my 224E and 675s pull their 3-4 passenger or freight cars up with no problems. Sure I can add another car or two, and turn up the throttle and spin the locos' wheels, but why do that?  Phil

jay,

There is a big difference in operation between those 3% and 5% values. A 5% grade is very steep - about what you get using the regular Lionel #110 graduated trestle set. You will be limited to shorter trains with these grades.

3% on the other hand is good for all but the longest trains. It is a good compromise and is recommended for most permanent layouts.

Proper lubrication of wheels and axles on the rolling stock stock will also help your trains negotiate grades. Traction tires and good strong Magne-traction will also help.

Jim