Milwaukee Road Hiawathas from Weaver

The 4-6-4 does use the same type of connector as the Atlantic. These are a pain but they are repairable - I've done it. If you are looking for the most reliable operation I would advise going with the MTH version of the Milwaukee F7. I've had one for years and the only problems have been replacing a speaker (a known and common problem with early Proto-2 engines) and replacing the traction tires. 

The advantage of the Weaver engine is that it is a perfect paint match for the Weaver ribside cars, which are the most accurate models you can get in 3-rail. The MTH doesn't match perfectly, but it looks OK with the Weaver cars and is a lot less hassle than a brass engine.

Southwest Hiawatha posted:

The 4-6-4 does use the same type of connector as the Atlantic. These are a pain but they are repairable - I've done it. If you are looking for the most reliable operation I would advise going with the MTH version of the Milwaukee F7. I've had one for years and the only problems have been replacing a speaker (a known and common problem with early Proto-2 engines) and replacing the traction tires. 

The advantage of the Weaver engine is that it is a perfect paint match for the Weaver ribside cars, which are the most accurate models you can get in 3-rail. The MTH doesn't match perfectly, but it looks OK with the Weaver cars and is a lot less hassle than a brass engine.

My MTH Hudson generally runs well, but I have had to repair the tether recepticle twice so far. The pins keep coming loose from the printed circuit board. The loco is currently in the backshop for just that repair.

Southwest Hiawatha posted:

The 4-6-4 does use the same type of connector as the Atlantic. These are a pain but they are repairable - I've done it. If you are looking for the most reliable operation I would advise going with the MTH version of the Milwaukee F7. I've had one for years and the only problems have been replacing a speaker (a known and common problem with early Proto-2 engines) and replacing the traction tires. 

The advantage of the Weaver engine is that it is a perfect paint match for the Weaver ribside cars, which are the most accurate models you can get in 3-rail. The MTH doesn't match perfectly, but it looks OK with the Weaver cars and is a lot less hassle than a brass engine.

Thanks for the insights.

RoyBoy posted:

Southwest Hiawatha posted:

The 4-6-4 does use the same type of connector as the Atlantic. These are a pain but they are repairable - I've done it. If you are looking for the most reliable operation I would advise going with the MTH version of the Milwaukee F7. I've had one for years and the only problems have been replacing a speaker (a known and common problem with early Proto-2 engines) and replacing the traction tires. 

The advantage of the Weaver engine is that it is a perfect paint match for the Weaver ribside cars, which are the most accurate models you can get in 3-rail. The MTH doesn't match perfectly, but it looks OK with the Weaver cars and is a lot less hassle than a brass engine.

My MTH Hudson generally runs well, but I have had to repair the tether recepticle twice so far. The pins keep coming loose from the printed circuit board. The loco is currently in the backshop for just that repair.

Too bad, but I am sure I will be faced with the same pin problem as time goes by. I still can't but wonder if Companies could have used two plugs, one on the firemans side and one of the engineers side, and they would have looked like tender water hoses to the engines injectors. Guess it is best to wait for infra red models when they get re-released.

The streamlined MTH Hiawatha was re-released a couple of years ago with PS/3. I assume it has the new style tether (which has its own problems). You need to be careful buying the newer version - it was cataloged with PS/3 but it was released during the transition from PS/2 to PS/3 and I understand that there are some units out there under the new product number that in fact have PS/2.

I have not had any problems at all with the tender connection on my MTH Hiawatha 4-6-4. Not doubting that Roy has had the problem, but I have not, and my F7 Baltic is one of my most-used locomotives.

OK,  I will probably just hold out for an MTH PS-2 version and be satisfied. As for colors being somewhat off, I will just have to reason, the color variation comes with age of equipment  and slight variations in paint mixes, as we all should know by now, you never get the same mix in real life.

Thanks for the comments.

Well, I do not like the "wireless" (infrared) tethers. Hard to swap tenders around. MTH has it's own "wireless" (it's not, really) tether, so they won't be going infrared, almost certainly. And Weaver is out of business, no no "re-release" there.

I have seen problems with K-line and MTH tethers, but not much with any of them. And, most of my new/new-ish steam is Lionel, so it's those blasted hard-to-modify wireless tethers. Some need modifying because of the absurd broad-jump distance between loco and tender. Some are fine - which makes the long ones even more annoying.

I'd get the Weaver, just because. It's brass, and there will be no more Weaver locos, or anything. Better gearing, probably.