I recently purchased a new Proto 3 switcher. My first MTH steamer in a number of years. My last switcher was a Legacy 0-8-0. I kept it but was very disappointed in it's performance. I already had 2 MTH versions. Proto 2's from years ago. Was glad to see the latest version has 3 pickup rollers. 2 on the engine. 1 on the tender. The plan was to re letter it into a Rutland. The Bessemer & Lake Erie fit the bill with it's white edged running board. The Rutland only owned two 0-8-0's. Both ex NYC's. Wished the tender had the lower bunker. But I got it at a good price and on my RR. Close enough is good enough.
One thing MTH has over Lionel is the fine details. Whistle and bell chords. Chains on the tender trucks. Much better looking cab figures and cab curtains. Lionel has a nice round boiler you can see under and better sounds. In a yard switcher though. The sounds on the MTH are fine just doing switching moves. In fact. For switching operations. I prefer the feel of the DCS remote. Everything under both shells as far as board placements and wiring was very user friendly and neatly done.
Adding Kadee's was a breeze. Brackets are provided and are dead on for coupler height. The tender one went on easily. Remove the shell. Disconnect the couplers plug and 2 screws remove the coupler mount. I used the provided MTH hardware. It takes about 5 minutes for the changeover. I did substitute a longer 2mm screw for the couplers center mount. The ones they provide a just long enough for the 2 outside mounts. The raised center portion of the Kadee box requires a 2mm X 8mm to secure it. The front involved removing the shell and disconnecting the harness. Remove the e clip, washer and spring. Remove the 2 screws holding the cylinders. Move them around enough to access and lift out the coil couplers T pin. I ended up unsoldering the 2 wires on the coupler. The chassis hole is to small to fish the plug through. Re tightened the cylinders and flipped the chassis over. Used the 2 short screws and provided bracket and couldn't get the screws to catch. These are the same holes that hold the cylinders on. They weren't tapped all the way through. My biggest fear was breaking a tap off in the chassis. After some trial and error. I figured out it was 4-40. I backed out the cylinder screws. I put a few drops of oil on the tap and it actually went in easily and did the job. Luckily the mounting screws are very short and only need a few threads. If yours is like mine. Just put enough threads in to hold the mount tight. A bit of a snag. Still much easier than making up brackets. GOOD job MTH.
