MTH Premier Erie Triplex at Mercer Junction

Jared,

Dave was kind enough to let me run my Triplex on the layout earlier this year. My practice layout has 0-60 radius and the big steam needs a lot of room to run.

Yours looks great on Dave's rails.

I also ran this companion locomotive at Dave's Mercer JUnction layout.

PaPaT

Here is a second one with the same results:  http://youtu.be/oDVUaoOa02g

VERY COOL!!! I'd like to have a VGN version myself!!!

The second one worked.  Go figure.  Thanks PaPaT.  I think it was your video that convinced me to buy one.  I went searching and found two stores that had one left.  One store was willing to do layaway and after several months I was able to pay it all off.  I didn't get it though until just now because he sent it to my parents because I was moving at the time.  I thought about the Angus also, but when comparing the two engines, everyone agreed that the Triplex looked better.  Now I just need a layout to run it on here in AL.

Jared

I've got that locomotive and it is probably my favorite steam locomotive.  The board went bad in it but thanks to Ben Fioriello, it is up and running again. 

Alan

What did you use to film them?  The video has a very surreal feel to them as things keep changing/moving, like the rear stack going from straight to tip bent to the locomotive getting tall then short.

Anywho, I love the Triplex and will have one some day.  Too bad they never made a PS-1 version.  I'll have to wait until I have a full finished layout with the correct transformers.

Also, who'd you find that'd do layaway?  I want the Lionel Big Boy, but it may take a layaway for me to get it.

Actually, since the Big Boy is being built to order, EVERYONE who wants one is essentially funding their own layaway of sorts... placing the order in January/February 2014, then saving their pennies in the piggybank throughout the year to pay for it when it arrives (hopefully on schedule) in December 2014.    Just need to exercise a little discipline!  

David

Uh, you do know that the headlight is broken off and dangling from its wires, do you not? First thing that I noticed - then the only thing that I noticed.

I was wondering the same thing.  The camera is creating some weird distortions, and I don't recall having seen that before..

Headlight is fixed.

Dave

The headlight being broken was the first thing I noticed when I pulled it from the box.  Dave fixed it for me.  The tiny screw holding it came loose but was still there.  Also, it wouldn't run at first.  Dave and I tried everything.  Then he mentioned that the main plug might not be in and sure enough that was it.

  I was using my new Canon 70D.  I've only had it a few weeks and am still trying to learn how to use it.  I never had a DSLR before.  I'll have to go back and watch the videos to see what you guys are referring to.  I think it just might be the angles I am shooting at.  Sometimes I was standing, sometimes kneeling, and generally moving around with the engine.  I had image stabilization turned on which significantly helped.

I got the engine from the Train Loft in Winston Salem, NC.  The other store wouldn't do layaway.  Dave also mentioned that they would do layaway which means I'll probably be buying from him in the future once the camera is paid off.  My LHS in Jacksonville, FL also does layaway.  They just aren't as local since I had to move.  I still have some items to pickup from them.

Jared

I think it was partly do to the auto focus also.  The Canon 70D has a 19 point auto focusing system and it got a little confused is all as to what should have been in focus.

Jared

I understand that, but I think I need an extra few months, even with lots of discipline.  I have two growing boys and if anyone has ever had rambunctious boys knows you never know what surprises they'll cause that you'll have to pay for.  One has already had staples on the back of the head.

Okay, I could tell it was doing auto focus, and that was some of it, but I bet it was the image stabilization that was causing most of the effects.  Very trippy.  You might want to turn IS off for following the train videos shot by hand in the future.  Also make sure it isn't changing the aperture on the fly either if possible.

Maybe I need to send some emails to these stores to see if they'll help me out for layaway.

What a nice locomotive, cool, awesome, unfortunately we live so far apart that you can not run your baby in my layout, maybe one day you decide to take a trip to Lake City with your Triplex, of course you are welcome in my layout. Churu.