MTH Railking Cab forward w/ps3

I've had this engine since it was released. It's one of my favorites.

I have one of the older ones I upgraded to PS/2 and detailed the cab, it's a neat locomotive.

Cool, nice Details ! Very inspiring :> 

Looks like the real thing.  I have been with the real X4294.

Have it, love it.  I do have a slight squeeking on it--all lubed up, still squeeks, but only hear the squeak when the volume is down.  Runs great, sounds great,.  Running on a layout with o48 curves.  I have it pulling my Alaska passenger cars for now--plan on relabeling the tender to a custom label--Orin & Krisitna Alaskan Tours.  I would love it if Glacier Express passenger cars were available in O--would grab them a relabel them to run with this engine as a Tourist Excursion.

I had a terrible squeak in mine too ! I think I lubed it three times before I finally got it, there's a lot of moving parts on there, I was about ready to dump it in a oil drum..lol! I'm glad this engine also ran passenger service, thought it was just freight at first, but theres a lot of good pictures of the cab forward with a string of passenger cars. Do you think the sounds are accurate? I'll have to watch some you tube videos and see what I can come up with. I do wish the sound was deeper, or had more bass, I wonder if you could alter or replace the speaker for better sound?? Thanks for your input.

Marty Fitzhenry posted:

Looks like the real thing.  I have been with the real X4294.

 

 

Would LOVE to see this !  Where is it located?  I'm still amazed at how BIG these things are and not just long, but tall and beefy! I saw a pic of an engineer standing next to the side of one and he looked like a ant compared to it.   Thanks for sharing.

Kittytrain1969 posted:

Marty Fitzhenry posted:

Looks like the real thing.  I have been with the real X4294.

 

 

Would LOVE to see this !  Where is it located?  I'm still amazed at how BIG these things are and not just long, but tall and beefy! I saw a pic of an engineer standing next to the side of one and he looked like a ant compared to it.   Thanks for sharing.

At the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento. A world class museum. 

Thanks for the info, I will definitely have to go sometime. I would love to walk up to it and get a real feel for it AND to go inside it!

That is a really cool looking locomotive.  Studying the pics, it looks like they just turned the cab around.  I notice it is a coal burner, so how in the world did they get the coal into the firebox.  It looks to me like the firebox is located in the same position as most other steam locomotives, so the coal would have to travel the entire length of the boiler to reach the firebox?  I would guess some sort of screw mechanism?  Very interesting indeed.

The west coast people take better care of trains.  I cry when I drive by the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania and see GG-1 4800 rotting outside while nothing rolling stock is inside.  They should be ashamed.  When people (railroad guys) think of the PRR, they think of the GG-1.   If the Museum on the west coast had that engine, it would be restored to what it should be.  

Mr Union Pacific posted:

That is a really cool looking locomotive.  Studying the pics, it looks like they just turned the cab around.  I notice it is a coal burner, so how in the world did they get the coal into the firebox. 

No. NONE of the Southern Pacific cab forward steam locomotives were coal burners. They were ALL oil burning, for VERY obvious reasons.

It looks to me like the firebox is located in the same position as most other steam locomotives, so the coal would have to travel the entire length of the boiler to reach the firebox?  I would guess some sort of screw mechanism?  Very interesting indeed.

No doubt, that would make it much easier.

Mr Union Pacific posted:

No doubt, that would make it much easier.

Not to mention the fact that there was/is VERY little usable coal in California!

My Rail King AC-12 runs excellent too, but the overhang of the front pilot forced a lot of scenery changes on the railroad. I wish that the front pilot was attached to the pilot truck as is done on first generation diesels. The sound of the out-of-sync steam cylinder strokes is very well done.

I originally had the PS1 version and later traded it for the the PS2 version released (i believe) in 2007.  I just recently bought a new PS3 version recently to replace the PS2.

I like the sounds and the features of the PS3 much better. Sound quality was improved and the wireless draw-bar is always plus. 

Of the few (minor) issues I have of the PS2 vs the PS3 version, one is the paint quality. The PS3 seems to have a flatter black and the PS2 is a bit darker and more glossy.  The lettering on the engine and tender also appear to be darker on the PS3. And finally, the PS3 seems to be missing a couple of the builders plates on the side of the boiler vs the PS2. 

I have considered swapping the shells on these engines but decided against it because I am sure I can live with the minor differences.

I will post pictures in later post to show the two engines.

H1000

Mr Union Pacific posted:

That is a really cool looking locomotive.  Studying the pics, it looks like they just turned the cab around.  I notice it is a coal burner, so how in the world did they get the coal into the firebox.  It looks to me like the firebox is located in the same position as most other steam locomotives, so the coal would have to travel the entire length of the boiler to reach the firebox?  I would guess some sort of screw mechanism?  Very interesting indeed.

I'm pretty sure they were oil burning, not coal, but what do I know?  Yeah, that would be quite the hassle shuffling coal up to the locomotive !

H1000 posted:

I originally had the PS1 version and later traded it for the the PS2 version released (i believe) in 2007.  I just recently bought a new PS3 version recently to replace the PS2.

I like the sounds and the features of the PS3 much better. Sound quality was improved and the wireless draw-bar is always plus. 

Of the few (minor) issues I have of the PS2 vs the PS3 version, one is the paint quality. The PS3 seems to have a flatter black and the PS2 is a bit darker and more glossy.  The lettering on the engine and tender also appear to be darker on the PS3. And finally, the PS3 seems to be missing a couple of the builders plates on the side of the boiler vs the PS2. 

I have considered swapping the shells on these engines but decided against it because I am sure I can live with the minor differences.

I will post pictures in later post to show the two engines.

H1000

I would love to see the two engines next to each other. My PS 3  Imperial Santa Fe Northern has a flatter paint than my PS 2 version and is missing the small railings on the top of the tender, which the older PS 2 engine has. I keep wondering why they would remove cool detail like that.  I don't care for the crew talk on the newer cab forward. Nothing too bad, just annoying, maybe too loud or something? I like the wireless drawbar, but I have to wonder how many get broken by younger engineers ( or impatient older ones), I'll bet MTH sells a lot of replacements.

As promised are the picture of later PS3 and earlier PS2 Cab Forward engines. After uploading these photos, I realized my digital camera could use a little updating.

Overview of the locomotive:

Top view of the cab & boiler (PS3 on the left):

Builders plates & Exhaust stacks (the PS3 is missing two of the labels applied to the PS2)

The Tenders (note the difference in darker lettering on the PS3 tender):

Front view of the cabs

More views of the locomotive:

The next two pictures are close ups of the exhaust:
the PS3 is first and the paint appears thicker? it just fills in these small spaces more and slightly takes away from the exterior detail

The next two photos really show the difference in the paint:
PS3 is on top and PS2 on the bottom. Again the thicker paint takes just a tiny bit of the sharp detail away from the PS3

I realized i didn't focus much on the tenders so here is another shot:
PS3 on top & PS2 on the bottom.
The difference in lettering shows up here as well as the flatter paint used on the PS3.

H1000

Wow, so cool to see two of them together, too bad you can't double head with these engines. Yes, you are right, the older version has shinier paint, a brighter S.P. logo and more of the builders plates. I wonder why they would add so much detail, yet omit something as simple as that? Thanks for sharing the pics, very interesting to see the changes!

Received my Pentex "Last Run over Donner Pass" and it's awesome!  Much better than expected.  First off, it was filmed in 1957, which I didn't realize. Makes it more interesting to watch. Also, there was no music score playing throughout the dvd, which I'm very thankful for.  I guess I don't understand the corllation between trains and knee slapping, jug blowing music. I just want to hear the trains !

Anyway,  it's a great video and worth every penny .

Here is a quick video of my cab forward:

Cab Forward from Orin Dym on Vimeo.

Very cool, Great layout ! 

What type of smoke fluid do you use ?

I use mega-steam and my stack gets clogged a lot and doesn't puff like it should.  Maybe it's the unit ?

Anyway thanks for sharing your video,  looks great !

Kittytrain1969 posted:

I had a terrible squeak in mine too ! I think I lubed it three times before I finally got it, there's a lot of moving parts on there, I was about ready to dump it in a oil drum..lol! I'm glad this engine also ran passenger service, thought it was just freight at first, but theres a lot of good pictures of the cab forward with a string of passenger cars. Do you think the sounds are accurate? I'll have to watch some you tube videos and see what I can come up with. I do wish the sound was deeper, or had more bass, I wonder if you could alter or replace the speaker for better sound?? Thanks for your input.

By the way, MTH Railking Imperial southern Pacific Cab-forward sounds are quite accurate. 

I am using Mega Steam--cinnamon scented--I only turn on the smoke for show/video. 

Thanks for the compliments on the layout-like most, I would love a bigger space to work with, but I am grateful to have the space I do.

Kittytrain1969 posted:

By the way, MTH Railking Imperial southern Pacific Cab-forward sounds are quite accurate. 

How do you know that? Does the model have the SP freight steam whistle, and those VERY distinctive air pump "open exhaust" sounds?

They were all oil burners. 

Hot Water posted:

Kittytrain1969 posted:

By the way, MTH Railking Imperial southern Pacific Cab-forward sounds are quite accurate. 

How do you know that? Does the model have the SP freight steam whistle, and those VERY distinctive air pump "open exhaust" sounds?

Well, I listened to the real engine on the video I watched. It might not be exact,  but then it's a Railking model and not exactly accurate in all accounts anyway.  If I was anal retentive about being exact, it wouldn't be much fun, would it?  The compressors do have that distinctive sounds and the whistle is close enough,  different from other Railking engines.  

Kittytrain1969 posted:

Hot Water posted:

Kittytrain1969 posted:

By the way, MTH Railking Imperial southern Pacific Cab-forward sounds are quite accurate. 

How do you know that? Does the model have the SP freight steam whistle, and those VERY distinctive air pump "open exhaust" sounds?

Well, I listened to the real engine on the video I watched. It might not be exact,  but then it's a Railking model and not exactly accurate in all accounts anyway.  If I was anal retentive about being exact, it wouldn't be much fun, would it?  The compressors do have that distinctive sounds and the whistle is close enough,  different from other Railking engines.  

That is exactly what I was wondering. The SP freight whistles were NOT the same as the Daylight passenger, deep steamboat type, whistle. You generally can't go wrong by comparing to vintage videos.

Problem with vintage videos is that some obviously have the sound dubbed in.  Saw one on internet yesterday that had more than 4 chuffs per revolution.  It was not a  3- or 4-cylinder.

Kittytrain1969 posted:

Just got the new MTH Railking Cab forward w PS3. 

Does anyone else have one and if so, what's your opinion of it? 

I love it and have been running it everyday now. I even got inspired and bought a cab forward video through Amazon last night. 

It runs great,  very smooth and the sounds are good,  but I'm not even sure what a cab forward sounds like, so it could be way off (?)

Would love to hear your comments.

Thinking of weathering it, but have to work up the nerve: > 

 

I bought one of these around 20+ years ago probably longer and I am just now getting to set something up and see how it runs. I'm a postwar Lionel guy so I'm not sure if I should be doing anything to this other than oiling the wheels since its been sitting for so long. It has never been run! This and a few other engines will be run for the first time soon! I happy to hear all the good reviews! 

No reason it should sound any different than a cab-in-rear with same wheel and compound-vs-simple configuration.

fisherdoc posted:

I bought one of these around 20+ years ago probably longer and I am just now getting to set something up and see how it runs. I'm a postwar Lionel guy so I'm not sure if I should be doing anything to this other than oiling the wheels since its been sitting for so long. It has never been run! This and a few other engines will be run for the first time soon! I happy to hear all the good reviews! 

If your loco has protosounds, you will want to open the tender and change the battery. Then take out the manual and familiarize yourself with protosound. If it locosound, lube it per the manual and you should be ready to go.

fisherdoc posted:

I bought one of these around 20+ years ago probably longer and I am just now getting to set something up and see how it runs. I'm a postwar Lionel guy so I'm not sure if I should be doing anything to this other than oiling the wheels since its been sitting for so long. It has never been run! This and a few other engines will be run for the first time soon! I happy to hear all the good reviews! 

If it's around 20 years, I'm guessing it's the older ProtoSound 1 model or the early ProtoSound 2 one.  If so, CERTAINLY replace the rechargeable battery before you apply any power to the locomotive!

gunrunnerjohn posted:

fisherdoc posted:

I bought one of these around 20+ years ago probably longer and I am just now getting to set something up and see how it runs. I'm a postwar Lionel guy so I'm not sure if I should be doing anything to this other than oiling the wheels since its been sitting for so long. It has never been run! This and a few other engines will be run for the first time soon! I happy to hear all the good reviews! 

If it's around 20 years, I'm guessing it's the older ProtoSound 1 model or the early ProtoSound 2 one.  If so, CERTAINLY replace the rechargeable battery before you apply any power to the locomotive!

Thank you! Being a post war Lionel guy I completely forgot there even is a battery in that thing! Thanks for the heads up I will certainly replace that battery before powering this engine up - for the first time! AL

Marty R posted:

fisherdoc posted:

I bought one of these around 20+ years ago probably longer and I am just now getting to set something up and see how it runs. I'm a postwar Lionel guy so I'm not sure if I should be doing anything to this other than oiling the wheels since its been sitting for so long. It has never been run! This and a few other engines will be run for the first time soon! I happy to hear all the good reviews! 

If your loco has protosounds, you will want to open the tender and change the battery. Then take out the manual and familiarize yourself with protosound. If it locosound, lube it per the manual and you should be ready to go.

I guess I will need to read up on this Proto stuff. My degree of sophistication ends with a Lionel Whistle button LOL!