Mth steam proto 3 vs proto 2

The short answer is no.  It's more to do with mechanics than electronics from what I've seen.  My 44-Ton PS/3 runs very smoothly at speed step #1, but my Aerotrain, also PS/3, doesn't smooth out until 3-4 scale MPH.

MTH has, at various times, stated that their PS2/PS3 engines run smoothly at 3, 4 or 5 SMPH. All of mine (103 in total) run smooth at 2 SMPH and a number of steamers run smooth at 1 SMPH.

3 SMPH is within the MTH-stated standard.

Ironlake, some things about your original post don't make sense.  I think you typed "proto 3" when you meant Proto 2.

MTH has a tendency to use the same darn 16-tooth axle gear on many of their steam locos.  So the ones with smaller driving wheels have more motor revolutions per inch of travel, and will run slower and smoother.  Meanwhile, some with tall drivers will exceed 100 scale mph, which benefits no one.   If you ever have to take the boiler off for maintenance, etc., compare the gear ratios between your S2 and CP locos.  That might explain a lot.

A couple more tips:  Set the acceleration rate to 1 and the deceleration rate to 2 using the DCS remote, and especially check the CP loco for mechanical binds (burr on the drive rods or crossheads, too loose or too tight hex bolts holding the drive rods on, rubbing ornamental brake shoes, proper lubrication, etc.)  That will cause a hitch in the giddy-up every time!  Good luck!   -Ted

I would love to see a video of those running.  Hopefully I may learn what is going on.

Are all engines MTH or is one an upgrade?  Upgrades can be different because of other manufacturer gearing versus MTHs with that sound file. G

Gentlemen,

   Barry is correct on this one, engineering build tolerances being what they actually are, make the smooth running of these toy engines only so slow.  In reality it is almost impossible to get them any better, we are very lucky engineering tolerances have become so refined.  Remember the actual mechanical product is built to a +/- tolerance ratio, this includes every gear and wheel on the engine, and the electrical components also, add all these all together, as the product is built, and our toy engines are actually a modern engineering marvel.  Most people have no idea what refined engineering tolerances go into making these toy trains run at such slow speeds.  Just incredible modern engineering.  Be very grateful the control speeds are so super low on your toy engines.  People fail to realize you have an Inch per Inch NASA type speed control package, built into every remote control toy train engine, the cost for developing this kind of engineering is beyond imagination.  The Inch per Inch travel tolerances were developed for Computerized Zero Defect Automatic Welding for building the NASA Space Shuttle. The civilian companies then acquired a form of this engineering, and are now able to build the modern toy trains you have so much fun with today.  You can actually look at it in this manner, when the NASA Engineers were little boys, building our O Gauge toy train layouts, it spurred many of us on to our NASA Engineering Careers, and our MIT Engineering educations.  Using these incredible gifts the NASA Engineers developed the Inch per Inch Engineering travel technology that came full loop, back to our O gauge toy trains.   The next time you see a little boy or girl playing with their O Gauge Trains, understand how incredibly important what they are learning can actually be, to the engineering advancement of the modern world.

PCRR/Dave

Our next Generations of Engineers, playing with their O Gauge Trains.

Pine Creek Railroad posted:

[...] engineering build tolerances being what they actually are, make the smooth running of these toy engines only so slow.  In reality it is almost impossible to get them any better, we are very lucky engineering tolerances have become so refined.  Remember the actual mechanical product is built to a +/- tolerance ratio, this includes every gear and wheel on the engine, and the electrical components also, add all these all together, as the product is built, and our toy engines are actually a modern engineering marvel.  Most people have no idea what refined engineering tolerances go into making these toy trains run at such slow speeds.  Just incredible modern engineering.  Be very grateful the control speeds are so super low on your toy engines.  People fail to realize you have an Inch per Inch NASA type speed control package, built into every remote control toy train engine, the cost for developing this kind of engineering is beyond imagination.  The Inch per Inch travel tolerances were developed for Computerized Zero Defect Automatic Welding for building the NASA Space Shuttle.

Ah, no.  It's the GEAR RATIO, and it always has been the gear ratio.  It just costs a little more to use a different worm wheel (bull gear) on the axle for each application.  It also takes a little more effort to tame the NVH associated with high RPMs: balanced flywheels, motors mounted in rubber grommets, etc.  I would be willing to bet you the cost of a locomotive that a Lionel 227 0-6-0 switcher circa 1939 refitted with a 1970s vintage Pittman or Canon motor, would outperform the original poster's high-wheeled CP 4-8-4 with its supposed "space shuttle" technology.  Especially if the band-aid of electronic speed control were turned OFF.

There's a direct trade off between top speed and slow speed performance.  If the CP 4-8-4 can reach 100 scale mph now, and you regeared it for a top speed of 60 scale MPH, the continuous slow speed would be cut approximately in half.   Unfortunately because the wheels and gears are captive in the chassis, it's virtually impossible for a home modeler to change the ratio.  MTH's HO scale locos aren't made this way.  It's about time they improved their O scale design to match.

IMO there are SO MANY fast "toy trains" on the market, there is abolutely no good reason to build a scale model which runs faster than 60-70.  Yes the prototype could go faster under ideal conditions, but not on sharp curves!  If someone has a layout big enough to take advantage of those speeds, they can probably afford to pay a custom builder to gear their loco UP for faster speeds.  For the rest of us stuck working in spare bedrooms or on 4x8's, we are better off at 30:1.  My $.02.