MTH’s New Premier PS3 Dreyfus Hudson
When I returned to O-Gauge model railroading ten years ago, I made a list of the locomotives I wanted. It was a two-tiered list, with a list of model locomotives I would like to have (Union Pacific propane turbine) and a shorter list above that of locomotives I had to have. Near the top of that shorter list was New York Central’s Dreyfuss Hudson. I’m not into the New York Central that much – the only other NYC locomotive I have is Lionel’s lovely, feature-rich Vision Hudson. And while I know it was a very good machine, I’m also not among those many model train enthusiasts who consider the J3a to be the, or among the, best steam locomotives ever made. But I’m a sucker for Art Deco, particularly Art Deco done right, and there is nothing, not just no other locomotive, but no other building, no set of gates, no monument, no sculpture, no painting, that I think represents Art Deco at its finest more than the Dreyfuss Hudson. To me, it defines Art Deco, and along with the Cisitalia 202 GT and the Bell 47, is one of the most beautiful, iconic industrial designs ever turned out in any art genre.
And yet somehow, the Dreyfuss Hudson eluded me. I would see them for sale here and there, but it never happened.
So I was thrilled when Patrick’s Trains told me they were shipping the MTH Premier PS3 model I had ordered. I had big expectations, too, because MTH’s Premier ATSF 3460 series Hudsons were among the very best O-Gauge models I had ever seen, so good that, shortly after I unwrappred and ran the first one, I ordered all the other road numbers MTH offered.
My O-Gauge Dreyfuss Hudson: MTH’s Premier PS3 5445 on my mainline near Raton Pass.
I ordered road number 5445, a model with Boxpok Hi-Rail wheels and the centipede tender. I don’t have any other loco with Boxpok wheels, and that long, many-wheeled tender looked interesting. As the photo above shows it is a particularly handsome locomotive and with the long tender, quite balanced and lovely of line – just a joy to look at.
The model is heavy and looks and feels very well made. There are the features I expected: sliding hatch covers on the roof of the cab, a fold-down platform between loco and tender, engineer in the cab, and builders plates I can read with a jeweler’s loop, etc. Streamlined, shrouded steamers do no provide modelers with lot of small details (pipes, attached “stuff&") that can be modeled with intricate detail, and that is somewhat the case here. So there is not the “Oh Wow!” piping and “separately attached” pieces that impress so much as on MTH’s ATSF Hudsons and Chapelon 241A, 3rd Rail’s steamers, or some of the better Legacy models.
But even so, I was a tiny bit disappointed. Most of the slots/holes/vents/whatever you call them in the body, that I see clearly are open in photos of the real loco, are just molded recesses – and not very deep recesses, either – on this model. I had not expected the many hatch covers all over the loco’s body, etc., to be anything but molded in, but I put this model side by side with MTH’s ATSF Hudson 3461, and the edges of the Dreyfuss’s hatch covers, as well as of rivets, ridges and small details in the Dreyfuss Hudson body, etc., are much more rounded than on the Santa Fe loco – molded detail is far less crisp than there. All in all this just isn’t as impressively detailed a model. The silver-painted Boxpok drivers don’t look good to me – a bit too shiny and grainy, but maybe that is just me. The driving rods, etc., are an extremely handsome, shiny graphite color that I like, but the color and particularly the sheen doesn’t work in company with the silver drivers and grey body. No matter there: ten minutes and some Neo-lube will fix drivers and rods.
I read the instructions, as I always do just to be sure. There were no surprises, but it’s always a good idea to make sure. I checked that every switch was in the right position, added a bit of smoke fluid, made absolutely certain the sometimes-troublesome MTH loco-tender coupling with its electric clip was properly connected and fully seated, and put the loco on the track. I powered up (I run in conventional by the way) and waited for the supercapacitors to charge. It usually takes about twenty seconds, but I was still waiting for anything – a light, chuffing, anything – two minutes later. I checked power to the track – a caboose nearby was shining bright. I put a LC+ GP7 on the track and fired it up – it liked the power fine.
Suffice to say I checked all switches, the connector, etc., even cleaned the section of track it was on, and its rollers and wheels, played with the switches, re-read the manual, etc., etc., etc., before concluding that, alas, this is the first case of “dead out of the box” that I’ve had with a premium-grade loco in eleven years of being back in O-gauge. Problems – I’ve had some the past, yes. But dead as a door nail? Not until now. So I can’t comment on how it runs or sounds, but there is no reason to assume it’s not as good as the Santa Fe 3460s, which is to say very good, if perhaps not quite as smooth at really slow speeds, and with not quite as dynamic a chuffing sound, as one gets with Legacy. But then, don’t forget: this is a $1,000 list price loco, not a $1,350 one. You get what you pay for. I would like to hear with the whistle sounds like, but not now, it seems.
I’ve been criticized on the OGR forums in past because I don’t send problem locos back for repairs under warranty, but that’s the way it is and will be on my railroad, this time and every time if it happens again. I bought this loco mostly to have a model of it, and I do. It’s an acceptable model – after I paint the recessed holes/vents/slots/whatever flat black and neolube the drivers, rods, etc., it will look good enough, and so it go on a shelf as shown below, just below my other favorite streamliner, a Legacy N&W J I repainted in Union Pacific grey and armor yellow. I think the two make an extremely attractive pair of art-deco streamliners as one can see in the photo below.
The Dreyfus Hudson doing what it not only does best, but all that it does – look good. Above it is my Legacy N&W J, custom-painted in UP colors. They make a lovely pair. Below it, the absolutely sensational MTH ATSF 3461 – arguably the best model locomotive I have, even considering 3rd Rail locos. In time I will look into why the Dreyfuss doesn’t run, but not right now.
I’ve fixed every loco with issues that I have wanted to fix, so if and when I want to see Miss Dreyfuss run, I’m sure I can cure whatever ails her. But I’ll be content with a shelf queen for now, and her majesty will stay right where you see her in the photo for now: I run trains about 900 hours a year, I have 125 locos, including some favorite runners (two or the MTH 3460s) that pretty much stay on the layout, so most of the others (even the vision Hudson) get run only an hour or two a year. The Dreyfuss Hudson would be one of those, and taking up its repair right now just isn’t worth getting those two or three hours to me. So you see it where it will be henceforth.
I would have preferred it run, so I could hear the whistle, but I don’t regret buying it at all: my list of “must haves” is done!. That alone makes it worthwhile.
Now, if MTH would only ship that propane turbine . . .
Are you suggesting that you're fine with it being a shelf queen?
