I am now the proud owner of a nice 1666e prewar loco, which I recently acquired. It looks nice, runs reasonably well, but the pulling power is anemic for something so heavy. Obviously one of the issues is the lack of a traction tire. Does anyone know if replacement wheels were made with a traction tire groove? ( I would replace the rear driver on both sides for increased pulling power.) Any other tricks for improving performance of this machine without just adding weight in every spare space?
Also, the whistle activates but sounds awful. I am looking for service advise of the whistle tender. The tender is marked as a 2689.
Last question at the moment - What is the little paddle under the tender trailing truck for? It looks like it works with some type of five rail track system but I don't know anything about it.
(really hoping I can get that stain of the side of the boiler. Its the only serious cosmetic blemish on the loco.)
Note - this is as received, I have started cleaning the contacts and wheels. I would also love to switch to roller pickups if available.