Pride Lines Green Diamond

Made in 1998/99...5-car set...additional coach, sleeper car, and motorized unit(8 cars) available.  If you ever tire of it, please contact me, Ron B.!!!

Thank you, sir!

That was really a rapid response!  The information is greatly appreciated.

Check it out carefully before operating, with special attention to motor, electrical connections, wheels, axles, and anywhere moving parts can interfere with each other. The Pride Lines models were interesting and quite attractive, but if my Hiawatha is any indication, quality control was abysmal. On mine, the motor was defective (bad field), small castings were brittle, various moving parts were out of line, and most of the holes for axles, etc. were not drilled square. The locomotive on mine has been almost completely rebuilt with MTH and Lionel parts. The cars are OK after replacing some defective wheels, axles, and truck sideframes. 

Good luck. That is a beautiful train, I hope it runs well for you. 

Ok, when are you going to bring to a meet and run it. I want to make sure I'm there.

Steve

Southwest Hiawatha

Thank you very much for the information.   I was not aware of those issues with Pride Lines equipment (the only other Pride Lines item, in the family is a Mickey Mouse Hand Car).

I will go through it very carefully.

Steve,

Assuming it runs ok, probably sometime in the next month or two.  I don't know who is doing the layout this month, do you?

Can u post or email close-ups of train???

streamliner490@verizon.net

THANKS, Ron B.

Here is a Green Diamond running on a SGMA layout in 2010.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oR7ZW-j428g&feature=related

We are referring to the O Gauge train!!!  Thanks for video tho!!!

WOW!  That was a great video!

Who made that Green Diamond?  It was beautiful (as was the entire layout and everything on it)!

I have been considering getting a Pridelines Hiawath for some time now but after reading this I'm not so sure now. I have the UP MP10000 and I really haven't noticed problems but it really doesn't see much run time due the fact my curves are a bit to tight for it. The one thing I thought was odd is a rather large weight that is epoxied inside the locomotive, looks like an "after market" add on but if QC is lacking it might just be factory installed. Anyone else out there have any Pridelines items care to chime in?

Jerry

I think Steve Waller is just setting up a simple O loop this month. Still a little too soon for my shoulder to be lugging stuff in and setting up.

Steve

I can certainly agree with the poor quality of the Pridelines Hiawatha. On mine, both cast eccentric pieces in the valvegear cracked within a few days of purchase. On top of that, two rivets broke at valvegear joints, another rivet bent and at least one screw head holding the sidrod broke off in a wheel. Something new happened with the valvegear each time I ran it. I ran it for a while without the valvegear, but its overall poor quality, such as the slightly off-center wheels, annoyed me so much that I sprang for a Lionel Classics from 1988 rather than keep repairing it. The Lionel (MTH) quality is much better, though I do not know if it is "original quality".

I did not purchase the Pridelines Hiawatha cars, so I can not speak to their quality.

The problems with the eccentric cranks and valve gear are consistent with my experience. I also had both eccentric cranks break. Part of the problem on mine was caused by the misalignment of the crosshead guides and piston rods, causing the piston rods to bind in the cylinders. The eccentric cranks were extremely brittle, undoubtedly due to using an incorrect or impure zinc alloy. Fortunately I was able to get hold of  parts to replace them - MTH, I think, but possibly repro Lionel parts from one of the places that sells repro parts.

I don't have any Pride Lines equipment, but I've heard an awful lot of grumbling about their items coming apart at the seams as they age.  I've seen some on ebay that look absolutely terrible given how relatively new they are, definitely be careful with the mechanicals on that thing. 

Guess I'll just stick to getting a Lionel or MTH rather than deal with any potential problems. I did like the extra baggage car that they have for the Pridelines set.

Jerry

I don't wish to stray too far from the original poster's topic; however, since the Lionel Hiawatha set released in 1988 was mentioned, I thought I should post a warning regarding the locomotive. The body appears to be subject to metal deterioration as mine is showing signs of "webbing." I'm aware of locomotives belonging to others with similar problems so make sure you check the model carefully when contempalting the purchase of this set. I should probably go ahead and buy a replacement body from MTH at this point.

Bob 

I spent about an hour this morning placing sticky-back velcro (the fuzzy side) inside the ends of the passenger cars so that the vestibules do not get scratched up.

I have test run the power car and B-Unit.  The B-Unit did not run, initially, but cleaning the commutator corrected this.

The Green Diamond is definitely not up to the quality of MTH or Lionel (fit and finish), but it is still pretty neat looking.

I am hoping to set up a loop of 072 in the next few days and run it (and try to get some video).