Q car company drives

I have a pair of Q car Co drives in my Sunset PRR Brill gas -electric.  The drives run smoothly and are quiet - but are light duty.  Had to add a second power truck to the Gas Electric to power the heavy brass car up a steep 3% grade.  The owner  (Qunton) was very helpful and is a real gentlemen.

They are decent but Wagner trucks are much better.

I like Q Car drives, they're no noisier then Wagner's, the one's equipped with the magic carpets are quiet but can be problematic in tandem if the motors vary too much in speed between each other, or the respective truck's gearing isn't fairly equivalent in resistance.

The more conventional "Wagner" style Q car trucks I have are largely bullet proof, though bear in mind all my Q-Car trucks were built to order by Mr. Carnicelli way back in the eighties.  

Q-Car drives are generally quiet and quite reliable. They are not designed for heavy cars/engines and are generally for traction and trolley use pulling minimal numbers of cars.  When ordering, it's good to discuss with Quentin actual intended use vs. weight and grades that will be encountered. He usually will offer options of different gearing.  He will also provide insulated sets for those not using overhead wire, too.  These drives generally also may intrude above the floor.

Those drives with Magic Carpet drives in them appear to be no longer available from Quentin and he stopped selling sideframes and parts several years ago, so if you want to assemble your own Magic Carpet drive trucks, then you're on to looking for parts on the secondary marketplace. These drives have the advantage of being totally under the floor and contained within the truck body.

Wagner is long gone but there seems a never ending supply on the secondary marketplace. Depending on age, open frame motors that are going to intrude above the floor, to much smaller units that may fit under the floor. Insulated drive sets are not common, but they do exist.

I use a Wagner drive with a can motor in one truck of my NJCB Brill 660 gas-electric. It is sufficient to power the car around including nearly 2% grades, but not enough for a trailer coach.

Ed, the OEM drive in your Sunset is not satisfactory?

Chris - the OEM drive in my Sunset Brill just would not give me the smooth starts from station stops I wanted on my branch line.  It did run smoothly once in motion.  The Q car company power truck had much better start low speed performance/stop.  I sent Quinten the Sunset truck b Brill trucks and he did the repowering.