Questions about MTH GM Aerotrain

1. Lots of PRR fans out there.......the railroad even had it on some calendars. I bought one because it was PRR.....and I like it! 

2. Body molding and deco is the same on all of the units I've seen....but could be different it has had 2-4 runs over the years.

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3. Not sure on that one....but the 'loco' has limited pulling power. I have 2 extra cars....about it's limit.

4. Not sure there....

The prototype Aerotrain had 10 cars.

Rusty

Here's a wiki-link. Click on the highlighted word.

I have three extra cars, and as Dave says, I doubt this set could actually pull 10 cars.  The rear power truck is, to be charitable, an oddball design.  It took quite a bit of tweaking on mine to get it to run decently. 

I think PRR had the longest running route with the Aerotrain, but that was only about two years, it was a commercial failure.  The locomotive was underpowered and the cars that were basically a bus chassis rode very rough at any decent speed.

Fred from the Raritain Valley Highrailers had to add 3lbs of weight in the nose for it to pull all ten cars. the loco pulled it however the track was pretty level. I doubt it if it could pull all ten up on a grade.

I added about 8 oz of weight in the nose to help mine.  It pulls the seven cars up a 2% grade, but I suspect that's it's limit.  I'm not sure I could get three pounds of weight in there.

I have my eye on this well ... not sure which one to get either. Any idea when they will be shipping?

The Rock Island actually bought and ran the Aero Train for 9 years in commuter service. The other 3 RR's ran them during their test periods and said no thanks.

   Bill T.

Great train.  I have the PRR version.  The station arrival announcements are neat on the train.  I pull seven cars with no problems...makes it a perfect sized set for me.  This set is a good value in the MTH lineup.

If your not set on a specific road name, the Rock Island would nice since it is a survivor.

I was actually hoping MTH would reissue these as I'd like to get a PS3 version.  To many other things in the catalog I want though.  My Aerotrain is being repurposed to a custom project so, I will need a replacement to leave stock.

My Aero PS3

I just about gave up on getting this due to the Canadian dollar being down 30% ...

I found this 2006 PS2 version new in box and the battery seems to be holding a charge 

Sounds are really loud and clear running with DCS. I also found an extra car #306 to add to the set ...

They're a cool little train, I like mine.  I have the PS/3 version, though yours is exactly the same as far as capabilities.

Always wanted one, picked one up one the forum with 4 extra cars for less then $300. Really happy I found one love the way it looks.

What is the power arrangement in the MTH version? From the photos, it looks like it has a four wheel truck at the rear, where the prototype just had a single axle (which may not have been powered, I'm not sure). Does the model have power in bot the front and rear trucks?

I've loved the real Aerotrain ever since I was a kid in the fifties, but I'm unsure about the MTH version...

Bill in FtL

Isn't that the MTH version 3-4 posts up?  Looks like a two axle front truck followed by a single axle at the rear, just like the prototype. 

The MTH has a totally oddball truck in the back, the worst of all worlds!  It has two powered wheels and then two tiny wheels, much smaller than standard wheels.  It appears they were trying to "hide" the second set of wheels.  In truth, they'd have been better served by just making the rear single axle fixed I believe.  The locomotive isn't long enough for that to be a factor, but maybe on really tight curves it could be.  I've several times been tempted to do my own modification of the rear and remove the two wheels and make the others stationary.

I wanted the Aerotrain ever since I saw it on the cover of a book titled " The Wonder Book of Trains" back in the 50s when I was in elementary school.  That's when I fell in love with its styling.

I finally bought the MTH Aerotrain with Proto 2  several years ago.  Its fun to run with all the great passenger dialogue and station announcements.  Visitors love it too!!

I highly recommend the Aerotrain!!! Lots of play value!!

I am not certain about this... buy what I heard was it was only one made and they were renumbered. But obviously I am wrong. So any corrections would be great. Thanks

It can't be the only one made, since there are two currently on display!

Today, NYC's Aerotrain #2's locomotive resides at the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay, Wisconsin while the Museum Of Transportation in St. Louis keeps PRR's #1, which includes the locomotive (non-powered) and a few cars.

Hi GunrunnerJohn,

Is the MTH model's front truck powered (two axles, four wheels), as well as the oddball truck's single axle (2 wheels), for a total of three axles powered, or is the front truck a dummy (hard to imagine)? Also, does it have one or two motors? I'm pretty sure the prototype was powered only by the front truck (a Flexicoil type), which had a traction motor on each of it's two axles, with the engine's third (rear) axle being unpowered and probably similar in configuration to the axles under the cars.

Bill in FtL

Yes, the front truck is a standard 4-wheel powered truck.

I suspect they wanted power to the rear because just powering the front truck would result in very poor pulling power.  Remember the Lionel Phantom locomotive with the motor only in front, it couldn't pull it's four set cars if there were any grades, and barely on a flat track!  The Aerotrain manages to pull my seven cars pretty well after some work on the rear truck.  It's still a bit dicey to keep that truck from derailing, and I'm still tempted to make additional mods.

How is it even physically possible to put three pounds of weight inside the loco, for one, & for the measly single can motor to pull that weight & 10 cars?  I have the original-issue MTH Aerotrain set from 10+ years ago & 3-4 extra cars.  The top of the loco becomes hot after running with even that amount of weight after just 10-15 minutes.  The cars themselves are like lead sleds & pose significant rolling resistance.  There is just a single axle each in the front & rear of each car.

Gentlemen,

   A really great looking MTH O Gauge Train no doubt about it, unfortunately as poorly engineered for actual operation as it real counter part.  For this reason I passed on it in the beginning and will probably do the same in the future.  I wish MTH would have made this O Gauge Aerotrain with better operational engineering, I would have loved to have owned one that pulled a full load of rolling stock thru out my multi level layouts.  I seldom criticize the trains in our O Gauge hobby, unfortunately this train is not a very good actual runner, and I run all my different trains at Christmas time. 

PCRR/Dave

Once I got the rear truck to cooperate and not derail, it really doesn't have an issue pulling the seven cars I have around the club layout, including the long 2% grade.  You do want to properly lubricate the axles of all the cars and locomotive to lower the rolling resistance, but other than that, it's worked OK.  Of course, it doesn't have to fight tight turns, we have O72 or larger everywhere, that could be a factor.  Tight turns and steep grades would certainly challenge this set!

Mine has one extra car for a total of 4 and running on 36 and 31" curves.

I just love the announcements, many sounds and things going on.

There is even an advertisement to ride the Aerotrain.

Looking forward to getting my PS3 version when it comes in.  It's going to look great next to my ToT.  Now I just have to order that Futureliner model and it will be a great trio.

Just a caution about the rear tail lights. I have an older Locosound version that required a fairly high voltage to run at a decent speed. This caused the rear tail lights to overheat and melt an internal section of the rear deck. It did not melt the outside of the car. I solved the problem by replacing the lights with two red LEDs.

The PS/3 version has LED's in the rear car.  Now, all my passenger cars have LED lighting as well.

Found this ...

Unfortunately, those lightweight passenger cars started bouncing around very uncomfortably when they got up past 60 MPH, so while the concept sounded good, the reality wasn't so good.

The Aerotrain has one of my favorite tail cars...

Yep, I'd like to make it look like the real thing with the backup light if I can. 

Gentlemen,

   Like I said a great looking train, with the different upgrades Guns has done, the Aero probably runs pretty well.  Don't know how well it travels thru FasTrack switches however.  When you guys get your P3's post some video of how she runs, especially thru the switches, if they do something to upgrade this Aero Train, I would still consider adding one to my layout.  Now if it was Tin Plate that would definitely push my decision over the top.

Keith you run FasTrack how well does the Aero run thru the FT Switches?

PCRR/Dave

I have no issues with it now through Fastrack or Atlas switches, the only two that it's traveled through.  I wouldn't call it my most reliable runner, but it will make it around for an hour or so without issue, which is all I expected.

You do have to fiddle with the oddball rear truck on some of them to make them work decently, of the two I've tinkered with, both needed some "adjustment" of the rear truck.  The issue is the rear truck rocks and the tiny front wheels derail, usually when you slow down and the torque holding them down is eased.  One of the mods was to tinker with the support to minimize the amount of rocking the rear truck is allowed to do.  The other was to work on the small wheels as they didn't rotate freely.  I managed to find some properly sized think washers that were small enough to space the screws (which serve as axles) out just enough to allow free rotation, that was the final fix.

John

What size LEDs did you use to add to tail lights?

Dale H

These is the first locomotive that I have trouble oiling the wheels ... not enough space (on most axles) for the oil tube from the bottle. I needed to use a business card however, the small wheels turn very well once oiled. 

Nice buy!

Dale, mine already had tail lights, I'm thinking of trying to rig a backup light as one like the prototype.

John

That might be tough without running a wire all he way through from the lead unit. Do you have a reverse sensing circuit,stand alone for a car?