Railking Triplex track radius and board voltage.

UPDATE .......... early Christmas present ...........MTH Railking Triplex / proto 2 ,3 volt.

After reading on the forum about how to work this engine on O31 radius curves decided to ask for one for Christmas.

went with my extremely generous better half to the Valley Farm Market in Weedville Pa. to see Charlie .   Even though he usually wants retail , he is really great to work with .

Sent him an email to let him know of a problem with the purchase . He had me go back to get another to replace the first.    He had operated  this second one on the store layout and when I showed up he sent it around on the layout for me for reassurance.   Great guy.

Different forum members had commented on the need for a Premier Triplex instead of the Railking offering.     

I really appreciate MTH's modeling in all my Premier and Railking diesels and all my Railking steamers but this Triplex p2 is way more than I expected .  With all its lights and figures and MTH's SMOKE out put traveling at 1 SMPH  ( on the DCS remote ) I was very impressed with this engine.

Have a great Christmas all .   Make noise with the rolling wheels on those tracks.  🎅🤶🚂

Be healthy and hale.

When I first got my RK Triplex I didn't realize it needed 042; my layout has 031, 042, 054 and 072. There was a couple of 031 curves and 022 switches that caused issues with the pilot wheels and derailing of the first car behind the tender. Some investigation revealed the pilot truck interfered with the lower inside of the steam chests. And the opening for the tender coupler was a little narrow for 031 curves. I filed a couple of V notches in the steam chests to clear the pilot truck frame members. And widened the rear coupler opening again by filing. A little touch up black paint, and presto, all has been fine ever since. This was a bunch of years ago.

I can send some pictures of my mods if needed, but it's simple enough.

Rod

Hey Rod ,

The photos would be great.......I seem to mostly understand visual instructions 🤓

@Dallas Joseph posted:

Hey Rod ,

The photos would be great.......I seem to mostly understand visual instructions 🤓

I'll dig those out and post them a little later today Dallas.

Rod

Thanks Rod

No need to hurry.   I'm trying to redo a small area on the layout .  Seems to be work  (  play  )  needed with these things all the time.. ..............still some Christmas shopping to do yet too !!!     Time is running out . 🎅🤶

I have the Railking Triplex on 036 curves on the test loop (because that's all I got) and it has ran really well. I got it up to 70 SMPH before the rear coupler let go (just like the prototype!). I really want the premier version but this Railking version is killer. It needed a new speaker and battery but has ran great ever since that. I haven't taken it over switches or anything yet but it pulls a very heavy train of Atlas and MTH fishbelly hoppers loaded with Black Diamond Abrasives coal slag and has never let me down. I can't wait to get it on the full size layout and really open her up!

Here are some pics of the mods I did Dallas. First the tender coupler; I filed the opening wider at the arrows, by maybe 1/8" each side, can't recall exactly, but it files easily, and its inconspicuous once touched up with engine black paint.

Then for the pilot truck you can see where it had been hitting the steam cylinder castings on each side. In the second pic you can see where I filed a clearance notch in the top of each side of the pilot frame casting, at the arrows. Again it files very easily and quickly. And when touched up with engine black it is completely unnoticeable when reassembled. That's about it. Once I made these mods, no more 031 issues at all.

Hope that helps, Rod

I seem to recall reading that this was MTH's first RK Imperial offering, though they did not identify it as such. Great level of detail though, much better than a lot of previous RK offerings.

Rod

Nice photos and instruction Rod.   Can't wait to get this work done .    The triplex works very well and sounds great and has a generous amount of lighting .  .thank you very much.

@Rod Stewart posted:

I seem to recall reading that this was MTH's first RK Imperial offering, though they did not identify it as such. Great level of detail though, much better than a lot of previous RK offerings.

Rod

Hey Rod ,  not sure if  the 1st Triplex and the 2nd were really any different .

The FIRSTone was 30-1337  ( #5015 )  Cat. 2004  Vol. 1                The SECOND one was 30-1531-1E  ( 5014 ) Cat. 2009 Vol. 1  with 4 coal cars with loads and an Erie caboose.

Neither showed " Imperial " on the label even though you are right about the great level of detail.

The FIRST one that Charlie exchanged right away showed no life on  the test track with the Z1000 and controller , no engine to add on the DCS Explorer and no engine on track with the full DCS  system.     The voltage at the tender pins under the tender read 1.85 volts to begin with so I charged it for a long duration but was never able to get over 2.2 volts which I thought should be OK.

The SECOND engine at the same tender pins measured 2.3 volts.  I went right to the full DCS system and Z1000 again and it immediately entered the remote .  Pressed startup and it came right up with full functions.

Thanks for that info Dallas. I didn't really know that it had been re-released with cars in 2009. Mine is #5015 from 2004. Still like it a lot, great sounds, great lighting, and totally unique in design. It has lived on my layout since the day I received it new. It's a bit of a handful on my tiny 22" turntable, but hey, it seems to work. The other Imperial engine from that era that I like a lot is the N & W Y6b #2197. It's another permanent layout resident.

Rod

Hey Rod ,

I am not familiar with long term use of the batteries in P2 and have only used a BCR or Gunrunner John's plug in super caps. 

Are you using the OEM batteries ?   If so , how many years are these things good for ?   Since I keep the entire two channels lit up with a couple dozen engines I though I would have to keep the Triplex powered up to keep the battery in a good state.  I still can't locate my p2 /5v charger that I purchased 3 years ago .

I too have a couple of mallets.......a Pennsy USRA p3 and a B&O USRA p2 . I really liked the Y6b but no longer have one.          Maybe your 22 inch turntable might seem small to you but my 0 inch turntable isn't much to talk about .    It would be nice if I had one.

I have never used anything but the PS-2 OEM batteries. I can say the Triplex and the Y6b batteries are original (yikes, they are getting old), though I have certainly replaced the batteries in a couple of other PS-2 engines on the layout. Many engines go for long periods of time between runs, like many months. I try to run each one at least once a year but that's no guarantee. I keep spare batteries on hand for replacements.

I too have a PS-2 5V/8V charger around somewhere, but have only used it 2 or 3 times. Early 5V PS-2 engines lacked a charging port, so you have to remove the battery to charge it. MTH used to sell add on charging ports for these engines, which was a handy mod.

Rod

The charger that seems to be in the " lost gravity pit " is really a charger for the ps2 / 3 volt .   Still don't know how deep in the pit it might be

Since I have had ps2 engines with either Gunrunner's caps or the BCRs since 2017 and have paid no attention to them like the ps3s , I might get the courage to open the Triplex tender and do the replacement if I'm sure I have the right ones.

Thanks for all this help Rod.

Railking Triplex battery replacement project.

Assembled Triplex still runs perfectly Rod.

@Rod Stewart. I filed a couple of V notches in the steam chests to clear the pilot truck frame members.

Thanks again.

Dallas here is a better closeup of the mods I made. I actually did NOT file the steam chest, just the frame of the pilot truck, sorry for the confusion. I figured that was easier and also avoids modifying the boiler casting. I used a square file on each side, with the notch angled to match the approximate angle of the corner of the steam chest at the contact points. It's not perfect, but it allows the pilot to swing the necessary angle for 031 track without binding on the steam chest. Both sides have been filed in the picture, but the right side does not show up very well against the background sadly. The only remaining step before reassembly is touch up of the filed areas with engine black paint. Hope that helps.

Rod

Definitely helps Rod.   

I just used the top filed profile of your pilot frame as a  guide and actually went all the way down through . I really don't think the wheels will fall off . 😁 Your photo was excellent ...........I just did not do a good job observing  . 😶

In a previous reply I had three photos of the battery replacement project that I performed on the Triplex.  It works without any problems.

@Rod Stewart posted The only remaining step before reassembly is touch up of the filed areas with engine black paint. Hope that helps.

Rod

Hey Rod ,

Everything is working well per your instructions .

Before reassembling the  shell on the tender I noticed some tension with the rear coupler when pulling a couple of coal cars through an S curve arraignment with 3 O31s and an O 84 curve.     The coupler had no contact with the stepdowns after I did your recommended modification.

However the wire for the coupler actuation was kind of giving the back of the tender a sort of slight vertical and horizontal torque when it interfered with the metal on the walkway opening.

The photo shows the opening after I filed the opening more from side to side. I didn't think it would be good to widen the oval further as the two screws that hold the piece on are very close to the opening .  It helped . 

Hey Rod .......The Photo

Looks good Dallas. Hopefully that will alleviate any issues with the first car derailing.

Rod

Yes , I wondered about that first car uncoupling when I read about that Rod on BillYou414 's post.

Actually the first car derailing was the issue for me, in tight turns.

@Rod Stewart posted:

Actually the first car derailing was the issue for me, in tight turns.

I also noticed the coupler bracket attached to the truck with two screws was somewhat flexible which allowed the out of the box coupler to droop .      A little careful bending of the bracket now has the coupler raised evenly to the height of that first car's coupler.

What an interesting project.  But without your incourangment I would have probably given up on the Triplex.  How terrible that would have been. 🤔🤐😉

This gives me an opportunity to use some of gray matter.  It's actually more fun than maybe many would want to have !?!  😫

@Rod Stewart posted:

Actually the first car derailing was the issue for me, in tight turns.

No problem with any derailing .

I've been able to run the Triplex on the over and under double loop with 6 areas of O31 curves on the 5×16 foot layout so far trying 25 SMPH with the 4 coal cars and caboose with no problem.

  If your Triplex has 2 holes in the connector to the tender it would be like the one I have .    I was able to run this Triplex with no problem using the hole closest to the engine in the tender connector .

I found that a big source of the problems , beside what you told me about in your earlier reply , was the wire connection at the coupler and the coupler width.   

Besides what I described in the following photos , you will note the two vertical square edges of the hollowed out area in the middle and below the back edge of the speaker cover.  (  see the photo with the small screwdriver pointer. )

Since the wire had very limited travel when the tender  shell was installed, I rounded the edges of those vertical edges and  reduced the depth of them towards the shell. 

I also replaced the two countersunk screws holding the rear landing on with two screws that had smaller diameter heads.         The originals screws on mine, when tightened down ,would catch on the coupler after I gave the coupler carrier a little vertical bend to bring the coupler to the height of the first coal car.

The big issue with the tender rear truck was that it was supposed to freely swivel..........and for anything less than O42 curves it didn't do it.

It might seem like a lot of work to get this Triplex to work on O31s  but with a little patience and your help ,it sure is satisfying to see it run very well on my layout and not worry about OLD  SPARKY.    Thanks Rod.

Glad it's working well for you Dallas. Good job!

Rod