WBB has unveiled a "right sized" prototype 1:48 scale 44-tonner. It measures 9"by 3.5". It will be in 4 roads: PRR, SF, Southern, and D&RG.
Norm
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WBB has unveiled a "right sized" prototype 1:48 scale 44-tonner. It measures 9"by 3.5". It will be in 4 roads: PRR, SF, Southern, and D&RG.
Norm
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D&RGW too? Hate to sully my layout with diesels, but what year were these introduced to the railroads?...
Norm,
It's going to be a winner if they follow the mock up & drawings to date. If not, it will be "cheesie" like the postwar. IMHO
According to the 1941 Locomotive Cyclopedia, 44-tonners were introduced in 1940.
and ordered or in service by 20 railroads, with many repeat orders....NH, B&M,
Milwaukee, CB&Q, etc.
They had a prototype at the last York, I'm waiting for a PRR one.
Which phase will these be modeled after?
Here is a pre-pro sample...
Phooey! I was hoping for the early model!
Does anyone know what kind of motor set-up will be inside? It looks pretty tight in there. Will it be a single horizontally mounted can?
Does anyone know what kind of motor set-up will be inside? It looks pretty tight in there. Will it be a single horizontally mounted can?
Some other mag states " dual flywheel-equipped motors".
Brad
Phooey! I was hoping for the early model!
From the the photo, it looks like units built from 1945 to 1951
I think the GE 44 tonner was the most requested locomotive. I wonder how hard it will be to upgrade to TMCC.
Phooey! I was hoping for the early model!
From the the photo, it looks like units built from 1945 to 1951
I think the GE 44 tonner was the most requested locomotive. I wonder how hard it will be to upgrade to TMCC.
That's what I am interested in, a TMCC controled unit in the Southern black and white colors. If the price is right I will buy the unit and add TMCC myself.
Early or later model, doesn't matter to me as the MEC had both.
I was led to believe they are truck mounted motors, and most of the cab will be free for stuff like command and sound upgrades.
I think it looks really neat. Also if what John says about the space inside the cab is true I may finaly get my Command control scale 44 Tonner.
Mr. Muffins had these on sale(pe-order) a few months back. We ordered the Santa Fe, kind of excited to get it when they are built. We run conventional so not really worried about room inside for TMCC. Nick
When we were at York train meet I had talked with them about the 44 toner. As John said these are truck mounted motors thy had keep in mind that a lot of them wood have ERR put in them.
I haven't pre-ordered as I expect this will be like other WBB products - plenty of them made if you just bide you time and watch. I want a couple of models that I will leave alone, plus I expect this will be a really good base for mods/bashing . . .
Pennsy had a bunch. They bought them to replace A5 0-4-0s around the Philly and Baltimore industrial areas. They found out there could not do nearly the job the little steamers could. They could not handle as many cars at one time.
I have a one of the ones imported by Sunset 3rd Rail in brass a few years back, maybe 5 or more. It is really well built and runs great and as opposed to the prototype will pull lots of cars if I want. I think it is some what generic based on a later phase but is full scale size.
Has anyone tried interfacing TMCC to the new WBB TrueBlast Plus?
Know why they were 44 tons? The law (union rules?) at the time stated that any loco over 50 tons must have two crew members.
Nice model. I'll get an ATSF. Trying to save on HR costs!
Has anyone tried interfacing TMCC to the new WBB TrueBlast Plus?
There is no direct way to interface TMCC to that board. You'd have to have an interface that recognizes the TMCC serial commands and converts them to +/- offsets on the AC feed line.
ERR has such a product in the wings, I have a couple of the beta versions. It receives the serial data from the TMCC receiver and allows you to power a conventional whistle/bell card. I'm not sure when it'll actually make the website, but I've been told they are in process.
The board also has LED outputs, the stock firmware offers flashing ditch lights and a cab light output that you can vary the intensity of. It's intended that the software will be released with a GNU open source license so individuals can modify the software for their own unique requirements.
WBB has unveiled a "right sized" prototype 1:48 scale 44-tonner. It measures 9"by 3.5". It will be in 4 roads: PRR, SF, Southern, and D&RG.
Norm
URL? Judging by the pic, it'll look good with a trolley pole on top! <3
Mitch
whose motto is, "if it rolls, put a trolley pole on it!"
WBB has unveiled a "right sized" prototype 1:48 scale 44-tonner. It measures 9"by 3.5". It will be in 4 roads: PRR, SF, Southern, and D&RG.
Norm
URL? Judging by the pic, it'll look good with a trolley pole on top! <3
Mitch
whose motto is, "if it rolls, put a trolley pole on it!"
Or a pantograph
Niagara Junction Locomotives were similar to a 44 tonner .
When we were at York train meet I had talked with them about the 44 toner. As John said these are truck mounted motors thy had keep in mind that a lot of them wood have ERR put in them.
The ad copy says that the motors have flywheels. Never saw truck mounted motors with flywheels. I'm betting that there is some discrepancy here, but only time will tell.
I ordered mine from Mr Muffin some time ago, so I hope to get one of the first ones.
Well, from the horse's mouth at York, they said the motors were in the trucks. Of course, they could be confused...
RY 44 tonner.
Bottom of truck. The motor is attached to the truck, note the worm drive and chain between axles.
Two can motors with flywheels. The motors move, side to side, with the trucks as they negotiate curves.
Not sure what that has to do with the upcoming Williams 44 Tonner. Are you saying that it's a copy of the RY locomotive?
Not sure what that has to do with the upcoming Williams 44 Tonner. Are you saying that it's a copy of the RY locomotive? Could be, we will see.
Lets hope that WBB made the couplers interchangeable with electro couplers.
dan
This has been one of the most requested engines in recent times. Should be a very successful product. I wonder of the SF version will be the top seller.
Well, from the horse's mouth at York, they said the motors were in the trucks. Of course, they could be confused...
Or the copywriters could have just copied the phrase "with flywheels" from some older copy, or the whole system could be different that what any of us are thinking.
Anyone know when we will see the locos in the flesh?
Anyone know when we will see the locos in the flesh?
I've seen reference to December, but will wait and see.
I have the Southern Railway on order (the SOU had a few).
I, and we, can be 99.9% certain that we will like what comes out of the scale 44T box.
Mine is intended for ERR upgrades; time will tell.
On that subject (and see above), if ERR had a board that would blow an existing whistle,
and -feed an existing sound system, somehow - my, that would be nice. I'm not
really talking about the old UCUB/DD boards, but rather something that "simply" (hah)
makes them blow/chuff/ramp up/down as if they were still getting variable track power, but not actually using them for motor power any longer...
Easy, right? Just spitballing. Still, just activating an existing whistle would be a giant leap.
I saw it at the National Train Show in Cleveland last weekend, looks pretty good - and it's scale sized.
It will be interesting. A comparison to the RY model upgrade.
Noted points:
(1.) Electro-couplers are long and don't fit well. I fabricated a short coupler from articulated, (two piece couplers), to fit the RY model. Scale electro-couplers might be a better idea. IMO.
(2.) Limited space. The two hood areas most likely are dedicated to the two drive motors. Electronics board would have to fit in the fuel tank area, (best fit), or the cab, I didn't want that.
Wire left side of picture is the TMCC antenna. I had threaded it through the frame but found it worked best, coiled, on one of the walkways.
(3.) I use a small Atlas speaker, that was used in the SW models, installed one nose of the 44T. The ERR sound board was made fit in one hood area with minimal clearance between the cab and motor.
ERR sound board installed bottom of picture. I had to remove (2) capacitors from the board and remote wire them in the other nose of the model.
Capacitors installed remote from the sound board.
(4.) Connection wiring. Carefully placed to fit, extremely limited for space.
(5.) TMCC antenna was, and still is, an issue with the Brass model. Most likely applied to the top inside of one of the hood areas, WBB is a plastic model.
(6.) Great model hobby project, It went on for days. I'm not sure if the upgrade vendors would spend the time it took to complete the project for the few dollars they would make. IMO. There were upgrades done to the RY model by TAS. I don't believe any were done with sound or couplers. One assumes the MTH model is command control, with all the bells and whistles. IMO, conventional would be disappointing.
(7.) The small ERR board that I used, at the time, worked well, with limited use, but had no heat sinks, and eventually failed, requiring the replacement of board parts, since the board was no longer available. Surprisingly with some patients I did manage to get it to operate again.
(8.) Best wishes to all, Properly done, it could be a very nice addition to any layout.
I seriously doubt that the Williams model will have chain drive like the RY one.
<snip>Not fun, but now that I'm 2R, I will wait for the MTH 2015 catalog to see what they have to say about theirs. Supposedly PS3 will be inside (and hopefully sound).<snip>
Dave, is that confirmed? MTH has been running around this idea for some time, but it still hasn't appeared in a catalog. I hope they do build one...I'd order one of their's too.
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