RMT Engines

You get what you pay for.  They are what they are.  Reliable yes, with their own quirks.  Recommend getting two with tether.

Steve, Lady and Tex

Don't expect to run a 30 car coal drag with it, but it'll pull a few cars.  I added 10 ounces of weights to mine to help with traction.

I have a number of BEEF and BEEP.....I'd rate them batter than average quality build.  Run great in conventional mode.....as stated not made to pull a ton.....but most folks know that. 

Smooth runners and very reliable...not to mention CUTE!

My BEEPs will pull four cars plus a caboose up a standard grade (i.e., a Lionel trestle set). I use tubular track with O42 switches. They are great runners; very reliable and trouble-free. 

For the Nixon Library Holiday display, I put BEEP chassis in a couple of Marx tin FM units. One pulled three 6" passenger cars, the other pulled six 6" freights. They ran flawlessly 7 days a week, 7 hours a day for two months.

Steve

Here is a video of my favorite RMT loco....it is a great runner !

Fun , Cute, stress relief,  yes that is a loop on 2 shutters,  when I get ticked off

at work, ( often), cut em on and let the things ride !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

has anyone heard if RMT still plans to have product in 2014. 

the RMT web site has not been updated since jan 2014.

Nick, If you want reliability AND "load dependability" out of a Halloween-themed train, I would look elsewhere.....  perhaps the Halloween-decorated "All Hallows Eve" #18745 steam locomotive Lionel released in 2012.  (Don't let any of the Forum's "BEEP foamers" hear me giving you this advice.)

Its the same loco as the "Hogwarts Express" but done up for Halloween.   It can pull 10-15 or more cars with no trouble.   I have the Christmas version of it & use it to pull my 20-car collection of Christmas boxcars. 

If not this, Lionel made an entry-level die cast steam loco with the #30056 Halloween set from 2010.... the tender is labeled "Transylvania" in orange!  Even it would be more dependable & a better puller than one or two BEEPs.

Well, not to argue but I can't recommend the All Hallow's Eve 18745 over BEEPS.  I have two and they are a bit underpowered themselves.

The link below is to  four BEEFs - same chassis as a BEEP - pulling my "war train" which while not the longest, was definitely the heaviest train I have ever run: that is all diecast armor on the flatcars, etc.  They did great.  BEEPS and BEEFs are not individually powerful locos, but they are not meant to be.  Bu t get two or three or four - and they are.

https://ogrforum.com/t...war-train-army-train

Everything still says, "coming in 2014" right?

I would expect that they're *trying* to get ramped back up after their split with Aristo, but there is always the possibility of a snafu.

I have an older RMT rail diesel car and it runs very good and will pull one other un powered passenger car with it. Has more detail then some Lionel have.

Give Walter M. some time as he just broke up with Aristo Craft and he was selling down old inventory so he can have some new inventory to sell, maybe in May or June.

I bought something from Walter M. from the "for sale" forum post on here and he is very honest.

Lee Fritz

I found that adding weight to the BEEP made a big difference in it's pulling power.  I also found that losing the two traction tires didn't hurt it that much in the pulling power department, but helped a lot in the reliability of power to the engine.  Our modular layout only has one powered outside rail, so only having one wheel powered was pretty chancy. 

Walter came to our open house a few weeks ago at NPOG, at that point it seemed that he was moving forward with RMT.  I hope that is indeed the case.

I really appreciate all the feedback. I only plan on running 5 cars with the engine. They are not freight cars but the Lionel Halloween cars. A few operate and 2 are a boxcar and a caboose. Maybe I should have mentioned this in the first place.

Do these engines have a sound system?

Walter still posts here, send him an email and ask what the situation is.

considering that it takes at least 6 months for product to flow thru the pipeline from china, and RMT is now on it's own again(starting this past January), I'd give Walter a very large amount of slack. He has posted before that RMT will be operating again sometime in 2014.

The above is an RMT "Bang", which is a re-issue of the K-Line S-2. Rest assured, a Beep will not haul a train that big unless you have 3-4 of them working in unison.

No, but Electric RR Co makes electronics for these that will give them TMCC and sound. Not certain if a conventional-only solution exists for these though. (leaning toward "no")

---PCJ

My Christmas train needed a little extra pulling power and a red and white Beep was a perfect addition!

Peter

Nick, I stick by my suggestion that you check out Lionel's all Hallows Eve die-cast loco.... its beefy, heavy.  There is NO comparison between its capabilities & the BEEP.  Your 5-car Halloween train will likely grow by several cars in the near future (like mine did) & why should you have to latch two BEEPs together to get adequate pulling power (& to avoid stalling on switches)?  The BEEP is an entry-level toy at very best, and thats fine. I own one...  but don't know why some folks are cockeyed insane over them.  LINK: "All Hallows Eve" #18745 steam locomotive, Lionel - 2012!

I bought a couple of the Hallow's eve locos on sale after Halloween.  They are a good scale model of the Hall class and I repainted them, etc. 

Anyway, both of my ex-Hallows Eve loco actually  have a very small motor - only about the size of either of the two in a BEEP.  Both pull quite well because they are heavy and have the six drivers, but then begin to hint that they are challenged for power at around seven to ten freight cars and a caboose depending on the tightness of the curves you are asking them to pull through.  I think the reason BEEPS won't pull a lot is weight - they are not that heavy - and traction (only four driven wheels, often with just one traction tire) rather than a lack of power. Gunrunnerjohn mentioned adding weight helps improve pulling power.  

I have TMCC and the old ERR Sound Commander in mine, then I stuffed all the weights I could fit, I believe I have 11-12 oz total extra weight.  I stuck them everywhere they'd fit, trying to keep them as centered as possible.  I have six oz inside the truck frame between the wheels, the rest inside the shell.

It made a significant difference in the pulling power, even after removing the traction tires.  Lee generously donated some old BEEP frames, and I stole the non-grooved wheel set off one of those so I'd have all four wheels conducting from the track.  On level track, this BEEP has no problem with ten standard RailKing freight cars and a caboose.

I just got a chance to watch the one video and it had  BEEP pulling 24 cars on a flat surface. That is the type of surface I have now. It looked to me that it handled the load okay.

I think gunrunnerjohn has the right answer: just add weight.  The heaviest train I have ever run is my "War Train" (link below).  It's only twenty plus cars but it weighs a lot because of all the diecast armor on the flatcars along with the big railroad cannons. I used BEEFs - same body as BEEPs - to pull it: four powered ones (I mounted the unpowered A unit body on a powered chassis): they show the barest trace of struggle with the load,  but by comparison, a single Williams trainmaster will not move when connected to the train - it just sits there and hums and gets warm (and you know what that means) and two of them together really srtuggle with it, to the point it seems abuse to try.

https://ogrforum.com/t...war-train-army-train

I should try my BEEP with more cars.  I'm sure it'll pull more on the level track, just don't know how many before it has trouble starting them up.  It's like a real train, the engine will spin it's wheels to get started.