RAK brought his Brute & cars to the TCA Western Division meet today. Are they big or what.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5-P4C-F64Q
Steve
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My Showroom Cars had their initial run at Bear Creek Junction (NC) today. The original Brute coupler had NO issues with the "New Haven" car's coupler, so I decided NOT to change out the supplied engine coupler. Plenty of "slack", and no rubbing, though I did use a few drops of gel-type oil (LGB) as a precaution.
A note about my "Chicago" observation car:
There was a bent area on my observation railing (out of the box) which required some DELICATE straightening, and one of the door grab-irons was almost completely detached, and required some minor "surgery". NO residual cosmetic damage! WHEW!
Originally Posted by Tinplate Art:
My Showroom Cars had their initial run at Bear Creek Junction (NC) today. The original Brute coupler had NO issues with the "New Haven" car's coupler, so I decided NOT to change out the supplied engine coupler. Plenty of "slack", and no rubbing, though I did use a few drops of gel-type oil (LGB) as a precaution.
A note about my "Chicago" observation car:
There was a bent area on my observation railing (out of the box) which required some DELICATE straightening, and one of the door grab-irons was almost completely detached, and required some minor "surgery". NO residual cosmetic damage! WHEW!
Art
Glad to know you finally got o run them.
Steve
My friend Dave just posted this video of the Brute running at his place. Note the additional motor, pony trucks etc.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZEuHY5xeJ0
Steve
Wow! I like it.
The pony truck mod would be fairly easy, but the third motor-not so much?
That looks like a PS2 version-did he have to do anything else, like another board, to add the third motor?
Really enjoyed the videos. Thanks for sharing.
Interesting mods: pilot trucks, 381 classification lights, and the THIRD motor. Could we get DETAILS on how these were accomplished? An additional "slave board" would probably be necessary for the additional amperage draw? Also noticed the different headlight castings. I should mention my "stock" Brute, except for NO traction tires, has power to spare with just two motors!
Also noticed there are NO traction tires on his engine! Are those traditional motors with a heavy duty electronic e-unit? The horn would indicate Proto sounds. Curiouser and curiouser!!
my understanding was the the original brute prototype design (which mr. cowan shelved and never produced) had three motors. read that somewhere. logical, since there are three sections and room enough. so in that sense these mods are more authentic . not strictly necessary, as art says, the modern motors pull like crazy, which is no doubt why the stock center one is a dummy. but i'm glad to see this done. very nice work.
my aesthetic peeve with my brute is the clunky pantographs. anybody up for grabbing an operating set off the MTH G-scale GG1 and cloning them onto the brute?
I would still like more info on this incredible "kitbash" of the Brute. Like Dave, I also removed the traction-tired wheelsets, but I have neither the knowledge, skills, or patience to accomplish what Dave did.
Pretty amazing! 
Got the below from my friend Dave.
Steve
Steve,
I visited a bit with Al last night regarding the Brute. He has not shared in print how he did the work. He claims that dropping the third motor in was very straight forward since Mike's originally meant for it to have three motors. There was no extra board required. Getting the motor may be a challenge. Al bought a brand new Lionel 381 on eBay and robbed a motor and the marker lights from that. He is currently working with MTH to replace those parts and it has proved to be difficult, but I am confident he will succeed.
Best as Always,
Dave
Brilliant Tinplate - big as well !!
David
I have the marker lights (2-red; 2-green) for an MTH 381E, if MTH cannot supply them. Have Al contact me. THANKS!
NOTE: I do NOT have the mounting screws.
