Up grade K-Line Mikado

The ERR Cruise Commander M is the module used to add cruise control, it's a very easy installation.  As for improving the smoke output, we'd have to know which specific model you have?  Does it have fan driven smoke or a mechanical "puffer"?

MR-150,

I have 2 K-Line Mikado's that were upgraded by Gunrunner John.   They both originally had TMCC and K-Line's version of cruise control(which totally crapped out on one of them).   They both also had the old piston driven smoke units that were driven by a crank/cam off the lead set of drivers.   Before I sent them off for upgrading,   I completely removed the entire piston smoke assembly,  including the crank.   GRJ then installed an MTH fan driven smoke unit with his Supper Chuffer,  an ERR cruise control,   rule 17 lighting.    He also modified the factory on/off smoke switch to be a high/low smoke switch.   All this comes at a cost,  unless you can do mechanical/electrical(electrical is my downfall) modification yourself.   My total was approx $350 per engine-it was acceptable to me because I had purchased those engines brand new for $175 and $200 each.   One other thing to remember-those Mikado's have relatively small motors in them and you cannot pull long,  heavy loads for hours on end with them or they will overheat.   Mine both perform great and I have had no problems-would do it again if needed.   Somewhere from about 2 years ago there is a video of the one upgraded engine that GRJ posted here on the forum.   Hope this helps.

Nick 

I believe all of the K-Line Mikes have puffer units with two chuffs per rev. 

They do indeed have the smaller Mabuchi RS385 motor but Lionel's Legacy remake of the light Mikado retains the same small motor as does the later USRA heavy Mikado.

Adding a Cruise M along with GRJ smoke upgrades and you have near Legacy performance for a fraction of the cost. 

Pete

To Machinest. Is 20-25 cars for 45 minutes to  an hour to much for this locomotive

Norton posted:

Adding a Cruise M along with GRJ smoke upgrades and you have near Legacy performance for a fraction of the cost. 

Pete

You may even have the headlight in the proper location going this route!

To Machinest. Is 20-25 cars for 45 minutes to  an hour to much for this locomotive

Berkshire President posted:

Norton posted:

Adding a Cruise M along with GRJ smoke upgrades and you have near Legacy performance for a fraction of the cost. 

Pete

You may even have the headlight in the proper location going this route!

This is true. K-Line made an effort to provide correct details for each road name. Too bad Lionel didn't follow their example but rather only produced one version for all road names.

Pete

MR-150 posted:

To Machinest. Is 20-25 cars for 45 minutes to  an hour to much for this locomotive

Here are my thoughts based on my personal experience and observations-others may have different results and opinions.     In our modular club's display enviroment,  I have pulled 12-15 loaded coal hoppers at low/slightly moderate speed(prototypical coal drag speed) on level track for 3-4 hours without any significant heating of the engine(I'm talking basic touching the engine shell to feel how warm it is).   Another one of our club members has a stock,  unmodified Mikado that has operated pulling maybe up to 17 cars at a higher rate of speed for a shorter length of time and has had to give the engine a rest because the shell became EXTREMELY warm(hot) to the touch.   There are a lot of variables involved-engine greased/lubed,  027 or full o scale cars(and type of car-short 2 bay hopper vs 50' boxcar etc),  whether there are any grades and so on.

Nick

I have a K-Line scale Mikado as well as one their semi scale sngines. Same motor but slightly smaller body. Both came with TMCC. I have pulled 22 modern 6464 type boxcars with the semi scale engine on level track and found it does get very warm after an hour. These are relatively light cars with sprung needle point trucks.

I would limit the Lionel USRA and K-Line Mikados to around 15 cars if you plan to run for any period of time. 

If You like to pull long trains then Lionel's "Southern" style Mikado from the 1990s is a better choice as is MTH USRA engine. Both have large Pittman motors. The Lionel engine in particular pulls like a tank. I wouldn't be surprised if it could pull 50 cars without breaking a sweat. 

Pete

I sold my Kline Mikado in NYC to Dave_C who promptly turned it into a B&A mikado and weathered it.  Hope he sees this and post some pics.  Adding cruise will be easy.  Gunrunner has been successful adding a fan driven smoke unit.  I never attempted it.   Kline made great looking engines but that forward mounted motor made upgrading there engines a real pain.  My Kline berks were troublesome adding a TAS turbo smoke unit but I was able to by splitting the board in half.  Mounting the electronics in the back with tether between the two halves.   I'm now installing Super-Chuffers in my berks and finding room for the board isn't easy either.

 Did some work on this o make it more like a B&A. Running board steps were replaced. Bell was relocated to the top of the boiler. This ones got K-Line cruise and 4 chuffs. I'm not into running smoke and it's a good runner as is. If anything goes belly up. ERR cruise and GRJ 's chuff generator will be installed.

Dave_C, I want her back.  LOL